This article was updated on September 17, 2025.
The 91st Street Garden in Riverside Park is waiting to be discovered.
I didn’t think it could be any more beautiful than it’s been in past seasons, but the 91st Street Garden in Riverside Park continues to surprise me. Now that summer has arrived, the lush greenery and multicolored varieties of flowers have taken over the two sculpted parcels between 90th and 91st Streets on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Each time I walk by in disbelief because the garden appears more vibrant, more colorful, and more exquisite than the day before.
The Garden People are responsible for these two little slices of heaven in New York City. In 1981, a group of volunteers began planting in this location when their previous 96th Street garden was demolished for a new building. Since then, they’ve encouraged the revival of a distressed Riverside Park from the 1970s and ’80s. The Garden People brought color and vitality back to the park.
The 91st Street Garden on the Silver Screen
By the late ’90s, this Upper West Side garden was ready for its onscreen debut. This area of Riverside landed a supporting role in the popular film, You’ve Got Mail, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. The 91st Street Garden was the setting for the final scene. Joe Fox (NY 152) shows up at the park with his dog Brinkley to meet his virtual pen pal, Kathleen Kelly (Shopgirl). In case you haven’t seen it, I won’t tell you how the movie ends. But the 91st Street Garden is where the magic happens.
Today, more than 40 locals tend to their individual plots. These folks work regularly to maintain the garden and enhance this promenade section of Riverside Park. When I’m out walking, sometimes I see the gardeners planting, raking, weeding, and nurturing what has become one of the most magnificent community gardens that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
While most people who come uptown choose Central Park, NYC’s Riverside Park should not go unnoticed! Stop by the 91st Street Garden, and you too will imagine that you’re living in a Nora Ephron movie. ;)
Many thanks to the Garden People for tending to the 91st Street Garden!
Also, a bucolic garden in East Harlem. And a pocket park in Midtown.
Melanie Garbe says
What is the address?
Tracy Kaler says
Hi Melanie,
There is no street address. The garden is in Riverside Park at 91st street. There is an entrance at that block. You’ll walk down a hill and you’ll see it when you get down into the park.
Gayle says
I just watched ” You’ve Got Mail.” Joe Fox’s dog in the movie is named Wrigley, not Brinkley, FYI. The gardens look beautiful and I look forward to stopping by next time I am in New York!
Lauren says
The dog’s name for sure is Brinkley. He yells “Brinkley!” as he’s walking up to the garden.