Marcus Garvey Park

This park has so much potential. Between this park and morning side the central Harlem parks COULD be amazing. Marcus Garvey is dirty, dangerous at times and filled with homeless.
Come on NYC. More police are needed.

I am surprised to see the positive reviews of the park below. These are clearly superficial reviews of people who have NO idea what actually happens in this park. I live right across the street — in fact my apartment has a clear view of the park — and of course I have been inside it many times. First, let’s be real — this park is filled with homeless people, some of them dirty and many of them drunk and/​or on drugs. They mostly hang out on the northern side of the park, where the two children’s playgrounds are. I can’t tell you how disturbing it is to be pushing your child on a swing in full view of the drunken/​drugged out homeless crew, many of which are loud and foul-​mouthed. However, that is by far the LEAST disturbing thing about this park. I have seen from my window in the past few months, dozens of sexual encounters (mostly between men) — some of those encounters being full blown sex in BROAD DAYLIGHT on the weekends. I work during the week but can only imagine that it goes on then as well. These encounters take place at the top of the park, in the bushes, and oftentimes on rocks in a clearing, hence easily viewable from anyone in the building across. In addition to these disgusting sexual acts, I have seen frequent drug encounters in those same spots, the last of which was a man shooting up heroin in his arm. I have called the police on multiple occasions and they say they are fully aware of what goes in in this park but are too short-​staffed to do anything about it. It is a disgrace to the community that the park authorities and the police allow this blatantly illegal activity to go on. I no longer step foot in Marcus Garvey Park.

Every August these big ass flowers grow in Mt. Morris Park & every August I say OMG look at these big pretty ass flowers growing in Mt. Morris Park! And every August I take a picture. It never gets old to me

1^st time for the Rakim concert so it was cool… and all parks are the same in my book… lols tree and trees and some arts and more trees;)

I visited this park while waiting for my training to start in the area. I was there around 8:30 ish in the morning and it was so serene and clean. I sat by the little water sprouts and could definitely see myself walking through them to cool off on a hot humid day. It wasn’t crowded but I did see a few people playing basketball and exercising. They have some beautiful rocks and trees that give the park a beautiful landscaping view. I walked up the stairs and saw the amazing views and the large pool. This would be a park I would frequent again when I’m in the area.

It is a nice park. However, the park is dirty with garbage littered everywhere. However, I like the Marcus Garvey Theater — Summerstage which holds events like the Harlem Art Festival. If you are in Harlem, it is a worthy visit.

Good dog park but even though they have 2 areas. I feel like the big dogs mix with the little dogs. Sometimes the little dogs are intimidated by them. I wish it was a little more separate. The park area is lined with mulch which is better than dirt, doesn’t stick to my dog. There is no water fountain for dogs… so byow. Poop bags are provided. Things are jumping around the 6p mark as owners are coming home from work.

Overall nice park, I’ve had a couple scary incidences with my dog in the dog park. People need to have better control of their dogs and pay attention when they act violent. Otherwise it’s nice to walk around on a nice day and easy access from both the east and west sides of Harlem.

Terrific park with an awesome mix of foliage, rocks, an acropolis, dog-​run and an amphitheater next door.

This is a very nice green, fresh air oasis just one block south of the hustle and bustle of 125^th street. It has a ton of open grass space for you to come and relax or even bring a group of kids to play when you undoubtedly get tired of the concrete playgrounds. A lot of Harlem themed events host activities here including Harlem Week, Harlem Arts Festival and many more. They have a nice sized open stage with stadium style seats for dance, theater, and musical performances that sometimes show up here. You will also find a large outdoor pool that is open during the warmer months. I just wish they had more bench seating available for you to relax and get some air.

Came here for the first time last week for a free concert. The concert was packed to capacity but it was well organized. Since the security consisted of only parks and recreation staff, it seemed as if the crowd would get out of hand but that was not the case. The ambiance was so chill… I felt like I was at a hiphop block party from the early 90’s. Everyone dancing and signing and having a great time.

I live on 120^th and 5^th and basically go to this park every day with 3 kids as it’s right across the street and the kids love the playgrounds the park offers. you will see people doing everything in this park, and when i write everything, i mean it. from our apartment which is facing the park, you can even see people having sex on the top levels (and inbetween trees etc), and that at all times of the day. see drug dealers, and people getting arrested, homeless sleeping somewhere you wouldn’t expect, and just some crazy things going on. and when you go on top of it, there are times you will see condoms laying around everywhere — as well as drug stuff. i got offered drugs many times. there are usually a lot of people, so during the day i’m not worried with the kids, but wouldn’t go close to it at night, especially not by myself since i’m a young woman. the upper level of the park closes at dusk and has, as one of my neighbors found out an alarm on top if you still go up there after a certain time.
other than this, the park is really nice, and on the main level pretty clean compared to other nyc parks. has great playgrounds, a dog run, swimming pool, jazz, soul, hip hop concerts in the summer etc and can be a wonderful place to hang out with friends…

Spend a week or month or three in the city taking care of business without a car and airconditioning and maybe the list of best parks in manhattan starts to look a bit different.
I don’t bring a dog with me and I haven’t been up to the acropolis, but I still think Marcus Garvey makes a pretty valid claim to the nicest park on manhattan’s east side (More than Carl Schurz you gasp? Yes, in some ways, why not?)
To me, this park is so fantastic because:
–some of the most appealing residential streetscapes in manhattan (IMO) surround the park to the south and west;
–Mount Morris rivals central park west with it’s combination of older, healthy, and generously shady trees and dramatic rock outcroppings.
–saturday greenmarket is no union square, yet still attracts a good variety of quality vendors;
–lots of playgrounds and active/​passive recreation areas, picnic, swimming pool, gym, bball, lawns, playgrounds, sprinkler, walking paths, etc. All that and prostitution, too, if the pre-​hysteria were believed.
–several shady promenades feature groups of neighborhood adults hanging out, playing their own games, listening to yankee radio, and even smilingly offering Awake to friendly agnostics;
– I saw a great old school hip hop show in the redone amphitheater during sumerstage. Really a nice, small outdoor venue, more to come?
–there’s a library at the park on 124^th St. and there are nearby transportation connections to pretty much every part of manhattan and bronx;
Overwhelmingly, Marcus Garvey seems like a family and neighborhood hangout when I’ve been there (weekend mornings; weekday afternoon/​evenings). Yes, there are some street folks, but no one’s ever flipped out or tried to panhandle. Yes, the park can look pretty dark and creepy some nights – so, don’t go in those evenings
I guess I haven’t even noticed abnormally trashy grounds. Of course, it’s good to remember that there’s no Mount Morris BID cleaning up after your entitled asses all the time so if a little garbage and some regular folks do bother you, then maybe you want to explore midtown a little harder?

This is a lovely park. Not quite as clean/​upkept as Central Park but I have no doubt that parks that are not Central Park have much smaller maintenance budgets. Anywho, has several small playgrounds and a small dog park. There are also a few water features that the kiddos can play in. Took the girls once to play while I hooped in the grassy area, only wish I had more hoops as several other kids came over to try it out.
I saw no crack smoking, or hooking. Though there are definitely people who sleep there and there is some trash around, but c’mon, it’s new york, there is trash everywhere, just sayin.
Also has a very large outdoor pool. One problem w/​the pool/​rec center is that you have to buy a year membership to use them. What!!! you say… yeah, me too. I was there for three weeks and specifically inquired in the rec center and checked online about short term/​daily fees. Nope, nada, nosir! You pay the $ 150 membership or you don’t swim. While $ 150 is a very reasonable yearly fee, it is a bit outrageous for my shorter time frame.
Bottom line, we quite enjoyed this park as we are not especially city folk and it was nice to get some green time.

I am giving this dog run 4 stars because of how the community takes care of the park. Everyone who goes there is friendly and each month they have a «Bark In The Park» where everyone is welcomed to help clean up the dog run. Breakfast is usually provided. They even have a dog run for small dogs at the park. This is one of the best parks that I’ve been to based on the people who go there and the altruistic behavior of the dog owners in taking care of the park to better the neighborhood.

On summer days, the pool is always full and loud, but lovely. Locker rooms are everything you need, though the showers can be wickedly cold!
We talked to the super friendly staff about adult swim, and when we came back for the evening swim we immediately fell so deeply in love with this place. They keep track of your laps for you and if you swim 25 miles in the season you get a t-​shirt. The whole thing was so friendly and quiet and great! You get to know the people who go and root or each other.
I am so excited for it to open this summer.

A nice park to roam around and get a nice view of the city.
Climb to the top and midtown can be seen quite nicely! Watch out for the camera that yells at you for being up on the top… Is it illegal?

Kind of in disrepair, I hear it’s still a huge improvement. Sit atop the whole place (& Harlem) amidst fragmented stones and a hodgepodge of the surrounding area eating lunch. I came mid-​day on a Friday and not many people were around, so I guess it’s a different scene at other times. Regardless of when you go, people will walk around whispering on their cell phones — pay them no mind; enjoy your time there and keep to yourself.
I’ll stay out of the e-​battle going down between reviewers on this listing.

I live a block away so I frequent this park quite often. I have a beagle and he loves the dog run. There’s actually two dog runs separated by a fence so you’re not forced to have your dog play with dogs who don’t get along well with others.
The amphitheater is lovely, although it’s not used as often as it should be. There’s an upper level, which is fantastic– highly recommended. There’s a drummer’s circle that usually has some form of live music going on, which adds a little charisma and spice to the environment.
I’m not sure which decade Green W. went to Marcus Garvey park, but I don’t agree with most of what he said. After strolling through this park over 50 times, I have never seen anyone openly smoking crack. Nor have I ever seen public sex in the upper level. Sure, there’s some pot smoking going on, but big deal. People smoke pot in every park in the city, so there’s no real shocker there. “. .. A popular spot for cheap dirty prostitutes,” is laughable. Also laughable and baffling is his displeasure for people barbecuing in a park.
You can’t pick and choose which people go to a park and which activities they do while there. I moved from East Harlem a year and a half ago and compared to that dump Thomas Jefferson Park, this park is nirvana.

This has been my neighborhood park for over a decade. I come here just to chill and relax. I can remember when the park was a no no and there was a womens prison on Mt. Morris between 120 & 121 street.
Now we have:
Three new play grounds
A dog run
New sidewalks
A new baseball field
A garden club
A home for hundreds of community events.
A pool and beach volley ball court
There is a community center and an amphitheater. The
In summer the African drummers draw hundreds to their performance throughout the day.
The park is really warm and inviting at all times of the year. Marcus Garvey park is a place where residents can enjoy a park which is largely undisturbed. Where kids can play without the «overwhelming» or «corporate sponsorship» feel of sister park, central park.
On a clear day, from the top of the acropolis, you can see the majority of the city.
Its extra beautiful in fall when the trees are changing color.
I have about 100 pictures of the park, but couldn’t post them all so visit my blog for more info.