The Battery

The Battery is one of New York City’s oldest public parks. Located at the southern tip of Manhattan overlooking New York Harbor, The Battery hosted Dutch settlers when they established New Amsterdam. The Battery is truly the cradle of New York history, the front lawn of the Downtown district, and the hub of harbor access and cultural tourism. Over six million people, including residents, workers, students, and tourists from around the world annually visit the park and its major landmark, Castle Clinton National Monument.

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Encompassing 25 acres of waterfront parkland, The Battery is the largest public open space Downtown. It serves over 280,000 people working within walking distance and 50,000 residents, which increase weekly. The Battery, with its expansive lawns, overarching shade trees, vast perennial gardens, waterfront promenades, and cultural programs is a major destination for the Downtown community.

Many cultural institutions are within walking distance of The Battery: the South Street Seaport, the New York Stock Exchange, the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the Skyscraper Museum. They radiate from The Battery, which historically was called the “emerald doorstep of the metropolis.”

The Battery is fast becoming a hub of waterborne transportation for New York Harbor. Castle Clinton serves as the ticketing center for over three million visitors who annually board ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island at gangways 3, 4, and 5. The New York Water Taxi for commuting docks at gangway 6. Connections between New York State Heritage Area sites, the National Parks of New York Harbor, and New Jersey’s Liberty State Park, are also in the planning stages.