[5] Surplus concrete dumped from trucks into the East River has created a small beach in the middle of the park near the end of 20th Street, which is not intended to be accessed by pedestrians.

[6][7][8] After the Riverwalk proposal was withdrawn, Manhattan Community Board 6 commissioned the landscape architecture firm of Heintz/Ruddick Associates to prepare an open space study for the site.

The "Stuyvesant Cove Open Space Study" was completed in June 1993 in collaboration with Karahan/Schwarting Architecture Company and included plans for a waterfront park with a pedestrian esplanade, bike path, beach, boathouse for kayaks, dock with barges for sunbathing, 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) environmental & education center, and restaurant and deck to be built above the parking garage at the adjacent Skyport Marina.

[18] Solar 1, an environmental learning center with a small outdoor stage for public performances, opened at the north end of the park in 2003.

[23] The eastern side of the park was designed to include a curved walkway of varying width that alternates between sections located adjacent to the bulkhead and others set back behind planting beds.

[24] Seating areas located within the park included covered gazebos, tables, chairs and benches designed by Carr, Lynch & Sandell.

[4][28] The park was closed at the end of 2020 and rebuilt to allow for the construction of a new floodwall with flood gates as part of the city's East Side Coastal Resiliency project.