Massive 40-Year-Old Sculpture Demolished for Battery Park City Resiliency Project

"A massive 40-year-old art sculpture is being demolished in Battery Park City to make way for the controversial North/West Battery Park City Resiliency (NWBPCR) project. The sculpture, titled Upper Room, by artist Ned Smyth, is a 20-column court featuring an elongated table with inlaid chessboards. The colonnade recalls ancient architecture and offered a public reprieve for New Yorkers. Commissioned in 1986, it was Battery Park City's first public art piece."

"On Wednesday, crews began tearing down the sculpture as part of a larger resiliency plan to integrate a coastal flood barrier management system to better protect against natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy, which caused $310 million in damage in Battery Park City. It will run along the Hudson River waterfront from First Place to Chambers Street. The project will also shut down the city's most expensive harbor North Cove Marina for five years, which, the New York Post reported, has been met with mixed reviews among local sailors."

"Smyth, whose sculpture was previously appraised by the BPCA at $1.5 million, along with nearby residents, also expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome. "I've lived in Battery Park City for 31 years, and in those 31 years, not one drop of water from the Hudson River has come within ten feet of the base of that unit, so the notion that that art piece has to be demolished for flood prevention is preposterous," John Dellaportas, the Vice President of The Battery Alliance, told the New York Post."

Upper Room, a 40-year-old public sculpture by Ned Smyth featuring a 20-column colonnade and an elongated table with inlaid chessboards, is being demolished in Battery Park City for the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency project. Crews began removal to make way for a coastal flood barrier management system designed to protect against events like Hurricane Sandy, which caused $310 million in local damage. The barrier will run along the Hudson River waterfront from First Place to Chambers Street and convert the sculpture’s footprint into a tidal gate. The BPCA appraised the work at $1.5 million; residents and the artist have questioned demolition and relocation decisions. The project will also close North Cove Marina for five years, drawing mixed reactions from sailors.

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