'Riverside Drive' is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in the
New York City borough of
Manhattan. The boulevard runs generally parallel to the
Hudson River from
72nd Street to near the
George Washington Bridge at
181st Street on the west side of
Manhattan. At points Riverside Drive is a wide avenue; at other points it narrows to a serpentine neighborhood street. Some of the most coveted addresses in New York are located along its route.
Riverside Drive was designed by landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted as part of his concept for
Riverside Park. It passes through the Manhattan neighborhoods of the
Upper West Side,
Morningside Heights, over
Manhattanville in West
Harlem by way of the
Riverside Drive Viaduct and
Washington Heights. Among the monuments, sights and institutions along its route are the
Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the
Statue of Joan of Arc,
Grant's Tomb, The
Riverside Church,
Riverbank State Park,
Trinity Church Cemetery,
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and
Fort Washington Park.
Most of Riverside Drive was built along an older road. Due to the hilly terrain, Riverside Drive passes over
96th Street,
125th Street and 158th Street on
viaducts; at
125th Street, an old alignment is present, also named Riverside Drive. At its north end, Riverside Drive used to merge with the northbound lanes of the
Henry Hudson Parkway, which were originally part of the road. However, in 2005, a retaining wall collapsed onto the roadway and on the Northbound Henry Hudson Parkway. To this day, the right lane of the HHP remains closed & Riverside Dr is closed at 181st Street. A detour takes you to
Haven Avenue to Fort Washington Avenue.
The section exiting the parkway at the
Dyckman Street exit and ending at
Broadway is still known as Riverside Drive.
Popular culture
★ The play ''
6 Rms Riv Vu'', tells the story of a married advertising copywriter and a discontented housewife who both end up looking at the same Riverside Drive apartment. The door is locked accidentally, trapping them inside, and a connection slowly develops as they begin to share the details of their respective lives.
★ In the
sitcom ''
Will & Grace,'' Will lives on Riverside Drive, as does Grace at times throughout the series.
★
Liz Lemon (
Tina Fey) of the sitcom ''
30 Rock'' lives at 160 Riverside Drive.
★ It is also mentioned in the song '"Tango in Harlem"', by Touch and Go
[1]
★ In the song standard "Penthouse Serenade", the lyric is:
In our little penthouse we'll always contrive,
To keep love and romance forever alive,
In view of the Hudson just over the Drive,
When we're alone.