New 58,000-Square-Foot Waterfront Esplanade Opens In Queens: See Here

QUEENS, NY — A new publicly accessible waterfront esplanade is now open in Astoria, Queens featuring views of the Manhattan skyline.

The Halletts Point Esplanade offers a playground, picnic area, and a variety of seating, officials told Patch.

Designed by Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners, the esplanade is located along the waterfront at 20 and 30 Halletts Point, which launched leasing earlier this year. The esplanade is the heart of the development and marks a key step in reconnecting the Astoria community to this stretch of the East River.

"The new esplanade is a cornerstone of our vision for Halletts Point," Jody Durst, President of The Durst Organization, told Patch."This space opens up a stretch of Astoria’s shoreline that has been inaccessible for decades, while offering a meaningful, immersive connection to the natural landscape. We’re proud to offer this resource to the entire community."

Visitors will see a mix of 83 native and adaptive plant species. Officials said plants were selected for their year-round beauty, ecological benefit, and ability to withstand the winds and salt spray along the East River. The esplanade also features 70 different trees and over 700 shrubs.

The new esplanade will offer seating for 550 people.

“The opening of the Halletts Point esplanade represents a major milestone in the evolution of Astoria’s waterfront,” Laura Starr, Co-founder of Starr Whitehouse, told Patch. “This part of the East River has been inaccessible for so long, so everything we did here was to bring people to the water. The design creates generous entrances off the street, aligning the paths to create a journey through native plants and locally sourced boulders to arrive at these incredible vistas. With places to sit, walk your dog, and play with your kids, we wanted people to be able to spend the day here, whether strolling in nature, relaxing, exploring, or enjoying the amazing view.”

The esplanade seamlessly connects the campus, forming a cohesive, walkable green corridor that weaves together the residential, retail, and public spaces. Nearly 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail will activate the space with neighborhood-serving businesses and a seamless indoor-outdoor connection that will draw people to the waterfront throughout the year, officials said.

Halletts Point is a mixed-use, mixed-income development with 1,000 residential rental units and ground-floor neighborhood retail. Leasing for 20 and 30 Halletts Point launched in January 2025 and brought 647 homes to the campus.