Manhattan · New York County
Sutton Place Park
Neighborhood Park
- Location
- East 57th Street at Sutton Place, Midtown East
- Size
- 0.27 acres
- Hours
- 6:00 AM - midnight
- Type
- Neighborhood Park
Sutton Place Park is a small park at the eastern end of East 57th Street where it meets Sutton Place, overlooking the East River and the Queensboro Bridge. The park provides a rare moment of riverfront tranquility in one of Manhattan's most exclusive residential enclaves.
Sutton Place has been one of New York's most prestigious addresses since the 1920s, when a group of wealthy socialites, including Anne Morgan (daughter of J.P. Morgan), Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, and Elisabeth Draper, purchased townhouses on the quiet dead-end street and transformed it into a fashionable enclave away from the bustle of Fifth and Park Avenues.
The park features a small garden, benches, and a distinctive gazebo-like structure that frames views of the Queensboro Bridge and the Roosevelt Island Tram crossing overhead. The intimate scale and residential setting give the park a private-garden quality unusual in Manhattan's public spaces.
A whimsical bronze sculpture of a wild boar, a replica of the famous Porcellino fountain in Florence, Italy, sits in the park. The statue was donated by a local resident and has become a neighborhood mascot, with visitors rubbing its nose for good luck in the Florentine tradition.
Sutton Place Park captures the character of its neighborhood: genteel, intimate, and slightly removed from the relentless energy of the surrounding city. It offers one of the quietest waterfront experiences in Manhattan, a place where the roar of traffic gives way to the sound of river currents and the hum of the overhead tram.