{"id":132520,"date":"2026-02-13T15:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/132520\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:30:07","slug":"icy-stretch-leaves-parts-of-riverside-park-impassable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/132520\/","title":{"rendered":"Icy Stretch Leaves Parts of Riverside Park Impassable"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A portion of the Riverside Park promenade, photographed Wednesday, is still covered with snow, more than two weeks after the storm. Photos by Tracy Zwick.<\/p>\n

By Tracy Zwick<\/p>\n

The promenade in Riverside Park is one of the Upper West Side\u2019s most scenic locations. Flanked by benches and trees that arch over the walkway, it\u2019s almost civic in presentation, and wide enough for strollers, dog walkers, runners, families, and friends to safely share \u2013 in warmer weather.<\/p>\n

But in the winter, parkgoers say, it\u2019s often another story.<\/p>\n

The snow becomes packed, then melts and refreezes, making it difficult, if not impossible, to traverse large sections of the park \u2013 often for months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame because Riverside Park is the neighborhood park,\u201d said one man who was walking his dog just off the snow and ice-covered middle promenade near West 102nd Street earlier this week. He compared the conditions of park walkways unfavorably to Central Park\u2019s Park Drive, which is routinely cleared within hours of snowfall; because Riverside Park has been so treacherous, he said, \u201cwe haven\u2019t been here in weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longtime UWSer Jody Greco, meanwhile, compared walking downhill toward the center of the park from the steps at Riverside Drive to \u201cjumping out of an airplane,\u201d and something she simply won\u2019t do at this time of year.<\/p>\n

\u201dI\u2019m just terrified!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To check out the conditions, West Side Rag walked the park on Wednesday, from about West 116th to West 83rd Street. We found that while the narrower paths that wind downhill from the Riverside Drive staircases were mostly clear, and the stairways themselves had been salted, large swaths of the promenade itself were slick with packed ice, making them impassable, particularly on top of the train tunnel in the middle area of the park.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A jogger navigates around ice on the Riverside Park promenade, with a snowy stretch straight ahead.<\/p>\n

WSR emailed the NYC Parks Department twice, asking about the conditions in this part of the park, but the department turned down an interview request, and a spokesperson declined to address specifics.<\/p>\n

However, Merritt Birnbaum, president & CEO of the nonprofit Riverside Park Conservancy<\/a>, which works with the Parks Department to keep the park safe and vibrant, said this perilous portion of the park is \u201ca well-known problem,\u201d and \u201cone being actively worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and the Conservancy\u2019s VP of operations, Roxanne Roth, shared their perspective during a phone call with WSR on Wednesday afternoon. They said that for years, that section of the park has been riddled with infrastructure problems \u201cbeyond our control,\u201d which prevent trucks, including plows, from entering.<\/p>\n

While Birnbaum doesn\u2019t expect this winter\u2019s ice and snow to be cleared anytime soon, she added: \u201cHopefully it won\u2019t be the case forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

As WSR has reported, there is a $26 million project<\/a> underway to address drainage and ponding issues from about West 105th to West 116th streets.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A bench in Riverside Park was still half buried in snow on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Birnbaum emphasized the non-profit status of the conservancy and their team\u2019s efforts to clear and salt staircases and footpaths. They even cleared a pickleball court recently, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty new to helping with snow duty, and it\u2019s cost us in terms of resources this year,\u201d she added, noting the overtime rates they pay to maintain a full force in the park when snow falls on weekends. \u201cOur team\u2019s been amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe appreciate every donation we receive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, parts of the park remain danger zones for many. Photographer Paul Stetzer, Jr. was in the park Wednesday, hot on the heels of a red-tailed hawk and other avian year-round-residents, with his camera at the ready. \u201cI took my life into my own hands,\u201d he said, of a moment during his walk when he stepped onto some ice to get a shot.<\/p>\n

Lifelong UWSer Dee Greenwood said she\u2019d been enjoying Riverside Park since childhood. She\u2019s often in the park\u2019s northern sections walking dogs these days, and reported that \u201cit requires a lot of concentration\u201d to navigate through the snow and ice. \u201cIt\u2019s no walk in the park,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to West Side Rag\u2019s FREE email newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>. And you can Support the Rag\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A portion of the Riverside Park promenade, photographed Wednesday, is still covered with snow, more than two weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,2577,8449,806,129,131,130,8993],"class_list":{"0":"post-132520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-outdoors","13":"tag-riverside-park","14":"tag-severe-weather","15":"tag-the-bronx","16":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","17":"tag-the-bronx-news","18":"tag-winter"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}