Tucked beneath the Roosevelt Island Tram, this stretch of Manhattan’s waterfront presented a puzzle of built infrastructure. The former ramp and concrete barriers severed access to the river and erased views that belong to the public. Though located in a busy section of Manhattan, the space was stubbornly peripheral and cut off from pedestrians.

We turned the once joyless concrete ramp into something that invites human life, creating a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists to Manhattan’s East River Greenway. The once battered pier became a terraced landscape of native plantings and precast seating. A grand staircase anchors the park, cascading towards the river while connecting elevating changes and offering a welcome space for pause. On either side, we organized the landscape to work with the site’s constraints: open lawn to the south, densely planted beds to the north, with every surface supporting movement, rest, or natural life.

By connecting this segment to the larger Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, the park now welcomes pedestrians and cyclists to a part of the waterfront once bypassed entirely. New seating, lighting, and planting make the space inviting, while the redesigned plaza around Alice Aycock’s East River Roundabout gives the sculpture a civic presence within an active landscape. Together, these moves bring life to the edge and support daily use, showing how public space can act as a catalyst simply for development and growth simply by being a welcome place for people.