Hunters Point South Park

Hunters Point South Park is an 11-acre waterfront park on the East River in Long Island City, Queens, designed by Thomas Balsley Associates and Weiss/Manfredi. Opened in stages beginning in 2013, the park is one of the most sophisticated examples of resilient waterfront design in New York City, engineered to withstand the kind of storm surge flooding that devastated the city during Hurricane Sandy.

The park's design incorporates a graduated landscape that transitions from elevated upland areas to a wetland edge along the river, creating a natural buffer that absorbs floodwater rather than resisting it with hard barriers. This 'soft infrastructure' approach to coastal resilience has become a model for waterfront park design in the era of climate change.

Hunters Point South Park features an expansive waterfront promenade, lawns, playgrounds, a dog run, a fitness area, and native plant gardens. The park's sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline, from the United Nations headquarters to the Empire State Building, are among the most dramatic in the city.

The park was created as part of the Hunters Point South mixed-income housing development, which includes affordable and market-rate apartments. The integration of world-class parkland with affordable housing represents a model of equitable urban development that connects quality public space to housing for New Yorkers of all incomes.

Hunters Point South Park demonstrates that resilient design need not sacrifice beauty or recreational function. The park's wetland edges, native plantings, and graduated topography create a landscape that is both ecologically functional and visually stunning, proving that climate adaptation and great park design can go hand in hand.