{"id":78769,"date":"2025-12-23T03:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T03:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/78769\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T03:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T03:05:10","slug":"26-million-drainage-project-underway-to-ease-pop-up-ponds-in-northern-uws-section-of-riverside-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/78769\/","title":{"rendered":"$26 Million Drainage Project Underway to Ease \u2018Pop-Up Ponds\u2019 in Northern UWS Section of Riverside Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Flooding in Riverside Park. Photo courtesy of Riverside Park Conservancy<\/p>\n

By Tracy Zwick<\/p>\n

Joggers, dog-walkers, students, and neighbors who frequent the northern reaches of Riverside Park are all too familiar with the mini-lakes that pop up after a significant rainfall. The park\u2019s most vulnerable section runs from just north of the 105th Street dog run all the way up to around 116th Street. A combination of the park\u2019s aging drainage system and the increased severity of rain events means there is simply nowhere for all that water to go.<\/p>\n

Now, a $26 million project funded by the mayor\u2019s office is set to address \u201cdrainage and ponding issues\u201d in this part of the park, according to Merritt Birnbaum, president and CEO of the non-profit Riverside Park Conservancy. The project will modernize the existing systems that deal with rainwater, allowing the water to funnel into appropriate outlets instead of flooding park walkways and lawn areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Park visitors are already seeing the first stages of work. \u201cRight now what you\u2019re seeing is the staging area for the project<\/a>,\u201d Birnbaum explained, \u201cand they\u2019re starting to do some pruning of trees in the area,\u201d which will allow construction vehicles to pass without incident. After that, \u201cwork will begin on the upper path to install new drainage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re preparing to put up signage soon (just waiting for final approval),\u201d Birnbaum added in an email message, \u201cto help people understand and navigate the park while the Parks Department contractors undertake the upgrades.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The northern part of Riverside Park, following rain. WSR photo by Gus Saltonstall.<\/p>\n

The project calls for the city\u2019s Parks Department to replace old drain lines; add or enlarge catch basins; install bioswales<\/a>, which are shallow, landscaped depressions designed to absorb water; and \u201cmake adjustments at key entrances along Riverside Drive to improve the flow of water into the drainage infrastructure,\u201d Manhattan Borough Commissioner for NYC\u2019s Department of Parks & Recreation Tricia Shimamura explained by email. In some cases, pathways in the park will be reconstructed and raised.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and expanded under Robert Moses in the mid-1930s, the park\u2019s river-facing slope and nearly 100-year-old infrastructure \u2013 plus a paved perimeter that channels street runoff \u2013 create a surfeit of surface water in the park. In addition, flooding has intensified in recent years as major storms have increased in frequency and severity. \u201cThe park\u2019s aging drainage infrastructure was never designed to handle such large volumes of water,\u201d said Shimamura.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following a lengthy study and design period, construction teams are now prepping to \u201cclean and replace failing infrastructure while adding drainage swales and, new to the park, wet meadows,\u201d according to the conservancy\u2019s website<\/a>. Wet meadows are areas of land that stay wet most of the time but don\u2019t have enough standing water to become swampy.\u00a0 They\u2019re often filled with grasses and wildflowers that thrive in damp soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Map of the park area that will get drainage improvements. Courtesy of Riverside Park Conservancy<\/p>\n

According to the website, three wet meadows will be installed in low spots in the affected part of Riverside Park, \u201cwith permeable sub-drainage and plantings of native grasses and perennials that thrive in intermittent wet conditions.\u201d Those areas will \u201cshift from lawn to resilient habitat, supporting pollinators and other small wildlife.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Park visitors can already see construction fencing and materials that will be used in the project near 108th Street. Pruning work will take place between 96th and 116th streets along Riverside Drive, and within the park, to clear tree branches; temporary path closures may occur periodically during this process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No date is set for when the project\u2019s next phase will start, but when it does, the upper path in Riverside Park in and around the work area will be closed for drainage repairs, re-grading, and paving. When that happens, the 116th Street entry ramp and 108th Street entry stairs will remain open, and the 115th Street stairway will be closed. There will be additional work done at two intersections along Riverside Park: at 115th Street, where a lot of street water enters the park, and 108th Street, where there are several persistent sinkholes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once the upper path paving and Riverside Drive work is complete and open, the reconstruction of the lower park path will begin. Work is expected to run through April 2027, according to the conservancy. Residents and friends of the park can stay up to date via the NYC Parks Capital Project Tracker <\/a>and the conservancy\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/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":"Flooding in Riverside Park. Photo courtesy of Riverside Park Conservancy By Tracy Zwick Joggers, dog-walkers, students, and neighbors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,8449,39117,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-78769","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-riverside-park","13":"tag-riverside-park-conservancy","14":"tag-the-bronx","15":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","16":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78769","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=78769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}