Hudson River Park is the 550-acre shining star of Manhattan’s modern green spaces, and the most popular sections hug the Village and Chelsea. Spend a sunny afternoon roaming around New York’s new "riviera," where strings of waterfront piers have recently become pedestrian playgrounds.
A Waterfront Transformed
Hike or bike the length of the park, which stretches 4 miles from Tribeca to 59th Street, and you’ll see glassy towers, leafy plants and strolling New Yorkers galore. It’s hard to imagine the lives once lived along this waterfront, now washed away by time.
In 1609, when Henry Hudson sailed up the river that would bear his name, this was marshland overseen by the Lenape. By the 20th century, it became central to New York’s maritime economy, welcoming products and people worldwide to its ports. Among them, in 1912, was the ill-fated RMS Titanic, intended to dock at Pier 59, now Chelsea Piers Complex.
Portside activity died by the 1970s, and the area turned dangerous and derelict. In the coming decades, dilapidated piers attracted artists, nude sunbathers and the LGBTIQ+ community’s cruising crowd. A plan to refurbish the area as a park emerged in the 1980s, and the ongoing project opened its first section in 2003.
Pier Hopping
Vestiges of the waterfront’s LGBTIQ+ past live on at Pier 45, known colloquially as Christopher St Pier, where speedo-clad visitors worship the sun (and each other) while gathered on a well-trimmed grassy patch.
Walking north, you’ll reach Gansevoort Peninsula – completed in 2023 and billed as ‘Manhattan’s first public beach,’ though the Lenape, who swam and sunbathed freely along these shores, might beg to differ. Lounge in an Adirondack chair and admire David Hammons’ ghostly Day’s End, an art installation evoking the former docks through a skeletal warehouse above the water.
Artsy Additions
Up next is Little Island, which appeared like a surrealist dream in 2021: 132 concrete pods shoot from the water like tulips, crowned by undulating green hills. Stroll the 2.4-acre folly’s footpaths to enjoy gentle breezes and expansive views, or check the seasonal event schedule for live performances. (littleisland.org)
Pier 57 rounds out a park day with its range of entertainments: City Winery’s live music, Market 57’s James Beard Foundation–curated food vendors and a rooftop park great for picnics and panoramas.
Trapeze Time
Keen to soar through NYC? Book a class at the New York Trapeze School open-air tent on Pier 40 from May through October (trapezeschool.com). No experience required.
