Quick answer
Battery Park is the 25-acre park at Manhattan's southern tip, home to Castle Clinton, the fort that processed 7.5 million immigrants before Ellis Island opened. Ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island leave from here, and the park holds the SeaGlass Carousel and once held the recovered 9/11 Sphere.
Full transcript
The gate of the harbor
The Battery is the 25-acre park at the southern tip of Manhattan, named for the artillery batteries that once ringed the harbor. Its oldest landmark, Castle Clinton, is a round sandstone fort built from 1808 to 1811. It became America's first immigration station, processing more than 7.5 million newcomers between 1855 and 1890 — a generation before Ellis Island — and later a theater, an exhibition hall, and a public aquarium. Walk its stone circle and think of the millions who first set foot in America here.
Where every ferry begins
This is the hinge between the city and the harbor. Ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island leave from the dock at Castle Clinton, and the free Staten Island Ferry runs from the Whitehall Terminal at the park's edge. The park was closed entirely from 1940 to 1952 while the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel was dug beneath it, and the Battery Conservancy — founded in 1994 — has since rebuilt the lawns, gardens, and paths. Ride the Staten Island Ferry out and back for the best cheap harbor view in the city.
The scar that stayed
The Sphere, a bronze sculpture by Fritz Koenig, stood between the Twin Towers from 1972 until the September 11 attacks. Pulled from the rubble as the only major artwork to survive largely intact, it was installed here in 2002 as a memorial and moved to Liberty Park beside the memorial in 2017, still dented. In the park itself, the SeaGlass Carousel opened in 2015, spinning 30 glowing fiberglass fish. Find a bench near the water and watch the ferries cross the harbor at sunset.