Riverside Park

Riverside Park stretches four miles along the Hudson River, defined by its long, narrow shape and the way it clings to the steep hillside above the water. While much of Manhattan is built on a rigid grid, this park was planned to follow the natural, irregular topography of the riverbank. Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park, created the original conceptual plan in eighteen seventy-three. He envisioned a tree-lined roadway, Riverside Drive, that would wind around the rocky terrain and provide an escape from the densely packed streets of the city.