De Witt Clinton Park

NYC PARKS CELEBRATES RENOVATED STAIRCASES AT HELL’S KITCHEN’S DEWITT CLINTON PARK

NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff today joined City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, State Senator Brad Hoylman, Community Board 4 Chair Lowell Kern, and community members to celebrate the full reconstruction of the staircases at DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell's Kitchen.

“DeWitt Clinton Park is an important greenspace for the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood – and now the staircases will once again connect New Yorkers to all corners of the park!” said Commissioner Fialkoff. “We are proud to celebrate these three completely revamped staircases and reopen the park’s corner access points for the first time in many years, thanks to support from Borough President Brewer, Speaker Johnson, and Mayor de Blasio.”

DeWitt Clinton Park’s three staircases have been completely reconstructed, improving circulation while maintaining the park’s character. The work restored access to the two corner staircases, which had been closed to the public for more than a decade. Each staircase now features new reinforced concrete foundations as well as new bluestone treads, curbing, handrails, drainage, and surrounding landscape improvements.

The $1.6 million project was funded by Council Speaker Johnson with $950,000, Borough President Brewer with $500,000, and an additional $124,000 from Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“It’s wonderful to have these staircases, which were closed for over a decade, finally reopened in Hell’s Kitchen’s largest city park,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “With the reopening of these staircases, Dewitt Clinton Park will no longer be a dead-end for hundreds of park users, and will provide greater access to the waterfront and the many amenities this beloved park has to offer.”

"I'm proud to have contributed $500,000 from my office's capital budget to the renovation of these staircases and reopening the two corners after more than a decade's closure," said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer.

“It may not be as big as Governor DeWitt Clinton’s Erie Canal, but even more modest investments in our public infrastructure like these new staircases at DeWitt Clinton Park are important improvements that will benefit generations of Hell’s Kitchen residents and their families. I greatly appreciate the support from City Council Speaker Johnson and Borough President Brewer for this park and other public open spaces on the West Side of Manhattan throughout their tenure,” said State Senator Brad Hoylman.

“DeWitt Clinton Park is incredibly important to the residents of Hell’s Kitchen, as the largest park in the neighborhood,” said Lowell D. Kern, Community Board 4 Chair. “The opening of the stairs on the west side of the park will enable Dewitt users to easily connect to Hudson River Park, improving the opportunities for neighborhood residents to use both parks, expanding the open space opportunities for all.”

De Witt Clinton Park opened on November 4, 1905 after Parks acquired the lot in 1901. Designed by landscape architect Samuel Parsons, Jr., the picturesque park featured a recreation/bathing pavilion, gymnasium, running track, playgrounds, a series of curving paths that led spectators to a panoramic view of the Hudson and the Palisades, and a children’s farm garden, which operated from 1902 to 1932. The park’s Flanders Field Memorial, which depicts a World War I soldier or “doughboy,” was dedicated in 1930 and restored in 1997.