Battery Park, Manhattan

View of Battery Park, on the southern tip of Manhattan. Hudson River is in the distance. Photograph by Angelo Rizzuto (1906-1967) taken in October 1953. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The granite-faced monumental ventilation building of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel entrance, between Washington and Greenwich streets, can be seen in the picture. The tunnel officially opened in 1950.

From the first European settlement to the early 19th century, this area was dedicated to defense. The Battery Park was created in 1823. In the second half of 19th century it became an immigration center.