Riverside Park: Wild Grass Near Pier D

Riverside Park between 59th and 66th Streets is really beautiful and apparently underappreciated. Wild grasses have been planted here among wooden plank walkways, gently sloping hills and picnic spaces.

The park's proximity to the West Side Highway will not let you completely forget you're in the city, but hearing the wind rush through the tall grass is something else entirely.

Pier D is in the background. The lettered piers were angled, where longshoremen unloaded agricultural products. The numbered piers to the south were perpendicular to the Manhattan shoreline and handled heavy railroad cars.