A few weeks ago a friend asked how I find out about a lot of things in the city and it's a variety of things. I'll see a tweet or an ad, maybe even a comment on an article, then jot it down and hope I remember to look into it later on.
The SeaGlass Carousel at The Battery is one of those things. I'm not sure where I first heard about it but after I googled for a bit I knew I had to visit. A friend was visiting from out of town and we were planning on being in the Battery Park area in downtown New York already, so I made sure to tell her that we definitely had to find the SeaGlass Carousel.
Here's a brief rundown:
Location: Entrance at State St and Water St, New York City
212-344-3491
Cost: $5.00
Opened in August of 2015, the carousel was created by Warrie Price, founding president of the Battery Park Conservancy and is the work of New York architectural firm WXY and artist George Tsypin.
What ties it all together is the music, created by Teddy Zambetti. He took classical themes by various composers and gave them a contemporary flair. Originally, Warrie Price told Zambetti she wanted 73 individual songs, one for each ride of the day. They seemed to compromise with six pieces, four which play during the ride and one for when you get on the ride and another for when you get off. The finished songs incorporate: “Aquarium” by Camille Saint-Saëns; Symphony No. 40 in G minor by Mozart; “Daphnis et Chloé,” Suite No. 2, by Maurice Ravel; “Dance of the Knights” from “Romeo and Juliet” by Sergei Prokofiev; and “La Mer” by Claude Debussy.
The seats are not your typical carousel seats. Instead of sitting on top of the fish, you sit inside them and because each fish is facing and spinning in their own direction, it feels like you're "swimming" among them rather than just going in a circle like your standard carousel.
[Even the tickets are pretty]
[A short instagram video of my ride]
Pictures and video don't do it justice. The music mixed with the lights and everything is just so beautiful. I understand why the rides are only 3.5 minutes, but I do wish they were longer. I'll just add to my list of "things to do if I win the lottery" - rent the SeaGlass Carousel for a day.
[A teaser video of the carousel by the Battery Conservancy]
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