Tour 3 Tour 2 Tour 1 BPC Walking Tour 1 Tour 1: South Residential neighborhood RSVP Saturday, June 12 & July 24th, 2021 at 4:00PM 90min In the beginning, Battery Park City was merely water, a waterfront for the financial district to its east. That is, until its status as a port-filled boardwalk and extended pier became a landfill for all the displaced earth dug up to build the World Trade Center. In only a few decades, Battery Park City blossomed as state and local investing, in partnership with architects and landscape designers, breathed life into the area. Quickly, BPC became a hub for commercial and residential life in lower Manhattan. Join us on tour 1 of Battery Park City’s southern residential district, which includes some of BPC’s earliest residential buildings, museums, as well as its vast and impressive green spaces on the waterfront. Harnessing Wagner Park, the Esplanade and more, we will walk the streets and parks, tracking the district’s history and the growth of its residential neighborhood. Not to be outdone, we will also explore the district’s colorful past as a pier and even a wheatfield, as well as its trials and tribulations during its early development stage. Meeting point Skyscraper Museum 7 - Walk to 1 West Street - Walk to 2 Machado Silvetti Arch - Walk to 3: Pier A (via Wagner Park) - Walk to 4: Museum of Jewish Heritage (via the Esplanade) 6 - Walk to 5: South Cove/Mary Miss sculpture - Walk to 6: Brookfield Place at a distance (via the Esplanade) - Walk to 7: Rector Place 5 4 1 2 3 Walking Tour 1 Meeting point_SM Hello, Welcome to our Battery Park City Walking Tour, Blank slate to Battery Park City & Beyond. My name is XXX Today you are here for Tour 1... Questions What is Battery Park City? What is a Master Plan? What is the role of the government authority? Walking Tour 1- Stop 1_ West street We are standing on the south end of West street and to the left(west) is Battery Park City. Which used to be occupied by dilapidated shipping piers. BPC is 92 acres of land built with 3 million cubic yards of soil & rock of landfill that was dug up to build the two towers of World Trade center in the 1970s. Guy Tozzoli, the director of the World Trade Department of the Port Authority at the time, was trying to come up with a plan for what to do with the tremendous volume of rubble from the excavation…. The initial proposal to reclaim the land through landfill was by mayor John Lindsay (after receiving the plans in 1966 by gov. Nelson rockefeller) 1968 BPCA was created 1969 Masterplan, Designed by a team of architects led by Wallace K. Harrison, William Conklin, and Philip Johnson. The plan was criticized for its dated use of futuristic imagery as well as the fact that the megascaled, overly complicated, project did not seem viable for potential piecemeal development. -the economic recession of the 70s stifling construction opportunities 1979 Masterplan by Cooper-Eckstut 92 acres of land(WTC 16acres) 36 acres of parks and public spaces 30 residential buildings(8,275units) 4 public schools 10.7 m sq ft of Office space 16,000 residents 690,000 park users 107 park volunteers Walking Tour 1 - Stop 2_ Wagner Park Walk towards pier A ... Battery park vs Battery park city Pier A, one of the oldest surviving pier. (We look at the old finger piers through photos) Talk about the importance of harbor... Wagner park which is like a gateway to Battery Park City, was a collaboration of Laurie Olin with Hanna/Olin, Lynden Miller, and Machado and Silvetti Associates. Opened in 1996. With a clear view to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis island and panoramic view of the Hudson river, the park includes not only lawns, flowers and walkways but sculpture by Louis Bourgeois, Tony Cragg and Jim Done. (Jennifer Bartlett Gardens..) Point to statue of Liberty... Next to the park is the Museum of Jewish Heritage(The first construction was designed by Kevin Roche 1997). Walking Tour 1 - Stop 3_ Esplanade The Esplanade was first opened in 1983 and completed in 1995, runs the entire length of BPC. Designed by Cooper Eckstut Associates with Hanna/Olin. The esplanade was the first waterfront park built in NYC since the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade in 1951. Inspired by existing NYC models, Riverside Park, Central Park and Carl Schurz Park…. It was to imitate the original shoreline.. An old pier. Remnant of maritime uses… Walking Tour 1 - Stop 4_ South cove South Cove, The heart of what used to be called Battery Place. A collaboration by Stan Eckstut, Susan Child (landscape architect) and Mary Miss (artist) opened in 1988 – with the design of the staircase purposefully evocative of the crown of the Statue of Liberty. This is also where the “Wheatfield-A confrontation” was installed by Agnes Denes in 1982. It was one of many Art on the Beach installations while BPC landfill was still in the process of completion A vast body of sand. Note the low-rise residential, And the shaded arcaded walks(lojas) on the Regatta. One of the early Masterplan features, Where commercial spaces are hidden… American environmental and conceptual artist Agnes Denes stands in her latest installation, a two-acre wheat field entitled 'Wheatfield--A Confrontation' located in the Battery Park landfill, New York, New York, August 1982. (Photo by John McGrail/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images) (Pictures of old waterfront uses) It was to imitate the original shoreline.. An old pier. Remnant of maritime uses… The parks are nicer in BPC because the residences are paying premium for maintenance.... Walking Tour 1 - Stop 5_Rector Place We continue our walk along the water until our third stop at Rector park, and Rector Place in particular. Composed of Rector park and 4 blocks of residential buildings. Completed in 1987, it was the first implementation of the 1979 Masterplan. Mention the fact that because of the city’s financial instability the many of the building projects were put on hold until the mid to late 1980s Rector park was planned as a townscape with multiple small buildings by various architects and developers, established through the South Residential Area Design Guidelines. “To create a residential community resembling older New York neighborhoods, reflecting their texture, variety, and continuity” Walking Tour 1 - Stop 6_The Visionaire The tour will end at the Visionaire, the last building to join the South residential area along with the Millenium residences towering in the back. They were completed in 2006 and 2008 after the Green guidelines were in effect in BPC. (Add information about the present and future of BPC’s southern residential area.).