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Kick Scooting Along Battery Park City
Part 2 of a 3-part series of articles about New York City's parks that run along the Hudson River.
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According to New York's Mayor Bloomberg, "New York City has more miles of waterfront than Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Portland combined – but for decades, too many neighborhoods have been blocked off from it. ... Our waterfront and waterways — what we are calling New York City’s sixth borough — are invaluable assets, and when our work is complete, New York City will again be known as one of the world’s premier waterfront cities."*
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Continuing south along the Hudson River Parkway path, as described in Part 1 of this series, you pass several recreational areas, including a skateboard park, a miniature golf course, courts, and the Village Community Boathouse where you can learn to row.
This article starts at The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Park (also known as the Battery Park City Park), a half-mile trip around the edge of the park as noted on the map.
When visiting The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, you will enjoy stunning views of the river and New York City, plus its beautifully landscaped lawn, numerous benches, and special features that include an interactive sculpture garden, a pavilion, game tables, a playground, a lily pond park area, a monument to the Irish, and NY Waterway's Financial District dock. The area is beautiful year round, but is especially stunning and comfortable during the summer and early fall.
Heading south, the first special feature you see that is just off the main path is a large sculpture garden created by Tom Otterness, entitled The Real World.
This area is filled with rounded brass figures that satirize the financial industry. They are large enough to be enjoyed by climbing children and provocative enough to be enjoyed by adults who appreciate humor (and who, perhaps, harbor grudges against Wall Street). Included is a highly unusual wading pond that is filled with coins and critters, brass footprints, real chess boards "manned" by animals and people, alike, and a brass dog that invites sniffing. Bring your camera, browse, and take hundreds of pictures!
Another interesting area is a huge playground built for climbing and exploring. Even if you don't have kids, this playground is so interesting that you can easily spend a significant amount of time just watching kids being kids.
As you continue traveling south, you approach the Lily Pond area. It features a lovely bridge, a water fall, flowers during the summer, and benches. Behind it is the Irish Hunger Memorial, which is somewhat easy to miss. Hunt for it and take the time to learn more about the Irish and the problems they faced in the mid-1800s.
This article ends as we approach the NY Waterway's beautiful World Financial Center dock, which you can see to the right in the picture below.
Article 3 completes our trip along the Hudson River. It begins as we enter Manhattan's North Cove and the Esplanade.
Links
- Kick Scooting Along New York's Hudson River Parkway, Part 1
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Kick Scooting Along New York's Battery Park City, Part 2
- Kick Scooting Along New York's North Cove and Esplanade, Part 3
- Comment on our Let's Kick Scoot Forum
- www.HudsonRiverPark.org: Provides excellent information about the parkway, including a highly detailed, interactive map.
- www.NYCBikeMaps.com: Provides information about biking trails that includes a map of Manhattan's trails along the Hudson and East Rivers.
- www.BPCParks.org: Provides information about the series of parks commonly known as Battery Park City parks.
- www.BatteryParkCity.org: This web site is the home of the Battery Park City Authority.
- www.PlanetWare.com: Provides an exceptionally clear map of the Battery Park City park area, including its special attractions.
- www.BatteryParkCity.com Provides detailed maps of the North Cove (including Nelson A. Rockefeller Park), South Cove (including the Esplanade), and the Battery, (including Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park and Battery Park).
- www.NYCeWheels.com: This is the website of NYCeWheels, a Manhattan shop specializing in foldable bikes, motorized bikes, and adult kick scooters. Many thanks to this shop for providing a variety of kick scooters for us to test.
- www.NYWaterway.com: This is the website of NY Waterway, a company that provides ferry transportation and cruises around Manhattan.
- www.TheNorthCove.com: This is the website of the North Cove Marina, one of the major focal points of the North Cove and World Financial Center Plaza areas.
- www.WorldFinancialCenter.com: This is the home of the World Financial Center Plaza at North Cove. Check this site for its year-round entertainment options, plus a list of restaurants that ring North Cove.
- For additional information about this area, read my 2009 article entitled Visit the Financial District's Parks in New York City, written for www.Littleviews.com.
Questions? Just ask!
Karen Little
Article and photographs by Karen Little. First published on www.LetsKickScoot.com on 7/10/2011. All rights reserved.
* The quote attributed to Mayor Bloomberg was widely reported and can now be found in print on CBSNewYork.com in its article "NYC Plans $3B Transformation Of Hudson Waterfront," posted on March 13, 2011.
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