Harlem River Park Task Force

The Harlem River Park Task Force is comprised of local, citywide and regional organizations working together with elected officials to improve the quality of the environment in East Harlem and Harlem. The Harlem CDC Planning Department’s director co-chairs this task force, which is assisting the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in designing and building a park planned for the Harlem River waterfront from 125th to 145th Streets. Once it's complete, the park will connect to an existing esplanade south of 125th Street, and eventually to the planned greenway around Manhattan.

Phase I of Harlem River Park, extending from 135th to 139th Streets, was opened to the pubic in November 2002. Phase II and Phase IIa, from 139th to 145th Streets, has been funded and are scheduled to begin construction in 2006. These phases will include an environmentally friendly waterfront edge treatment and will be a model for the rest of the city. Phase III, from 125th to 135th Streets, is scheduled to begin design and construction in 2016.

Learn more about Phase II at "Designing the Edge: a community-based effort to redesign and develop an environmentally sensitive waterfront edge for Phase II of Harlem River Park."

The Harlem River Park Task Force is also active is building coalitions that seek to improve waterfront access, create job opportunities for local residents, and change proposed transportation projects to be both community and environmentally friendly.