City Requests Bids For New Inwood Waterfront Parks

INWOOD, NY — City agencies are seeking design bids for two new parks on Inwood's Harlem River waterfront, city officials announced Monday.

The city will invest $50 million in the construction of two new parks in Inwood to open up the Harlem River waterfront to the public as part of a controversial neighborhood rezoning plan that passed in 2018, city officials said. The city Economic Development Corporation, the agency that led the rezoning effort, launched a Request For Proposals on Monday seeking a design consultant for the new green spaces.

Inwood's new parks will be located at the Sherman Creek Malécon on Academy Street between 10th Avenue and the river and at the North Cove near the University Heights Bridge on West 207th Street, city officials said.

"With the preservation and expansion of North Cove, and the expanded access created at Academy Street, Inwood will be able to enjoy the beauty of this Island, while preserving the migration path of many wildlife that visit New York City, as one of their many stops," local City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement.

Rodriguez, who supported the rezoning project, added that Inwood's current waterfront access is limited to "a few street end parks."

Most of the city's investment will go toward the creation of a malécon — or pier in English — where Academy Street and 10th Avenue meet the Harlem River on the east side of the nearby Dyckman Houses. The city will invest $41 million to create a two-acre park that will feature picnic and barbecue areas, lawns with shaded seating, a bike path and facilities for activities like fishing and kayaking.

The remaining $9 million will be invested in improvements at the North Cove and to transform space currently used for parking into publicly-accessible open space.

Both projects will also factor into the city's plans to create a greenway that spans the entirety of Manhattan's 32-mile coastline. The current administration has committed $250 million to the greenway project.

Design bids for both parks can be submitted to the Economic Development Corporation until March 14, city officials said. The agency will hold an information session on the RFP Feb. 19, but did not specify where the session would take place.

"Releasing this RFP is an exciting milestone toward creating new open space along the Harlem River," Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. "By formalizing this informal open space at North Cove and transforming Academy Street into a malecón, we will advance longstanding community desires through the Inwood NYC Plan."

Photo by NYC Economic Development Corportation