A little while ago, I saw an amazing picture on my phone of the Twin Towers in Manhattan, with a beautiful beach in front of them.
People were lounging on the sand, looking like they were in a tropical paradise. But is this for real?
The forgotten beach spot in New York City
If you stroll along the waterfront near Battery Park, where the Twin Towers once stood, it’s hard to believe there used to be a beach there.
Now, the area is filled with modern buildings and busy streets, and the sounds of the city fill the air. In the distance, you can see the Statue of Liberty while the waves softly hit a new boardwalk.
People used to come here to sunbathe, soaking up the sun and enjoying the shadows cast by the World Trade Center. Manhattan’s harbor offered a peaceful escape from the busy city life, making it feel like a different world compared to this overlooked beach with its sandy shore.
This sandy spot became a surprise getaway because of delays in building the World Trade Center in the mid-1970s.
Not meant for the public
To create a temporary beach along the waterfront, workers removed dirt from the nearby basin while the massive foundation for the Twin Towers was being built.
Even though it wasn’t designed for public use, Manhattan residents quickly claimed it as their own, turning it into an unexpected sanctuary. Under the towering World Trade Center, people found their peaceful spot by the water, played volleyball in the sand, and relaxed in the warm sunshine.
This hidden gem is known as Battery Park Beach, which was once a construction site but became a beautiful escape.
Interestingly, some people, like Suellen Epstein, still remember what it was like to enjoy that beach. In the photo below, you can see her soaking up the summer sun in 1977 while growing up in the nearby Tribeca neighborhood.
Suellen talked about her beach recollections in an interview with Tribeca Citizen, pointing out that the sand wasn’t really the fine, soft kind you’d find on a tropical shore. Naturally, the ocean waves never kissed the somewhat coarse sand.
Hey, though, it worked.
Suellen shared with Tribeca Citizen, “We didn’t have the means to travel to the Hamptons,” but she also mentioned, “We spent every sunny Sunday at the beach, as long as it wasn’t raining.” It was the perfect spot to enjoy the whole day.
In the photo above, Suellen and her partner enjoyed a rare moment of privacy. The beach was completely theirs on the day the Times captured the image.
“You felt like you were in the countryside of Manhattan instead of the city,” Suellen remembered.
Organizing the largest anti-nuclear protest ever
Besides being a peaceful escape, the “vast stretches of landfill” that were transformed into the beach also became a powerful stage for social activism. A well-known black-and-white photo from September 23, 1979, depicts a sandy area that became the heart of a massive anti-nuclear protest.
As 200,000 people gathered at the tip of Manhattan for what would become the largest anti-nuclear and pro-solar rally in history, many sat on the sand, soaking up the sun, enjoying free music, and engaging in a wave of debate.
The beach was filled with celebrities who were supporting a cause, making the day memorable for more than just the huge crowd. Jane Fonda gave a moving speech, while musicians like Pete Seeger and Jackson Browne entertained everyone.
The national protest movement, which had mostly died down after the Vietnam War ended in 1975, was revived by this event.
This time, the spotlight was on nuclear power, especially after the Harrisburg nuclear accident earlier that year reignited public interest.
Creative Art Displays
Tribeca Beach, also known as Battery Park Beach, was buzzing with creativity and fun. Artists lived and worked in the city, and many small dance groups were flourishing. During this time, a grant was awarded to the public arts organization Creative Time to bring art to the beach, showcasing a striking installation by local environmental artist Mary Miss.
In 1980, when the beach hosted Art on the Beach, young sculptor Nancy Rubins had a special chance to leave her mark on this iconic spot. At just 27 years old, she was amazed by the beach’s size and the engineering behind it. She created a piece using discarded items she gathered in large quantities from various Goodwills, including lampshades, hoses, and small appliances.
Ultimately, her artwork transformed into a 45-foot-high tornado made of trash.
“It was incredibly humbling to work there. When I was young, it felt really big,” she told The New York Times.
A Massive Wheat Field
Agnes Denes’s Heatfield – A Confrontation was another striking installation on the site. The two acres of wheat she planted, facing the Statue of Liberty and just a few blocks from Wall Street and the World Trade Center, provided a shocking contrast to the modern skyscrapers.
Denes put in 16-hour days to make everything happen, and she and her team spent a month planting wheat. The purpose of the article was to highlight the urgent environmental challenges facing the country’s financial center.
A striking contradiction emerged when a wheat field was cultivated and harvested on land valued at $4.5 billion. This wheat field became a global concept and symbol representing energy, food, business, international trade, and economics. Denes’ project description pointed out issues like mismanagement, waste, world hunger, and environmental concerns.
Don’t you think the images from this project are almost as stunning as the beach itself?
The true story behind the beach photo in Manhattan
I was first attracted to this story because of the same creative energy that inspired Chris Galori and David Vanden-Eynden to visit the beach. They are the individuals in the photo below, taken by Fred Conrad, a former photographer for The New York Times, in 1977.
In a 2019 interview with The New York Times, environmental graphic designer David shared his memories of the location, saying, “The views of the towers and across the river were amazing, and there was nothing there yet.” He also mentioned that while some waste was not contained, certain areas were blocked off from the public.
I was first attracted to this story because of the imaginative energy that inspired David Vanden-Eynden and Chris Galori to visit the beach. They are the two people in the photo below, which was taken by Fred Conrad, a former photographer for The New York Times.
This photo was captured in 1977.
In a 2019 interview with The New York Times, David, an environmental graphic artist, shared his memories of that time:
“The views of the towers and the river were stunning, but there was nothing there yet.” He also mentioned that while some areas were blocked off, not all of the waste was contained.
The unsettling truth behind the images
So, what happened to this almost dreamlike place?
According to The New York Times, things began to change when about 3,000 people moved to Battery Park City in 1983. Now, the area feels more like a suburban office park rather than a vibrant city neighborhood.
By 2000, nearly all of the old landfill had been developed.
However, an event in 2001 changed the meaning of these images entirely. The pictures of those sunbathers enjoying their time make it hard to forget what happened to the Twin Towers on that fateful September day.
On the Beach, Manhattan, 1977
byu/beliberden inOldSchoolCool
We already know what they couldn’t have: the tragic fall of the World Trade Center, which would change New York City’s landscape forever.
These pictures now feel both sad and strange. After looking at them, one person commented, “Wow! This image shows life, death, youth, growing old, peace, and hope.”
It’s hard to ignore how powerful that feeling is. The destruction that would happen years later was beyond what these happy sunbathers could imagine.
“There’s so much to say,” another person mentioned. “But I’ll just look and cry.”
As we look at these famous images, we are reminded of the unsettling truth: everything changes over time, often in ways we don’t expect.
Did you enjoy this story? If so, please share it with your friends, especially using the Facebook share button.