Riverbank State Park
Encyclopedia
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
The park includes an Olympic-size swimming pool (home to the Riverbank Redtails swim team), a covered skating rink for roller skating in the summer and ice-skating in the winter, an 800-seat cultural theater, a 2,500-seat athletic complex with fitness room, and a 150-seat restaurant. Bicycling is strictly forbidden. A popular work is the Totally Kid Carousel created by Maria Reidelbach
Maria Reidelbach
Maria Reidelbach is a Manhattan-based installation artist, curator and author, who is the creator of award-winning public art...
and Milo Mottola.
The park is 69 feet (21 m) above the Hudson. It is located on the West Side Highway
West Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
from 137th Street to 145th Street
145th Street (Manhattan)
145th Street is a major crosstown street in the Harlem neighborhood, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is one of the 15 crosstown streets mapped out in the Commissioner's Plan of 1811 that established the numbered street grid in Manhattan...
in Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary may be defined anywhere between 59th Street and 155th Street. Between these two extremes lies the most common definitions of Upper Manhattan as Manhattan above 96th Street...
. The only state park within Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
(since Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park is a waterside park on the Hudson River that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Bicycle and pedestrian paths, including the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, span the park north to south, opening up the waterfront for...
is only partly a State Park), it is built over the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, which processes 125 million USgals (473,176.5 m³) of wastewater every day during dry weather, and it is designed to handle up to 340 million USgals (1,287,040.1 m³) a day when the weather is wet. The plant claims that its state-of-the-art facility emits no odors, though frequent visitors to the park would disagree. The plant sits on 2,300 caisson
Caisson (engineering)
In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
s pinned into bedrock up to 230 feet (70.1 m) beneath the river. The plant was completed in two phases between 1986 and 1991.
The park was designed by Dattner Architects and Abel Bainnson Butz Landscape Architects, and opened in 1993. It has become one of the most heavily used State Parks in NY. The 28 acres (11.3 ha) site includes synthetic sport surfaces as well as several acres of "green roof
Green roof
A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems...
s"--varying depths of soil supporting plantings and trees up to 35 feet (10.7 m) high. This is the largest "green" roof in NYC.