Pelham Bay Park is the biggest park in the city. Central Park is the most filmed public park in the world. Flushing Meadows Corona Park was home to both World's Fairs and was commemorated by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. Prospect Park is home to the longest continuous meadow of any urban park in the United States and one of the most famous trees in NYC.
And then there's Riverside Park, spanning more than 330 acres of parkland from 59th to 155th Street, forever in the shadow to its big sister in Manhattan, Central Park. Riverside was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the same people who designed Central Park, Prospect Park, Morningside Park, and Fort Greene Park, in the late 19th century. It is one of the unheralded nature-oriented treasures of the city; it's a perfect place for long walks and exercise, it boasts spectacular river vistas, and it's rarely overcrowded like those other more popular Manhattan parks.
It's rich in history too: George Washington once suggested that the US Capitol be built on the hill north of where Grants Tomb now stands, around 122nd Street. Edgar Allen Poe composed The Raven at what is now 84th Street and Broadway, and was reportedly inspired by a spot in the park around there where he used to sit and contemplate.
Today, there are more than 25 monuments, plaques, and statues situated throughout the park, which spans three distinct levels at different points; it's also home to two of the five monuments in NYC dedicated to historic women.
Riverside Park is one of only ten scenic landmarks in all of New York City, and for good reason. It has unique waterfront beauty, with rocky areas, spectacular lawns, and stately trees. And importantly, Riverside Park has the character of New Yorkers: it is resilient, very good looking, and tries not to take itself too seriously, said Dan Garodnick, President & CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy.
Below, we'll lead you on a tour of some of the many highlights of the park, and you can check out more photos of the park up above.
Up until 2001, the park nominally began at 72nd Street, but a six phase expansion project has stretched it all the way down to 59th Street. Most of this expansion was focused on new walkways and landscaping, but it also included, at 62nd Street, a train locomotive known as No. 25. It's a 60-year-old, 95-ton engine that was previously used on the Brooklyn waterfront. It was built in 1946 and is identical to engines that moved freight cars along the West Side from the 1940s to the 1980s.
The area was the former site of the New York Central Railroads 60th Street Yard, which explains the amount of railroad-related vestiges and landmarks there. In the '80s, Trump bought the rights to the property and proposed turning it into a mini-city that would be a testament to all things Donald Trump. He first called it "Television City," then settled on "Trump City." It would include six 76-story towers; the centerpiece skyscraper would be the worlds tallest building, and he was going to live at the top. The NY Times called it at the time his bid for immortality. You may be shocked to learn the project never came to fruitionyou can read more about Trump's failed project herebut Trump did get to brand a development in the area when Hong Kong developers took over the investment. (The branding has not lasted forever.)
As you walk north, you'll see some public art piecesthese rotate in and out, though the one in the photos is known as "Viewfinding" until you make it to The 69th Street Transfer Bridge National Landmark, the decaying, preserved remnants of a dock where train cars would be transferred on and off barges travelling between New York and New Jersey along the New York Central Railroad. Between the abandoned pier pylons and rusting gantry, as the Parks Dept. puts it, "weeds and wildflowers grow through the wooden planks of dilapidated piers, crickets chirp, and birds nest."
Then you'll hit Pier I at 70th Street, which were also originally part of the abandoned railyard. Next to it is the Pier I cafe, one of a select handful of outdoor cafes and restaurants located in the park with gorgeous views of the Hudson River and New Jersey (which sounds like a joke, but honestly, NJ looks a lot nicer from this side). It isn't open year-round, but it does have french friessomething which the Boat Basin at 79th Street doesn't always have, to the chagrin of locals.
Immediately above that, at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive, you can see the Eleanor Roosevelt Monument. Created by artist Penelope Jencks in 1996, the eight-foot statue of Roosevelt is constructed of bronze and stone, and was the first public statue of a presidents wife in the nation. It was also only the second public statue of an American woman in NYC, though there's been some progress on that front recently.
At 72nd Street, the park begins to expand even more (there's a popular dog park right there as well): You'll find lots of grassy areas and knolls if you venture eastward into the park. At 76th Street and Riverside Drive, you can find the Hamilton Fountain, an ornately carved marble fountain which is surmounted by a giant eagle, wings spread. Designed by Warren & Wetmore, the same architects of Grand Central Station, the fountain was intended primarily as a drinking fountain for horses when it was installed in 1906.
Its inscription reads, Bequeathed to the people of New York by Robert Ray Hamilton." Hamilton, adescendantof Alexander Hamilton, was a wealthy sportsman, businessman and politician. His background is remarkable, so I feel compelled to share what the Parks Dept. wrote about him: "[He] drowned on a hunting trip in 1890. He was surrounded by scandal at the time of his death, since he was in the midst of a divorce from his wife, a known bigamist who was in prison for 'atrocious assault.' His wife, it seems, in addition to having another husband, had attempted to steal another womans child, and stabbed the babys nurse in a fight. In his will Hamilton left $9,000 to build the fountain in his memory. The highly respectable Hamilton family did not want a monument erected in honor of the black sheep member of their family, and they strongly opposed the fountain."
Moving on! At 79th Street you'll hit the Boat Basin, with its dramatic rotunda, which is by far the most popular of the cafes in the park. The Boat Basin contains 116 slips and is used as a launch site for kayaks, canoes and sailboats. On an average summer weekend day, the cafe will be filled to the brim with tourists and localsif you like watching yachts pull in to refuel, it's the best spot in the city. It's also a great excuse to wander around the area while you wait for a seat to open up.
One of the best parts of wandering the park is enjoying all the various pathways; the main one, which overlooks the Henry Hudson Parkway, is a utopian stretch filled on warm autumn days with cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers, pets and pedestrians. For people intimidated by traversing the NYC roadways, it's a great stretch on which to get comfortable riding a Citi Bike, or to take a romantic stroll.
At 89th Street and Riverside Drive, you'll find the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Monument, which commemorates Union Army soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. It is an enlarged version of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens; it was completed in 1906, and was designated a state landmark in 2001. Also located there are the Riverside Civil War Cannons.
There are at least 14 playgrounds for children located throughout the park, but two of the best are located just at 91st Street. Hippo Playground, which includes the unmistakable Hippopotamus Fountain, was renovated and christened in 1993. Just a few blocks away is Dinosaur Playground, which is home to two fiberglass dinosaurs, a triceratops and a hadrosaur. If you squint, you may recognize it from a little film called The Warriorsthe playground was partially used for the big Conclave scenes.
Also starting around 91st Street, you get the 91st Street Garden & Crabapple Grove, which all romcom fans will instantly recognize from the end of You've Got Mail. Over at 93rd Street and Riverside, you'll find the bronze Joan Of Arc Memorial, depicting the 15th century French patriot and martyr on a horse, which was sculpted by Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1915.
As you head north within the park, you'll hit the area in the park with the most amount of sports fields and facilities, including: four baseball fields between 104th to 107th Streets (there's also one at 72nd Street, and two pairs of baseball fields that each overlap with another sporting field at 77th and 146th/147th Streets); two basketball courts at 102nd and 111th (there's also courts at 71st, 76th and 148th); five handball courts at 111th (there are two more at 71st); three soccer fields at 101st, 103rd and 107th (there are three more at 71st, 74th and 77th as well); a massive 20 tennis courts (10 each at 96th and 119th); two sand-strewn volleyball courts at 102nd and 105th (there's one more up at 148th as well); and a set of traveling rings at 105th Street. The skate park at 108th is currently under renovation and is expected to reopen in May 2020.
Everything between 96th and 125th streets is idyllic: there is an abundance of benches, picnic spots, and cozy trees to sit under. It's almost never crowded, yet it's always teeming with sunbathers and off-leash dogs. If you live in Brooklyn or Queens or lower Manhattan, and you're looking for an excuse for a lowkey daytrip within the city, you can't do better than visiting this section of the park. In the spring, you can travel the Cherry Walk, where cherry blossoms sprout beautiful shades of red.
You can stop by the Bird Sanctuary any time of year. Located roughly between 116th and 124th streets, New York City Audubon says over 177 species of birds have been seen at the bird sanctuary in the past 30 years. Just south of 120th Street is the Bird Drip, a man-made water source where birds come to drink and bathe. It's active from mid-April to mid-May and September to mid-October; it's reportedly attracted over 80 species of birds.
The real unheralded gem of this area is Ellington In The Park, another outdoor cafe/restaurant that spans two levels and overlooks the Hudson. The food is what it is, but you can't beat the atmosphere (nor the ability to drink out in the open as you please). Unlike Pier I and Boat Basin, it is almost never too crowded, so you can actually snag a seat at sunset on a Friday night. There is a well-kept dog run direct across from it, so expect a lot of very tuckered out dogs to be around.
Also in this general area: there's the Firemen's Memorial, located at the east side of Riverside Drive at 100th Street at the top of a stairway going toward the main street. There's a statue of General Franz Sigel, a Union Army general, on horseback, also at the top of a stairway at 106th Street. And there's a stone statue of Hungarian leader Louis Kossuth, located at 113th Street and Riverside.
In the 120s, you hit what I like to think of as the "Plaque District" of the park. That includes the Armed Forces Plaque, at 121st Street (it was dedicated in 1953); Battle of Harlem Heights Marker, at 121st Street (dedicated in 1961); Chaplains Memorial, at 121st Street, (dedicated in 1950); Chinese Tablet, at about 124th Street above Grant's Tomb (dedicated 1897); and Claremont Inn Tablet, at 123rd Street (dedicated in 1952).
And of course there is Grant's Tomb, located in the median of Riverside Drive at 122nd Street. It was inspired by the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and designed by John Hemenway Duncan in 1897. It's a city landmark, a national monument, and the inspiration for one of the greatest's children's jokes. And on the slope north of it, you'll find The Amiable Child Monument, which is a remarkable piece. One side of the monument reads: Erected to the Memory of an Amiable Child, St. Claire Pollock, Died 15 July 1797 in the Fifth Year of His Age. It was originally erected by George Pollock, who is believed to have been either the boy's father or his uncle. It is also believed to be the only single-person private grave on city-owned land in NYC.
The main section of the park essentially ends after that. Around 129th Street, you have the West Harlem Piers, but otherwise the park gets very, very narrow there. It doesn't start up again until approximately 135th Street. If you hit that higher region, you won't want to miss out on the Ralph Ellison Memorial at 150th Street, sculpted by Elizabeth Catlett in 2003. There are three inscriptions on the bronze structure, including one which notes that Ellison was a longtime resident nearby at 730 Riverside Drive. Also near there, you can see an installation through the Model to Monument partnership with the Art Students League at the 145th Street waterfront. And finally, 155th Street marks the end of the park, adjacent to Riverbank State Park.
One last thing worth noting: for the more adventurous among you, you'll want to look into the Freedom Tunnel, a railroad tunnel located under the Park. According to The Power Broker, the tunnel was built by Robert Moses in the 1930s to expand park space for UWS residents. It was used for freight trains until 1980, when regular operations ended. Since then, it's sometimes been a homeless enclave, a graffiti mecca, and a must-see destination for urban explorers. It got its name because of graffiti artist Chris "Freedom" Pape, who used the tunnel walls to create some of his most notable artwork. You can see more photos of it here, and get more info about how to get there here.
More:
The Ultimate Guide To Riverside Park, The Lowkey Best Park In NYC - Gothamist
