Arthur Von Briesen Park

Arthur Von Briesen Park is a 7.5-acre waterfront park at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on the northeastern shore of Staten Island. Named for Arthur Von Briesen, a German-born lawyer who founded the Legal Aid Society in 1876 to provide free legal services to the poor, the park offers dramatic views of the Narrows and New York Harbor.

The park sits directly beneath the Staten Island tower of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, one of the most impressive suspension bridges in the world. The bridge, completed in 1964, ended Staten Island's isolation as the only borough not connected to the rest of the city by a bridge or tunnel (the ferry remained the primary connection before that).

Von Briesen Park's waterfront location provides views of Brooklyn across the Narrows, the Statue of Liberty to the north, and the open waters of Lower New York Bay to the south. The park's elevated terrain at the bridge approach creates a vantage point that combines the massive engineering of the bridge with the natural beauty of the harbor.

The park features walking paths, picnic areas, and lookout points. Its proximity to Fort Wadsworth, the historic military installation guarding the Narrows, connects it to the longer history of harbor defense that has defined this shoreline since colonial times.

Arthur Von Briesen Park honors a man who believed that justice should not be limited to those who can afford it, while providing the kind of spectacular waterfront experience that every New Yorker deserves access to, regardless of their means.