At the southern end of Riverside Park, just below West 62nd Street, a new turf field sits behind a construction fence. It is already marked for two softball and baseball diamonds and for 7-on-7 and 9-on-9 soccer. West Side Rag described the field in mid-October as apparently ready for play. It has lights, which no other field in Riverside Park has had. A basketball court and three pickleball courts are on the same parcel. As of October 13, the final phase of Riverside Park South was "expected to open within weeks." No ribbon-cutting date had been announced.
Twenty blocks north and across the neighborhood, the opposite is happening. The Great Lawn closed for the season on Monday, October 19. Riverside Park between 108th and 116th Streets is lined with fencing and caution tape. The northern half of Dinosaur Playground has been behind barricades for five years. Most of this fall's work is meant to make the neighborhood's ground hold up better in bad weather. Riverside Park South is the first piece of it to be finished.
The Great Lawn Closed Early to Finish a Two-Year Program
Central Park's lawns usually close at the start of November. This year the Great Lawn closed two weeks early. Central Park Conservancy spokesperson Kat Brady told West Side Rag the extra time gives the Turf Care team "a head start on the restoration, allowing the fields time to set before reopening for the spring 2027 season."
The Great Lawn is the last stop in a program the Conservancy started in 2024. That program has been rebuilding the park's 26 ballfields one by one. The goal is infields with a sturdier surface that can take heavy use and bad weather and come back sooner after spring and summer storms. In practice, that means fewer days when a rained-out field stays closed after the sky has cleared.
The Great Lawn isn't the only field down. The Conservancy's alerts page shows Heckscher Ballfields closed for the season until spring 2027. On the west side, the North Meadow is still listed as hosting fall soccer and touch football, and every game there needs an NYC Parks permit.
Riverside's Northern Stretch Is a Drainage Project With a Moving End Date
The fencing between 108th and 116th Streets belongs to the Riverside Park Drainage System Reconstruction Project. It is a $26 million effort to deal with long-running flooding on this part of the park. According to a Parks Department spokesperson quoted by West Side Rag, permit filing delays moved the completion date from April to May 2027. The project has also grown. It now includes extra drainage structures, asphalt pavers, granite block, expanded tree pits, new concrete curbs and sinkhole repair.
The work is split into three phases, and each one closes a different route through the park:
- Upper path, 108th to 116th Streets. This is the path just below Riverside Drive. It is closed, and so are the staircase entrances along these blocks. A sign posted September 21 said the 108th Street stair closure would last until October 1, so drainage work could be done before the asphalt paths are repaved.
- Riverside Drive pedestrian path. The section closest to the park, from 108th to 111th Streets, is closed until next spring.
- Lower path, 108th to 116th Streets. This closure is scheduled to begin this fall and run to spring 2027. Pipes, concrete and trailers were already piling up there in late September.
Put together, a resident at the north end of the neighborhood will spend most of the winter with no clean north-south walk through this stretch of Riverside Park on any level. The project is meant to stop that ground from turning into standing water after a storm.
Dinosaur Playground Shows the Same Problem Without a Start Date
At West 97th Street, Dinosaur Playground is the clearest example of why this work matters. Its northern half has been closed since a sinkhole opened during Hurricane Ida in 2021. The fenced area has since grown over. West Side Rag reports that $8.6 million was committed to that side of the playground in 2024, with work expected to start in 2025. As of October 7, 2026, nothing had begun. A Parks Department spokesperson said the reconstruction "will include extensive upgrades to the underground drainage infrastructure." The agency is waiting on final permits and expects construction to begin in late 2027 or early 2028.
The open half of the playground is getting separate money. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $3 million in state funding for the restrooms and the upper pavilion. It covers new lighting, updated fixtures, better accessibility, roof and terrace repairs, waterproofing, masonry restoration and new drinking fountains. That project addresses the buildings. The ground under the closed half still has to wait for the drainage work.
The Full Map, Line by Line
Not every closure is about rain. Some are restorations, routine maintenance or longer reconstructions. Here is everything on or near the Upper West Side's two parks, according to the Central Park Conservancy, NYC Parks and West Side Rag reporting.
| Location | Status this fall | Expected back |
|---|---|---|
| Great Lawn, Central Park | Closed October 19 for ballfield restoration | Spring 2027 |
| Heckscher Ballfields | Closed for the season | Spring 2027 |
| West 85th Street Playground | Closed for restoration | Project page targets fall 2026 |
| Darlene & Julien Yoseloff Playground, West 110th | Closed for maintenance | Not announced |
| Reservoir running track | Partial closures for maintenance | Through late fall |
| Bethesda Fountain | Turned off for restoration; Terrace open | Not announced |
| Ramble restroom | Closed for maintenance | After October 30 |
| Riverside upper path, 108th to 116th | Closed for drainage work | Project end May 2027 |
| Riverside Drive path, 108th to 111th | Closed | Next spring |
| Riverside lower path, 108th to 116th | Closure beginning this fall | Spring 2027 |
| Dinosaur Playground, northern half | Closed since 2021 | Construction start late 2027 or early 2028 |
| 79th Street Boat Basin | Closed for dredging and reconstruction | 2028 |
The West 85th Street Playground row is the one most likely to change soon. The Conservancy's restoration page targets completion in fall 2026, but the live alert still lists the playground as closed. Work there has also temporarily moved the Seneca Village outdoor exhibition signs, and the Conservancy has posted an updated map.
Why West 62nd Street Matters More Than Its Size
That brings things back to the fence at Riverside Park South. Grass fields often close during even moderate rain to protect the turf. Pedro Rafael, regional commissioner for West Side Soccer League, told West Side Rag that "fields are absolutely critical. And the most challenging element to get hold of." Artificial turf makes schedules far more reliable. Debbie Kling, longtime president of West Side Little League, said the extra capacity will help most on Friday afternoons and evenings and on Saturday afternoons, when demand peaks. The lights will make later games possible as the days get shorter. Both organizations worked with NYC Parks and Riverside Park Conservancy on the field dimensions and markings.
The timing makes this field more important than usual. It is due to open just as the Great Lawn and Heckscher close for the winter and Riverside's northern paths shut down. For much of the next five months, it may be the most dependable new athletic space on the Upper West Side. It still comes with an open question. NYC Parks has not said how permits for the new fields will be allocated, and demand from youth leagues, schools and adult programs is expected to be high. Under the city's general field permit rules, leagues and individuals who want to reserve a field or court apply online. It is not yet clear how much drop-in time the basketball and pickleball courts will have.
This parcel took a long time to finish. Parks officials told Community Board 7 in 2016 that the last section would be done in 2018. In 2021, the estimate was about two years from the start of construction. Environmental cleanup of the old New York Central Railroad yards and rising costs both pushed the date back. Thomas Balsley has been the park's designer since before its 1991 approvals. He told West Side Rag he still thinks of the 32-acre site as unfinished, in part because a planned pavilion with concessions near West 66th Street was cut.
"I have to be an optimist about things like this, because this is urbanism in New York, the toughest place in the world to get anything going, finished and all that."
West Side Rag has said it will tell readers when the fences come down.
What Is Still Open Before the Cold Sets In
The outdoor season along the Hudson is winding down. Pier i Café's last scheduled day was Sunday, October 25. Ellington in the Park, the outdoor bar and restaurant at the 105th Street end of Riverside Park, says it is open daily through November with first-come, first-served seating. On the Central Park side, Bethesda Terrace is still open for walking and sitting while the fountain is off.
One autumn tradition is missing this year. According to West Side Rag, the 2026 Harlem Meer Pumpkin Flotilla was canceled because organizers said the setup could not safely handle the crowds. A replacement event was being explored. Most of the bigger dates on this map fall in spring and beyond: the Great Lawn and Heckscher in spring 2027, the Riverside drainage work in May 2027, the Boat Basin in 2028, and the start of construction at Dinosaur Playground in late 2027 or early 2028.
At Après Global, we follow these reopening dates block by block, because the park entrance at the end of a street matters to how that street lives day to day. If the timing along Riverside Drive or Central Park West figures into a decision you are weighing, we would be glad to go through it with you. Request a Private Consultation.
