Upper West Side Scenic City Skyline Viewpoint Walks

Out at the western tip of Pier I opposite West Seventieth Street, seven hundred feet of timber and concrete decking carry you beyond the leafy tree line of Riverside Park so the full profile of Midtown West and Hudson Yards rises straight out of the Hudson River tide. Planning a scenic city skyline viewpoint walk across the Upper West Side rewards anyone who appreciates how this residential neighborhood sits sandwiched between two famous landscapes. To the west, Frederick Law Olmsted's 1875 Riverside Park terraces step down toward the river. To the east, Manhattan schist outcrops along Central Park West frame classic prewar twin-tower apartments and Fifth Avenue spires. Saving both sides of the neighborhood in the Karpo APP lets you transition from east-facing morning or afternoon park views to a western river sunset without losing track of subway connections.

Constructed over the footprint of a nineteenth-century New York Central Railroad freight wharf and rebuilt as a public recreational pier in the 1990s, Pier I juts far into the Hudson River from the Riverside Park South promenade at West Seventieth Street. Because the pier extends well past the curved shoreline bluff, turning south at its outer railing reveals an unobstructed water-level view of the Midtown West and Hudson Yards glass towers, with the distant spire of One World Trade Center visible on clear days. Looking north from the same railing aligns your view with the steel suspension towers of the George Washington Bridge, opened in 1931 across the upper river narrows.

Wide wooden benches line the length of the pier, where neighborhood birdwatchers, long-distance runners cooling down from the greenway, and evening photographers gather as the sun sinks toward the New Jersey Palisades. Unlike commercial observation decks, the open pier apron lets you watch river currents and sailboat traffic move directly beneath the reflected glow of Manhattan's western skyline. Adding Pier I as the sunset finale inside your Karpo APP walking list guarantees you reach the water when western light is warmest.

North of West Seventy-Second Street, Riverside Park rises into a multi-tiered landscape where high retaining walls and shaded stone staircases separate the upper boulevard from the waterfront bikeway. At West Eighty-Ninth Street and Riverside Drive, the white marble rotunda of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, designed by Charles and Arthur Stoughton and dedicated in 1902, crowns a commanding granite bluff above the Hudson. Standing on the broad southern plaza of the monument gives you an elevated balcony view across the park canopy toward the river channel and the upper Manhattan shoreline.

Crossing the Upper West Side eastward along West Eighty-First Street or West Eighty-Third Street brings you to the western gates of Central Park, where the skyline shifts from Hudson River horizons to iconic prewar residential architecture and Midtown supertalls. Just inside the park near West Eighty-Third Street, Summit Rock rises as the highest natural point of Manhattan schist inside Central Park. Climbing the rough glaciated bedrock path to the top of the outcrop opens sightlines through the treetops toward the twin-towered 1930 San Remo and 1931 Eldorado apartment buildings along Central Park West.

For an even wider eastern and southern panorama, continue a short distance east to the western bridle path and running track rimming the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir between West Eighty-Sixth Street and West Ninety-Sixth Street. From the western embankment of the reservoir, the open water surface acts as a giant mirror for the Museum Mile facades along Fifth Avenue and the towering residential spires of Fifty-Seventh Street to the south. Pairing this eastern park vista with your western Riverside Park stops inside the Karpo APP gives you two completely different Manhattan skylines in a single afternoon.

Skip walking directly along the narrowest waterfront pinch points of the Hudson River Greenway near West Seventy-Second Street during weekday evening commuter hours between five and seven o'clock, when fast bicycle traffic streams continuously along the lower path. Stick to the dedicated pedestrian esplanade and upper park promenades instead. You should also skip Summit Rock immediately after freezing winter rain when the sloped Manhattan schist boulders become slick underfoot. Mid-afternoon on clear weekdays offers the safest footing and calmest bench availability.

When cold river winds or sudden rainstorms roll across the Hudson, step inland to Broadway or Amsterdam Avenue, where the Seventy-Second Street station serves the 1, 2, and 3 express and local lines, the Seventy-Ninth Street and Eighty-Sixth Street stations serve the 1 line, and Central Park West stations serve the B and C lines. The monumental Beaux-Arts entrance arcades along Broadway and the sheltered Rose Center concourse entry area near West Eighty-First Street offer dry transition points while you consult your saved route notes in the Karpo APP.

To experience both skylines in optimal light, begin at the Eighty-First Street–Museum of Natural History B and C subway station two hours before sunset and enter Central Park near West Eighty-Third Street. Climb Summit Rock and walk a brief arc along the western edge of the reservoir while the late-afternoon sun illuminates the limestone towers of Fifth Avenue and Midtown from the west.

One hour before sunset, exit onto Central Park West and stroll west down the brownstone-lined blocks of West Eighty-Third Street or West Seventy-Ninth Street to reach the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument terrace on Riverside Drive. Follow the Riverside Park promenade south to walk out onto Pier I at West Seventieth Street just as the sun dips toward the Hudson horizon and the Midtown West towers begin to glow. Keeping this east-to-west sequence stored in the Karpo APP lets you follow the natural path of the sun across the island.