A few moments ago, a spectacular picture of the Twin Towers in Manhattan with a gorgeous beach in the foreground appeared on my phone’s screen.
As though they were in a tropical paradise, people were relaxing in the sand. Could this be genuine, though?
The neglected beach haven in New York City
It’s almost hard to comprehend that there used to be a beach along the shoreline if you walk along the seas close to Battery Park, where the Twin Towers used to be.
The neighborhood is now dotted with modern structures and busy streets, and the sound of the city permeates the atmosphere. The Statue of Liberty can be seen in the distance as the sea gently laps against a contemporary promenade.
In actuality, though, people used to sunbathe here, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the World Trade Center’s shadows. Manhattan’s harbor welcomed people looking for a unique moment of peace and quiet, and the city’s hustle and bustle looked worlds away from this neglected seaside haven with its own sandy beachfront.
However, this sandy retreat was an unplanned oasis created by the World Trade Center’s construction delays in the middle of the 1970s.
Not intended for public use
In order to create a temporary beach along the waterfront, workmen dug up soil from the neighboring basin as the Twin Towers’ huge foundation took shape.
Manhattanites swiftly adopted it as their own, transforming it into an unexpected refuge even though it wasn’t intended for public usage. Under the looming shadow of the World Trade Center, readers found their quiet place by the sea, volleyball matches broke out in the sand, and sunbathers relaxed in the warm light of the sun.
Battery Park Beach is the name given to the stretch of sand that was formerly a building site and turned into a hidden beauty.
Amazingly, some people, like Suellen Epstein, can still recall what it was like to take a bath on that beach. She is shown in the photo below, enjoying the summer sun in 1977 while growing up in the adjacent Tribeca area.
