By Gus Saltonstall
Riverside Park has a new info center on the Upper West Side. And, it is solar powered.
In July, the Riverside Park Conservancy unveiled the Riverside Info Center, which it describes as “a new hub for outreach and education in the park.”
The structure is located on the Hudson River Greenway near 96th Street, just south of the Red Clay Tennis Courts. There will be an on-duty Conservancy staff member within the Center, when it is open.
“This ‘eco container’ is a solar-powered space that functions both as an informational visitor center and an essential cooling station and remote office for the Conservancy’s field staff,” Riverside Park Conservancy wrote in a release. “A pilot for delivering services to park visitors, the Conservancy hopes that its new Center can serve as a model for other parks for a flexible, grid-independent solution to the need for secure indoor space.”
The container is self powered with enough storage for a fully-insulated 20-by-10-foot interior space with heating and cooling lights, a refrigerator, and more.
This summer, the Riverside Info Center is open on evenings and weekends, and has a focus on community engagement and providing information to park goers. There is also cold water available for purchase in aluminum bottles, and starting in August, the Center will also offer Riverside Park and Goatham souvenirs and apparel.
You can learn more — HERE.
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The paths all over Riverside are falling apart. The leaves have never been picked up. Anytime there is a strong wind large branches fall. There is no park enforcement patrols due to budget restraints so dogs are off leash 24/7 even where they are never allowed off.. The promenades are in danger of collapse. Green spaces are flooded at the slightest rainfall. Despite all this there is money and time to waste on this!
Why do we need park enforcement if dogs are off the leash. Why can’t dog owners be responsible? Horrible how nasty they get if you mention dogs should be leashed. Talk to the RSP workers, and see what they have to deal with with these people and their dogs. Ask them. Glad they have a little space with some a/c — they need more of that. And wasted money? See how much the renovation of that transfer bridge by the 70th Street pier will end up costing us. That’s a waste — landmark or no landmark. Lower RSP — we are so spoiled with how manicured the area is — why not treat the area with respect — leash your dogs and clean up after them. Better yet — learn to talk to people and you won’t need a dog!
My dog is better than more than half the people in 10024.
You can set your watch to it. A good story about something positive in our neighborhood, and then this. . . Everyone take a breath and smile, it’ll make your day better.
Yoy dont need to be a pollyanna to have a good day. The fact is that Riverside Park is in disgraceful condition
Then why don’t you volunteer in the Park to help with it? A lot of the maintenance issues you cite are actually the responsibility of the Parks Dept. (major tree pruning/large falling branches), major flooding, falling promenades, PEP patrols, etc. But, they don’t have the budget for anything but lawn mowing, apparently. As for fallen leaves, the thought is now that it’s better to leave them so various insects (good ones like fireflies, types of bees, etc.) can overwinter in them, and also to mulch the soil.
Exaggerate much? Work is being done on paths – see the repaving of Cherry Walk from 101 to 125. Plenty of tree trimmers out there doing what they can but they’re not clairvoyant, and that flooding won’t get fixed without an investment many multiples of what this education booth cost. Why don’t you stop in and ask them what the plan is?
ABSOLUTELY true. How long did it take to repair the broken seawall at the other end of the courts? At least this was finally done. And to put an even finer point on this, directly in front of this new structure and running up and down the “Greenway” you can see that no attention is being paid to cutting down the growth between the seawall and the greenway with actual trees growing in the crevices. What could be handled now with modest upkeep will turn into many hundreds of thousands of dollars of repair work when the seawall starts crashing into the river. And up at 116th street street a path going down to the tennis courts that was not in urgent need of repair was just re-paved while the paths leading south are in complete and utter disrepair and there are giant mosquito ponds created after every heavy rain. You can’t run anymore along these paths without turning your ankle. And to make it even worse, the people in charge are planning on spending $100 million on just the re-do of the soldiers and sailors monument and the 79th st boat basin. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? There are sections of Riverside Drive where the paving is so bad you can’t be in a wheel chair and there are giant craters around some of the walkway. Why is the boat basin a priority? Why the monument? I could go on and on.
Please see my response to Bill Williams, above. You could go and cut those small trees down yourself, or pull them out if they are small enough.
These organizations are financed with no apparent responsibility or serious overview… Huge shame. Where does the money end up I wonder?!
RPC is a non-profit that does general maintenance and events. They are funded entirely by donors. They regularly show how they are funded and where the money is going at https://riversideparknyc.org/financials-reports/ If you have concerns about how the park is maintained or where people/money are focused, you are better off ragging on the Parks Department or DOT, who actually are the ones who maintain bike paths and roads.
Completely incorrect. See NYS not-for-profit laws and tax regulations.
That area needs a bathroom too bad it wasn’t incorporated
How about some more restrooms in the park? Why is that such a problem in this city?
“Cold water for purchase in aluminum bottles”?!
How about free clean NYC water to be available to fill up peoples own water bottles? Who is reaping the $ from selling water here?
A fool and his money…
Other than that which seems completely ridiculous, solar powered cute little info center seems cute enough.
The information center is funded by the Riverside Park Conservancy, an organization separate from the Parks Department and DOT. RPC is entirely non-profit and works on general maintenance and events, they have no control over water systems in the park. They’re providing what they can in a broken system.
Actually love RPC but where is this cold water coming from?
Please repair the paths in the upper part of the park.
Great. Is it broken yet?