GreenAcre Park

51st between Second and Third Aves.
New York, NY

Contributed by Project for Public Spaces

One of New York City's famed "vest pocket-parks," providing an emerald-green sanctuary for east-side residents and workers.

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Why It Works

Like its sister vest-pocket park, Paley Park, Greenacre Park has the basic ingredients of a good public space:

1. It is located directly on the street so that people are attracted to look and to go in.
2. There is good, reasonably priced food.
3. There are movable chairs and tables so people can be comfortable and can have some control over where they sit.
4. A waterfall provides a focal point and a dramatic reason to visit the park and its noise creates a sense of quiet and privacy.
5. There is shade in the summer from the trees yet their thin structure allows a beautiful dappled light to pass through.
6. Overhead heat lamps on the upper level heat the park in cool weather.

GreenAcre Park functions as a living room for the community and the "regulars: who use it make a significant contribution to the safety of the park.

History & Background

With a 25-foot-high waterfall cascading over the rear wall, skillfully landscaped trees and plantings, an outdoor cafe, and shady arbors, the park was designed to make the most of its small size. Built in 1971 by the Greenacre Foundation, (founded two years earlier by Mrs. Jean Mauze, the former Abby Rockefeller) the park was developed to provide New Yorkers with "some moments of serenity in this busy world." The park's award-winning designs were created by Hideo Sasaki, former chairman of Harvard's Landscape Architecture Department, and Harmon Goldstone, who served as consultant. Greenacre park is heavily used, but not enough to make it feel busy.

The Greenacre Foundation, which owns and masterfully maintains the park, also operates a reference center at 457 Madison Avenue (51st Street) in conjunction with The Municipal Arts Society.

Contact Info:

Greenacre Foundation, 30 Rockefeller Plaza #5600, New York, NY, 212-649-5674

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User Comments:

08/08/03 Mark Lentz said:
I past this park on my way to the laundromat and particularly agree with the comment about the beauty of the dappled light.
Here are some more pictures of the park:
http://www.nycjpg.com/2003/pages/0805.html
01/07/05 Carl Juneau said:
I've been to a number of world-class cities. When I travel to New York, I often stay in the hotel across the street from Greenacre Park. This park is at the top of my list for its ability to draw visitors in and provide some quiet respite from the daily hustle and bustle. Some of my fondest memories of New York are sitting in Greenacre Park in warm autumn sunlight, quietly sipping coffee and reading a newspaper.
12/14/05 Bronwyn Jackson said:
Greenacre is my oasis in New York. I pull up a chair as close as possible to the waterfall and when I close my eyes, I imagine myself back on my local beach in Australia. Some of my best friends in New York are fellow Greenacre visitors.
Bronwyn Jackson. Australian, living in Midtown.

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