By Tracy Zwick
The promenade in Riverside Park is one of the Upper West Side’s most scenic locations. Flanked by benches and trees that arch over the walkway, it’s almost civic in presentation, and wide enough for strollers, dog walkers, runners, families, and friends to safely share – in warmer weather.
But in the winter, parkgoers say, it’s often another story.
The snow becomes packed, then melts and refreezes, making it difficult, if not impossible, to traverse large sections of the park – often for months.
“It’s a shame because Riverside Park is the neighborhood park,” said one man who was walking his dog just off the snow and ice-covered middle promenade near West 102nd Street earlier this week. He compared the conditions of park walkways unfavorably to Central Park’s Park Drive, which is routinely cleared within hours of snowfall; because Riverside Park has been so treacherous, he said, “we haven’t been here in weeks.”
Longtime UWSer Jody Greco, meanwhile, compared walking downhill toward the center of the park from the steps at Riverside Drive to “jumping out of an airplane,” and something she simply won’t do at this time of year.
”I’m just terrified!” she said.
To check out the conditions, West Side Rag walked the park on Wednesday, from about West 116th to West 83rd Street. We found that while the narrower paths that wind downhill from the Riverside Drive staircases were mostly clear, and the stairways themselves had been salted, large swaths of the promenade itself were slick with packed ice, making them impassable, particularly on top of the train tunnel in the middle area of the park.
WSR emailed the NYC Parks Department twice, asking about the conditions in this part of the park, but the department turned down an interview request, and a spokesperson declined to address specifics.
However, Merritt Birnbaum, president & CEO of the nonprofit Riverside Park Conservancy, which works with the Parks Department to keep the park safe and vibrant, said this perilous portion of the park is “a well-known problem,” and “one being actively worked on.”
She and the Conservancy’s VP of operations, Roxanne Roth, shared their perspective during a phone call with WSR on Wednesday afternoon. They said that for years, that section of the park has been riddled with infrastructure problems “beyond our control,” which prevent trucks, including plows, from entering.
While Birnbaum doesn’t expect this winter’s ice and snow to be cleared anytime soon, she added: “Hopefully it won’t be the case forever.”
As WSR has reported, there is a $26 million project underway to address drainage and ponding issues from about West 105th to West 116th streets.
Meanwhile, Birnbaum emphasized the non-profit status of the conservancy and their team’s efforts to clear and salt staircases and footpaths. They even cleared a pickleball court recently, she added.
“We’re pretty new to helping with snow duty, and it’s cost us in terms of resources this year,” she added, noting the overtime rates they pay to maintain a full force in the park when snow falls on weekends. “Our team’s been amazing,” she said. “We appreciate every donation we receive.”
Still, parts of the park remain danger zones for many. Photographer Paul Stetzer, Jr. was in the park Wednesday, hot on the heels of a red-tailed hawk and other avian year-round-residents, with his camera at the ready. “I took my life into my own hands,” he said, of a moment during his walk when he stepped onto some ice to get a shot.
Lifelong UWSer Dee Greenwood said she’d been enjoying Riverside Park since childhood. She’s often in the park’s northern sections walking dogs these days, and reported that “it requires a lot of concentration” to navigate through the snow and ice. “It’s no walk in the park,” she said.
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Another perspective: I’ve been very happy with the well cleared paths in Riverside that have allowed me to keep running.
Especially south of 100th Street or so, there are excellent options for running, including a bypass at around West 83rd, where there is a large patch of thick uncleared ice and snow. The trouble is in the 100s & up. You can get around many of the difficult patches, but not all, by using the footpaths. But they’re narrow and present other challenges.
“Its no walk in the park.” WWCD
The Riverside Park Conservancy continues to maintain and upkeep our Park. Their efforts are limited only by financial and other resources—SO Upper West Siders—if you enjoy the Park, make a donation in whatever amount you can afford. And always express gratitude to the Conservancy and Park employees and volunteers.
Totally agree about the Conservancy and their essential work in RSP. The case could be made that the NYC Parks Department, who refused to engage via email, phone or otherwise for this story, should be doing all the snow and ice remediation in the parks, including RSP. We all pay taxes to support the Parks Department, whose fundamental mission includes safety.
Why not ask for the Parks Department to be better funded? The conservatory doesn’t fund things like arborists (desperately needed) or rangers or infrastructure repairs. Parks does.
A city with a $113 billion annual budget shouldn’t need donations to maintain parks.
Thx for information.With cane not walking there.
Riverside Park has always been the poor second cousin to Central Park. In the winter it is more treacherous simply because it is right on the Hudson. This park deserves better care.
It comes down to donations. Central Park is the most famous park in the world, so donations as you can imagine are much higher and their budgets are higher. Riverside relies on smaller donations (and not enough attention from the NYC Parks Dept compared to Central Park). Donate what you can if you’re able to! Every donation counts.
You should have pointed out how treacherous it is to go to the dog run at 105 street. It’s outrageous that Central Park gets so much more care than Riverside. The partial privatization of the parks by Bloomberg is responsible.
Both the Central Park Conservancy (F. 1980) and the Riverside Park Conservancy (F. 1986) were founded (F) under Koch, not Bloomberg. So how did Bloomberg “partially privatize” the Parks beyond this?
Nail on the head
I have been complaining about this for years to the Conservancy. Became a problem when the bollards were put down to prevent heavy vehicles from driving on the promenade due to deterioration of the deck due to water seepage over the years. So they need a small vehicle that can pass through the bollards or come around them and start moving the snow early. Can store it in the shed at 107th street. I gave up and bought a rowing machine and stopped running in Riverside. This is not hard to fix. And instead of spending $100 million to repair the Soldiers and Sailors and build a new boat house – vanity projects that we don’t need, why not go 50%/50% with Amtrak and rebuild the deck of the promenade. Or resurface the asphalt pathways running throughout Riverside. The way government makes spending decisions is ludicrous and self serving for the elected officials.
Hate to tell you, but the Soldiers and Sailors monument and the boathouse are iconic for most Riverside Park goers. And, for that matter, I doubt Amtrak has a bag of money hidden away to share w/ the Park.
Iconic? That’s where you would spend $100 million. I don’t think you travel in the same park that I do. I have been using Riverside Park since 1973.
This infrastructure project has been in progress with no evidence that anything is going on. Early on, like more than 5 years ago , there was some activity: trees were protected, an active survey of the area and plans underway. But there is nothing obvious going on. It is time that Riverside Conservancy publish the plan or lack thereof so we all can understand the issues and when the project will be realized.
Mamdani, please maintain Riverside Park.
To Anyone who reads this column and who enjoys Riverside Park: PLease give a donation to the Riverside Park Conservancy. It’s a grass roots nonprofit started in the early 1980s. It works in conjunction with the NYC Parks Dept. Historically when the City budget needs to be balanced the Parks budget gets cut first. The Conservancy has stepped in to maintain Riverside Park after those cuts . It has also developed wonderful programs like Goatham, Yoga in the Park and a squad of200 plus volunteer gardeners. These volunteers create the wonderful flower gardens you see around the Park. They also help with composting plant waste and mulching all those Christmas trees thrown away. There’s even a volunteer snow shoveling corps. The Conservancy website is:
riversideparknyc.org
Please make a donation
I bet ‘the park’ (trees, earth, birds… even the WORKERS!) are glad that there are few humans and dogs for a bit. Can’t you just ‘hear’ the trees ‘smiling’?
what I want to know is, are there fewer (or more!)rats roaming around in these conditions?
It would be lovely if they cleared the promenade.
However I’ve stayed on the hudson greenway path by the river during my runs, and it’s been looking good the past 3 weeks — grateful to the parks dept for keeping that path clear all the way to 125!
It’s clear of ice and snow down there, but it gets so windy by the water – in the terribly cold weather it’s not a solution for most people.
Given the surface conditions, I highly recommend that park users acquire a pair of microspikes or yaktrax, which strap across the bottom of your shoes/boots and provide steel traction points. They are easy to put on and take off, and are small enough to fit in your jacket pockets. They are essential gear for perilous surfaces. They’re also great for winter hikes in the countryside. Separately, that snow would have been easy to clear early with a simple snowblower, which can fit thru the bollard and weights about 100 lb. Now it’s too late: the snow has melted and harden, so a plow is required.
At this point, even spikes won’t help. I actually enjoyed a temporary winter wonderland walking through that stretch of snow a couple of times. Now just a couple of days ago it was virtually unwalkable, I slowly traversed it. It is solid ice now full of footholes. If it were a natural winter icy spot it would be smoother and you could use spikes. Now you can easily twist an ankle after a couple of steps because it’s nothing but holes, solid rock holes.
It’s worse on Broadway up in the100s . Crossing the street in a new Winter Olympic sport! We’ve all forgotten about
winter being a challenge these past few years.
It’s winter. It’s cold. The snow froze. That’s nature.
The city can only do so much. Stop complaining
I happily walk the park’s snowy northern areas every day with good boots and a stick. It’s like being in the country—great, challenging exercise. People don’t grasp (hoho) how useful walking sticks are. Until all the snow melts, this will be a very special area. The complainers should stick to the areas that are cleared. We should appreciate this intense, old-time winter.
As for the proposed work to re-drain a large area that floods with any decent amount of rainfall, , I can see that work proceeding: Much has been done since the snowfall: trees girded, metal poles placed. The Conservancy is doing its best. Riverside Park is a treasure!
Seriously, how do the Riverside raccoons survive the severe snow, ice, and cold?
People should purchase microspikes and then they will be able to more safely walk on the ice. De-icers will end up in the Hudson River.
FYI for people wanting a walk in the park: I walked along the river from about 96th to about 75th on Wednesday, and that section was clear and was better than usual in that I saw only 2 conventionally powered bicyclers and no motorized bikes.