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Big Fish: SeaGlass carousel extends winter hours

Photo by Yannic Rack The SeaGlass carousel, which features a colorful array of glowing fishes circling in a structure designed to evoke a nautilus shell, opened in the Battery in August.
Photo by Yannic Rack
The SeaGlass carousel, which features a colorful array of glowing fishes circling in a structure designed to evoke a nautilus shell, sold more than 100,000 tickets in its first three months.

BY YANNIC RACK |

The Battery’s new star attraction is getting a bit more stage time.

The SeaGlass carousel has been so popular since its debut in late August that the Battery Conservancy has decided to expand its holiday operating hours and extend its run through the winter.

“It’s huge. I really wanted Downtowners to feel that this is their new, great asset,” said Warrie Price, the conservancy’s founder and president.

The marine-themed merry-go-round sold more than 100,000 tickets in its first three months, and its popularity led the conservancy to keep the carousel spinning later in the evening, and open seven days a week, until after New Year’s Day – and to open it on weekend and holidays though January and February.

Opening hours will extend to 10 a.m.–10 p.m. every day from Dec. 21 through Jan. 2, and the carousel will open from 10 a.m.–6 p.m. thereafter on weekends and holidays, if the weather permits – and the warm winter so far suggests it will.

“Everyone has come, and they enjoy it so much they’re coming back again, and again, and again,” Price said. “And with this weather, we thought, ‘why not keep it going?’”

Its regular hours — 10 a.m.–8. p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday — will resume in March.

Downtown Express file photo by Milo Hess The Battery’s long-awaited SeaGlass Carousel opens Aug. 20.
Downtown Express file photo by Milo Hess
The Battery’s long-awaited SeaGlass Carousel opened Aug. 20.

The carousel’s colorful school of glowing fish circles within the Woodland section of the park, at its eastern entrance near the South Ferry Terminal.

The eight-foot construction fences around the Woodland recently came down, but the lawn will remain closed off for around another year, according to Price. She said once it reopens, it will include a brand new playground “grove” that will feature swings and other attractions dotted between the trees.

The Battery Oval in the center of the park is set to reopen in June.