Wall? What wall?

Outside the moneyed world of Wall Street, a wall of another kind is making big news.

Today the talk of Lower Manhattan is the unearthing of a 40-foot by 7-foot section of mortared-stone wall dating to the 18th--and possibly 17th--century. The wall was found about 10 feet below ground by excavators working on the expansion of the Bowling Green subway station.

I know the area well. The new tunneling to Bowling Green cuts across the northern tip of Battery Park, directly underneath the park entrance Ilsa the wonder dog and I use on our early morning treks. The problem is, you can't see the wall. Steel beams and wooden planks conceal the subterranean workspace. I had to ask a construction worker where the wall was. He pointed to a row of planks 20 feet to my left and said, "Under there." I asked if the wall was going to be removed and placed aboveground where people can see it. He said, "Parts of it will. The rest we're blowing up." Now I call that a New York compromise.