Teardrop Park

Teardrop Park is a public park in downtown Manhattan, in Battery Park City near to the site of the World Trade Center. It was designed by Michael Van Valkenburg Associates, a leading firm of landscape architects. The park design includes artworks specifically designed for the park location by Ann Hamilton.

Location of the Park

The park is located in a niche between residential buildings in Battery Park City. It is located at the corner of Warren Street and River Terrace, towards the north end of Battery Park City.

Design of the Park

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. Prior to 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 [http://www.bpcparks.org/bpcp/home/index.php Battery Park City Parks Conservancy] .

The park opened on September 30, 2004 and is just one within a network of Battery Park City parks. In the immediate vicinity of Teardrop Park, Rockefeller Park features a popular playground with standard equipment. In designing another children's park in the area, the choice was made to complement rather than replicate the programmatic uses of Rockefeller Park. At Teardrop, play elements are integrated into the landscape with the intention of providing city children with play experiences that encourage sensory imagination through interaction with natural materials including water, plants, rock, and sand. Teardrop Park was designed in collaboration with play experts from the [http://www.naturalearning.org/ Natural Learning Initiative] .

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 New York State sedimentary rocks specially imported for the park. 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 [http://www.batteryparkcity.org/page/page23.html Green Guidelines] . 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 will be expanded across the street to the south. The design of Teardrop South is also by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and it will continue certain themes from the original park. The new portion of the park will address its heavily shaded microclimate through the introduction of three eight foot diameter 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 [Michael Dumiak, [http://archrecord.construction.com/tech/techBriefs/0705dignews-1.asp "Simple and bright, heliostats tap sunlight for lighting outdoor and, increasingly, indoor spaces"] , "Architectural Record", May 2007] ] .

Use of the Park

When it was first opened in 2004, Teardrop Park was praised for its use of natural plantings in a children's park [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/30/nyregion/30park.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=teardrop+park&st=nyt&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Dunlap, David, "A Chip Off the Old Park," New York Times, September 30, 2004] ] [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E7DE1038F931A35753C1A9629C8B63&scp=1&sq=teardrop+park&st=nyt Crain, Ellen, "Teardrop Park for Kids", Letter to the Editor, New York Times, October 2, 2004] ] . One article described the park as being crowded with children and parents, jampacked with experience, and offering a welcome naturalistic retreat from the city [ [http://www.asla.org/lamag/lam07/february/feature2.html Hines, Susasn, "Abstract Realism", Landscape Architecture Magazine, February 2007] ] .

One website article drew dramatically different conclusions, suggesting that the park was barely used because it didn't offer enough things to do [ [http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=869 Great Public Spaces, Project for Public Spaces, New York] ] . A subsequent article in the December 2007 issue of "Landscape Architecture Magazine", written by child development experts associated with the design of the park, challenged this negative use evaluation in light of a comprehensive post-occupancy study of park use (Moore, Robin, "Critic at Large: Reason to Smile at Teardrop," p.136). Their observations and analysis describe a park that provides multiple opportunities for imaginiative and active play, is well used, and "deserves to be praised as a successful public space."

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