This Glass Flood Wall in Battery Park City Is Something to See (Through)

The newly installed glass-topped flood barrier runs in front of windows of the Museum of Jewish Heritage that overlook Wagner Park and New York Harbor. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib 

The bad thing about permanent flood walls is that they can block scenic water views. The good thing about the ones now installed to protect the Museum of Jewish Heritage is that they don’t.

The newly redesigned, flood-protected Wagner Park at the south end of Battery Park City, due to reopen on July 29, will include a 250-foot flood barrier topped with glass along the western side of the museum that maintains vistas of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. Looking toward the museum from the park, the lower level of the building also remains mostly visible.

It is the city’s first flood wall to include glass and only the second in the U.S.

“The museum has many windows, so you can’t put a concrete wall in front of the windows that people are used to seeing out of,” said Brian Johnson, vice president for the glass division of Floodproofing.com [1], the consultants on the project. “I say it’s called protect and preserve. You protect the building and preserve the view.”

The glass-topped wall, manufactured by Florida-based FENEX [2], consists of 52 panels, roughly 4 feet by 4 feet, built to withstand flood waters into the park, Johnson said, as well as wave action that would add greater pressure on the wall. What appears to be one piece of glazing is actually three layers of half-inch glass laminated together with a Japanese-made polymer.

The wall is part of the $298 million South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, [3] a system of flood barriers in Wagner Park that includes buried and deployable flood walls, terraced seating, and a raised path and lawn. A new pavilion will also open. The partially see-through flood wall will be the museum’s last line of defense against flooding. (The museum came through largely unscathed from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.)

Under normal conditions, the wall will be the only visible flood barrier in Wagner Park. (There also will be one nearby in The Battery.) No glass flood wall is anticipated as part of the North/West Battery Park City Resiliency [4] project, from Wagner Park to the neighborhood’s north end, according to a Battery Park City Authority spokesperson. “While glass-topped flood walls were considered and evaluated at several locations, they ultimately were not pursued,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Authority did not provide the cost of the wall and said that it would be difficult to compare that cost to a standard flood wall because of “different performance standards.” In general, the Authority said in a statement, “specialized glass is going to be more expensive than structural concrete clad in stone.”

Museum officials declined to comment on the wall.

To ensure that the barrier was leak-proof, a large tank was built up against two of the glass panels and filled with water. “It was awesome,” Johnson said. “They tested for three hours. No leaks. No seepage.”