| Chelsea Waterside Park | |
|---|---|
| Thomas F. Smith Park | |
_105_-_Central_Promenade.jpg) Chelsea Waterside Park in 2023, following renovations | |
 | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location | West 23rd Street and 12th Avenue, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°44′58″N 74°00′27″W / 40.74944°N 74.00750°W |
| Area | 2.5 acres (1.0 ha)[1] |
| Opened | 1906 (Thomas F. Smith Park) 2000 (Chelsea Waterside Park, as part of Hudson River Park) |
| Operated by | State of New York City of New York Hudson River Park Trust |
| Status | Open |
| Public transit access |  NYCT Bus: M12, M23 SBS[2][3] |
| Website | www |
Chelsea Waterside Park, formerly Thomas F. Smith Park, is a public park located at West 23rd Street between 11th and 12th Avenues along the West Side Highway in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City. It was originally operated by the government of New York City under the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. As of 2023[update] it is part of the Chelsea section of Hudson River Park and managed by the Hudson River Park Trust.
The park was originally the site of a small freight yard for the Erie Railroad. In 1906, the railroad redeveloped the site into a park, as part of the reconstruction of the adjacent ferry terminal. In 1915, the park was taken over by the Parks Department, and was named for politician Thomas Francis Smith following his death in 1923. The construction of the West Side Elevated Highway in the early 1930s split the park into two adjacent sections.
Chelsea Waterside Park was designed in the late 1980s by architect Thomas Balsley. Half of the proposed park would be an expansion of the existing Smith Park, and the other half would be developed on the waterfront atop Piers 62, 63 and 64, with the two halves connected by a footbridge. The inland portion of Chelsea Waterside Park was constructed in the 1990s as a part of Hudson River Park during the redevelopment of the West Side Highway, and opened in 2000. The waterfront sections proposed for the park were completed in 2010 under a separate project. Between 2017 and 2023, major renovations took place in Chelsea Waterside Park, with a redesigned playground opening in 2018 and the remaining upgrades completed by 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Villager-Playing-StateOfArt-May2005was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Neighborhood Map: 23 St (C)(E)" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority, WalkNYC. April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
- ^ "Neighborhood Map: 34th Street−Hudson Yards" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority, WalkNYC. April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2018.