Reopening of the Battery Waterfront is Delayed
A much-anticipated reopening of public space in the Battery, originally slated for October, will be delayed until at least February because the National Park Service (NPS) has encountered delays in procuring a new pavilion from a supplier in Germany.
At issue is the security tent used to screen visitors before they board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which has been located on the waterfront (adjacent to Castle Clinton) since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Initially justified by officials as a “temporary” measure, the tent has remained there ever since, occupying several hundred feet of scenic waterfront and blocking access to more than 10,000 square feet of parkland, resulting in years of complaints from local residents and objections by elected officials.
This facility was moved to a new location in March 2024, closer to the Staten Island Ferry terminal, in order to facilitate resiliency work on the Battery wharf, which is being elevated by five feet to protect against storm surges, rising sea levels, and flooding associated with climate change. Even this move was meant to be temporary, with the security tent scheduled to return to its original location in October of this year, once work on the Battery wharf was completed.
But at the July 21 meeting of the Environmental Protection Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1), officials from the City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) acknowledged that NPS, which oversees the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island – and the points of embarkation for ferries that service those islands – was running months behind schedule.
Alexis Taylor, EDC’s vice president for climate resilience, said, “unfortunately, the Park Service had a snafu with getting their contract approved by the current administration. They had it going and then somehow the contract got stopped. With a lot of pushing and prodding, they were able to get it approved.”
She added, “they have the tent in fabrication in Germany, and it’s going to be sent to the United States, to this location, hopefully in the next few months. And when it gets here, hopefully the foundations will be done and they can start setting their tent, with the new mechanical equipment to provide the heating and air conditioning for the tent, as well as some new electrical power.”
As NPS continues to occupy both locations (the current site of the tent near the Staten Island Ferry and the former/future site near Castle Clinton, where foundation work is ongoing), both stretches of waterfront will remain closed to the public.
The NPS security screening tent may move yet again in the foreseeable future. In March, CB1 enacted a resolution asking the Adams administration to modify the resiliency master plan for Lower Manhattan’s waterfront to explore “the potential for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour boat integration” into a planned new structure that is slated to house both the Staten Island Ferry and the Governors Island Ferry. Such a proposal, if implemented, would allow for removal of the unsightly security tent that obstructs view of the waterfront in the Battery.