Island visitors have an ample new waiting room for the ferry in the Battery Maritime Building, and the cavernous hall upstairs is about to become a very big music box. The restoration of space for the waiting room was funded by a $500,000 grant from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, plus infusions from the state and city. When the island is open to the public there will be a National Park Service kiosk for visitor information and tickets to its weekday tours of the island's historic district.
The music upstairs will be created by a retrofitted antique organ hitched to metal beams, plumbing, water pies and the like. This will trigger pings and clangs to produce "unique harmonics and finely tuned sounds." Visitors will be invited to sit at the organ and "play" the room. The installation is a temporary exhibit, running from May 31 to August 10. It is the brainchild of musician-artist David Byrne, the former front man for the Talking Heads, and presented by Creative
Time.
