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Riverside Park Volunteer House

Manhattan’s Riverside Park is one of the jewels of the island, with four miles of rustic beauty spilling down to the Hudson River (with, alas, the Henry Hudson Parkway in between).

These riparian grounds are under the charge of the Parks Department of the City of New York and entrusted to the care of the Riverside Park Conservancy.

Aside from their own employees, these make use of numerous volunteer gardeners to take care of the many trees, flowers, and other plants that grace this shoreline.

The nineteenth-century structure in which much of the equipment for these volunteers was stored — just inside the park at 107th Street — proved too small and unwieldy for ongoing use.

Expanding it outwards risked the need for felling trees, so in typical New York fashion the Conservancy decided the only way was up.

In 2003, the Peter Jay Sharp Volunteer House was opened: an elegant and multipurpose construction that triples the usable space of the previous derelict building.

We have Jeffrey Murphy of MBB architects to thank for this elegant building which fits effortlessly into its surroundings (and Peter Aaron for these photographs).

Published at 11:00 pm on Thursday 5 June 2025. Categories: Architecture New York Tags: , .
Comments

A fine little building, which fulfils its practical function while adding beauty to its surroundings.

New York is not dead yet!

— B T Van Nostrand 6 Jun 2025 2:59 pm
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