FINANCIAL DISTRICT — The World Trade Center's leafy, elevated park filled with pathways, benches and greenery is readying to open next week, the Port Authority confirmed to DNAinfo New York.
The long-anticipated, one-acre park, which sits 25 feet in the air atop a security vehicle entrance, overlooks the 9/11 Memorial and is covered with scores of plants, including more than 50 trees.
Greenery is also covering the 25-foot-high, 300-foot-long "Living Wall" which runs along the base of the park.
A Port Authority spokesman said an exact date for the opening will be announced later this week.
While the majority of the green oasis will be ready, construction will continue on one piece of Liberty Park, the St. Nicholas National Shrine, a new Santiago Calatrava-designed reincarnation of St. Nicholas Church, the longtime Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed on Sept. 11.
Rendering of Liberty Park with St. Nicholas National Shrine. (Courtesy of Santiago Calatrava Architects)
The shrine is expected to open in 2018.