Pier A Plaza and the Northwest Corner of Battery Park

Apparently Battery Park's name was recently changed to The Battery, which was its historic name. I think Battery Park sounds better but I wasn't consulted.

I figured that it wouldn't be doing justice to The Battery by trying to cover the whole park in one post, so this is just about one small area in the northwest, which by itself has a lot to see. 

The Battery is at the very southern tip of Manhattan. The building on Pier A was recently renovated into a restaurant, the Pier A Harbor House.

 Here's the building with the plaza in front of it:

Just south of the restaurant is a waterfront area that includes the American Merchant Mariners' Memorial and the New York Water Taxi for sightseeing. You can see a side of the pier restaurant at the far right below:

The memorial includes a sculpture of a harrowing scene that includes a person in the water reaching up for help.

The memorial is for all of those who served throughout the nation's history.

In the same area was an engraving in the ground for a work by artist Wopo Holup:

I couldn't immediately tell where the actual art piece was, but I learned later that there are 37 scenes along the waterfront railing that depict different images from the history of the area. I happened to take a photo of two nearby without realizing that they were part of this artwork:

River That Flows Two Ways is a loose translation of a Native American name for the Hudson River. 

Here's a panorama from the waterfront area, facing the park and plaza:

Nearby in the park is The Sphere, a sculpture that used to be in a plaza in between the towers of the World Trade Center. It was damaged but not destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, and several months later it was brought here and made into a memorial for the victims. The damages were left as they were.

Close to The Sphere is another memorial, the New York Korean War Veterans Memorial.

The writing underneath the outlined figure reads, "The Universal Soldier." 

On the circular pavement directly around the object, there are country names engraved, many with figures written beneath. Here's one example:

Here was a plaque for the memorial:

The United States had 54,246 dead; 103,248 wounded; and 8,177 missing.  

It's hard to transition from such heavy memorials, but here's a look from the park at the Pier A area:

There were 3 posts just south of the building that I liked for their fish decorations:

On the northern side of the pier building is a nice little area with benches by the water and some interesting history:

Looking directly down into the water wasn't pleasant.

Alright, let's eat!

There were some nice red trees nearby.

They had an autumn look but this is springtime. Maybe they wanted Australian tourists to feel at home. It's autumn there, right? Aren't their seasons the opposite of ours?

The plaque mentioned markers on the ground for previous locations of the pier and shoreline.

There were markers in other parts of the plaza too.

In some of the photos so far you may have noticed a bunch of big globes throughout the plaza.

It's an art exhibit for the public called Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet. They have had exhibits in many cities throughout the country and the world. Cool Globes is a non-profit group since 2006 that started from the Clinton Global Initiative. 

Each globe addresses a different issue related to global warming. 

The title of the plaque for this one read "Green Your Laundry."

Many people touched the globes even though there were signs not to. I understand, though: they were right there in front of you.

Here's "Responsible Manufacturing":

This globe's plaque said "Adjust The Thermostat." The material refers to wearing a sweater instead of turning up the heat.

This one was plaque-less and spiky. It advocates for maintaining one's car to keep it energy-efficient.

This one had a plaque titled "Get Involved" and invoked the "I want you" message.

By the way, this plaza area also gave some great views of the buildings in the lowest part of Manhattan. 

The guy at the bottom was posing for a photo. Was he also:
a) dancing along to "YMCA"  
b) being Rose from Titanic
c) being R. Kelly from "I Believe I Can Fly"
d) really excited to be visiting New York

I like to think it was a combination of all of them. 

Here's a look from the area just north of the pier building:

I was struck by that big building just across from the park. It's called the Whitehall Building and dates back to the very early 20th century. 

This post doesn't feature much food, but along with the restaurant at the pier there were a few stands near the park.

Let's see some more of the globes! I hope I'm not being tedious by looking at too many individually, but I liked their messages and also how colorful and interesting they were to look at.

This was a cool one. Its plaque read, "Unity is Strength." Here's a few looks at it.

The lower right of the plaque mentions Know Tomorrow, which is a Cool Globes initiative led by students. 

This next one was made with reused materials.

These 3 were for protecting the rainforests, urban greening, and greening the home:

And then there was the globe that encouraged parents and kids to have fun without using electricity. It showed ways to play without being plugged in. 

It's not only a good message for kids and parents, but for me too. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to read a book for 10 straight minutes without checking my phone. Wish me luck.