| This
addition to Manhattan Island was created from the dirt removed from the
16-acre by 70-foot excavation for the foundation of the World Trade Center
twin towers. Battery Park City, in the shadow of Wall Street skyscrapers at the southern tip of
Manhattan, contains nearly thirty acres of permanently protected open space. Parks and gardens, each with its own identity and style, are linked by a broad, open pedestrian Esplanade lined with riverside benches, shrubs, flowers and shade trees. Here, visitors are greeted with views of the world's financial center on the one side and the busy Hudson River on the other. Green space - the prize in any major city, is beautifully and efficiently managed for residents
and visitors. |
Managed
by the Battery Park City Authority, this is a development designed to mix
carefully restricted private development with green space in accordance
with a master plan approved in 1979 which allocates the thirty acres as
follow: 42% residential up to 14,000 housing units, 9% commercial (six million square feet of office space located opposite the World Trade Center),
30% open space ( public parks, plazas, and esplanade) and 19% streets and avenues.
Obviously, the area
was adversely affected in the 9/11 disaster of the World Trade Center but,
to date, most of the businesses and all the residential buildings (except
600 Gateway Plaza) have reopened to tenants.
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