"What do you do with an incomplete, 19th-century, military fortress? That question has surrounded the remnants of Fort Totten for decades. In a new video short by Untapped New York's Artist-in-Residence Aaron Asis, the filmmaker prompts viewers to contemplate the role that forgotten landmarks like this play in urban life. The video also gives an up-close look at the fort's abandoned Water Battery."
"Captain Robert E. Lee prepared the original plans for the fort and construction started in 1862. Sitting across the East River from Fort Schuyler, this waterfront fortress was supposed to defend the eastern approach to New York Harbor, according to the New York Parks Department. However, before the structure was finished, engineers deemed it obsolete. The Water Battery was meant to be a four-story structure, but it never got that high. Instead, the stone stronghold has remained truncated and roofless for over a century."
Fort Totten began construction in 1862 with plans by Captain Robert E. Lee and was designed to defend the eastern approach to New York Harbor. Engineers declared the fort obsolete before completion, leaving the Water Battery truncated and roofless rather than the planned four stories. The fort served as a casualty support and hospital through the Civil War. The DoD used the site until gifting it to New York City Parks in 1987. The site is now part of Fort Totten Park and slated to join a 16-mile waterfront greenway connecting to Gantry Plaza State Park. A short film offers aerial and interior views of the Water Battery's tunnels, chambers, and river-facing vistas.
Read at Untapped New York
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