Bronx residents will walk through a new pavilion on the way to Orchard Beach this summer due to a $114 million overhaul to the New Deal-era building.
The beach, known affectionately as the “Bronx Riviera,” welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors every summer. The historic pavilion was built in 1936 and opened by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. The revamp means the pavilion will be open for the first time in 17 years, and will add accessibility improvements and new food and retail spaces. A restaurant will open on the upper floor next year, and the bathrooms were also upgraded.
“No longer can the Bronx be treated as an afterthought in a city of five boroughs,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote in a statement.
“As beach season approaches, Bronxites and New Yorkers from across this city will once again be able to gather at the Bronx’s only public beach in a space worthy of this community and its history.”
The new pavilion is 17 years in the making.
Officials with the city’s Economic Development Corporation said the project restored the Beaux Arts-inspired promenade and art deco-era tile, including its terrazzo flooring and historic columns.
Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura said that Bronxites who remembered schlepping down dozens of steps to get to the sand can now use brand new ramps instead.
“We're seeing architecture at its best when we prioritize the needs and access of our most vulnerable. You can now walk from the parking lot down to the sand with zero barriers,” she said.
New York City beaches open May 23 and close Sept. 13.
“Improvement always signals a new era,” beach visitor Devonte Richards said.
“Definitely growth, more cleanliness, stuff like that. So hopefully people will take care of the environment more.”
