Stuyvesant Cove has been completely rebuilt since our first visit all the way back in 2010, the first year of this blog. The new Stuyvesant Cove Park is a climate-resilient riverfront park proudly sporting the city's new floodgates and walls. The idea is to prevent what happened during Superstorm Sandy in 2012 from ever happening again, and things are looking pretty decent from today's Stuyvesant Cove.
Entering from the southern end, it easy to see the contrast between the broken-up pavement of the old walkway and the fresh surface of the new Stuyvesant Cove Park.
The next time Poseidon flies into a rage, Floodgate Lucky 13 will save the day, sliding along a track to close up this part of the wall.
I expect little creatures like the one below will have hopped to safety in time. Animals will probably be better weather predictors than whatever shreds of the U.S. government remain by the time the next big storm surge threatens the Mid-Atlantic region.
The sunflowers may not be so lucky. If the water doesn't get 'em, I guess the wind will.
Architecture won't be most people's main reason for visiting Stuyvesant Cove Park. But up at the north end of the park, you'll be struck by the Solar One Environmental Education Center's new home, which includes a performance venue. Solar One's website says that "the Center will be an education destination for thousands of NYC public school children who participate in our Green Design Lab programs each year." The organization has been on site for years, but the built environment here is all new.
One thing almost impossible to find here in the park proper is shade. But the bikers, runners, and relaxers we encountered on our hot-day visit in late September 2025 didn't seem to mind.
A couple of NYC Ferry boats pulled in and out of the Stuyvesant Cove dock during our jaunt.
Past the southern end of the park, the path continues. Eventually it will, presumably, link up with John V. Lindsay East River Park to the south, including the section recently elevated and rebuilt, like Stuyvesant Cove, for climate resilience. Approaching Stuyvesant Cove Park from the southern pathway gives you a good look at the curve of the river, the ferry dock, and in the distance, the United Nations.
There are very few remnants of the old Cove. One is the outcropping visible in this video, which still causes splashy disruptions in the rough waters of the East River.
When those waters rise with the next storm surge, we'll see how well the new floodgates protect the residents and businesses of Manhattan's East Side.
All photos © Oren Hope
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