History of Riverside Park
Riverside Park is Manhattan's most spectacular waterfront park, stretching four miles from 72nd to 158th Streets along the Hudson River. Since 1875, the landscapes of Frederick Law Olmsted have offered escape from the city and opportunities for people of all incomes to relax, play and socialize in tranquil settings. His design for Riverside Drive
made it is one of the most beautiful boulevards in
the world, affording views of the Hudson River along
its serpentine route. Recreational facilities include handball, basketball, tennis and volleyball courts,and softball and football fields as well as a 110-slip public marina at 79th street. President Grant's tomb is located at 122nd street and Riverside Drive. |
|
Capital Projects
Riverside Restoration & Partnership History In 1981, the Parks Department Planning Office was charged with developing a comprehensive plan for Riverside Park's restoration. They examined the park's existing condition and image, its history and design development, and its recreational uses.
They completed the "Riverside Park Conceptual Master Plan" in 1984. It proposed enhancing Riverside Park's attributes: its relation to the Hudson River, its historic scenic landscapes, its combination of active and scenic areas, and its unusual structures and monuments. It recommended providing contemporary recreational facilities, correcting circulation and security problems, and making the park easier to maintain.
The Conceptual Master Plan set forth a list of projects required to restore the park's landscapes, structures and facilities. A Capital plan was prepared to divide and prioritize the work into projects. They assigned the highest priorities to deteriorated infrastructure, hazardous conditions, strategic improvements and our more popular recreational facilities.
The planning team discovered many of the Park's problems were severe and rapidly growing worse. The need for a continuous program of maintenance, erosion control, horticultural care and incremental restoration was obvious. The community lobbied for increased city funding and in 1984 the Parks Department received funding to hire employees to provide erosion control, soil renovation and horticultural maintenance. In addition, the Parks Department formed a crew to provide graffiti removal and park repair. The crews achieved a tremendous improvement in the Park's appearance. Deterioration was slowed, morale improved and usership increased.
In 1984 the Parks Department appointed a Director to coordinate all of the restoration, planning and operations in the park. Under his direction horticultural restoration was coordinated with the capital projects to decrease the overall cost of park restoration. This work was not sufficient to achieve a long lasting restoration of the park. The restoration had to be accompanied by increased community involvement to create an atmosphere of caring and a constituency who will protect the park.
In 1986 neighborhood activists and grassroots leaders formed The Riverside Park Fund to work in cooperation with the Parks Department to restore and maintain Riverside Park. The Fund started with one full-time employee and focused on building a responsible park using community, providing advocacy, membership coordination, fundraising and programming. The Fund's staff has grown to four as its mission has grown.
In 1991 the Fund hired a social scientist to conduct a user survey. People in the park said they wanted removal of illicit activities, more grass, enhanced maintenance and safety, riverfront access, and upgrading of recreational facilities. In response, the Fund lobbied and raised funds to establish a Homeless Outreach program, a Volunteer force and a Perimeter clean-up crew. They started safety programs and projects to reconstruct playgrounds. They created a plan for a Riverside bike route. They initiated $5.5 million in projects and programs.
The current volunteer program brings people together to help the park and help themselves. Through the program, community-based organizations, such as the 91st Street Playground Project and 97th Street Tennis Association, as well as individuals, have adopted facilities and landscapes. These groups have raised private funds for attendants and programming and volunteered thousands of hours of service.
Partnership Lessons
During our association, we have
learned that our organizations have complimentary
abilities. The Riverside Park Fund has been responsible
for public outreach, volunteer programs, improvement
projects suitable for private or foundation funding,
educating the public to respect the park advocacy
and strategic financial assistance to the Parks Department.
The Parks Department has been responsible for park
maintenance, long range planning, capital improvements,
and management of the park personnel and budget. Our
partnership has always been collaborative and as it
has matured we have capitalized on our strengths.
We have learned the following lessons that can be
generalized to apply to other Park advocacy organizations:
- Park restoration is most successful when it includes positive community involvement.
- Volunteerism is a good way to build community pride in the park.
- Non-profits can be most successful when they work in partnership with the governmental agency charged with the official responsibility.
- Private donors are often more willing to give to non-profit than municipalities.
- Private funds can be spent without municipal bidding and approval processes, therefore they can be spent more quickly.
- Non-profits can innovate and operate strategically in concert with their public partner, providing private funds for immediate needs such as diseased tree care or mechanical equipment repair.
- Citizen groups are effective lobbyists.
- Private funds can be a catalyst for encouraging municipalities to allocate scarce funds.
- Funding capital projects is easier for municipalities than high levels of maintenance and programming. Communities are willing and able to provide their own programming.