SeaGlass Carousel: Spin along with a school of colorful fish in Battery Park

LOWER MANHATTAN -- The Battery Conservancy was awash with inspiration when it launched a project to brighten up the southern side of Battery Park.

The Conservancy's president and founder, Warrie Price, explained how the SeaGlass Carousel attraction -- an immersive school of colorful, spinning fish -- bubbled to life.

"The Seaglass Carousel has been a dream of ours since it was first talked about back in 2005 as a sense of light. I was sitting in this area talking about how to draw people into the park. And they said, 'We need a light source.' And one of the landscape artists says, 'Warrie, what about a carousel?'"

The idea made a lot of sense to Price, considering the Battery was at the heart of New Amsterdam and was the home of Gotham's first aquarium. The group relied on the George Tsypin Opera Factory, known for its work staging the Little Mermaid, to create a mystical underwater experience. Riders sit in iridescent fish gliding on multiple turntable.

The 30 fiberglass fish are illuminated with color-changing LED lights meant to imitate the bioluminescence found in the oceans deep waters. Price explains that some designs, "are typical to the species of the fish and others are just magical."

On June 5, the conservancy's annual gala will honor the attraction's 10-year anniversary.