Chelsea Waterside Play Area was the first playground ever developed by the Hudson River Park Trust, opening in 2000 and renovated in 2018.
In 2018, Hudson River Park opened a new and enlarged playground featuring a custom-designed, multi-colored, 64-foot wooden slide in the shape of a Pipefish, one of many fish species that lives within Park waters. The slide was designed and built by a Denmark-based playground design company, and is the first of their themed playground structures to be installed in the northeastern U.S. The playground also includes multiple water features.
The Chelsea Waterside Playground brings together much of what is special about Hudson River Park, including the adaptive reuse of relics from the past. Among these are limestone cattle head sculptures reclaimed from a former slaughterhouse, the New York Butchers’ Dressed Meat Company, after the Hell’s Kitchen building was demolished in 1991. Granite seating blocks and medallions from the former elevated West Side Highway have also been repurposed within the playground.
Each of Hudson River Park’s three playgrounds has been custom-designed by celebrated landscape architects to provide uniquely inspiring play opportunities for children. During warm weather seasons, each also provides welcoming water features to delight and cool kids who like to get wet. Bring your beach buckets!