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Wagner Park is back—and it’s not just better, it’s climate-proof.
After an 18-month closure and a $296 million upgrade as part of the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, the 3.5-acre Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park reopened on Tuesday with a bang: a one-night-only performance by genre-bending artist Taylor Mac. But the real showstopper was the park itself, transformed into a resilient, ecological marvel that’s equal parts public oasis and storm-surge shield.
Located at the southern tip of Battery Park City, the reimagined Wagner Park now conceals a 63,000-gallon cistern beneath its lush lawns to recycle rainwater, a buried floodwall to fend off the next Superstorm Sandy and gardens teeming with native, salt-tolerant flora that will thrive even as tides rise. It's all part of New York’s ambitious Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency initiative—proof that climate adaptation can be both functional and fabulous.
Designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners and landscape architects at AECOM, the park’s new Pavilion is fully electrified and pursuing zero-carbon certification. A rooftop with Statue of Liberty views opens soon, with classrooms and dining spaces to follow.
Wagner’s comeback is a masterclass in future-facing design. Integrated flood barriers, dark-sky-compliant lighting, solar-reflective paving and even an educational marine habitat at Pier A all showcase how infrastructure and aesthetics can coexist. It’s also the first Battery Park City space to achieve WEDG verification, the waterfront design world’s gold standard.
And it’s still the park locals love. The sweeping lawn is back, so are the skyline views and sculptures, including Louise Bourgeois’s Eyes and the Tony Cragg Resonating Bodies. Add in a stacked lineup of free programming this season (think the Klezmatics, Bilal and Flor de Toloache), and you’ve got a public space that’s ready for anything—rain or shine, flood or festival.
“This park has always been a sanctuary,” said Council Member Christopher Marte. “Now it’s also a critical line of defense against the climate crisis.”
Wagner Park is proof that in New York, you really can have it all: resilience, beauty and a front-row seat to the harbor breeze.