In the South Bronx, along a stretch of the Harlem River that for years has been for infrastructure, is now taking shape the Lower Concourse Park. It will be a park of 2.3 acres, that is just less than a hectare, built on Exterior Street between East 144th and East 146th Street. The project costs $35 million and is followed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation along with NYC Parks. The city plans to open it to the public in 2026, although a precise date has not yet been communicated.
The park will be the flagship of the Lower Concourse Infrastructure Investment Strategy, a $194 million plan designed to change the relationship between this part of the Bronx and the river. For a long time the Lower Concourse was a mixed neighborhood, with residences, commercial activities and industrial uses, but the waterfront was not really thought to be crossed or lived by residents. In 2009 the city approved a rezoning of about thirty blocks along the Harlem River, with the aim of enabling new residential and commercial developments, creating more open spaces and ensuring a walk along the water.
Before arriving at the trees, games and picnic tables, the work was mainly prepared. The area was an underused industrial land and required demolitions, reclamation and interventions on the networks: water, sewers, gas, electricity and road arrangement. The Lower Concourse Park will have an entrance hall with panels on the history of the Bronx, a play area divided by age bands, swings, musical games, a splash pad for summer, picnic tables, chairs, grills and charcoal containers. There is also a multipurpose lawn, bicycle racks, fountains, public baths and new autochthonous trees. The most important part, however, will probably be the living shoreline, that is a line of coast designed with plants and rain gardens to limit erosion and absorb part of the excess rainwater.
The city presents the project as an access to the river, but its value will depend on how much it will recure the neighborhood with the Harlem River. In the South Bronx, where highways, rails and industrial areas have often separated people from the water, such a park, although of a small size compared to many others in the city, can have a certain weight if it is used daily and not only well inaugurated. For now the construction site is still indicated as “ongoing” by NYCEDC. The opening is expected in 2026, while the official name of the park will be communicated later.
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