Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Tricia Shimamura on High Bridge in the Bronx. ( Photo: Kara McCurdy/Mayor’s Photo Office.) Shimamura Rising: Manhattan Boss Parkie Named NYC Parks Commissioner Manhattan parks watchers got a welcome surprise on Saturday January 17, when Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment... News 26 Jan 2026 | 09:43
A view of the current “splash zone” and built-in stream at River Run Playground, off West 82nd Street. The park was set to lose the river during a proposed overhaul, but community rage has forced the city to reverse course. ( Photo: NYC Parks Department) ‘River’ to Remain at River Run Playground After All: Parks River Run Playground, a beloved community space located off West 82nd Street, was set to lose its centerpiece stream during... News 26 Dec 2025 | 05:08
Left: Parade over the Corlears Hook Park Bridge. Right: East River Park amphitheater, a work in progress. ( Photos: Friends of Corlears Hook Park; Brian Berger) That New Corlears Hook Bridge to East River Park? Wow! It might not be the yellow brick road, but the paths to and from the new Corlears Hook Park Bridge to the East River Park... News 05 Oct 2025 | 04:35
The ribbon cutting at the gazebo. Note the golden scissors! Congressman Dan Goldman arrived just after this photo was taken. ( Photo: Brian Bergrer) Renovated Washington Market Park Reopens, Tribeca Rejoices! Shout it loud and proud, New Yorkers, Washington Market Park is back! That’s the esctatic exclamation of Tribecans and visitors... News 22 Sep 2025 | 12:05
Dashing Whippets track meet, Aug. 16, 2025; runners line up for “A” heat mile. New York Lions youth football practice in background (right rear). Inset: A sign announces the closing of this section of East River Park. ( Photos: Brian Berger) East River Park Track Closes, Corlears Hook Bridge Reopens If you want to talk about the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project—involving flood control and other things—you’d best be... News 15 Sep 2025 | 08:52
One of two “Resonating Bodies” by British sculptor Tony Cragg. ( Photo: Brian Berger) Newly Raised Wagner Park Reopens, Lower Manhattanites Rejoice! More than two years after it was closed, in March 2023, as part of the Southern Battery Resiliency Project, a redesigned... News 04 Aug 2025 | 10:22
Left: Christopher Marte (left) at the music stand; Right: a dog lover and her happy, adopted partial pit bull. ( Photos: Brian Berger) New Dog Run Announced for Neglected Lower East Side Park Woof woof, lick lick: these were the sounds and gestures of gratitude offered by the canine constituents of Christopher Marte,... News 20 Jun 2025 | 11:27
A pollutant-absorbing mural called “Botanical Pulse” now graces a building abutting Hell’s Kitchen Park. ( Photo: Jack Ahern ) Massive Pollution-Absorbing Mural Comes to Hell’s Kitchen Park An enormous mural depicting blooming plant life now graces Hell’s Kitchen Park, located between W. 47th & 48th Sts. on 10th... News 03 Jun 2025 | 05:30
Left: Our Lady of Sorrows’ Mets Little League coach. Right: Woman shooting baskets next to the highway. ( Photos: Brian Berger) East River Park Reopens to High Praise & Some Concerns It’s real, it’s beautiful, mostly, and it’s LOUD, in parts, most definitely, if not deafeningly. Say what?! Hold on, let’s... News 02 Jun 2025 | 12:30
Left: BP Mark Levine, CB1 Chair Tammy Meltzer, Council Members Keith Powers and Christopher Marte; Right: ticket vendors “guarding” the entrance to Battery Park and Castle Clinton at the Bowling Green subway stop. ( Photo: Brian Berger) City Council Members Marte & Powers Propose to Stop Tourist Ferry Ticket Scams Call it “the crackdown in Battery Park.” That’s the hope anyway, in the wake of legislation announced by Council Members... News 25 May 2025 | 08:45
“Ticket agent” offers two women “assistance” near Bowling Green. March 2025. ( Photo: Brian Berger) Beware! Battery Park Tourist Scammers Persist Despite Years of Complaints & Warnings Let’s call it Anarchy in Battery Park. That’s the impression a visitor gets as they traverse this historic jewel of lower... News 28 Mar 2025 | 05:06
The state of the East River Esplanade Address at John John Park, E. 78th Street and Cherokee Place. ( Photo: Brian Berger) East River Greenway of the Mind: The City Dreamed It, But Dead Ends Riddle Waterfront Trail Talk about arterial blockage! That’s been the news from the East River waterfront for years now and, following a recent traversal... 28 Oct 2024 | 11:18
The Hudson River Park Trust has completed a $47.5 million renovation of Pier 97, which opened to the public on October 15. ( Photo: Hudson River Park ) Pier 97 Opens Near W. 57th St. After $47.5 Mil Renovation Pier 97, famous for being featured in the opening scene of the seedy Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver, has been renovated... News 17 Oct 2024 | 03:11
Asphalt Green spearheaded a new “Wave Makers” program, teaching 2,000 second-graders throughout NYC how to swim at various facilities across the city. It’s been up and running since June. But a city wide program championed by UES Council Member Julie Menin to give free swimming lessons to all 70,000 second graders in public schools during the school year, remains unfunded. ( Photo: Asphalt Green) No Funding for Second Grade Swim Program for Second Year in Row Public youth swimming lessons across the city have been in shambles since before the pandemic. In September 2023, it seemed... News 03 Jul 2024 | 01:53
The newly restored Joan of Arc statue in all its glory, no longer weathered by a century of vandalism and environmental damage is back inside Riverside Park. ( Photo: Municipal Art Society of New York) After a $23G Overhaul, the First Statue of a Woman in a NYC Public Park Is Restored on UWS The first statue of a woman in a New York City public park was restored and unveiled on May 18 inside Riverside Park, depicting... News 05 Jun 2024 | 01:45
