Public park in Manhattan, New York
Chelsea Waterside Park, formerly Thomas F. Smith Park, is a public park located at West 23rd Street between 11th and 12th Avenues along the West Side Highway in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City. It was originally operated by the government of New York City under the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. As of 2023[ [update]] it is part of the Chelsea section of Hudson River Park and managed by the Hudson River Park Trust.
The park was originally the site of a small freight yard for the Erie Railroad. In 1906, the railroad redeveloped the site into a park, as part of the reconstruction of the adjacent ferry terminal. In 1915, the park was taken over by the Parks Department, and was named for politician Thomas Francis Smith following his death in 1923. The construction of the West Side Elevated Highway in the early 1930s split the park into two adjacent sections.
Chelsea Waterside Park was designed in the late 1980s by architect Thomas Balsley. Half of the proposed park would be an expansion of the existing Smith Park, and the other half would be developed on the waterfront atop Piers 62, 63 and 64, with the two halves connected by a footbridge. The inland portion of Chelsea Waterside Park was constructed in the 1990s as a part of Hudson River Park during the redevelopment of the West Side Highway, and opened in 2000. The waterfront sections proposed for the park were completed in 2010 under a separate project. Between 2017 and 2023, major renovations took place in Chelsea Waterside Park, with a redesigned playground opening in 2018 and the remaining upgrades completed by 2023.
Description.
Location.
Chelsea Waterside Park is located on a triangular two-block long site at the west end of 23rd Street. It is bound to the west by 12th Avenue (West Side Highway), to the east by 11th Avenue, to the south by West 22nd Street, and to the north by West 24th Street. The de-mapped western end of 23rd Street runs through the park as a pedestrian plaza, connecting to the rest of Hudson River Park via a crosswalk. The current park is in size. The portion of the park south of 23rd Street formed the original Thomas F. Smith Park, which had an area of between .
Located to the west of the park is the main right-of-way of Hudson River Park, which runs north-to-south between the West Side Highway and the Hudson River. Immediately across from Chelsea Waterside Park are the Chelsea Piers sports complex, and Piers 62, 63, and 64. Across 24th Street to the north is the United States Postal Service Manhattan Vehicles Maintenance Facility. To the east at 10th Avenue is the High Line. The park is located just south of the West Chelsea Historic District, which includes the landmarked Starrett–Lehigh Building. The park is located in the vicinity of the Chelsea-Elliot Houses and Fulton Houses housing projects, and the Penn South and London Terrace apartment complexes.
Features.
The 2000-built design of Chelsea Waterside Park was created by landscape architect Thomas Balsley during the reconstruction of the West Side Highway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Balsley would later design renovations to Gantry Plaza State Park, Riverside Park South, and the East River Esplanade. The park was reconstructed between 2017 and 2023, with Phase I of the renovations designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and Phase II designed by the Abel Bainnson Butz (ABB) and CDR Studio Architects firms. As designed by Balsley, Chelsea Waterside Park contains walls and benches constructed of granite in order to resemble 19th-century coastal bulkheads, a reference to the area's historical use as a marine port.
The pedestrian plaza along 23rd Street was originally constructed as a straight-path promenade between 11th and 12th Avenues, intended as a gateway to the main Hudson River Park along the river. The Phase II renovations by ABB reimagined the promenade as the "central area", replacing the straight path with two curved paths surrounding a central lawn. Within the lawn is a picnic area with "festive lights" hanging above for nighttime use. In Balsley's original park plans, a landscaped or terraced footbridge called a "platform park" would have run above the highway from the pedestrian plaza towards the shorefront sections of Hudson River Park.
At the north end of the park are an artificial turf athletic field used for soccer and other sports, and a basketball court. The turf field measures by . Both the athletic field and the basketball court have lights for nighttime use. Next to the athletic field at the northwest corner of the park is a smaller elevated sitting area known as the "sunset overlook".
At the south end of the park is the dog run. As built in 2000, it was in size. It features an asphalt surface designed to remain at low temperature, a drinking stream, and three or four tall mounds and a long "fallen tree" sculpture for dogs to interact with. The dog run was named "Best of New York" by "New York Magazine" in May 2005. The Phase II renovations enlarged the dog run to , splitting it into "small dogs" and "large dogs" sections. The original Thomas F. Smith Park also featured a dog run.
As constructed in 2000, the park contained portable toilets in lieu of a comfort station. The Phase II renovations added a comfort station along the central area, doubling as a gatehouse into the athletic field. Designed by CDR Studio Architects, the building's facade utilizes granite and wood salvaged from the park's original walls and benches. Solar panels were also installed atop the roof of the building. The comfort station was placed as such to connect with the sewer line running underneath 23rd Street.
Play Area.
At the northeast corner of the park is its playground, called the Chelsea Waterside Play Area. The playground is in size. From October 2017 to August 2018, the play area underwent an 11-month $3.4 million renovation, designed by the Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and MONSTRUM firms. The Michael Van Valkenburgh firm also redesigned the nearby Piers 62, 63, and 64, as well as Brooklyn Bridge Park. In its current iteration, the playground's central feature is the "Pipefish Tower" created by MONSTRUM. It consists of a multi-colored long pipefish-shaped climbing feature, surrounding a large slide rising high. The pipefish is one of the aquatic species native to the Hudson River. The pipefish sculpture is constructed of Robinia wood, and consists of a seahorse's head and a serpent's body. The slide's towers, meanwhile, are designed to resemble tree trunks. At the north end of the playground is a small splash pad called the "water maze", featuring several sprinklers. A toddler water play area is situated at the southeast corner of the play area. At the southwest corner is the "Mussel Houses", a sandbox featuring mussel or oyster-shaped sculptures. At the northwest corner of the playground is a "Donor Recognition Wall", featuring the names of major benefactors to the park's renovation.
The Phase II renovations to the park added a stroller parking area at the south end of the playground.
Cattle sculptures.
Located in the play area integrated with its sprinklers are two limestone sculptures of cattle heads. The sculptures were originally architectural features of the New York Butchers' Dressed Meat Company building, a Neo-Renaissance-style slaughterhouse in Hell's Kitchen. The building was demolished in 1991, after which the sculptures were preserved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The two cow sculptures along with two sculptures of ram's heads, were purchased by the Hudson River Park Trust at auction in 2012. The cattle sculptures were added to the park during the 2018 renovations (the ram sculptures were given to DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell's Kitchen).
In addition to the cattle sculptures, Art Deco ornamental features of the former West Side Elevated Highway are also integrated into the playground as sprinklers. These are wing-shaped and made of granite. The highway formerly ran through the original Thomas F. Smith Park. Seating furniture, meanwhile, was created from the former granite arch of Pier 54, also part of Hudson River Park.
Thomas F. Smith Monument.
One of the features retained from the original Thomas F. Smith Park is a granite monument to Smith, located on 23rd Street at the eastern entrance to the park. It's inscription reads "In Memory Of Hon. Thomas F. Smith, Born 1863−Died 1923, Erected by the Seymour Club of Chelsea Neighborhood". The Horatio Seymour Democratic Club, also called the Seymour Tammany Club, was a Tammany Hall political club headquartered in Chelsea. Similar monuments also erected by the Seymour Club are featured in nearby Chelsea Park.
Transportation.
The park is directly served by the local bus route and the M23 Select Bus Service route. The M12 operates between Abingdon Square Park and Columbus Circle along 11th and 12th Avenues. The M23 SBS operates crosstown along 23rd Street, with its western terminus at Chelsea Piers across from Chelsea Waterside Park. The closest New York City Subway station is the 23rd Street station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, served by the C ​ and ​ E trains.
History.
Use as a freight yard and creation of the park.
In May 1868, the Erie Railroad began operating the Pavonia Ferry route between the 23rd Street ferry pier on the Hudson River, at the west end of 23rd Street, and Jersey City. In 1893 the company, now operating as the New York, Lake Erie &amp; Western, constructed a car float bridge on the south side of the ferry terminal. They also created a small freight yard on the block across from the terminal, between 22nd and 23rd Streets and between 11th and 12th Avenues. The dimensions of the rail yard were by . As the turn of the century approached, the railroad considered expanding the yard to the next block east, in order to accommodate newer and larger boxcars. In April 1901, the Erie Railroad purchased a site for a new freight yard between 28th and 29th Streets, across from the existing yard of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1902, the company began negotiations with the city to develop a new freight yard on this property. The new freight yard, known as the 28th Street Freight House, was opened on September 1, 1904, after which the yard at 23rd Street was abandoned.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Railroad also opened a ferry terminal located between 23rd and 24th Streets in 1897, while the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey opened adjacent terminals around 1905. In 1906, the original Erie ferry terminal was demolished and a new ferry house was constructed. As part of the project, a park was constructed on the former Erie freight yard; this was the predecessor to Thomas F. Smith Park. The park was used as a common plaza for all the ferry terminals in the area as well as Chelsea Piers.
The park was acquired by the New York City Department of Docks in 1907. By 1911, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation maintained the park, which remained under the Department of Docks' jurisdiction. The site was transferred from the Department of Docks to the Parks Department in 1915, along with eight "recreation piers". On April 11, 1923, then-city Public Secretary Thomas Francis Smith was struck and killed by a taxicab. Shortly afterwards, the New York City Board of Aldermen named the parkland after Smith. The parks amenities at the time consisted of benches and trees.
The West Side Elevated Highway, also known as the Miller Highway, was completed from Canal Street to the foot of Smith Park at 23rd Street in late 1930. In 1932, construction began on an extension of the highway between 22nd Street and 38th Street. This section of the highway opened on January 5, 1933. The highway formed an "S"-curve at 23rd Street, where the right-of-way shifted west from 11th Avenue onto 12th Avenue. Because of this, Thomas F. Smith Park was split diagonally into two triangular sections by the highway trestle. The space underneath the elevated highway, meanwhile, was used for parking and storage.
During the construction of the highway, the Twenty-third Street Association petitioned Manhattan Borough President Samuel Levy to build a replacement for Thomas F. Smith Park. On October 15, 1931, Levy promised that a new West Side park would be created to replace Smith Park.