East River Park, New York City
There are many famous parks that are situated among the neighborhoods, apartment buildings and luxury hotels. New York city is famous for Central Park and Washington Square Park to name a couple, and one that has been overlooked from time to time is the East River Park. Many people pass through the park, but not many have spent time in the park itself, and may not even know that there is a sweet little amphitheater located there on the banks of the Hudson. For a very long time the amphitheater sat abandoned, but recently it has been put to use again through live music.
One of the aspects of the park that was designed in 1939 by Robert Moses, is that it has concrete platforms that extend to connect the land that was originally purchase. Which left it very narrow, too much so to be considered a useful and viable park. However, with the exception of Central Park, the East River Park is the largest of city parks in Manhattan. The park does contain picnic tables, baseball parks, and basketball courts, as all of Moses parks do contain. The amphitheater, that was added in 1941, was a tribute to Al Smith, native of the neighborhood who had been an actor throughout his youth and later became one of New York City’s mayors.
The stage was not used for many years, until Joseph Papp launched the beginning of what is now a staple for of entertainment in the city, that of the outdoor Shakespeare performances. Although the Public Theater now is a resident company in Central Park, the tradition began here, on the banks of the East River. Once the Public moved to Central Park, the amphitheater was basically shut down as the city could not afford to keep it operating. They fenced up the area and over the years the stage became run down and covered in graffiti. In the months following September 11th, many sites around the city were chosen for renovation, and the amphitheater of the East River Park was one of them, and today shows will be up and running again. This is one of the most interesting venues in a city that has so many, and one traveling through the city this summer would be sorely missing out should this venue and the shows put up there be overlooked.
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