Hudson River Park Friends enjoys a rich history of community activism. Our story officially began in 1996 when a group of activists came together as the Hudson River Park Alliance to advocate for Hudson River Park, which, at that time, was only a plan. In 1997, the Alliance succeeded in securing the support of Governor Pataki and Mayor Giuliani, who confirmed their commitment to allocating $200 million in State and City funds to help create the Park.
The Hudson River Park Alliance worked to secure the passage of the Hudson River Park Act in 1998, which legislated the Park’s existence with a framework to protect it against over-commercialization and broad goals to transform the decaying piers of New York’s West Side into a vibrant, beautiful, community-enriching park.
Friends of Hudson River Park was founded in 1999 as the successor to the Hudson River Park Alliance. Throughout its first decade, Friends worked directly with the growing communities adjacent to the Park and the state and local governments to build relationships to advance the Park plan; lobbied for additional state and city funding; and fought for the removal of incompatible uses, resulting in millions of dollars in new construction funding. As more and more areas of the Park were completed, Friends began to explore issues of long-term sustainability.
In the summer of 2011, Friends and the Hudson River Park Trust signed a collaboration agreement, establishing a formal partnership and designating Friends as the official fundraising partner for the Park. In 2017, Friends of Hudson River Park began doing business as Hudson River Park Friends.