When you're in lower Manhattan, be sure to pay a visit to Battery Park City. This quaint neighborhood is home to numerous parks and boasts four museums and some great places for a casual bite to eat – and it's all right on the Hudson River. Be sure to visit the Esplanade, a long stretch of woodland garden for walking. Along the way you'll find picturesque piers and footbridges, picnic tables, and grassy fields. In the southern part of the city, you'll find Robert F. Wagner Park, large green space with lots of open areas, gardens, sculpture and a restaurant. You'll get a great view of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor, and you can visit the New York Jewish Heritage Museum. Of course, Battery Park City is most famous for being home to historic Battery Park. This was the site of a fort built during the War of 1812, which was later named Castle Clinton after DeWitt Clinton, who was the mayor of New York City during this time. Over the years, the site has served as an entertainment center, an opera house, immigration landing depot and the New York City Aquarium. There are several monuments worth visiting here; one of the most impressive is the East Coast War Memorial, which contains honor rolls listing names of soldiers who lost their lives in the Atlantic during the Second World War. From Battery Park, you can take a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.