Riverside Drive (New York) - Definition and Overview

Riverside Drive is a scenic north-south thoroughfare in New York City. The boulevard runs generally parallel to the Hudson River from West 72nd St. to near the George Washington Bridge at West 181st St. on the west side of Manhattan. At times 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, Harlem 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.