There is a laminated sign at the 108th Street staircase in Riverside Park saying the closure will last "approximately three weeks." The sign is dated April 26. In its October 1 report, West Side Rag counted 22 weeks since that date. On September 21 a newer sign went up beside it, giving October 1 as the end date. The Parks Department says the stair closures are there "to allow for drainage reconstruction prior to the repaving of the asphalt paths."
That phrase about drainage explains most of the park this fall. The longest fences, at 108th to 116th Streets and across half of Dinosaur Playground, are drainage projects. The most visible project finished this year, the new 97th Street entrance, is one too. Read from 59th Street up to 116th, the map of what is open and what is closed largely follows where the old pipes have been replaced and where they are still waiting.
The Problem Is Older Than Anyone Using the Park
Riverside Park Conservancy's restoration page calls drainage "a major challenge in Riverside Park." The park was originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and expanded under Robert Moses in the mid-1930s. Its slope faces the river, its infrastructure is about 90 years old, and its paved edges channel runoff from the streets into the park. Extreme storms now make the surface water worse. After a long study and design period, the work was aimed at 108th to 116th Streets, which the Conservancy names as the stretch with the worst erosion and ponding.
So the question of what is open this fall gets answered block by block, and the answer depends on where each block sits in that repair schedule.
At 97th Street, a Finished Entrance Leads to an Unfinished Playground
The 97th Street entrance has been rebuilt. The Conservancy lists it among its completed projects for 2026. The redesign by Starr Whitehouse keeps the old symmetrical layout and adds new bluestone and granite staircases, an ADA-compliant ramp worked into the landscape, and a new paved path to the south for cyclists and maintenance vehicles. According to the Conservancy, the project "resolved longstanding drainage issues" at the entrance, and it was "completed in coordination with the reconstruction of Dinosaur Playground."
That reconstruction is still on paper. The northern half of Dinosaur Playground has been fenced since a sinkhole opened there during Hurricane Ida in 2021, and the area inside the ring of barricades is now overgrown. In 2024 the playground received $8.6 million from then-Mayor Eric Adams, Councilmember Gale Brewer and FEMA. At that time, officials said construction would begin in 2025. West Side Rag reported on October 7 that work had not started. A Parks Department spokesperson said the fenced section belongs to a larger reconstruction that includes "extensive upgrades to the underground drainage infrastructure," that the agency is waiting on final permits, and that construction should begin in late 2027 or early 2028.
Separate money is going to the half that is open. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $3 million in state funding for the playground's restrooms and upper pavilion. It covers new lighting, updated fixtures and better accessibility in the restrooms. Above them, it pays for roof, terrace and stair repairs, waterproofing, masonry restoration and new drinking fountains. That leaves 97th Street with three timelines. The entrance is finished, the pavilion now has funding, and the sinkhole side has a start date at least a year away.
From 108th to 116th, the Fences Keep Moving South
The Riverside Park Drainage System Reconstruction Project is a $26 million job covering 108th to 116th Streets. A Parks spokesperson told West Side Rag that permit filing delays pushed its estimated completion from April to May 2027. The project runs in three phases, and the posted signs don't always agree with the official schedule.
- Phase One, the upper path. This path runs just below the west side of Riverside Drive. Posters say the phase began last winter and ended this summer, but the closures have reached as far south as 108th Street, and the staircases along the stretch are closed.
- Phase Two, the Riverside Drive pedestrian path. Posters give spring 2026 through winter 2027, which doesn't match the tracker's May 2027 end date for the whole project. The Parks Department has also closed the path closest to the park from 108th to 111th Streets until next spring, so people are walking on the grass beside it.
- Phase Three, the lower path inside the park. This phase is set to begin this fall and last until spring 2027. Pipes, concrete and trailers are already collecting in the area.
The Parks Department explained the extension as work "to address grading and drainage issues, additional drainage structures, asphalt pavers, granite block, and expanded tree pits." It has also taken on concrete curbs and sinkhole restoration. With all three phases underway, the upper path, the Drive-side path and the lower path in this stretch could all be affected over the same winter.
What Has Already Reopened, and What Comes Next
The drainage closures are the largest, but the city's capital project tracker and the Conservancy show a steady run of smaller projects finishing up and down the park. The table sets each project's latest published status against its date.
| Location | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 97th Street entrance | Complete | 2026 |
| 104th Street synthetic-turf field | Complete | May 2026 |
| 105th Street staircase | Complete | August 2026 |
| West 69th Street Transfer Bridge, Riverside Park South | Complete | July 2026 |
| 78th Street ramp | Complete | September 2025 |
| 91st Street staircase | Under construction | Projected February 2027 |
| West 71st Street adult fitness equipment, Riverside Park South | Scheduled | October 2026 start, October 2027 finish |
| Crabapples on the Greenway, 72nd to 83rd Streets | Under construction | 28 trees being replaced |
| Dinosaur Playground, northern half | Closed | Construction expected late 2027 or early 2028 |
| 108th to 116th Streets drainage | Under construction | Projected May 2027 |
| 79th Street Boat Basin marina | Closed | Reopening anticipated 2028 |
The crabapple project brings back a historic row of multi-stem trees along the Hudson River Greenway between West 83rd and West 72nd Streets, replacing 28 trees lost over time to age and poor condition. The tracker does not say how much of the 91st Street staircase is closed to the public. It also does not say when the fitness area at West 71st Street will be fenced off.
The upgrade with the most immediate effect sits indoors. The Conservancy's fall classes meet in the newly renovated 102nd Street Field House. Fall Yoga runs 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on October 28 and November 11, with no class on November 25. Mat Pilates is on October 15, 22 and 29 and November 5, 12 and 19, from 11 a.m. to noon. Bodyroll is on Mondays from 10 to 11 a.m., on October 19 and 26 and November 2, 9, 16 and 30.
The Parades Run on the Finished Blocks
This year's fall events mostly stay on stretches that are open. The Riverside Park Pup Halloween Parade is on Saturday, October 24, with October 25 as the rain date. It meets at Dinosaur Playground on 96th Street, beside the open half, and ends with a costume contest at Ellington's Cafe at 105th Street, three blocks short of the drainage fences at 108th. The event details list noon to 3 p.m., but one description on the same Conservancy page still says 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Registration closes October 19.
The Hippo Halloween Parade is on October 31 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. It starts at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at 89th Street and Riverside Drive and ends at Hippo Playground. NYC Parks lists it as free. Across the neighborhood, the Central Park Conservancy has canceled its Harlem Meer pumpkin flotilla for 2026, which makes the Riverside parades the main Halloween events in a park on the Upper West Side this year.
The rest of the Conservancy's fall calendar involves hands-on work in the park:
- It's My Park Day: Fall Edition, October 10, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fall planting in gardens across the park.
- South Park volunteer mornings at West 68th Street, 9 to 11 a.m., on October 9, 16, 23 and 30 and November 6.
- Halloween Pickleball Tournament and Fundraiser, October 25, 1 to 3 p.m. The calendar doesn't list a venue yet.
- Meet the Fleet, November 7, 10 a.m. to noon.
- Annual Leaf Lift, November 14, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration opens four weeks before the event.
The Leaf Lift is the last large volunteer event of the season on the calendar. It falls on Saturday, November 14, the same fall that Phase Three starts on the lower path between 108th and 116th Streets.
Most of the Upper West Side's townhouses and prewar buildings sit within a short walk of these blocks, so a closed staircase or a fenced playground shapes daily routines more than any listing description would show. If you'd like to talk through how Riverside Park's changing access fits into a home search or sale, The Kantha Team is glad to schedule a consultation.
