Astoria Park

Astoria Park is a nearly 60-acre waterfront park in the Astoria neighborhood of northwestern Queens, situated along the East River beneath the dramatic span of the Robert F. Kennedy (Triborough) Bridge and the Hell Gate Bridge. The park offers some of the most spectacular bridge and waterfront views in the entire city.

The park's most famous feature is the Astoria Pool, the largest public swimming pool in New York City. Built in 1936 as one of Robert Moses' eleven WPA-era pools, the pool was used as a training facility for the 1936 and 1964 U.S. Olympic swimming teams. At 330 feet long, it is large enough to host competitive swimming events.

The Hell Gate Bridge, a magnificent steel arch railroad bridge completed in 1916, soars above the park's northern section. The bridge's graceful curve and massive scale make it one of the most impressive pieces of engineering in New York, and it serves as a dramatic backdrop for the park's waterfront promenade.

Astoria Park features athletic fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, a running track, playgrounds, and a waterfront esplanade with views across the East River to Randall's Island, the Bronx, and the Manhattan skyline. The park serves one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the world.

Astoria's population includes significant Greek, Egyptian, Brazilian, Bangladeshi, Colombian, and Eastern European communities, among many others. The park serves as common ground for this extraordinary diversity, with soccer, cricket, basketball, and other sports reflecting the neighborhood's global character.

Astoria Park combines world-class infrastructure (the Olympic pool, the monumental bridges), spectacular waterfront setting, and daily neighborhood recreation in a package that makes it one of the finest urban parks in Queens and one of the most underappreciated parks in New York City.