Laura Benanti Set for Riverside Park Benefit Tonight

Riverside Park Fund is pleased to announce that Broadway star and Tony winner Laura Benanti will perform at this year's benefit gala, celebrating 25 years of conservancy. The gala, entitled Broadway at the Boat Basin, will be held Monday, June 20 at the Boat Basin Café in the historic Rotunda in Riverside Park. Ms. Benanti was just nominated for a Tony for her performance in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Ms. Benanti tells Riverside Park Fund, "I have run, walked, played, lounged and enjoyed every minute of my time in Riverside Park. It is a rare blessing  to have such a beautiful oasis for people from all walks of life. It is my absolute honor to contribute through song to the preservation of this New York treasure." Ms. Benanti joins an impressive roster of performers who have all contributed their voices to Riverside Park's well-loved gala under the stars, including Kelli O'Hara, who performed to a sold-out crowd last year, and Brian Stokes Mitchell the year prior. Ms. Benanti is featured on the original Broadway cast album of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which will arrive in stores May 10th.

The evening also includes Honorary Chairs Josh Kilmer-Purcell & Brent Ridge, of Planet Green TV's "The Fabulous Beekman Boys." The dynamic urbanite duo, who garnered attention after transplanting themselves from the city to the country to try a hand at "gentleman farming," will lend their eco-chic sensibility to the evening. Their farm products, including the popular heirloom vegetable seeds, are sold at Williams-Sonoma and their book "The Heirloom Recipe Cookbook" will be released in October.

Founded in 1986, Riverside Park Fund is the park's non-profit conservancy organization. Its advocacy for Riverside Park, fundraising, and its deployment of a highly structured volunteer force have been integral to the park's recovery. Stretching five miles from West 59th to 155th Streets along the Hudson River and covering 340 acres, Riverside Park is widely regarded as Manhattan's most spectacular waterfront park. It touches a diverse collection of city neighborhoods, and draws visitors from across the region. Left forlorn by the economic crisis of the 1970s, Riverside Park has enjoyed a steady restoration and is now heavily used throughout the year.

"The annual benefit at the Boat Basin is paramount in ensuring funds to restore facilities and recreation fields. To purchase plant material and equipment, to hire gardeners and to respond to storm damage, soil erosion and Dutch Elm Disease. We also help underwrite the free programming in the park and help maintain the dog runs," says Lori Brittle, VP of Finance & Development, says. "This year the lovely and talented Laura Benanti will promise a very exciting evening for all."

Riverside Park Fund nurtures Riverside Park's well-being, helps preserve its historic nature and leads the community in developing active stewardship. Find ways to become involved at www.riversideparkfund.org. Founded in 1986 by a small group of community activists, today Riverside Park Fund is a strong nonprofit partner with both the City and the community whose goal is conserving, improving and beautifying Riverside Park's 340 acres.

Riverside Park has numerous playgrounds, pedestrian malls, waterfront pathways, dog runs, a wide range of sports courts and fields, a skate park, a large portion of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, three kayak launches, and the 110-slip public marina at 79th Street, an important part of New York State's Water Trail. Neighbors use the park daily to run, walk their dogs, take their children to playgrounds, relax on a bench, or picnic on a lawn. Locals and visitors from farther afield come to compete in sports, bike, kayak, bird watch, and enjoy cultural events.

As one of only eight officially designated scenic landmarks in the City of New York, Riverside Park has a long and storied history. Frederick Law Olmsted's 1875 design was executed by Calvert Vaux and Samuel Parsons, and the park first opened in 1880. Olmsted's landscape, with its rocky precipices, sylvan lawns, and groves of mature elm trees, has offered escape from the city and opportunities for people of all incomes to relax, play, and socialize in tranquil settings.

In 1901, the viaduct spanning the valley of Manhattanville from 125th to 135th Streets was constructed. Designed by engineer F. StuArt Williamson, it allowed the extension of Riverside Drive and the park to 153rd Street. As with the southern Olmstedian section of the park, a massive, highly architectural Beaux Arts retaining wall was constructed to allow for the construction of Riverside Drive. From Riverside Drive, the land terraces down to a man made shoreline and promenade constructed between 1937 and 1941 under the administration of Robert Moses. The designers, Gilmore D. Clarke and Clinton Loyd, added 134 acres to the park and twenty-two modern recreational facilities. They wove through this extraordinary collection of active recreation and scenic areas a vital north-south automobile artery and a tunnel covering the railroad tracks that run the length of the park. Riverside Park South, designed by Thomas Balsley Associates, stretches from West 59th and West 72nd Streets. Since 2001, it has added 17 of an eventual 27 acres of lush waterfront park land. In 2008, the gap between the northern and southern sections of Riverside Park was bridged by the creation of West Harlem Piers Park between 125th and 135th Streets.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos