Liberty Park - Izeria

Liberty Park is a one-acre (0.40 ha) elevated public park at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan. The park, which opened on June 29, 2016, is located above the World Trade Center's Vehicular Security Center. The St. Nicholas National Shrine is located within the park, as well as Fritz Koenig's The Sphere, the iconic sculpture salvaged from the World Trade Center site. Another statue, America's Response Monument, is also located in the park.

1. History

Construction began in 2013 when the Vehicular Security Center was completed. Liberty Park is located on top of the Vehicular Security Center, the latter of which protects the site against unauthorized vehicles. The parking facility is linked to the concourse area, which feeds the entire 16-acre World Trade Center site. About $50 million was allocated to the park's construction by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in December 2013. The park opened on June 29, 2016. On August 16, 2017, the Port Authority installed The Sphere within the park, overlooking its original location.

1. Description

The park has a capacity of 750 people and is the roof of the Vehicular Security Center. A "living wall", measuring 336 feet (102 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) tall, is located on the park's northern facade adjoining Liberty Street. It contains 826 panels, upon which are attached "periwinkle, Japanese spurge, winter creeper, sedge and Baltic ivy", A walkway from the pedestrian bridge curves along the park. Egresses include three stairways, the pedestrian bridge, and a straight ramp down to Greenwich Street. One of these stairs, a wide staircase is located on the east side of the park, between Greenwich Street to the east and the back of the church to the west. There are wood benches and a small amphitheater-like elevated space at the western end of the park, facing West Street. Finally, there is a "continuous overlook" along much of Liberty Street in addition to "a gently curving balcony" at the church's foot. A sapling from the Anne Frank tree is located alongside the ramp at the southeastern corner of Liberty Park.

5 World Trade Center is being built in the empty lot adjacent to the park. It is the former site of the Deutsche Bank Building. The park overlooks the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and has a connection to the Liberty Street Bridge. The St. Nicholas Church, destroyed in the September 11 attacks, is being rebuilt in the park, with a new design by Santiago Calatrava, who also designed the Transportation Hub. The park, located 25 feet (7.6 m) above Liberty Street, is just a little more than one acre (4,000 m2) in area.

1. = Location of The Sphere =

The Sphere, a large cast bronze sculpture by German artist Fritz Koenig, had stood in Austin J. Tobin Plaza between the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. Recovered from the rubble after the September 11 attacks in 2001, whole but visibly damaged, The Sphere was re-erected in Battery Park, near the Hope Garden. When construction began to restore Battery Park's Lawn, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which owns The Sphere, considered placing the sculpture in Liberty Park, which will be located between the 90 West Street building and the World Trade Center Memorial site. Construction on Liberty Park did not start until 2013, so a location was needed to place The Sphere until Liberty Park was completed. As of February 2011, PANYNJ had not made an official final decision on where to place the sculpture once Battery Park construction commences, forcing the sculpture to move. Until Liberty Park opened, The Sphere was to go into storage. When Liberty Park opened in June 2016, the question had not been resolved. On July 22, 2016, the Port Authority voted to move the sculpture to Liberty Park, and in August 2017, PANYNJ relocated the sculpture to Liberty Park. On September 6, 2017, the Sphere was unveiled in its permanent home in Liberty Park, overlooking the World Trade Center site.

1. = America's Response Monument sculpture =

The America's Response Monument, a life-and-a-half scale bronze statue commemorating the actions of U.S. Special Operations Forces in the first few weeks of the War in Afghanistan, was unveiled to the public during the Veteran's Day Parade in New York City on November 11, 2011. The statue was dedicated in a ceremony led by Vice President Joe Biden and Lieutenant-General John Mulholland, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command and formerly commander of Task Force Dagger during the initial days of the War in Afghanistan. Soldiers representing the United States Army Special Operations Command attended the dedication ceremony. The inscription at base of the sculpture bears its name, America's Response Monument, and the Latin subtitle De Oppresso Liber. The subtitle, traditionally translated as "to free the oppressed", is the motto of the Green Berets, who inspired the monument. A piece of steel from the original World Trade Center is embedded in the base. It is the first public monument to honor the United States Army Special Forces. The $750,000 cost of statue was donated by hundreds of private citizens, including some survivors of the September 11 attacks. The statue was temporarily located in the West Street Lobby inside One World Financial Center in New York City opposite Ground Zero. On September 13, 2016, the statue was rededicated once again on an elevated space on the south side of Ground Zero within Liberty Park.

1. = St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church =

On July 23, 2008, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reached a deal with the leaders of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church for the Port Authority to acquire the 1,200-square-foot (110 m2) lot that the church had occupied, for $20 million, $10 million of which is coming from the Port Authority and the other $10 million of which is coming from JPMorgan Chase. In addition, the Port Authority was willing to pay up to $40 million to construct a bomb-proof platform underneath. In March 2009, the Port Authority stated it quit talking with the church and canceled building St. Nicholas altogether. The Port Authority claimed that the church was asking for too much, and that they might delay the whole World Trade Center project. The Archdioceses says that they just wanted the church back, and a third of the building would be a memorial for 9/11, and a place where people of all faiths could pray and remember those who died in the attacks. Architect Santiago Calatrava was awarded the task of designing the new St. Nicholas. His plans drew inspiration from the great Byzantine churches of Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, both in Istanbul. The church will be constructed in Liberty Park; the site for the new church is east of the original site at 155 Cedar Street. As of 2013, construction of the new church was scheduled to begin in early 2014, and to end in late 2017. The new church was created from steel and concrete but the exterior is clad in stone. Construction of the new church began in early 2014, and after numerous delays, was completed in 2022.

1. References


1. External links

Media related to Liberty Park (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons

Nearby Places View Menu

America's Response Monument

America's Response Monument, subtitled De Oppresso Liber, is a life-and-a-half scale bronze statue in Liberty Park overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. Unofficially known as the Horse Soldier Statue, it is the first publicly accessible monument dedicated to the United States Army Special Forces. It was also the first monument near Ground Zero to recognize heroes of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The statue was conceived by sculptor Douwe Blumberg and first sold in 2003 as a small-scale, 18 inches (460 mm) version. In April 2011, an anonymous group of Wall Street bankers who lost friends in the 9/11 attacks commissioned a large, 16 feet (4.9 m) tall version. It was dedicated on Veterans Day, November 11, 2011, in a ceremony led by Vice President Joe Biden and Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commander of Task Force Dagger and U.S. Army Special Operations Command during Operation Enduring Freedom. The statue commemorates the service members of America's Special Operations forces and their response to 9/11, including those who fought during the first stages of the Afghanistan war. This operation led to the initial defeat of the Taliban in Afghanistan, although the Taliban would ultimately regain power following their 20-year-long war with the United States.

Landmark Monument

The Sphere

The Sphere (officially Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y., also known as Sphere at Plaza Fountain, WTC Sphere or Koenig Sphere) is a monumental cast bronze sculpture by German artist Fritz Koenig. The world's largest bronze sculpture of modern times stood between the Twin Towers on the Austin J. Tobin Plaza of the World Trade Center in New York City from 1972 until the September 11 attacks. The work, weighing more than 20 tons, was the only remaining work of art to be recovered largely intact from the ruins of the collapsed Twin Towers. After being dismantled and stored near a hangar at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the sculpture was the subject of the 2001 documentary Koenig's Sphere. Since then, the bronze sphere has become a memorial for the attacks. The sculpture was installed in Battery Park between 2002 and 2017, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey moved it to Liberty Park, overlooking the September 11 Memorial and its original location. The sculpture, rededicated at its permanent location on August 16, 2017, has been kept in the badly damaged condition it was found in after the September 11 attacks.

Art Landmark

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (Manhattan)

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, officially the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, is a church and shrine in the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is administered by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and has been developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, based upon a design by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The church was consecrated on July 4, 2022. St. Nicholas replaced the original church of the same name that was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001—the only house of worship, and only building outside the original World Trade Center complex, to be completely destroyed. The new church is located in Liberty Park, overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Its architecture draws from Byzantine influences, namely the Church of the Savior and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, as well as from the Parthenon in Athens. In addition to serving as a Greek Orthodox parish, St. Nicholas acts as a "House of Prayer for all people" that functions as a national shrine and community center, incorporating a secular bereavement space, social hall, and various educational and interfaith programs. Initially scheduled to open in 2016, St. Nicholas' rebuilding effort was beset by delays, cost overruns, and claims of financial impropriety. In 2019, the nonprofit Friends of St. Nicholas was founded to help complete the project, which continued under the auspices of the newly elected Archbishop Elpidophoros. The church was partially opened for a memorial service commemorating the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The church fully opened on December 6, 2022, the Feast of Saint Nicholas.

Church Historic Site

130 Cedar Street

130 Cedar Street, formerly known as the Green Exchange Building, is a mid-rise building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is located between Cedar Street and Albany Street running along Washington Street, sharing a block with 90 West Street. It was built in 1931 and was designed by Renwick, Aspinwall & Guard.

Industrial Landmark