Battery Park Monument for Essential Workers Is Paused After Protests

Residents had pushed back at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans for a tribute to essential workers in Battery Park City.

After weeks of protests that included an overnight camp, Battery Park City residents were told on Monday that plans to build a monument there for essential workers had been paused amid demands for more community input. A monument is still in the works, but the state will establish an advisory committee with community residents and leaders to help pick the monument’s location and design, said George J. Tsunis, the chairman of the Battery Park City Authority, which oversees public spaces on the Lower West Side of Manhattan. “Over the past two weeks we have heard two things clearly and consistently: the love that our community harbors for its parks and public spaces, and its desire to honor the enduring efforts of essential workers over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr. Tsunis wrote in a statement on Monday.