Park Initiatives
Friends of Morningside Park collaborates with NYC Parks and community organizations to advocate for everything from safety cameras and trash removal to renovated playgrounds and pathways in the Park. Below are some of our current priority initiatives.
Upper Park Initiative
Help Shape the Next Chapter of Morningside Park
The Upper Park Initiative is the next phase in the long-term restoration of Morningside Park. Together with NYC Parks, Friends of Morningside Park is working to restore the historic Park Plateau, strengthen ecological health, improve accessibility, and create welcoming public spaces that bring our surrounding communities together.
Your support will help advance planning, volunteer stewardship, ecological restoration, community engagement, and future capital improvements that will shape the next chapter in Morningside Park's history.
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Interested in learning more? Continue reading below to explore the history, vision, and priorities of the Upper Park Initiative—and how we're working to restore one of Morningside Park's most significant historic landscapes.
Continuing a Legacy of Restoration
The Upper Park Initiative represents the next phase in the long-term restoration of Morningside Park. Building upon the vision established in the 2001 Morningside Park Master Plan, Friends of Morningside Park is working with NYC Parks and the community to advance improvements to the park's upper level while preserving its historic landscape, ecological character, and role as one of New York City's great public parks.
Over the past two decades, many of the Master Plan's highest-priority recommendations have been realized, including the restoration of the park's iconic waterfall, reconstruction of historic stairways, new recreational facilities, and significant investments in accessibility and infrastructure. As this work continues, attention is now turning toward the park's upper level—one of the most significant remaining opportunities to fulfill the long-term vision for Morningside Park.
This effort builds upon more than four decades of planning and stewardship by Friends of Morningside Park. In 1985, Friends commissioned the park's first Conceptual Master Plan, establishing the first comprehensive vision for the park's rehabilitation. That pioneering study directly led to the restoration of the pond and waterfall, new playgrounds, picnic areas, restored ballfields, and other major improvements. Friends again commissioned the 2001 Morningside Park Master Plan, which continues to guide restoration throughout the park.
The Upper Park Initiative itself began in 2021, when Friends commissioned the Forestry and Vegetation Assessment, Tree Inventory, and Maintenance Manual for the park's upper level. Developed in partnership with NYC Parks and in response to community input, the study was envisioned as the first step in the Upper Park Initiative. It documented the health and composition of the upper park's urban forest, identified strategies to restore historic sightlines and ecological health, and established a long-term framework for stewardship and future investment.
Today, Friends of Morningside Park continues to work with NYC Parks to build upon this foundation. Rather than creating a new master plan, the Upper Park Initiative advances the framework established in 2001 while responding to today's priorities for accessibility, environmental stewardship, recreation, education, and community gathering. Through thoughtful planning and broad public engagement, the initiative seeks to ensure that future improvements respect the park's historic character while serving the generations who use it today and in the future.
The Park Plateau between 115th and 116th Streets in 2010
Focus Area: The 116th Street Plateau
One of the first priorities of the Upper Park Initiative is the restoration of the Park Plateau—an original Olmsted and Vaux landscape located at the heart of Morningside Park. Positioned at the park's mid-level along the important West 116th Street entrance, the Plateau occupies one of the park's most visible and accessible gathering places.
Historically, the Plateau served as an open lawn where visitors gathered to relax, enjoy the landscape, and experience sweeping views across the park. Over time, however, invasive vegetation and unchecked growth have obscured its historic character, diminished important sightlines, and reduced its ability to function as one of the park's central civic spaces.
Building upon the recommendations of the 2001 Master Plan and informed by the 2021 Forestry and Vegetation Assessment, Friends of Morningside Park and NYC Parks are exploring opportunities to restore the Plateau as a welcoming lawn for everyday use and community life. That work has already begun through Friends' volunteer stewardship efforts. Volunteers are removing litter, invasive vegetation, and overgrowth along the east and west slopes surrounding the Plateau, helping to restore historic sightlines and reconnect visual relationships between the upper and lower levels of the park.
Together with the planned reconstruction of the historic 116th Street staircase and improvements to the adjacent Bird Pond, these efforts have the potential to once again make the Plateau one of Morningside Park's defining public spaces.
The vision is to restore an open and flexible landscape where people can picnic, relax, read, enjoy informal recreation, and gather for performances, educational programs, and community events. By reclaiming this historic lawn, the project seeks to reconnect visitors with one of Olmsted and Vaux's original design intentions while creating a vibrant destination that serves today's park users.
Located between Harlem and Morningside Heights and connected by the revitalized 116th Street entrance, the Plateau is uniquely positioned to bring together residents from the neighborhoods that surround the park. Its restoration presents an opportunity to build upon Friends of Morningside Park's mission of fostering Common Ground by creating a welcoming setting for recreation, culture, education, and community dialogue.
In many ways, this vision reflects the enduring philosophy of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. They conceived urban parks not simply as places of scenic beauty, but as democratic public landscapes where people from every walk of life could find respite from the city, connect with nature, and share common civic spaces. Restoring the Park Plateau continues that tradition by creating an inviting landscape where the communities of Harlem, Morningside Heights, and Manhattan Valley can gather, learn from one another, and strengthen the social connections that have always been at the heart of great public parks.
Planning Foundations
The Upper Park Initiative builds upon a series of planning efforts that have guided the restoration of Morningside Park for more than forty years.
1985 Conceptual Master Plan
Commissioned by Friends of Morningside Park, the Conceptual Master Plan established the first comprehensive vision for rehabilitating Morningside Park. It directly informed the creation of the pond and waterfall, new playgrounds, picnic areas, restored ballfields, and other early restoration projects.
2001 Morningside Park Master Plan
Commissioned by Friends of Morningside Park, the Master Plan established the long-term vision that continues to guide restoration throughout the park.
2021 Forestry & Vegetation Assessment
Commissioned by Friends of Morningside Park and prepared in partnership with NYC Parks, this comprehensive assessment documented the condition of the upper park's urban forest and established the ecological and maintenance framework for the Upper Park Initiative. It serves as both a planning document and a practical guide for restoring and stewarding one of the park's most significant natural landscapes.