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Battery Park (to New Yorkers, '''The Battery''') is a 21-acre (8.5 ha) public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City . The park is named for the artillery that was stationed there at various times by the Dutch and British . At one end of the park is Pier A and Hope Garden , a memorial to AIDS victims. At the other end is Battery Gardens restaurant, next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Along the waterfront, Ferries depart for the Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island . To the northwest of the park lies Battery Park City , an area of landfill redevelopment built in the 1970s and 80s. The green space of Battery Park continues into Battery Park City via Robert F. Wagner Park and the Battery Park City Promenade ''illustration, right'') which extends quite a ways up the Hudson Shoreline . North of the park across Battery Place is the start of a bikeway that runs past Battery Park City and the World Fincial Center and up the West Side. Across State Street to the northeast lies the U.S. Customs House/Museum of the American Indian. Peter Minuit Plaza abutts the southeast end of the park, directly in front of the South Ferry Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry . HISTORY and the adjoining shrine to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton face Battery Park.]] The park itself was created by Landfill during the 19th Century , creating a Tree d open space at the foot of the heavily built-up Mainland of Manhattan Island . Skyscraper s now occupy the original land, stopping abruptly where the park begins. On State Street, the former harbor front and the northern boundary of the park, a single Federal mansion survives (''illustration, left''). Until the 1820s, the city's stylish residential district lay north of this house, between Broadway and the "North" River. Within the park lies Castle Clinton , an American fort built on a small off-shore Island immediately prior to the War Of 1812 and named for mayor DeWitt Clinton . When the land of Battery Park was created, the island was enclosed by land. The fort became property of the city after the war and was renamed Castle Garden . It is currently known again by its original name. In addition to a small historical exhibit, the fort is the site where tickets are sold to visit Liberty and Ellis islands. Battery Park is featured in the famous song by Leonard Bernstein , "New York, New York, it's a Hell of a Town" , which includes the line "and the battery's down" for the southerly location of the Park. in Battery Park, holding a model of USS ''Monitor'' in his hand]] Five months after being damaged but not destroyed in the September 11, 2001 Attacks , Fritz Koenig 's The Sphere , which once stood outside the World Trade Center a few blocks away, was reinstalled in a temporary location along Eisenhower Mall in the northern section of the park. There, along with an Eternal Flame , it serves to memorialize the victims of 9/11. THE DISCOVERED WALL On December 8 , 2005 , New York City authorities announced that builders working on a new subway station in Battery Park have found the remains of a 200-year-old stone wall. {Link without Title} "This wall most likely is a portion of the gun batteries that once protected the city in the late 17th and 18th centuries and gave rise to the modern park name," said Robert Tierney , chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission . The city and the New York City Transit Authority plan to work together to preserve the remains, which were described as "an important remnant of the history of New York City." BATTERY PARK IN FICTION
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