Riverside Park Fund Honors Restaurateur Michael O'Neal 6/21

Riverside Park Fund announced today that long-time Board member and Upper West Side restaurateur Michael O'Neal will be honored at its annual benefit gala to raise funds for Riverside Park. Michael O'Neal, the owner of O'Neals' Restaurant on West 64th Street and O'Neals' West 79th Street Boat Basin Café, has served on the Board of Directors for Riverside Park Fund for over 20 years. The gala, held annually at O'Neals' Boat Basin Café in the historic Rotunda in Riverside Park, will be on June 21, 2010 and feature Broadway star Kelli O'Hara who recently played Nellie Forbush in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center.

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 the most important source of unrestricted funds for park maintenance and improvements," John Herrold, park administrator and Riverside Park Fund president, said. "This year the lovely and talented Kelli O'Hara will ensure a very special evening for all. It is especially fitting that we honor Mike for his years of dedication to Riverside Park, and whose creation of the Boat Basin Café heralded the transformation of the park in the early 1990s."

About Riverside Park Fund

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.

About Riverside Park

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.
The benefit gala will feature a Silent Auction, Hors d'oeuvres and Cocktails, Dinner and Dessert and *Live Music.

*Live performance by: Kelli O'Hara

Tickets for the event are $300, $600, and $1,000 per person. For tickets, auction donations, and/or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lori Brittle. - lori@riversideparkfund.org

Photo credit: Monica Simoes