I visited a secluded park on top of a garage in downtown Manhattan, and it's clear why the acre of green is one of New York's best-kept secrets

Mark Abadi

Nov 18, 2018, 22:15 IST

I visited a secluded park on top of a garage in downtown Manhattan, and it's clear why the acre of green is one of New York's best-kept secrets

Mark Abadi/Business Insider

Elevated Acre in New York.

Elevated Acre is a tiny, secluded park that sits on top of a parking garage in downtown Manhattan.
Although the park covers just one acre, it offers incredible views of New York Harbor and the Brooklyn Bridge, and it's one of the few places in the Financial District where you can get some peace and quiet.
I visited Elevated Acre and discovered exactly why it's considered one of New York's best-kept secrets.

New York City is notoriously overcrowded - and there's arguably nowhere in the city more congested than downtown Manhattan during business hours.

Business Insider's office is right in the thick of it, located in Manhattan's Financial District, just steps away from Wall Street and the World Trade Center. It's often a struggle to walk to a nearby restaurant or subway station without bumping into strangers, squeezing in between parked cars, or awkwardly sidestepping around tourists who stop to take a picture.

It's definitely not what comes to mind when you think "peace and quiet."

So when I heard about the Elevated Acre, a park in downtown Manhattan considered one of the borough's best-kept secrets, I had to see it to believe it.

The park, built in 2005, sits on top of a parking garage and is sandwiched in between two FiDi office buildings on Water Street. It's not far from the much more famous Battery Park, where tourist ferries depart for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

I headed down to the Elevated Acre on a breezy Tuesday afternoon, and was surprised by how few people were there. The secluded, one-acre park offered impressive views of New York Harbor and Brooklyn, not to mention some much-needed quiet time above the chaos of Manhattan.

Here's what one of Manhattan's hidden gems is like in person:

Manhattan is famously overcrowded, especially during business hours. It can be hard to find peace and quiet.

But the Elevated Acre seemed to offer that, from what I'd read. I headed down to Water Street in Manhattan's Financial District to see it for myself.

The park is walking distance from downtown hotspots like Wall Street, the World Trade Center, and Battery Park.

I passed by this plaza several times before realizing it was the entrance to the park.

I even asked a handful of people passing by the steps if they knew anything about the park. Half of them hadn't even heard of it, including one person who worked at the office next door.

A small sign designated the entrance to the public space. I headed up the stairs to see what it had to offer.

After reaching the top, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. There was barely any noise other than the wind in the trees and the faint sounds of honking cars from the street below.

Verdant plant life — another rarity in Manhattan — lined the walkway to the edge of the park.

The short path culminated in a spectacular view of New York Harbor, the Brooklyn Bridge, and downtown Brooklyn across the East River.

Behind me was a small, neatly manicured grass lawn that sometimes plays host to performances and organized events.

The amphitheater-like seating could accommodate more than 100 people, but there was nowhere near that amount when I visited.

Back at the viewpoint, I got a nice view of the helicopters taking off from Pier 6.

Meanwhile, Manhattan traffic chugged on below.

I did a lap of the park and found a restaurant on park premises, Sky55, that caters to the local professional crowd.

But even during peak lunch hours, the place was mostly empty. The manager told me she struggles to attract attention to the restaurant because it's so secluded.

I could understand why. I stayed at the Elevated Acre for about 45 minutes, and there were never more than about 20 people there at a time.

Most of them had brought lunches they'd purchased at the restaurants and food trucks on ground level.

After spending some time at the park, I could see why people consider it one of Manhattan's hidden gems.

It's the kind of place I would come back to for a relaxing lunch, or simply to be alone with my thoughts.

The staircase leading to the busy FDR Drive was an abrupt reminder that all good things must come to an end.

But not before I could do the most New York thing I could think of — grab a slice of pizza and enjoy the view.

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