Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park along the Hudson River on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The park measures long and wide, running between the Hudson River and Henry Hudson Parkway to the west and the serpentine Riverside Drive to the east, from 72nd to 158th Street.

Riverside Park was established by land condemnation in 1872 and was developed concurrently with Riverside Drive. Originally running between 72nd and 125th Streets, it was extended northward in the first decade of the 20th century. When the park was first laid out, the right-of-way of the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line blocked access to the river. In the 1930s, under parks commissioner Robert Moses's West Side improvement project, the railroad track was covered with an esplanade and several recreational facilities. Few modifications were made to the park until the 1980s, when it was renovated and extended southward as part of the Riverside South development.

Riverside Park is part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, a pedestrian and bicycle route around Manhattan's waterfront. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation operates and maintains the park, although its operating activities are supported by the Riverside Park Conservancy. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a New York City scenic landmark.

History Planning

The of land in the original park between 72nd and 125th Streets were once inhabited by the Lenape people, but by the 18th century, European settlers used it for farming. Over the years, several villas were also constructed along the river. The area's two largest settlements were the villages of Bloomingdale and Manhattanville. In 1846, the Hudson River Railroad (later the West Side Line and Hudson Line) was built along the waterfront, connecting New York City to Albany.

By the 1850s, New York City was growing quickly. The construction of Central Park nearby in the 1860s spurred construction on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Similar development on the Upper West Side was slower: by 1865, only West 76th and 86th Streets had been completed and opened. By an act of the New York State Legislature passed that year, the Central Park commissioners had the responsibility of executing the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, the Manhattan street grid, within Upper Manhattan.

In 1865, Central Park commissioner William R. Martin put forth the first proposal for a riverside park along the Hudson River.; ; An act providing for such was presented to the Legislature by commissioner Andrew Haswell Green in 1866 and approved the next year. In his argument for a riverside park, Green wrote that the only location on the Hudson River waterfront reserved for park space was the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan island. The first segment of Riverside Park was acquired in 1872 by condemning lots for a cost of $7.25 million, or over for each of the in the original park. The park also included the construction of Riverside Avenue, a boulevard lined with trees and overlooking the future park and the waterfront. The avenue was initially laid out in 1868 and was wide for its entire length. The plans for Riverside Park and Avenue came to the attention of William M. Tweed, who bought several lots adjacent to the park in anticipation of its construction.

Construction

Late 19th century

Initially, Riverside Avenue had been planned to run in a straight line, which would have required a retaining wall and extensive fill. However, the area's difficult topography had come to the attention of the Manhattan park commissioners. In 1873, the commissioners selected Frederick Law Olmsted, a park commissioner who had also designed Central Park, to redesign the park and avenue. Olmsted devised a plan that would create a main road extending from 72nd to 123rd Streets, with overpasses at 79th and 96th Streets, as well as "carriage roads" to serve the nearby neighborhood. The park and drive together would vary between wide. Olmsted's plan, which also included designs for Fort Washington Park and Morningside Park, called for these parklands to be designed around the existing landscape. Olmsted wrote in 1873 that Riverside Park "presented great advantages as a park because the river bank had been for a century occupied as the lawns and ornamental gardens in front of the country seats along its banks. Its foliage was fine, and its views magnificent."

Construction on Riverside Park and Avenue started in 1874 or 1876, and Olmsted was ousted as parks superintendent in 1877. Designers such as Calvert Vaux, Samuel Parsons, and Julius Munckwitz laid out the stretch of park and road between 72nd and 125th Streets in a way that made the park look like the Hudson Valley. Riverside Avenue opened in 1880 and quickly became popular, though parts of the road, such as the 96th Street overpass, remained incomplete through the 1900s. There was no single plan that encompassed the entirety of Riverside Park, which meant it would incorporate a number of separate designs. Olmsted wrote in 1886 that "in many important particulars the design has been mangled," saying that the park's terrain was too steep for recreation, and that Riverside Avenue's trees might block views of the river; despite this, Olmsted's offer to work with Vaux to create a unified park design was denied. Furthermore, the railroad cut the park off from the waterfront.

With the park's construction came land purchases on the Upper West Side. However, development in the neighborhood was slow to come since most of the lots were too expensive for the middle class to purchase, and the wealthy preferred to settle on the East Side of Manhattan. Development of low-density residences and small apartment buildings did not come until the 1880s. These residents formed an organization called the West End Avenue Association, which in 1888 published a booklet titled West End Avenue: Riverside Park in the City of New York extolling the park's benefits. At the time, few wealthy families had settled in the area. It would take until the 1900s and 1910s before Riverside Avenue and Park gained its present-day concentration of upscale houses.

The park was not extensively developed, either. A temporary tomb for the late U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant was built at Claremont Hill in 1885, since Grant had said he wanted to be buried in New York City. Additionally, paths between 72nd and 79th Streets were laid out in 1891. However, in an 1893 article, The New York Times mentioned that "but a small portion of the land thus acquired has been improved so as to be capable of public use." At the time, Riverside Park did not include the shorefront. In November 1893, a compromise was reached that would allow for the shore to be used for parkland while still allowing access to docks, and two months later, the park commissioners adopted plans to build docks at 79th and 96th Streets. Under an act of the state legislature, the city condemned an underwater area along the shore, which would allow for land reclamation to expand the park. By 1895, paths had been laid out between 96th and 120th Streets. The permanent Grant's Tomb opened at 122nd Street two years later. Notwithstanding the lack of park development, Riverside Park still contained nuisances such as outdoor sewerage, squatters' shacks, and coal emissions from the trains, as well as garbage dumps at 77th and 96th Streets. These conditions persisted through the 1920s.

Early 20th century

Several structures were built in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Two monuments were built in Riverside Park at the turn of the 20th century: a permanent Grant's Tomb at 120th Street in 1897, and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at 89th Street in 1902. This would be followed by eight other monuments from the 1900s through 1920s. The construction of these monuments signified a major change in the use of Riverside Park, since the park was no longer being idealized solely as a nature space, though writer Elizabeth Cromley says that the monuments did fit in with the park aesthetic. Another structure built in the park was Columbia University's Gould Boathouse, constructed at 115th Street in 1896. The Gould Boathouse was abandoned by the 1920s and burned down in 1927. Other waterfront projects undertaken in the first decade of the 20th century included a stadium for Columbia University, built along land fill. Another proposal, for a new boathouse for the Motor Boat Club, was vetoed by mayor George B. McClellan Jr. in 1906.

The existence of Manhattan Valley at approximately 125th Street blocked the further development of Riverside Park northward. However, in 1898, construction commenced on an ornate viaduct carrying Riverside Drive across the valley to 135th Street. The viaduct, designed by F. Stuart Williamson, was completed in 1901 and consisted of 26 steel-latticed arches rising above ground level. By 1902, plans were made to extend the park's border north to 155th Street. Williamson also designed the park extension, which contained stone retaining walls as well as grand entrances designed. The first extension of Riverside Park, from 125th/129th to 137th Streets, was completed in 1902. The city acquired land northward to 158th Street in 1903, and with the completion of this park extension in 1908, Riverside Avenue was renamed Riverside Drive.

In 1906, there was an effort to expand Riverside Park by adding the piece of land bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, and 116th and 122nd Streets. This was seen as historically important because it was the site of Battle of Harlem Heights. The city also envisioned 116th Street as a grand gateway to Grant's Tomb. Neither the park extension nor the 116th Street gateway were built, and today, the only remnants of this plan are the wide curves at the intersection of 116th Street and Riverside Drive, where the Colosseum and Paterno apartment buildings sit. The underwater area owned by the city was filled between 1911 and 1912 using rock from the excavation of the Catskill Aqueduct. The landfilling was criticized as it was done without public knowledge. One prominent group to form during this time was the Women's League for the Protection of Riverside Park, formed in 1916 to advocate recreational uses within the park. Many of the club's members were from prominent or wealthy families, and a sizable number of its early members lived close to Riverside Park. The Citizen's Union formed a Special Committee to, among other things, advocate relocating the railroad tracks over concern of spoiling Riverside Park, proposing tunnelling from 155th street to the Harlem River..

West Side Improvement

Initial plans

Even as there was discussion to expand Riverside Park, the New York Central Railroad continued to expand its facilities. This clashed with the ideals of the City Beautiful movement, which led an increasing segment of the population to view the railroad as a nuisance rather than a part of the park. Even so, the railroad was a crucial part to New York City's commerce, and as such could not be removed. As early as 1909, there were plans to expand the West Side Line to six tracks within Riverside Park, though this was heavily opposed. The crux of the disagreement was a stipulation that would give New York Central the rights to develop the shorefront with commercial enterprises. The area between 59th and 72nd Streets was being planned for development into train yards, which citizens' groups strongly opposed, and the city had no money to condemn that land.