The Upper West Side's Playing Fields Are Moving South for the Winter

For the next several months, the Upper West Side's open fields, courts and paths sit mostly at its southern edge. Central Park's Great Lawn has been fenced since October 19. The northern stretch of Riverside Park, from West 108th to 116th Street, is under construction into spring 2027, and half of Dinosaur Playground at West 97th Street has a reopening timeline measured in years. Down at West 62nd Street, the last phase of Riverside Park South is close to opening. It brings turf fields, three pickleball courts, and the first lights for night play anywhere in Riverside Park.

Between now and spring, the Upper West Side's best field and court time will be at its southern edge, right as the evenings get shorter.

The South End Gets Lights

Riverside Park South's final section, around West 62nd Street, was expected to open "within weeks," according to West Side Rag's October 13 report. Through the fence, the Rag saw turf marked for two softball and baseball diamonds plus soccer pitches for 7-on-7 and 9-on-9 games. That layout is close to the long-standing fields farther north in the low 100s. The new section also adds a basketball court, three pickleball courts, and lighting. None of the older Riverside Park fields have ever had lights.

The lights matter more than anything else on that list. Daylight is the real limit on fall and winter field time, and a lit field at West 62nd Street can host games after dark.

This section also finishes something that started a long time ago. The Rag describes it as the end of a 30-year effort to build a waterfront park on the old New York Central Railroad yards and a former parking lot. The developers of the Riverside Boulevard buildings agreed to build the park and hand it over to the city in exchange for their approvals. The first phase, where Pier I sits, opened 25 years ago.

One question is still open, and it affects anyone hoping to use the fields. West Side Little League and West Side Soccer League consulted on the dimensions and markings, but the Parks Department did not tell the Rag how permits will be handed out. The article expects nonprofits, for-profit youth programs, schools and adult leagues all to apply. With lights extending the usable day, there are more permit hours to give out than any other Riverside Park field can offer.

The same stretch now has art on view. Works in Public 2026, a year-long exhibition from the Art Students League and NYC Parks, placed two sculptures at Riverside Park South at West 61st Street: Alicia Ehni's Balancing and Robert Franca's The Chairs. They were unveiled October 5. The other two pieces are far uptown at West 145th Street: Lindsey Francis Jones's City in Shapes, City in Fish and Clare Burson's Unearthed. The Riverside Park Conservancy's event page has the full list.

The Middle Closed Two Weeks Early

As the southern fields get ready to open, the biggest open lawn on the Upper West Side's side of Central Park has closed. The Great Lawn closed for the season on Monday, October 19. Central Park's lawns normally close at the start of November, and this year's early closure gives crews time to restore the Great Lawn ballfields, West Side Rag reported. The Central Park Conservancy has been upgrading ballfields across the park since 2024, and the Great Lawn is the last step. Central Park has 26 ballfields in all.

Conservancy spokesperson Kat Brady explained the timing to the Rag:

"The additional two weeks of closure will give our Turf Care team a head start on the restoration, allowing the fields time to set before reopening for the spring 2027 season."

According to the same report, the work focuses on the infields. The goal is a tougher surface that can handle heavy use and bad weather, so the fields reopen faster after spring and summer storms. So the Great Lawn is shut until spring 2027, and Central Park's other lawns usually follow it into seasonal closure in early November. That leaves the new turf at West 62nd Street as the main open field space in the neighborhood this winter.

The North Stays Fenced Into 2027

North of West 97th Street, the pattern holds. The construction there runs on longer timelines.

Dinosaur Playground, West 97th Street. Half the playground is still closed. Its northern portion has been fenced since a sinkhole opened during Hurricane Ida in 2021, and West Side Rag's October 7 report describes the area as overgrown inside a ring of metal barricades. In 2024 the city announced $8.6 million to rebuild that side, with work expected to start in 2025. As of October 7 it had not started. A Parks Department spokesperson told the Rag the agency is waiting on final permits and expects construction to begin in late 2027 or early 2028, as part of a larger reconstruction that includes underground drainage work.

The open half of the playground did get money this month. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $3 million in state funding, given to the Riverside Park Conservancy, for the restrooms and upper pavilion. The work covers new lighting and fixtures, better accessibility, the restroom roof, terrace and stair repairs, waterproofing, masonry restoration and new drinking fountains.

Riverside Park, West 108th to 116th Street. The $26 million drainage reconstruction there is now projected to finish in May 2027, a month later than planned, because of permit filing delays, West Side Rag reported on October 1. The project has three phases, and each one closes a different path:

1. Upper path, 108th to 116th. This is the path just below Riverside Drive inside the park, and Phase One has kept it closed along with several staircase entrances. One laminated sign at the 108th Street stairs promised a closure of "approximately three weeks" and was dated April 26. A newer sign posted September 21 gave October 1 as the end date.
2. Riverside Drive pedestrian path, 108th to 111th. In Phase Two, the Parks Department closed the walkway nearest the park until next spring. Posters on site say the phase runs through winter 2027. The city's capital project tracker lists May 2027 for the whole project.
3. Lower path, 108th to 116th. Phase Three was set to begin this fall and last until spring 2027. When the Rag visited, pipes, concrete and trailers were already piling up there.

The Parks spokesperson said the extended schedule covers grading and drainage fixes, more drainage structures, asphalt pavers, granite block, bigger tree pits, concrete curbs and sinkhole repair.

The Fall Map, South to North

What's Still on the Calendar Before November

The parks' fall calendar is working around all of this. The Riverside Park Pup Halloween Parade on October 24 began at Dinosaur Playground, the same playground with a fenced half, and finished at Ellington's Cafe at West 105th Street for the costume contest. On October 25, the Conservancy held a Halloween pickleball tournament at the Riverside Pickleball Courts to raise money for court upkeep. If the West 62nd Street section opens on schedule, the park will soon have three more courts to maintain.

Coming up:

• Saturday, October 31, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The free Hippo Halloween Parade from Riverside Park Playground Partners leaves the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at West 89th Street and ends at Hippo Playground, with Ramblin' Dan's Freewheelin' Band.
• Saturday, October 31, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The American Museum of Natural History's Halloween Celebration has costume activities, music, crafts and candy, for a morning before the parade or a backup if it rains.
• Friday, November 6, 10 a.m. The Central Park Conservancy leads a woodland walk through the Ramble.

The next dates to watch are opening day at Riverside Park South, which had not been announced as of mid-October, and spring 2027, when the Great Lawn and the West 108th to 116th Street paths are both scheduled to reopen. Until then, the neighborhood's only lighted fields are at West 62nd Street.

Moves around the Upper West Side often come down to blocks like these, such as which park entrance is closest or which fields are open in which season. If you're weighing a move uptown, downtown, or between New York and the Gulf Coast, The Holt Team knows these details street by street. Request a Consultation, and we'll go through the blocks that matter to you.