Southpoint Park

The granite blocks forming the seawall of Southpoint Park come from the ruins of the original Blackwells Island Penitentiary. Prisoners once quarried this stone by hand to construct the very buildings that held them captive during the nineteenth century. These heavy rocks now serve as a permanent barrier between the walking paths and the churning waters of the East River, physically grounding the park in the island's history of isolation and confinement.