A Walk Along The Esplanade of Battery Park City

In my last post, I showed a portion of New York's Battery Park City's Esplanade which runs the entire length of Battery Park City, along the Hudson River from Stuyvesant High School on the north end all the way south to Historic Battery Park. The Esplanade is a pedestrian paradise, with views of the Hudson River and New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the New Jersey shoreline.  Parks and gardens line the entire route, along with numerous sculptures and public art installations.

Battery Parks City Conservatory (BPC Parks) is a non-profit organization that operates the nearly 36 acres of open space in Battery Park City and maintains all the parks that were built upon this area of landfill on the southwestern portion of Manhattan, replacing piers that had fallen into disrepair in the 1960s.

The South Cove on the Esplanade, between First Place and Third Place, is one of Battery Park City's most popular destinations.  In this section, we walk on a bridge over a water feature.

South Cove's winding walkways, quays, bridge and island, distinctive seaside plantings, and views of the Harbor provide a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city.

On a warm day, the esplanade is filled with people walking, running, rollerblading, and biking. The day I visited it was another one of July's unusually hot and humid days and therefore the esplanade was relatively quiet.

As I walked along the Esplanade I enjoyed the views of Jersey City, New Jersey on the opposite shore....

....... while I also admired the beautiful flowers along the path and...

...all the views of the busy water traffic on the Hudson River.

The Esplanade led to the North Cove, located on the river between Liberty Street and Vesey Street

The North Cove is a busy public yacht marina and is the home to the Manhattan Yacht Club and the North Cove Sailing School.  Charters and water taxis also arrive and depart from this location.

Directly behind the North Cove is the World Financial Center. This stunning marble and glass office complex was designed by Cesar Pelli.  It is home to the world headquarters of American Express, Merrill Lynch, Dow Jones, and Deloitte and Touche.  Next door is the New York Mercantile Exchange and Goldman Sachs just built their new world headquarters next to the Financial Center.

The centerpiece of the World Financial Center is the famous Winter Garden.  This glass atrium is home to a grove of royal palm trees and there are also stores, restaurants, coffee, and pastry shops inside.  All the public spaces within the World Financial Center are made of luxurious marble imported from Italy.  Located just outside the Winter Garden is the World Financial Center Plaza.  It has plenty of seating and provides a wonderful place to pause for a bite to eat while looking out over the North Cove and the Hudson River.

I'll continue my walk along the Battery Park City Esplanade in my next post where I'll show you more of the fabulous parks along its route and also one of the most fanciful children's parks I've ever seen. It reminded me of a scene that could have been taken right out of Alice in Wonderland!