Entry No. 37 — the New York City file — filed under: outdoor-weird
The Elevated Acre
Nearly an acre of lawn, gardens, and a tiered wooden amphitheater hidden 30 feet above the street, reached by an anonymous escalator set back from the Water Street sidewalk. Almost no one finds it by accident. A Brazilian-hardwood boardwalk juts out 30 feet above the East River with open views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. It's one of only a handful of elevated privately-owned public spaces in the city, a leftover of mid-century zoning bonuses.
The story
The skyscraper at 55 Water Street exists in its massive form partly because of mid-century zoning bonuses—loopholes that permitted corporate developers to build taller in exchange for creating open public plazas. For decades, the elevated platform here was little more than a barren, windswept slab of concrete that office workers avoided. A major redesign by Rogers Marvel Architects cleared the concrete, turning the upper deck into nearly an acre of lawn tucked 30 feet above the Financial District's pavement.
The genius of the space relies on spatial misdirection. To get up, you have to bypass the ground-floor streetscape and ride an anonymous escalator set back into the building's plaza off Water Street—an entrance that looks strictly intended for badge-wearing office workers. At the top, the concrete canyon disappears into real turf, manicured plant beds, a tiered wooden amphitheater, and a cantilevered Brazilian-hardwood boardwalk extending toward the East River with clear sightlines to both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
What it's like
Head down Water Street between Broad Street and Coenties Slip and look for the escalator tucked into the plaza of 55 Water Street. Ride it up to the deck, where the hum of traffic instantly drops away. On weekday afternoons you'll dodge office workers eating lunches, but mornings and dusk are remarkably quiet. Grab a bagel or sandwich from a nearby shop downstairs, take a seat along the wooden riverfront boardwalk, and watch the ferry traffic pass underneath the bridges. Hours shorten in the winter, and the space occasionally closes for private events or hosts summer movie nights.
The move: Hunt for the unmarked escalator off Water Street, then split a snack on the boardwalk watching boats pass under the bridges at dusk.
📍 Before you go Free. Open daily roughly 7 AM-10 PM (May-Sept) and 8 AM-8 PM (Oct-Apr); the entrance escalator is easy to miss and hours can shift for private events.
- 📍 Financial District, Manhattan
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 55 Water St, New York, NY 10041
Hours: Added 2026-06-23 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology — Follow up a quiet breeze on an elevated lawn with a walk through 36,000 square feet of high-tech digital projections tucked inside the former Century 21 building nearby.
- Mmuseumm — Trade a hidden one-acre park suspended over Water Street for one of the smallest museums in the world, packed into a former freight elevator shaft in Tribeca.
- Apothéke — Pair watching river traffic from a secret boardwalk at dusk with cocktails inside a speakeasy hidden on Chinatown's historic Doyers Street.
Good to know
How do I find the entrance?
Look for the set-back escalator and stairwells off the sidewalk at 55 Water Street. There is minimal signage, making it look like a private corporate lobby entrance, but you have a legal right to go up.
Is it free to visit?
Yes. It is legally designated as a Privately Owned Public Space (POPS), meaning the building owners are required to keep it open and free to the public daily.
What are the operating hours?
It generally opens daily around 7 AM–10 PM from May through September, and 8 AM–8 PM from October through April, though hours can shift for private bookings or maintenance.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Untapped Cities · apops.mas.org · Atlas Obscura · rogersarchitects.com · marveldesigns.com
last checked: 2026-06-23