- The stretch of sand, known as Battery Park Beach, approached the tip of Manhattan.
- Suellen Epstein spent many weekends there with her boyfriend at the time.
- ‘By 2000, almost all of the former landfill had already been developed,’ he explained.
Fascinating photographs reveal that there was once a beach in New York City, which city dwellers and tourists alike enjoyed for six years before it was developed.
The strip of sand, which emerged in the 1970s and was known as Battery Park Beach, approached the tip of Manhattan with the Twin Towers looming in the background.
Suellen Epstein, who lived in the Tribeca neighborhood at the time, told the Tribeca Citizen who spent many weekends at the beach with her then boyfriend and was great for those who couldn’t afford to travel further afield.
She explained: ‘We didn’t have the resources to go to the Hamptons.
‘We were there on the beach on any sunny Sunday, as long as it wasn’t raining… You felt like you weren’t in the city, like you were in the countryside of Manhattan.’
The stretch of sand, which emerged in the 1970s and was known as Battery Park Beach, approached the tip of Manhattan.
A black and white photograph taken on 23 September 1979 shows how the beach was used to organise a demonstration and concert against nuclear energy.
According to an article in The New York Times, the beach was actually “acres and acres of landfill” and was not intended for public use.
The New Yorker noted that it was “not the most luxurious sand,” with a “granular” texture.
A black and white photograph taken on 23 September 1979 shows how the beach was used to stage a demonstration and concert against nuclear energy, with hundreds of people sitting on the sand.
According to an article in The New York Times, the beach was actually “acres and acres of landfill” and was not intended for public use.
But with construction plans delayed, Manhattanites began taking over the sandy wasteland as their own playground.
Some areas were fenced off, but most were open to explore.
Recalling the sprawling site, another New York resident, environmental graphic designer David Vanden-Eynden, told The New York Times: “There was nothing there yet and there were spectacular views of the towers and across the river.”
Detailing what happened to the beach, the same article explains: ‘The first wave of settlers would not arrive in Battery Park City until the early 1980s.
‘By 2000, almost all of the former landfill had been urbanised.
British performance and fashion group Shock on the sands of Battery Park Beach in 1981
Musicians Avis Davis (left) and Joy Ryder on the beach during one of the No Nukes: MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) concerts in 1979
“By 2000, almost all of the former landfill was developed,” explains a New York Times article. Above, an image of the beach with the Twin Towers behind in 1973.
‘Shortly afterwards, of course, the Twin Towers fell and residents suddenly became refugees.’
Several Times photographers were sent to capture photographs of the beach and some images. shared on Reddit They have garnered dozens of comments.
Many commentators have called the scenes “wild” and “surreal.”
Another Redditor mused: ‘I love these photos.’
‘I remember seeing them for the first time, and as a teenager born and raised in New York, I was stunned that anything remotely resembling a beach could ever exist in Manhattan.’