Whether you seek respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, a green space for kids and pets to play, or a place to learn about city history, the East River is the place to be on the Upper East Side.

Named for a 19th century soldier, statesman, and journalist, Carl Schurz Park encompasses just under fifteen acres of parkland that includes a large playground, wide promenades, two dog runs, several gardens, and the famous Gracie Mansion. It’s kept in great shape with help from one of the city’s oldest community volunteer organizations, the Carl Schurz Park Association. Founded in the 1970s to secure the financial future of the then-imperiled park, the Association now has over 1,200 members help to maintain and improve the park and plan community events all year long.

Carl Schurz would have been a killer spot to watch ships sail along the river in centuries past. In 1614, Dutch explorer Adriaen Block named the waters adjacent to East End Avenue and 86th Street Helegat. Although the word translates as "bright passage," it was Anglicized as “Hell Gate” due to the churning currents and submerged rocks that sunk many a passing ship. Countless wrecked vessels still lie on the bottom of the East River’s most treacherous passage.

The park site was a Dutch settler’s homestead until the Continental Army built a fort there to protect the important East River shipping route during the Revolutionary War. British troops captured the fort and held it until 1783 when the land was returned to private owners. Scottish shipping tycoon Archibald Gracie built the famous Gracie Mansion on the site in 1799, and the city purchased the house and surrounding land in 1891 to expand the existing East River Park. Gracie Mansion was made the official residence of the mayor in 1942 during Fiorello LaGuardia’s administration. Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to forgo residence there but continues to use the historic house for special events. Free tours are open to the public every Wednesday.

Another beloved landmark is the sculpture of Peter Pan by Charles Haffen located inside a courtyard in the park’s northeast corner. It was designed for a fountain in the Paramount Theater in 1928 and placed in the park in1975. The statue mysteriously disappeared one day in August 1999 only to be found by NYPD divers on the bottom of the East River. British actress Celia Lipton Farris – who once played Peter Pan herself - funded the sculpture’s subsequent restoration and reinstallation. The thief was never found despite much publicity surrounding the theft.

If you prefer a space simply designed for quiet contemplation, walk to the end of 60th Street to reach the East River Pavilion. New York Hospital, the Hospital for Special Surgery, Rockefeller University, the East River Waterfront Conservancy, the Parks Council, the Municipal Art Society, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Parks & Recreation all teamed up to transform the sanitation facility to a public park in the 1990s. The ramp leading to the park is still sadly reminiscent of the site’s former life as a garbage transfer station, but press on and you will arrive in a spacious plaza with great views and plenty of shaded benches.

The park’s most notable feature is an 80-foot long aluminum sculpture by Alice Aycock titled East River Roundabout. Installed in the fall of 1995, it resembles nothing so much as a twisted roller coaster track suspended by steel beams. The artist describes her work as echoing the chaos of traffic on FDR Drive, the Queensborough Bridge, the river, and the nearby Heliport. Amid a tangle of urban architecture, its dramatic form attracts the attention of drivers and pedestrians alike.

Next time you’re ready to talk a walk in the park, leave Central Park to the tourists and pay a visit to the East River waterfront.

Photographs taken by Scott Sendrow, courtesy of The Bridge and Tunnel Club.