The Sphere
Battery Park, near Bowling Green entrance

Perhaps the most emotionally charged piece in Battery Park is the temporary memorial to the events of 9/11. "The Sphere," a sculpture by Fritz Koenig that stood at the World Trade Center as a symbol of world peace, was relocated to Battery Park on March 11, 2002, some six months after the terrorist attacks.

An eternal flame was added -- and lit -- on September 11, 2002, "in honor of all those who were lost," says an explanatory plaque. The Sphere, the plaque adds, "endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country."

East Coast Memorial
Battery Park, toward eastern end of Dewey Promenade

Dedicated in 1963, the East Coast Memorial features eight 19-foot-high granite walls, or pylons, inscribed with the name, rank, and home state of 4,601 servicemen who lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. The pylons tower over a corner of Battery Park overlooking New York Harbor. A bronze art deco-style eagle stands at the head of the monument.

The monument was restored in 1997 by a coalition of arts and conservation groups. (And, as a recent article in the New York Sun pointed out, there is a counterpart West Coast Memorial overlooking the entrance to San Francisco Harbor.)

New York Korean War Veterans Memorial
Battery Park, near West Street entrance

Dedicated in 1991, the New York Korean War Veterans Memorial is a 15-foot-tall black granite stele, carved from the center of which is the silhouette of an infantryman who represents the "universal soldier." Visitors can look through the cutout and see the Statue of Liberty.

The marker also serves as a sundial; at 10 a.m. every July 27 -- the time and date in 1953 New York when hostilities ended -- the sun lines up so as to shine through the memorial and illuminate a commemorative plaque on the ground. Ringing the base of the memorial are tile flags representing the 22 nations who lent troops to the effort, from Canada to South Africa to India.

The monument is notable as one of the first Korean War memorials in the United States.

American Merchant Mariners Memorial
Pier A, just west of Battery Park

The American Merchant Mariners Memorial features a depiction of a dramatic rescue after an attack by a German submarine on a merchant marine vessel. At high tide, one of the sculptured figures is submerged under water.

The sculpture by artist Marisol Escobar draws inspiration from photographs taken by the crew of the U-Boat of their handiwork. In fact, the figures who inspired the sculpture died at sea.

Although the memorial depicts an event from World War II, it commemorates the thousands of merchant ships and crews that were pressed into military service throughout the nation's history. As the memorial itself states: "This memorial serves as a marker for American's merchant mariners resting in the unmarked ocean depths."

Wireless Operators Memorial
Battery Park, just west of East Coast Memorial

This memorial dedicated in 1915 harkens back to the days when radiomen were indispensable members of nautical crews who served under often-perilous conditions. These men could -- and, as the memorial illustrates, did -- die in the service of their vessels. Indeed, the first name inscribed on the memorial is that of Jack Phillips, the radio operator on the ill-fated Titanic.

The memorial is modest -- a simple square column inscribed with names. But it drew the attention of the novelist Willa Cather, who wrote, "This monument is one of the most attractive and most friendly commemorative works in New York… these men died in storm and terror, but their names are brought together here and abide in a pleasant place with cheerful companionship."

Irish Hunger Memorial
Battery Park City, Vesey Street and North End Avenue

Dedicated in July 2002, this relatively new memorial is devoted to raising public awareness of the events that led to the "Great Irish Famine and Migration" of 1845-1852. The memorial represents a rural Irish landscape with an abandoned stone cottage, stone walls, fallow potato fields, and native Irish wildflowers like those found on the north Connacht wetlands of Ireland.

New York City Police Memorial
Battery Park City near Liberty Street and South End Avenue

This memorial, dedicated in October 1997 to all New York City police officers killed in the line of duty, was chosen from 180 proposed designs. The contract was awarded to architect Stuart B. Crawford, who describes the memorial's design as follows: "The life of a police officer is represented by a fountain and a flume. The fountain represents the rookie police officer's first day and serves as the genesis of the memorial. The linear flume acts as the timeline and flows over the split face bottom. The water then passes through a slot in a granite wall, representing the day of death, and falls into a shallow pool." The names of fallen officers are etched in the granite wall, and a fresh wreath is placed at the memorial every Friday during the summer months.