About Riverside Park Conservancy

Together with the Parks Department, these seminal groups confronted the worst of conditions: the City’s financial crisis of the 1970s led to major disinvestment from its parks, including Riverside Park, leaving them seemingly abandoned and in many places close to ruin.

In 1986, neighborhood residents Peter Wright, Jean Gardner, and Mary Frances Shaughnessy, and other like-minded citizens, created an organization that would be more effective at raising private funds for the operation of the Park, and Riverside Park Conservancy (at that time known as the Riverside Park Fund) was born.

Bill Alex, a Calvert Vaux scholar, provided a desk for the Riverside Park Fund in his office at the Interchurch Center at 120th Street and Riverside Drive, and Riverside Park Conservancy is still housed in that building today.

In 2006, an agreement was signed to make the Conservancy a more officially sanctioned supporting organization of Riverside Park. But no matter how it has been defined, the symbiotic relationship covers the vast majority of the work done by the Parks Department inside the Park.

In 2009, the trustees of Riverside Park Conservancy together with the Parks Department took a step that would change this. Adopting a model used effectively by other conservancies, most notably in Central Park, the Parks Department’s Riverside Park administrator John Herrold took on the added role of Riverside Park Conservancy President.

Another notable undertaking in 2009 was the launch of the North Park Initiative. This Initiative, which is still active today, sought to address years of neglect and disinvestment north of 120th Street, which has led to great disparities in amenities, cleanliness, and overall conditions between the Park’s northern and southern tiers that are still apparent today. The North Park Initiative was created to focus additional time, advocacy, and resources on the part of the Park bordering the Morningside Heights and Hamilton Heights neighborhoods from 120th to 155th Streets, as well as the shoreline portion of Fort Washington Park through 181st Street.

In 2015, the Conservancy extended its purview to the southern shoreline portion of Ft. Washington Park up to 181st Street. This expanded to scope of its work to include five parks: Riverside Park South, Riverside Park, Sakura Park, West Harlem Piers Park, and a portion of Ft. Washington Park.

In 2018, to focus on fundraising and raise its public profile, the Conservancy brought on its first President and CEO, Dan Garodnick. Under Dan’s leadership, the Conservancy increased its visibility, steadily growing its budget and staff size. He made advocacy a focus for the organization, directing the City’s attention to Riverside Park. In the face of unique challenges brought on by the COVID Pandemic, a number of significant capital projects were completed under Dan’s tenure, including the completion of the 102nd Street Field House, step ramp repairs, and providing horticultural care for the entire length of the Park.

In 2019, the Conservancy began “employing” a seasonal crew of goats to clear weeds and invasive plants in designated areas of the park. The weed-chomping animals, adept at removing tenacious invasives such as porcelain berry and mugwort from otherwise hard-to-reach slopes are a sustainable, green alternative to chemical-based herbicides. Above and beyond performing their core functions, the goats quickly became media darlings and perennial favorites of park goers and neighbors, helping to raise awareness of the Conservancy’s larger sustainability and environmental justice initiatives. 

In September 2022, the Conservancy brought on Merritt Birnbaum as its next President & CEO.  Merritt has led strategic programmatic growth and fundraising campaigns for the Conservancy. She has shepherded major capital projects in partnership with the Parks Department, and brought an emphasis on advocacy and environmental justice to the conservancy’s work, with a particular focus on intensifying efforts in the northern half of the Park.

Riverside Park Conservancy funded the creation of a new Compost Compound in a former derelict parking lot at 96th Street. This is the FIRST facility for processing horticultural waste at scale in an NYC public park. Not only did the compound enable Riverside Park to create a closed loop systems for processing plant material into compost to be used back in the park, significantly reducing the amount of green waste trucked to landfills, it also served as a model for a subsequent New York City Council resolution requiring NYC Parks to establish new facilities for composting horticultural waste within parks across all five boroughs.

Phase 6 of Riverside Park South construction is due for completion. This final phase will introduce a large, multi-use athletic field, basketball courts, pickle ball courts, new entry points at 64th and 62nd Streets, accessible ramps, and improvements to the entrance at 59th Street. Since the first phase of construction of Riverside Park South began in 2001, the park, which stretches from 59th to 65th Streets has become a favorite spot for many New Yorkers, and hosts a number of arts, cultural, wellness, recreational and entertainment events annually.