Location #14 - The Battery Park Hotel

Today's Battery Park Hotel building replaced the original Battery Park Hotel owned by railroad mogul Frank Coxe, an almost impossibly ornate Victorian hotel perched on a hill nearly eighty feet above the current building. E.W. Grove bulldozed and shoveled the hill, leveling it to make room for more downtown construction. George Vanderbilt and his mother stayed at the original Battery Park, along with other notable travelers, before it eventually caught fire and became a rambling footnote to history. Architect William Stoddart designed the present-day building, using red brick and limestone, as an affordable alternative to luxury hotels in the city. In an adaptive re-use, the Battery Park serves today as an apartment house for senior citizens while it retains its classic detailing and urbane nature.