"Battery Park City and the Authority are not just about the buildings – it’s about the character of the community that has developed over time. Public space has had a new renaissance in New York City, but here in Battery Park City is where it started."
The 30,000-square-foot Museum of Jewish Heritage is located on the waterfront at 36 Battery Place in Battery Park City. With its six-sided shape and tiered roof symbolic of the six points of the Star of David and the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, the Museum has proved a powerful attraction as one of New York City’s newest cultural destinations.
The Museum goes beyond recounting the horrors of the Holocaust; Its mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the broad tapestry of Jewish life over the past century – before, during, and after the Holocaust.
The Museum began construction on an 82,000 square-foot addition in fall 2001. The four-story wing, designed by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, architects of the original Museum building, contains Safra Hall, a state-of-the-art theater suitable for films, lectures and performances; a memorial garden entitled Garden of Stones created by Andy Goldsworthy; classrooms; a resource center and library; a living history center; expanded gallery space for temporary exhibitions; offices; Abigael’s at the Museum, a kosher cafe operated by celebrity chef Jeff Nathan; and an event/catering hall. The wing was named in honor of Robert M. Morgenthau, the Museum’s Chairman and Manhattan District Attorney, in April 2003.
