[1] Despite its location at the tip of Toronto's formerly heavily industrial Port Lands area, Cherry Beach is a popular gathering place.

Recently the park has undergone improvements which includes a paved entrance way and a renovated washroom and swimming change room facilities.

[6] In 2020, a group of local residents issued a collective statement criticizing a feasibility study by Waterfront Toronto which considered providing water taxis access to the beach.

[7] For many years it was one of the few Toronto beaches that was clean enough for swimming, windsurfing and kitesurfing; It typically meets high water quality, environmental and safety standards;[8] however, a 2012 environmental assessment found that the concentration of lead and zinc in the soil at Cherry Beach is above guidelines, which is attributed to previous industrial use of the area.

The song's name is a euphemism for the alleged police brutality committed on gay, indigenous, and homeless people at the beach between the 1940s and 1990s.

[16] Parts of the music video for the Alessia Cara song "Wild Things" were filmed at Cherry Beach.