About the Battery Conservancy
The Battery Conservancy was created in 1994 as a 501(c)(3) not–for–profit educational corporation to rebuild and revitalize the Battery and Castle Clinton National Monument, the park’s major landmark. The Conservancy spearheads the improvement efforts in partnership on City, State and Federal Levels, and with its private donors.
The Conservancy plays a pivotal role in the future of the Battery, Lower Manhattan, the waterfront, and the quality of community life for residents, workers and visitors of Downtown. New York City owns and maintains the Battery through the Department of Parks & Recreation; the U.S. government owns and maintains Castle Clinton through the National Park Service; and both are major sites in New York State’s Harbor Heritage Area. Warrie Price, founder of the Conservancy, serves as Battery Conservancy President, and as the City’s Battery Administrator and the State's Harbor Park Director.
The Battery remains one of the oldest public open spaces in continuous use in New York City. American Indians fished from its banks, and the first Dutch settlers built a low, stone wall with cannons, a battery to protect the harbor and New Amsterdam. The transformations of the Battery and that of the Castle tell the history of New York and, by association, the growth and development of our nation.
The Conservancy honors and preserves this heritage by rebuilding the park’s landscape to interpret its past. The new landscape also celebrates the natural environment while meeting the needs of a growing residential population, crowds of bustling commuters and workers, and the millions of visitors who come from all over the world to see the Statue of Liberty, the magic of this harbor and its many cultural destinations.
To date, the Conservancy and its partners have raised $112 million in public and private funds to design, build, maintain and program this irreplaceable site. The Conservancy will continue to raise funds for educational and cultural programs to ensure the park becomes a great New York destination. The Conservancy has demonstrated to the private and public sectors that it can stimulate great design, obtain civic approvals, and build to standard of excellence while staying within budget and on time.
To view the Battery Conservancy's IRS forms and audited financial statements, please click on the links below. The files will open in a new window.