Morningside Park: Community, Conflict and Common Ground

Janes Walk

Led By Brad Taylor AND Brigham Keehner, President, Friends of Morningside Park

Designed to maximize the scenic potential of a narrow strip of land too rugged to accommodate Manhattan’s street grid, Morningside Park is a masterful work of the team that also designed Central and Prospect parks. Massive and rugged retaining walls, grand and steep stairs, scenic overlooks and meandering paths cutting through native rock form a composition lauded by contemporaries as perhaps the greatest achievement of park designer Calvert Vaux. 

Having endured decades of neglect and controversial proposals such as a Columbia University gym that would have radically altered its design, the park is enjoying a remarkable period of revitalization.
Do you have Morningside Park stories to share?
 Have you never visited the park because of its past reputation?
 Join our walk and join the conversation.

Accessibility

This is a physically challenging 60-90 minute walk. We will be traversing the steep staircases and topography of Morningside Park at multiple locations. Regrettably only a short portion of the walk is wheelchair accessible. The closest subway stop to the start of the walk is the West 110th Street stop on the B/C lines. The walk ends two blocks from the 1 train stop at 116th Street and Broadway.

Location Information

RSVP is required and capacity is limited. Meeting location, ending location, and directions will be provided via email before walk date.

guided

Friday, May 6, 2022
6:00 PM
Greater than 1 hour

Borough: Manhattan
Theme: Advocacy, Art & Architecture, Environment
Language: English
A ballfield at Morningside Park in Harlem. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Rhododendrites. Modifications: photo cropped.