Ask Upper West Side residents where Riverside Park is under construction and most will point to 79th Street, where the Rotunda and the Boat Basin have been behind barriers for years. That was true for a long time. It is a poor guide for October 2026. Most of the southern work has quietly finished. The closures that now affect everyday routes run from 91st to 116th Street, and the park's biggest event of the month takes place right in the middle of them.
The rest of this post follows that shift from south to north and then lays the October calendar over it.
The South End Has Mostly Finished
The southern half of the park has had a productive year. NYC Parks lists the West 69th Street Transfer Bridge reconstruction in Riverside Park South as fully complete, with construction finishing in July 2026. The 78th Street Ramp reconstruction finished earlier, and Parks records its completion in September 2025.
Further up, Riverside Park Conservancy lists the redesigned 97th Street entrance among its completed 2026 projects. The work added:
- ADA access at the entrance
- New stairs
- A paved path heading south
- Drainage repairs at the spot where water used to collect
The Hudson River Greenway is also back in shape. Cherry Walk, the Greenway section between West 100th and 125th Streets, reopened after seven months of repairs that resurfaced the path and added clearer signs separating cyclists from pedestrians.
The south end still has some work going on, but none of it should change a daily walk. The Conservancy lists a historic crabapple restoration between West 72nd and 83rd Streets as under construction. It replaces 28 trees lost along that stretch of waterfront, and the project page does not announce any path closure. In Riverside Park South, adult fitness equipment at West 71st Street is scheduled to start construction in October 2026 and finish in October 2027. The 68th Street Ramp is still in design, at 80 percent, and has no construction start date.
Pier i Cafe at West 70th Street reopened for the season on April 14, 2026, and is open daily, weather permitting. Its official hours page does not give a closing date for the season, so on cooler October days it is worth checking the posted hours before you walk down.
Where the Fences Are Now
North of 91st Street, two projects are well into construction, and both affect how people get in and out of the park.
The 91st Street Staircase Reconstruction began construction in February 2026. NYC Parks shows it 67 percent complete, with completion projected for February 2027. The tracker does not say how the work affects public access, so the signs posted on site are the reliable source for that entrance this fall.
The larger project is the drainage reconstruction between 108th and 116th Streets. NYC Parks lists it 38 percent complete. Construction began in November 2025 and is projected to finish in May 2027. The work replaces the drainage system and adds swales and wet meadows to handle stormwater. The Conservancy's October 2025 announcement estimated completion in April 2027, so the finish date has already moved back about a month.
The Conservancy's description of the phasing is the useful part for anyone walking this stretch. The upper path in the work area closes for repairs while the 116th Street entry ramp and the 108th Street stairs stay open. The 115th Street stairs are closed during that phase. The lower path gets rebuilt after the upper path is finished. For anyone coming into the park from Riverside Drive in the low 110s, the plan points to 108th and 116th as the entrances that stay open during the upper-path work, though the Conservancy does not say when that phase starts or ends.
October's Biggest Event Lands Between the Two Projects
The Conservancy's Pup Halloween Parade is on Saturday, October 24, from noon to 3 p.m. The parade gathers at Dinosaur Playground at West 97th Street and marches north to Ellington in the Park at 105th Street. October 25 is the rain date, and owners entering the costume contest are asked to register in advance.
That route runs through the middle of this fall's construction. The 91st Street stairs are being rebuilt six blocks south of where the parade gathers. The drainage zone begins three blocks north of where it ends. The 97th Street entrance, which was finished this year with new stairs and ADA access, is the easiest way into the parade's starting point. The Conservancy's phasing plan keeps the 108th Street stairs open and the 115th Street stairs closed while the upper path is being rebuilt, but it gives no dates for that phase, so anyone coming from the 110s on parade day should check the signs at the entrance.
The rest of the Conservancy's October calendar:
- October 4, 11 and 18. Charlotte Mayerson's Overlook Concerts, the Fall 2026 series.
- October 24, noon to 3 p.m. The Pup Halloween Parade, from Dinosaur Playground to Ellington in the Park, with an October 25 rain date.
- October 25, 1 to 3 p.m. The Halloween Pickleball Tournament and Fundraiser, with a November 1 rain date.
Ellington in the Park, at the north end of the parade route, sells outdoor food and drink daily during its season. Its own website gives two different end dates. The FAQ says the 2026 season, which opened April 23, runs through October. The homepage describes the season as April through November. Either way, the parade on October 24 falls inside the season, but a visit in early November is less certain.
The Playgrounds Are Next
The next round of construction will probably stay on the same northern stretch, plus one site further south. Dinosaur Playground, where the parade starts, finished its design in September 2025. Its procurement and construction are both at zero percent, and NYC Parks says permitting and contract legal review are under way, with no construction start date listed. The Conservancy coordinated the new 97th Street entrance with the planned playground reconstruction, so the finished entrance is the first part of a larger project at that corner.
River Run Playground at West 83rd Street is at an earlier stage. Its design is 50 percent complete, with design completion adjusted to October 2026, and procurement and construction have not begun. Both playgrounds are open for this fall's visits. Neither has a published date for when fences will go up.
79th Street Is Running on a Longer Schedule
The 79th Street work remains the exception to the finished south end, and the news there covers years, not weeks.
NYC Parks lists the West 79th Street Boat Basin marina as closed, with no dockage, moorage, anchorage or launch service. The marina will be dredged and rebuilt to current codes and standards, and Parks expects it to reopen in 2028. The design passed an important step in late July 2025, when the Public Design Commission gave final approval to the plans. The commission's vote on the new 3,800-square-foot dockhouse designed by ARO was unanimous. A West Side Rag update in early August 2025 said construction might begin in late 2026. NYCEDC lists Hudson Meridian Construction Group as construction manager. That listing does not confirm that crews have begun work in the water. NYC Parks' current list of park eateries does not include a Boat Basin Cafe or a replacement concession.
The Rotunda above the marina is a separate project. It is a roughly $150 million rehabilitation that NYC DOT is carrying out for NYC Parks. It began in 2022 and was expected to take four years, finishing in 2026. A May 2025 report noted that DOT had not confirmed the 2026 target was still on track. The most recent published routing dates from September 22, 2025. Pedestrians use the south stepped ramp through the plaza, cyclists dismount and walk their bikes, and the north stepped ramp is closed. The West 72nd Street connection is listed as the alternative. That was the last report, not a confirmed current layout. Until DOT issues a new notice, the signs at the plaza are the best guide to which ramp is open.
For anyone who lives near the park, the buildings along Riverside Drive and West End Avenue look different with this map in mind, especially for planning which entrance a household will use in the years ahead. If you would like to talk through how the park's upcoming projects relate to a particular building or block, Hilary James is glad to help. Request a confidential consultation.
