From outside the chain-link at West 62nd Street, the turf already has its lines. You can see two softball and baseball diamonds plus pitches marked for 7-on-7 and 9-on-9 soccer, all behind a fence that, as of mid-October, was expected to come down "within weeks," according to West Side Rag.
Walk north along the Hudson and things run the other way. The Boat Basin is closed until 2028. Half of Dinosaur Playground has been fenced since 2021. From 108th to 116th Street, the paths are a patchwork of barricades scheduled into spring 2027. Riverside Park is getting finished from its newest end first. For the next year or so, the most usable new space in the park sits at its southern tip, and much of the older park uptown is waiting on paperwork.
The last fence at West 62nd Street
The parcel opening now is the final piece of Riverside Park South, a 32-acre park built on the old New York Central Railroad yards. The developers along Riverside Boulevard agreed to build the park and hand it to the city in exchange for their approvals. The first phase, home to Pier I, opened 25 years ago.
This last phase is late by any measure. In 2016, Parks Department officials told Community Board 7 it would be done in 2018. When construction began in August 2021, the Riverside Park Conservancy estimated about two years. Five years later, the fence is still up. Parks attributed the delays to extra environmental remediation on a former industrial site. Thomas Balsley, the park's designer since before its 1991 approvals, told West Side Rag that the fill left by earlier industrial and commercial users made this phase especially hard to clean up. He added that costs rising past the 1991 budget forced parts of the plan to be scaled back and redesigned.
The most visible thing that got cut is a pavilion with amenities and concessions that was supposed to sit at the Riverside Boulevard level near West 66th Street. Balsley's view of the finished product, as he put it to West Side Rag:
"I still refer to this park as the interim park."
Lights, a first for the park
Riverside Park already has a similar field layout in the low 100s. The new section at 62nd has lighting for night play, which is a first for Riverside Park, plus a basketball court and three pickleball courts.
In late October, lighting decides whether a field gets used at all. Debbie Kling, longtime president of West Side Little League, told West Side Rag that the extra capacity will help most on Friday afternoons and evenings and on Saturday afternoons, when demand peaks. She said the lights will allow later games, especially as fall days get shorter. Pedro Rafael, regional commissioner for West Side Soccer League, was blunter: "Fields are absolutely critical. And the most challenging element to get hold of."
Turf is the other change. Parks often closes grass fields during even moderate rain to prevent damage. Artificial turf lets leagues schedule far more reliably. Both leagues, each marking or approaching its 40th anniversary, consulted with Parks and the Conservancy on the field dimensions and markings.
One open question for anyone hoping to book time on a weeknight is permits. Nonprofit and for-profit youth groups, schools and adult leagues are all expected to apply, and as of the October 13 report, Parks had not said how permits would be allocated.
Heading north, the dates move into 2027 and 2028
At West 79th Street, the timeline jumps forward. NYC Parks lists the 79th Street Boat Basin marina as closed, with no dockage, moorage, anchorage or launch services. The marina will be dredged and rebuilt to modern codes, with reopening expected in 2028.
Twelve blocks up, the 91st Street staircase reconstruction is in active construction. The Parks capital tracker shows it 69% complete, with completion projected for February 2027.
The south end's delays came from contaminated soil and a 1991 budget. North of 97th Street, according to Parks' own spokespeople, the holdups are permits.
Dinosaur Playground, where the Pup Parade meets
The northern portion of Dinosaur Playground, at Riverside Park and West 97th Street, has been closed since a sinkhole opened during Hurricane Ida in 2021. In 2024 the playground received $8.6 million from then-Mayor Eric Adams, Councilmember Gale Brewer and FEMA to fix that side, and city officials said work would start in 2025. As of October 7, 2026, it had not started, West Side Rag reported. The barricaded hole has become overgrown.
A Parks spokesperson told the outlet that the closed section is part of a larger reconstruction that includes extensive underground drainage upgrades. "We are waiting on final permit approvals. We anticipate construction will begin late 2027 or early 2028." The Parks tracker for Dinosaur Playground shows design complete and contract permitting and legal review underway, with construction dates undetermined.
The open half is getting attention of its own. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $3 million in state funding for the restrooms and upper pavilion, covering new lighting, updated fixtures, better accessibility, roof and stair repairs, waterproofing, masonry restoration and new drinking fountains.
This corner is also where one of the park's best fall traditions gathers. The Riverside Park Pup Halloween Parade meets at 97th Street and Riverside Drive this Saturday, October 24, from noon to 3 p.m., with October 25 as the rain date, according to the Riverside Park Conservancy's 2026 schedule. NYC Parks' own listing names Dinosaur Playground as the location, which is the same block.
Above 108th Street, the signs don't match
The $26 million Riverside Park Drainage System Reconstruction, covering 108th to 116th Street, began in late 2025. Its estimated finish has slipped from April to May 2027. A Parks spokesperson told West Side Rag the cause was permit filing delays. The official project tracker lists the same May 2027 date.
On the ground, the work comes in three phases.
- Upper path, 108th to 116th. This is the path just below Riverside Drive inside the park. It's closed, and so are the staircase entrances along that stretch. One laminated notice at the 108th Street stairs promised a closure of "approximately three weeks" and was dated April 26. On September 21 the city posted a new sign saying the closure would run until October 1.
- Riverside Drive pedestrian path, 108th to 116th. Posters say this phase runs from spring 2026 through winter 2027, which doesn't match the tracker's May 2027 date. Parks recently closed the pathway closest to the park from 108th to 111th Street until next spring.
- Lower path, 108th to 116th. This closure is expected to start this fall and last until spring 2027. Pipes, concrete and trailers were already piling up when the Rag visited.
Parks said the longer schedule covers grading and drainage issues, additional drainage structures, asphalt pavers, granite block, expanded tree pits, new concrete curbs and sinkhole restoration. Commenting on the fencing and debris, one man sitting with his poodle told West Side Rag, "It's like a war zone." People the outlet spoke with were relieved the work was happening but wanted clearer information from the city.
Put the three phases together and a daily walk through the 108th to 116th stretch this winter has fewer ways in and fewer ways through than it did in the summer. The new lit fields at 62nd Street fill in on roughly the same timeline that the north end's lower path closes.
Four Saturdays on the park calendar
The Conservancy and NYC Parks list these dates for the rest of the season:
- Saturday, October 24, noon to 3 p.m. Riverside Park Pup Halloween Parade, meeting at 97th Street and Riverside Drive. Rain date October 25.
- Saturday, October 31, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Hippo Playground Halloween Parade, from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at 89th Street to the playground for music and treats.
- Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m. to noon. Meet the Fleet, at the 95th Street Compost Compound.
- Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Annual Leaf Lift, a volunteer day clearing leaves from pedestrian paths. Leaves are recycled into the landscape or composted at the park's own compound.
The Conservancy's schedule was printed in the spring, so check riversideparknyc.org for registration and any changes before you head out.
Every listing with a location falls between 89th and 97th Street, between the construction zones. The new fields sit farther south at 62nd Street, under the park's first lights for night play.
If you're weighing a home along the Riverside Drive or Riverside Boulevard corridor and want to know how these timelines fit into a long-term decision, Steven Ke is glad to talk it through block by block. Let's Connect.
