Riverside Park

Riverside Park follows a four mile stretch of the Hudson River shoreline, but its existence as a peaceful green space was originally threatened by the industrial roar of the nineteenth century. Before the park was established, the riverfront was dominated by the New York Central Railroad, whose freight line ran directly along the water. The area became so dangerous due to the constant passage of locomotives that the stretch of tracks was infamously known as Death Avenue. To manage the chaos, a group of workers known as the West Side Cowboys patrolled the route on horseback, waving red flags to warn pedestrians and carriages of approaching trains.