Bowling Green Area

 



 Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. Built in 1733, originally including a bowling green, it is the oldest public park in New York City and is surrounded by its original 18th century fence. At its northern end is the Charging Bull sculpture. Bowling Green Fence and Park is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The south end of the plaza is bounded by the front entrance of Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, which houses the New York branch of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan Division). Previously there was a public street along the south edge of the park, also called "Bowling Green", but since this area was needed for a modern entrance to the subway station, the road was eliminated and paved over with cobblestones.