“From coastal resiliency and sustainable green practices to the preservation of affordable housing, world-class public art, and vibrant, year-round programming in award-winning public spaces, Battery Park City leads the way in many of the measures that makes cities livable."
BPC Parks Happenings is a monthly “snapshot” of the Authority’s work in maintaining Battery Park City’s parks and public spaces. Scroll down to see what’s happening in September!
– Art Is For The Birds: In preparation for fall bird migration season and building on the success of the artwork done last spring, BPCA staff completed a new bird-safe mural on the windows of the public restroom in Teardrop Park. The paint effectively disrupts reflections in the glass, which are known to cause often-fatal window collisions.
– The Kids Are Alright: Thank you Adela Navarrete, a P226M student, who painted a bird-safe mural on two windows at BPCA’s 75 Battery Place building. If you haven’t seen it, stop by!
– Helping Hands: BPCA recently held an injured bird information session about how to handle bird injuries in BPC. If you missed it, or know someone who would be interested, you can view the recording here.
Maintaining the Park
– Can You Dig It: New play sand has been be added to the Rockefeller Park Playground sandbox.
– Keeping Dry: As part of our ongoing resiliency efforts and preparedness, our team has been testing the flood panel system on the east side of West Thames / Robert R. Douglass Bridge.
– GOOOOOOAL!: The BPC Ball Fields have been converted from baseball fields to soccer pitches for the fall sports season.
– Principled Pathways: You may experience some temporary pedestrian reroutes as our masons do repair work on our hex pavers along the waterside esplanade and the lower level of the South Cove. We will return regular pedestrian access as quickly as possible.
– Water, Water Everywhere: Summer is coming to an end, but there’s still time to splash around! Water play features are located at each playground and operate from 9AM to 8:30PM. There is full water play access at Rockefeller Park Playground, West Thames Playground, and the automatic water misters at the West Thames turf play area. The Teardrop Park water rocks are back online but off due to nearby scaffolding and The Real World‘s moat will be back this month. For your pets, there’s dog run water features at the North Dog Run and Kowsky Plaza “Sirius” Dog Run, and dog water fountains at all three dog runs. The North End Avenue dog run is manually turned on at 1PM and turned off at 8:30PM.
–Cutting Back: Three honey locust trees by the Vesey Street Ferry Terminal will be removed due to canopy dieback. Other tree pruning activities will also happen to maintain the health of our trees.
– Branching Out: Watering of hanging baskets and newly planted trees will take place three times per week to ensure optimal plant health. In October 2024 we planted eight native trees for our streets within Battery Park City, two Red Maples (Acer rubrum), four Swamp Oaks (Quercus bicolor) and two Elms (Ulmus americana). These trees are being delivered as a part of the Tree Power 2.0 grant program through the New York Power Authority.
– You Spin Me Right Round: Our team replaced worn wheel and pedal components of the Rockefeller Park Playground carousel on September 8. The carousel (and playground) is intended for children under the age of 12, and proper use of playground equipment is the best way to extend its useful life.
Biodiversity
– See Something, Stomp Something: Look out for our traps on our trees to help control Spotted Lanternfly nymphs and adults as they reach peak population levels later this month. if you see Spotted Lanternflies, report it to the BPC iNaturalist page so we know where the population locations are!
– Calling All Photographers: With Wagner Park newly reopened, we welcome the public to upload any pictures of wildlife to our iNaturalist page. This data will help us establish a baseline for the biodiversity that call and will call the new park home
– More Than Moth Balls: For National Moth Week, we conducted a BioBlitz in South Cove, The Esplanade, Teardrop Park and the Irish Hunger Memorial. This helps us get an idea of how many of these important pollinators live in our gardens. Moths are important pollinators and play a vital role in our ecosystem.
Volunteering
– Many Hands Make Light Work: Battery Park City Authority is looking for volunteers who would like to join us in completing gardening tasks. If you’re interested email info.bpc@bpca.ny.gov for more info and fill out our application form.
– On The Lookout: We appreciate your feedback when you see something in the parks! Please share what you see and experience with info.bpc@bpca.ny.gov
Sustainability at BPCA
In July we composted 4,894 lbs. of food waste, and 51 pounds of dog waste from the community.
Now that residential buildings are composting through DSNY, BPCA has relocated the compost bins to capture food waste in the parks. Based on past waste audits, around 10% of the waste thrown in our landfill cans is food waste.
Please remember to use our green compost bins to discard your food waste. And if you’re walking along the South Esplanade or in one of our three dog runs, help BPCA reach zero waste by composting your dog waste.
Our community food compost drop-off bins are open 24/7 and are located at: 75 Battery place office; South esplanade near Rector Place; West Thames near the artificial turf; Police Memorial area; Belvedere; River Terrace near the Irish Hunger Memorial; Rockefeller Picnic Benches; The Real World in Rockefeller Park; NEA island across from Stuyvesant High school; and at the Ball Field Terrace.
Our Path to Zero! As a decades-long leader in sustainability, BPCA is striving to divert 90% of what is sent to landfill! To continue helping toward our Zero Waste goal, we ask that you rethink what you throw away in the parks, and please recycle or compost items.
