have things to see and do (as well as copious bathroom stalls). Fine photo ops await your ride.
To the north of the Whitehall Terminal, the New Amsterdam Pavilion has artistic-looking metal benches, pretty plantings, and a few intriguing pieces that reflect on the early European history of this city. There is a miniature map of the colonial settlement that you can touch, a few plaques, and stones engraved with historic messages (although those are worn and a bit hard to read). Walk to your right and you’ll see the Battery Maritime Building. It’s of a much older and more elegant style than the modern Staten Island Ferry building. From late spring through early autumn, you can catch a ferry to Governors Island here.
Cross over to South Street, but be careful of the traffic racing to and from the highway. You will get a nice view of the river from here. Walk away from the Battery on South Street for about two blocks until you get to a sunken plaza with a large glass structure you can walk through, as well as a flower bed, plaques, and a sitting area. This is the New York City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza. I find this one of the most stirring sites in all of Manhattan. Get up close to the pale-green glass, and you will see segments of letters sent to and from people who served in the military during the Vietnam War. Some have mundane messages; others reflect the horror they have seen and the fears they harbor. “Don’t ask questions; when I come home if I feel like talking about it I will, but otherwise don’t ask,” reads one fragment. “Mom, I’d give just about anything for a hot bath, some clean clothes, and a cold drink… . Love, Ray,” reads another.
Cross at Water Street to little Coenties Slip Park. This pedestrian walkway showcases an odd metal sculpture and a floor design worth a few minutes of contemplation. If you walk to the northern end of this small space, look to your left at a black-glass high-rise and you will see two or even three other buildings reflected on the glass.
Back at Water Street, go to your right for a few blocks until it turns into State Street. At #8 (also listed as #7 in some sources), an interesting curved building is The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a church and exhibit dedicated to the first US-born Catholic saint. Proceed to #17 and you will see two cheery, comical statues, yellow and red. These were created by the late pop artist Keith Haring (and even display his etched signature).
Continue on State Street for a few blocks (one block is a bit lengthy) until you reconnect with the start of Broadway. You can catch the train a few blocks north at Bowling Green.
POINTS OF INTEREST
National Museum of the American Indian/US Custom House nmai.si.edu, 1 Bowling Green, 212-514-3700
Bowling Green nycgovparks.org/parks/bowling-green, Broadway and Whitehall Street
Charging Bull Statue chargingbull.com, Broadway and Morris Street
Battery Park nycgovparks.org/parks/battery-park, State Street and Battery Place
Castle Clinton nps.gov/cacl, Battery Park
Whitehall Terminal, Staten Island Ferry siferrry.com, 212-344-7220
New York City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza vietnamveteransplaza.com, 55 Water St., 212-471-9496
Coenties Slip Park Between Water and Pearl Streets
The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton setonheritage.org, 7 State St., 212-269-6865
ROUTE SUMMARY
1 Walk around Bowling Green and up Broadway to the bull statue.
2 Go back to the south end of Bowling Green and cross Broadway into Battery Park.
3 Make a circuit around the park.
4 Facing the water, walk left to the ferry terminals.
5 Cross and walk right on South Street to the NYC Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza.
6 Cross Water St. into Coenties Slip.
7 Walk west on Water Street, which turns into State Street.
8 Walk right on State Street until it merges with Broadway.
CONNECTING THE WALKS
Walk north on Broadway three blocks for the start of Walk 3 (Wall Street/Financial District), or walk about nine blocks to Fulton Street for Walk 4 (City Hall and South Street Seaport).
Neoclassical grandeur at the old Custom House
2 BATTERY PARK CITY AND TRIBECA: THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
BOUNDARIES: Albany St., River Terrace, Franklin St., Varick St.
DISTANCE: 2 miles
SUBWAY: 1, 2, or 3 to Chambers St.
A peaceful yet invigorating feeling imbues Battery Park City, an area bordered by the Hudson River and teeming with high-rise buildings, many of them of fairly recent vintage. Exciting, even intimidating in scale and concentration, much of the neighborhood has a futuristic feel. Its buildings are certainly in striking contrast to the older structures that prevail in the nearby Financial District (see next walk). “BPC” also has the busy and bold World Financial Center, full of shops and offices, exhibition space, and public sculpture.
Battery Park City was badly scarred by the events of September 11, 2001. The community was essentially built on landfill, much of it excavated from the site that became the World Trade Center, so there was more sadness imbued in the landscape. But BPC has bounced back in many ways, and a lot of rebuilding has been done.
This walk also strolls through part of Tribeca (“triangle below Canal”), dominated by buildings far older than Battery Park City’s. See the contrasts and enjoy the multiple views of this West Side neighborhood.
From the subway station, walk west along Chambers Street, named for John Chambers, a colonial-era lawyer who was involved in the 1735 trial of newspaper editor John Peter Zenger; the case is considered an important early test of freedom of the press and civil rights.Look at 160 Chambers. It’s an odd juxtaposition: This onetime firehouse is now … a nail salon? Dating to 1862, the building has served as a police station, hospital, firehouse (hence the ENGINE 29 sign), lumberyard, apartments, and service businesses.
Cross Greenwich Street and make a left. Here is PS 234, a cheery elementary school with an innovative design, a nautical motif, pretty plantings, and a comical sculpture by Tom Otterness called Frog and Bee. After Murray Street, the sleek glass building on your right, 75 Park Place,
