Teardrop Park

Teardrop Park

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Teardrop Park is a public park in lower Manhattan, in Battery Park City, near the site of the World Trade Center. It was designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a New York City landscape architecture firm. The park includes art designed for it by Ann Hamilton. The park sits between residential buildings toward the north end of Battery Park City at the corner of Warren Street and River Terrace. The creation of Teardrop Park is part of the ongoing construction of Battery Park City, a neighborhood on the southwest edge of Manhattan Island that was created in the 1970s by landfilling the Hudson River between the existing bulkhead and the historic pierhead line. Before construction, the site was empty and flat. The park was designed in anticipation of four high residential towers that would define its eastern and western edges. Although Teardrop Park is a New York City public park, the client for the park was the Battery Park City Authority, and maintenance is overseen by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.^[1]

The park opened on September 30, 2004, and is one of several in Battery Park City. Located near Rockefeller Park, which has a popular playground with standard equipment, Teardrop Park was designed in collaboration with play experts from the Natural Learning Initiative to complement rather than replicate the existing play area. Teardrop's play elements are integrated into the landscape to allow city children to interact with natural materials such as water, plants, rock, and sand. Teardrop Park was praised for its use of natural plantings in a children's park.^[2]^[3] One article described the park as being crowded with children and parents, jampacked with experience, and offering a welcome naturalistic retreat from the city.^[4] Another critic said the park was barely used because it didn't offer enough things to do.^[5] A subsequent article, written by child development experts who helped design the park, said a study indicated that the park is well used, and "deserves to be praised as a successful public space.^[6]"

The shadier southern half of the site is an active play area featuring a long slide, two sand pits, "theatre steps" and a water playground. The northern half of the park is unprogrammed play space featuring a broad lawn, which is graded to catch the most light from the south, park benches, a small wetland play path, and a perched gathering area made from New York State rocks, an installation created by the artist Ann Hamilton. Dividing these two areas is a large rock wall, constructed from sedimentary rocks brought from elsewhere in New York State. The rocks are stacked to resemble a natural stratum and include a water source to allow icicles to form in the winter. A short tunnel connects the two areas, and is an homage to Frederick Law Olmsted and the tunnels he created within Central Park in New York City. Pathways criss-cross the site, providing elevated views within the park and beyond as well as urban connections across the park. The park was designed in accordance with Battery Park City's Green Guidelines.^[7] Sustainable initiatives include reusing gray water collected from the surrounding buildings in the irrigation of the park as well as the selection of sustainable construction materials. The plantings of Teardrop Park are designed to thrive on a relatively shady site and provide habitat for native and migratory birds. The soils of the park are designed to support plant life without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides.

With construction beginning in 2008 and completion projected in 2009, Teardrop Park was expanded across the street to the south. The design of Teardrop South was also by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and it continued certain themes from the original park. The new portion of the parkaddressed its heavily shaded microclimate through the introduction of three 8-foot-diameter (2.4 m) heliostats, or solar mirrors, that reflect the sun from the top of a residential apartment building in Battery Park City. The mirrors were designed by Carpenter Norris Consulting.^[8]

References

↑ http://www.bpcparks.org/bpcp/home/index.php
↑ Dunlap, David, "A Chip Off the Old Park," New York Times, September 30, 2004
↑ Crain, Ellen, "Teardrop Park for Kids", Letter to the Editor, New York Times, October 2, 2004
↑ Hines, Susan, "Abstract Realism", Landscape Architecture, February 2007
↑ Great Public Spaces, Project for Public Spaces, New York
↑ Moore, Robin, "Critic at Large: Reason to Smile at Teardrop," Landscape Architecture, December 2007, p. 136
↑ Green Guidelines
↑ Dumiak, Michael, "Simple and bright, heliostats tap sunlight for lighting outdoor and, increasingly, indoor spaces", Architectural Record, May 2007

External links

Media related to Teardrop Park at Wikimedia Commons

Water Path Photos via Delta Fountains

Protected Areas of New York City

Federal

National Historic Sites	Lower East Side Tenement Museum Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace

National Monuments and Memorials	African Burial Ground Castle Clinton Federal Hall General Grant Governors Island Hamilton Grange Statue of Liberty

Other Protected Areas	Gateway National Recreation Area Floyd Bennett Field Fort Tilden Fort Wadsworth Great Kills Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Jacob Riis Miller Field

State

State Parks	Bayswater Point Clay Pit Ponds East River Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Gantry Plaza Riverbank Roberto Clemente

City Parks and
Preserves

Manhattan	79th Street Boat Basin Abingdon Square Albert Capsouto Asphalt Green Battery Bennett British Garden at Hanover Square Bowling Green Bryant Captain Patrick J. Brown Walk Carl Schurz Central Chelsea City Hall Collect Columbus Corlears Hook Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Damrosch Dante DeSalvio Playground DeWitt Clinton Drumgoole Plaza Duane East River Greenway East River Esplanade East River Park Stuyvesant Cove Finn Square Foley Square Fort Tryon Fort Washington Gorman Gramercy Hamilton Fish Hanover Square Harlem River Hell's Kitchen Herald Square High Line Highbridge Holcombe Rucker Hudson Hudson River Imagination Playground at Burling Slip Inwood Hill Isham J. Hood Wright Jackie Robinson Jackson Square John Jay Liberty Louis Cuvillier Madison Square Manhattan Waterfront Greenway Marcus Garvey Mill Rock Mitchell Square Morningside Murphy's Brother's Playground Muscota Marsh Paley Peretz Square Peter Cooper Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Ralph Bunche Randalls Island Richard Tucker Square Riverside Robert Moses Playground Roosevelt Triangle Rucker Sakura Samuel N. Bennerson 2nd Playground Sara Delano Roosevelt Septuagesimo Uno Seward Sheridan Square Sherman Square St. John's St. Nicholas St. Vartan Straus Stuyvesant Square Swindler Cove Teardrop Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Jefferson Thomas Paine Tompkins Square Tribeca Union Square Verdi Square Vesuvio Playground Wards Island Washington Market Washington Square West Side Community Garden Winston Churchill Zuccotti

Brooklyn	American Veterans Memorial Pier Amersfort Asser Levy Bath Beach Betsy Head Bensonhurst Breukelen Ballfields Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Heights Promenade Brooklyn–Queens Greenway Brower Bushwick Byrne Cadman Plaza Canarsie Carroll Calvert Vaux City Line Coffey Columbus Commodore Barry Coney Island Beach & Boardwalk Coney Island Creek Continental Army Plaza Cooper Dyker Beach Floyd Bennett Field Fort Greene Four Sparrow Marsh Frank M. Charles Fresh Creek Nature Preserve Friends Field Fulton Gravesend Green Central Knoll Herbert Von King Highland Irving Square JJ Byrne Jamaica Bay Park John J. Carty John Paul Jones Kaiser Kelly Leif Ericson Leon S. Kaiser Playground Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino Lincoln Terrace Linden Lindower Linton Manhattan Beach Maria Hernandez Marine McCarren McGolrick McKinley Mt. Prospect Owl's Head Paerdegat Basin Paerdegat Prospect Red Hook Robert E. Venable Saratoga Scarangella Seaside Seth Low Shore Spring Creek Steeplechase Sternberg St. Johns Sunset Tompkins Trinity Van Voorhees Walt Whitman Wingate WNYC Transmitter Zion Triangle

The Bronx	Baretto Point Bicentennial Veterans Bronx Castle Hill City Island Wetlands Claremont Concrete Plant Crotona Devoe Ewen Ferry Point Givans Creek Woods Grant Haffen Harding Harris Henry Hudson Hunts Point Jerome Joseph Rodman Drake Joyce Kilmer Julius Richman Macombs Dam Mill Pond Mullaly New York Botanical Garden North and South Brother Islands Orchard Beach Pelham Bay Rodman's Neck Playground 52 Poe Pugsley Creek Rainey Raoul Wallenberg Forest Richman Riverdale St. Mary's Seton Falls Seton Soundview Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront St. James St. Mary's Starlight Tremont University Woods Van Cortlandt Vidalia Vinmont Veteran Washington's Walk

Queens	Admiral Alley Alley Pond Andrews Grove Astoria Baisley Pond Bayside Fields Bayswater Beach Channel Big Bush Bowne Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary Breininger Broad Channel American Park Broad Channel Park Broad Channel Wetlands Brooklyn–Queens Greenway Brookville Bulova Captain Tilly Crocheron Cunningham Det. Keith L. Williams Det. William T. Gunn Dr. Charles R. Drew Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary Doughboy Douglaston Elmhurst Evergreen Flushing Fields Flushing Meadows-Corona Forest Fort Tilden Fort Totten Francis Lewis Frank Golden Frank Principe Haggerty Harvey Highland Hinton Hoffman Hook Creek Hunter's Point Idlewild Jamaica Bay John Golden Juniper Valley Kissena Kohlreiter Square Libra Triangle Linnaeus Little Bay Louis Pasteur Mafera Macneil Marconi Marie Curie Montbellier O'Donohue Overlook Park of the Americas Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Ofc. Edward Byrne Powell's Cove Queens County Farm Museum Queensbridge Rachel Carson Railroad Ralph Demarco Rochdale Rockaway Community Rufus King Seagirt Avenue Wetlands Socrates Sculpture Spring Creek Springfield St. Albans Travers Tudor Udall's Park Preserve Wayanda

Staten Island	Aesop Allison Pond Amundsen Circle Annadale Arbutus Woods Arden Woods Austen House Barrett Bayview Terrace Blood Root Valley Bloomingdale Blue Heron Park Preserve Blueberry Bradys Bunker Ponds Buono Beach Carlton Clove Lakes Clove's Tail Conference House Corporal Thompson Crescent Beach Deere Eibs Pond Faber Fairview Father Macris Forest Grove Fort Hill Fort Wadsworth FDR Boardwalk and Beach Freshkills Gaeta Great Kills Graniteville Quarry Graniteville Swamp Hero High Rock\| Hoffman Island Huguenot Ponds Hybrid Oak Woods Ingram Woods Isle of Meadows Jones Woods Joseph Manna King Fisher Kingdom Pond Last Chance LaTourette Lemon Creek Long Pond Gen. MacArthur Maple Woods Mariners Marsh Meredith Woods Midland Beach Midland Field Miller Field Mount Loretto Unique Area New Dorp Beach New York Chinese Scholar's Garden Northerleigh Park Ocean Breeze Old Place Creek Olmstead-Beil House Prall's Island Reed's Basket WIllow Swamp Richmond Terrace Wetlands Saw Mill Creek Marsh Schmul Seaside Wildlife Nature Shooters Island Siedenburg Silver Lake Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden Sobel Court South Beach Wetlands St. George Staten Island Greenbelt Staten Island Industrial Swinburne Island Tappen Tompkinsville Tottenville Shore Von Briesen Walker Wegener Westerleigh Westwood William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge Willowbrook Wolfe's Pond

Other

Nature centers	Alley Pond Belvedere Castle Blue Heron Crotona Dana Discovery Center Forest Fort Greene Fort Totten Greenbelt High Rock Inwood Hill Orchard Beach Prospect Salt Marsh Van Cortlandt

Zoos	Bronx Central Park Prospect Queens Staten Island

Botanical Gardens	Brooklyn Botanic Conservatory New York Botanical Queens Botanical Staten Island Botanical New York Chinese Scholar's Wave Hill

Roosevelt Island	Lighthouse Southpoint

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

Coordinates: 40°43′00″N 74°00′56″W / 40.71667°N 74.01556°W / 40.71667; -74.01556

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