Carl Schurz Park

This park sits on a jagged point of land known historically as Horns Hook. Before it became a public space, this site held immense strategic value because it overlooks Hell Gate, a notoriously dangerous stretch of the East River where the Harlem River, the East River, and the Long Island Sound collide. During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington recognized that controlling this narrow, swirling passage was essential. His troops seized a private mansion that stood here at the time and built an artillery battery on the lawn, aiming their cannons directly over the treacherous water to prevent British ships from advancing.