Ellis Island Is Just 1 Mile from Lower Manhattan

Ellis Island sits in Upper New York Bay, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. The short distance made it an ideal immigration station: ships could anchor nearby, and ferries quickly shuttled processed immigrants to the mainland. Today, the same ferry route carries visitors from Battery Park to the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, offering iconic views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline along the way.