Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presented the Doris C. Freedman Award today to the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority for its public art program at a ceremony in Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park. The Mayor was joined by the daughters of Doris C. Freedman, President of the Public Art Fund Susan K. Freedman, Karen Freedman and Nina Freedman. Also present were Deputy Mayor for Administration Patricia E. Harris, Chairman of the Battery Park City Authority James F. Gill, President of Battery Park City Authority Tim S. Carey, Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin and Department of City Planning Chair Amanda M. Burden.

"On behalf of New York City, I am honored to present the Doris C. Freedman Award to the Battery Park City Authority for its invaluable contributions to our City's open spaces," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We are committed to promoting innovative design and the participation of artists in public spaces, and this award is a testament to these efforts."

"My thanks to Mayor Bloomberg for this wonderful honor," said James Gill. "Battery Park City - home to 13 works of public art and soon to be 14 - is delighted to receive this distinguished award. Battery Park City is especially pleased that Mayor Bloomberg is actively reaching out to strengthen and encourage the arts, which are such an important part of Battery Park City's cultural and aesthetic environment."

The Doris C. Freedman Award was established in 1982 by Executive Order by Mayor Edward I. Koch to acknowledge an individual or organization for "a contribution to the people of the City of New York that greatly enriches the public environment." The award has not been presented since 1992. It is dedicated to the memory and vision of Doris Chanin Freedman (1928-1981), the founder of Public Art Fund. Ms. Freedman was an active member of numerous community and educational organizations, and served as New York City's first Director of Cultural Affairs, as well as the President of the Municipal Art Society. She worked to establish New York City's Percent for Art legislation, devoting her energies to enrich the public environment.

Since 1979, the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) has generously allocated open public space and has integrated artists and artwork into the design process. Rather than siting artworks as decorative afterthoughts, BPCA sought to incorporate artists as principal designers of public spaces. The Authority has been committed to commissioning new artworks for each new public space, beginning in the early 1980s with the design and creation of the World Financial Plaza at the North Cove. This work was created by artists, Siah Armajani and Scott Burton, in collaboration with architect Cesar Pelli and landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg.

Many of the artworks occupy the pivotal spots where the park, street and river converge. With each new development, artists have created works that provoke curiosity, draw new meanings from their site, and enhance the viewer's experience of the landscape. In the early 1990s, artists focused on the northern end of Battery Park with installations in Stuyvesant High School and one of New York City's most beloved public artworks, Tom Otterness' playground, The Real World, in Governor Nelson Rockefeller Park. In 1996, Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park opened with the works of Louise Bourgeois, Tony Cragg and Jim Dine.

Previous recipients of the Doris C. Freedman Award were the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and its founder Halina Rosenthal, Dancing in the Streets, The Studio in a School, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Richard J. Haas, Mark Di Suvero, Margot Gayle, William H. Whyte, and Ronay Menschel. To mark the award, artist Tony Rosenthal contributed a maquette of his sculpture The Alamo, which is sited at Astor Place at 8th and Lafayette Streets.