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Some Milestones in B.P.C. history

1962 First ideas are floated for developing 20 rotting piers at the southwest corner of Manhattan.

1968 State Legislature creates the Battery Park City Authority to develop and manage a new neighborhood.

1972-1976 First 25 acres of the landfill neighborhood is built from excavation material in the construction of the World Trade Center. The other 67 acres come from New York Harbor.

1975 Master plan is developed for the neighborhood includes a series of self-contained “pods” with pedestrian walkways above street level.

1979 Master plan, revised by Alex Cooper and Stanton Eckstut, eliminates the pod idea, includes an esplanade and is designed to match the city’s street grid.

1980-1982 Gateway Plaza, the neighborhood’s first and still the largest residential complex is built with 1712 apartments.

1981-1988 The World Financial Center and the Winter Garden is built in stages by Olympia & York, precursor to the current owner Brookfield Properties.

1989 North Cove marina opens.

1992 North Park, later renamed Rockefeller Park, and Stuvesant High School open.

1996 Wagner Park opens.

1997 New York Mercantile Exchange building and the Museum of Jewish Heritage opens.

1999 P.S./I.S. 89 opens.

2000 Embassy Suites Hotel and cineplex open.

Fall 2001 Eight B.P.C. residents die at the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001. Much of the neighborhood is closed off the first two weeks after the attack and gradually reopens.

2002 Ritz Carlton opens.

2003 The Solaire, believed to be the first “green” residential highrise and the permanent ballfields open.

2004 The Skyscraper Museum opens.

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