Riverside Park

Riverside Park

It may be narrow, but Riverside Park's coastline expanse is anything but lacking. The first design and construction of the park by Frederick Law Olmsted (co-designer of Central and Prospect Parks) was completed in 1875, incorporating green lawns, rocky outcroppings, and the tree-lined boulevard. One hundred forty-three acres were added to the park between 1934 and 1937, and seven more were added in 2000. While construction is ongoing, the slender park currently stretches four miles along the Hudson River, from 59th to 158th Street, with the inclusion of Riverside Park South.

For a bit of culture in the great outdoors, check in with the Riverside Park Fund, a community-based volunteer organization, for a schedule of Hudson Warehouse's free Shakespeare performance at the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument at 89th Street and Riverside Drive. The 96-foot-tall, marble and granite monument serves as an ideal setting for Elizabethan plays, as well as an annual Memorial Day observance. Be sure to visit the Riverside Park Fund's website: www.riversideparkfund.org for other events, including free yoga and Pilates classes.

Other monuments within the park include the first public statue ever erected of a president's wife; Eleanor Roosevelt's bronze and stone image stands eight feet tall at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. Further north, Joan of Arc's bronze likeness rides atop a horse, thrusting her sword in the air. The Warsaw Ghetto Memorial is located along the promenade at 83rd street, providing visitors with a chance to reflect and honor its victims.

Riverside Park offers many recreational facilities including tennis, handball, basketball, volleyball and baseball courts, running tracks, skate parks, a large portion of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway (for bicycles), fitness equipment, kayak and canoe launch sites, a public marina, and several playgrounds. Additionally, four cafés are located within the park.

- Callie Worsham