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 recreational use. The park includes tennis and soccer fields, batting cages, children's playground, dog run, recreational piers, and many other features.

Hudson River Park connects many other recreational sites and landmarks including Battery Park, Battery Park City, The World Trade Center site, the World Financial Center / Winter Garden, Chelsea Piers, Pier 57, Pier 63 (site of historic ships Lightship "Frying Pan" and Fireboat "John J. Harney"), Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, and Riverside Park. It runs through the Manhattan neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, Battery Park City, TriBeCa, Greenwich Village, Gansevoort Market (The Meatpacking District), Chelsea, Midtown West, and Hell's Kitchen (Clinton).

It is a joint New York State and New York City collaboration and is a convert|550|acre|km2|sing=on park, the biggest in Manhattan after Central Park. The park arose as part of the West Side Highway replacement project in the wake of the abandoned Westway plan.

Amenities

Recreational facilities of many kinds are located throughout Hudson River Park, catering to organized and individual sports, leisure activities, and activities for children. A defining physical feature of Hudson River Park is the 6.0-mile bike and running path that runs the park’s length, which connects it with Riverside Park South at West 59th Street.

Scattered throughout the park are numerous fields and courts, with Chelsea Waterside Park (West 23rd Street and 11th Avenue) being one center of sports activity. The park contains a sports field, basketball court, a playground with water features during the summer months, and a dog run named “Best of New York” by New York Magazine in May 2006.

Pier 84 at West 44th Street is also packed with activities. Free fishing with Big City Fishing is available on the pier as well as rowing, boat building, and other maritime related activities, including a water taxi stop. Also on the pier are a dog run and playground, and the casual restaurant PD O’Hurleys.

Other sporting facilities include basketball courts at Canal Street and another at Harrison Street, Tennis courts south of Pier 40 between Houston and Canal Streets, and a temporary skate park at West 30th Street. For more a more unusual sport, the Trapeze School of New York runs their programs on the roof of Pier 40.

The largest sporting complex in Hudson River Park is the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex, which holds a variety of athletic spaces. Chelsea Piers sports a batting cage, bowling lanes, playing fields, headless chickens, a driving range, an ice skating rink, rock climbing facilities, and gymnastics space, among other exercise and fitness related spaces. Along with their indoor recreational facilities, Chelsea Piers also offers boating activities and several restaurants on premises.

Keeping with the maritime heritage of the park, Hudson River Park has opportunities for outrigger canoeing on Pier 66 at West 26th Street, rowing and sailing on Piers 40 and 66, and free kayaking on Piers 96, 66, and 40.

An abundance of open grassy areas in the park also permits non-athletic leisure activity. Sun tanning is a popular pastime in Hudson River Park, with people taking in the sun in one of many ideal areas. Clinton Cove (W. 55th St.), Pier 84 (W. 44th St.), 14th Street Park, and Pier 45 all contain large amounts of unobstructed green space for sunbathing, and are popular locations among park-goers

External links

* [http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/ Official site]
* [http://www.fohrp.org/ Friends of Hudson River Park]
* [http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2893 Wirednewyork forum on park]
* [http://islandwoo.com/2008/07/15/hudson-river-park-pier-45-46/ Hudson River Park - Pier 45 & 46]