1. This photograph was taken at Battery Park.
2. The Statue is of Giovanni da Verrazano who was an Italian explorer and navigator. The statue was built on October 9^th Verrazano was born as Castello Verrazano in a town named Greve near Florence, Italy. Verrazano is being commemorated for his travels in being the first to stumbling into the New York Bay in 1524. He was in search of the Pacific Ocean and the Far East.
3. I like how the sculpture is. The way Verrazano is posed showing that he is a man in control. I did not like that the statue is enclosed with in gates possibly for construction purposes.

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/battery-park/monuments/1628