the plein! the plein!

This architectural rendering of the Dutch Plein and Pavillion
from the official brochure was all we had to go on.

Well, we took the Water Taxi on Sunday from Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn. Why? Because it was free and it was NY400 Week* and we were feeling in a festive mood. We got off at the Battery with an eagerness to see the new Dutch Plein and Pavillion designed by architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio. The official brochure said the Plein was unveiled on September 9th. With photo and description in hand, I asked some local vendors, a cop on a horse, some folks at the Dutch Pavillion, and no luck. No one had heard of it, and few even knew where the Battery was. They kept pointing us away from the Battery, towards Battery Park City. But alas. We doggedly scoured the Battery and no Plein. Disappointing.

Then I read this morning in The New York Times,

The New Amsterdam Plein and Pavilion was officially unveiled Wednesday by the Dutch crown prince, Willem-Alexander of Orange, but it will not open until spring.

And by the way, if you want less-vague directions when you go in the spring, the article continues:

The building is Peter Minuit Plaza, which is named for the Dutch director-general who oversaw the early settlement at the southern tip of Manhattan, not far from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

I hereby give no stars to the official brochure. It didn't even define "plein." I still don't know what a plein is. From context, I gather it has something to do with en plein air, but I think they made up this use of the word.



*celebrating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival at New York Harbor