The Battery (Manhattan)

The Battery (La Batterie, au sens militaire de batterie d'artillerie), anciennement (avant 2015) Battery Park (littéralement Le parc de la Batterie) est un parc de 10 ha (25 acres) situé dans le Financial District et voisin de Battery Park City, sur la pointe sud de l'île de Manhattan, à New York, aux États-Unis. Le parc est un lieu chargé d'histoire et un espace de détente apprécié des New-Yorkais et des touristes.

1. Histoire

L'histoire de Battery Park commence dès l'époque précolombienne. Les Amérindiens Kapsee, un sous-groupe lenape, peuplaient les environs du parc actuel. À leur arrivée, au XVIIe siècle, les Hollandais (Belges) baptisèrent cet espace « Capske Hoak », du nom de ses premiers occupants. La pointe sud de Manhattan, qui offre une vue dégagée sur la baie de New York et les Narrows, c'est-à-dire sur le chenal d'accès au port de New York, fut rapidement considérée comme un emplacement stratégique pour la défense de la colonie hollandaise. Dès 1626, les colons y bâtirent un fort nommé fort Amsterdam. En 1664, les Anglais, reprirent New York aux Hollandais. Ils donnèrent un nouveau nom au bâtiment en l'appelant fort James. Il changea de nom à plusieurs reprises durant la période anglaise, puisqu'il prit successivement les noms de fort William, de fort Anne et de fort George. En 1683, le gouverneur anglais Dongan installa une série de canons à proximité du fort. Le nom de Battery Park provient des pièces d'artillerie qui y étaient autrefois installées.

En 1783, les Américains reprirent New York aux Anglais. En 1790, le fort fut rasé et ses environs devinrent une promenade publique. Dès 1808 néanmoins, il fut décidé de bâtir une nouvelle structure défensive, West Battery, qui sera rebaptisé plus tard Castle Clinton, sur une île artificielle à proximité du parc. Le fort fut cédé en 1823 à la ville et devint un centre de loisir l'année suivante. En 1924, pour le 300e anniversaire de la fondation de New York, un monument fut érigé en l'honneur des pionniers wallons. Le parc a été fermé de 1940 à 1952 durant les travaux de construction du Brookly-Battery Tunnel et du Battery Park Underpass, un tunnel routier passant sous le parc, et a connu un long déclin après sa réouverture, jusqu'à la création en 1994 du Battery Conservancy qui a financé la rénovation du Parc et l'entretient encore à ce jour. Le parc a alors retrouvé une forte fréquentation et est devenu un lieu de promenade apprécié des New-Yorkais et des touristes pour sa vue sur la statue de la Liberté et le New-Jersey. En 2015, le Conservatoire a rendu au parc son nom historique de The Battery.

1. Aménagements

The Battery présente des aménagements destinés à accueillir les New-Yorkais et les touristes. Hope Garden (littéralement « le jardin de l'espoir »), un mémorial pour les victimes du sida fut aménagé dans le sud du parc. On y trouve aussi le terminal des ferries à destination de la statue de la Liberté. À l'intérieur du parc se trouve Castle Clinton, un fort américain construit juste avant la guerre de 1812 et baptisé en l'honneur du maire de l'époque, DeWitt Clinton. Il devint propriété de la ville de New York après la guerre.

En 1926, les Pays-Bas offrent à la ville de New York un monument représentant Pierre Minuit et un autochtone, procédant à la vente de Manhattan au XVIIe siècle. Il est installé dans le parc. The Battery a accueilli temporairement la sculpture The Sphere (1971) de Fritz Koenig, qui trônait autrefois sur la place du World Trade Center, au pied des Tours jumelles (Twin Towers). Abîmée et cabossée, la sphère témoigne de la violence des attentats du 11 septembre 2001. Elle est aujourd'hui située au Liberty Park, dans l'arrondissement de Manhattan à New York (États-Unis). On y retrouve également le New York Korean War Memorial du sculpteur Mac Adams. L'essentiel de l'aménagement dans les années 1970 et 80 de ce quartier proche de Wall Street a été fait par le promoteur Paul Reichmann.

1. Dans la fiction

Un niveau du jeu vidéo Deus Ex (2000) s'y déroule.

1. Notes


1. Voir aussi


1. = Liens externes =

Battery Park sur Google Earth Battery Park sur le site de la mairie de New York Site de The Battery Conservancy The Sphere for Plaza Fountain - Battery Park (juillet 2004) Portail des espaces verts Portail de New York

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The Battery (Manhattan)

The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a 25-acre (10 ha) public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. The park is bounded by Battery Place on the north, with Bowling Green to the northeast, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. The park contains attractions such as an early 19th-century fort named Castle Clinton; multiple monuments; and the SeaGlass Carousel. The surrounding area, known as South Ferry, contains multiple ferry terminals, including the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal; a boat launch to the Statue of Liberty National Monument (which includes Ellis Island and Liberty Island); and a boat launch to Governors Island. The park and surrounding area are named for the artillery batteries that were built in the late 17th century to protect the fort and settlement behind them. By the 1820s, the Battery had become an entertainment destination and promenade, with the conversion of Castle Clinton into a theater venue. During the mid-19th century, the modern-day Battery Park was laid out and Castle Clinton was converted into an immigration and customs center. The Battery was commonly known as the landing point for immigrants arriving in New York City until 1892, when the immigration center was relocated to Ellis Island in the middle of the harbor. Castle Clinton (sometimes called, Castle Garden) then hosted the New York Aquarium from 1896 to 1941. By the 20th century, the quality of Battery Park had started to decline, and several new structures were proposed within the park, many of which were not built. In 1940, the entirety of Battery Park was closed for twelve years due to the construction of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel and the Battery Park Underpass. The park reopened in 1952 after a renovation, but then subsequently went into decline. The Battery Conservancy, founded in 1994 by Warrie Price, underwrote and funded the restoration and improvement of the once-dilapidated park. In 2015, the Conservancy restored the park's historical name, "the Battery".

Historic Site Landmark

Castle Clinton

Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a restored circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating Ellis Island. More than 7.5 million people arrived in the United States at Fort Clinton between 1855 and 1890. Over its active life, it has also functioned as a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater, and public aquarium. The structure is a New York City designated landmark and a U.S. national monument, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Clinton was originally known as the West Battery or the Southwest Battery, occupying an artificial island off the shore of Lower Manhattan. Designed by John McComb Jr., with Jonathan Williams as consulting engineer, the fort was garrisoned in 1812 but was never used for warfare. In 1824, the New York City government converted Fort Clinton into a 6,000-seat entertainment venue known as Castle Garden, which operated until 1855. Castle Garden then served as an immigrant processing depot for 35 years. When the processing facilities were moved to Ellis Island in 1892, Castle Garden was converted into the first home of the New York Aquarium, which opened in 1896 and continued operating until 1941. The fort was expanded and renovated several times during this period. In the 1940s, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses proposed demolishing Fort Clinton as part of the construction of the nearby Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. This led to a prolonged debate over the fort's preservation, as well as the creation of the Castle Clinton National Monument in 1946. The National Park Service took over the fort in 1950. After several unsuccessful attempts to restore the fort, Castle Clinton reopened in 1975 following an extensive renovation. Since 1986, it has served as a visitor center and a departure point for ferries to the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Historic Site Landmark

130 m

Battery Place station

The Battery Place station was a station on the demolished Ninth Avenue and Sixth Avenue elevated train lines in Manhattan, New York City. It was located at the southern terminus of Greenwich Street at the north end of Battery Park. The station had two tracks and two side platforms. It was served by trains from the IRT Sixth Avenue Line and IRT Ninth Avenue Line. It opened June 5, 1883. One block north of the station, the Sixth Avenue El diverged to the east at Morris Street. It closed on June 11, 1940, though Sixth Avenue line trains stopped serving it when that EL line was closed in 1938. The next southbound stop was South Ferry. The next northbound stops were Rector Street for Ninth Avenue Line trains (which replaced the earlier Morris Street station), Rector Street for local Sixth Avenue Line trains, and Park Place for Sixth Avenue Line express trains.

Landmark Train

Statue of John Ericsson

John Ericsson is a Heroic-Scale bronze statue depicting John Ericsson, and is located in Battery Park in New York City

Art Landmark

Battery Park Underpass

The Battery Park Underpass is a vehicular tunnel at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, New York City, near the neighborhoods of South Ferry and Battery Park City. The tunnel connects FDR Drive, which runs along the east side of Manhattan Island, with the West Side Highway (New York State Route 9A, or NY 9A), which runs along the island's west side. Opened in 1951, it was the second section of FDR Drive to be completed. The underpass crosses beneath the Battery (formerly Battery Park) and the approach to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel.

Landmark