Wards Island Park

During a warm spring day in 2021, a small group of people dressed in formal wear gathered under the weeping willow by the waters edge of the Hell Gate channel. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, this tree served as the location for a small wedding! At a time when, due to a global pandemic, many venues and traditional spaces were unavailable, this young couple and a few friends and family used this quiet place of respite and calm to celebrate and sanctify their love.

This willow may be younger than other Great Trees of New York City, but it offers visitors shade from the blistering summer sun and provides shoreline stability from the swift currents of the adjacent Hell Gate channel.