Gardella Park and Kittrell Park in White Plains offer a range of recreational amenities for residents, including accessible playgrounds, swimming pools, basketball courts, picnic areas, and more. Gardella Park is located on Ferris Avenue with parking available from Church Street School. The park features one of the city’s two outdoor swimming pools, a wading pool, bath house with locker rooms and restrooms, covered picnic area, observation deck, two basketball courts, a softball/Little League field, and a playground. The park was dedicated in memory of George J. Gardella Jr., who served as City Court Judge from 1976 to 1970.
Pool passes are required for admission to both Gardella and Kittrell pools. Season passes cost $25 for youth and seniors and $35 for adults. Pools are open daily from mid-June to late August with weekday hours from 2:30 PM to 7:30 PM and weekend hours from 1:00 PM to 7:30 PM at both parks. To obtain a pool pass, residents must provide two forms of identification.
Kittrell Park is situated in the Fisher Hill neighborhood at the intersection of Fisher Avenue and Irving Place. The park includes a swimming pool with locker rooms and showers, children’s playground with safety surfacing, two basketball courts, benches, tables, and an adult playground area equipped with pull-up bars. Admission is free for residents holding a current Recreation ID card.
White Plains also offers several other green spaces for passive recreation. The Jack Harrington Greenway Trail is a 3.2-mile linear park beginning at Bryant Avenue south of Mamaroneck Avenue that follows the former NY-Westchester-Boston Railroad site.
Liberty Park provides opportunities for picnicking, hiking, fishing in Silver Lake, and quiet reflection near its waterfront setting on Lake Street at the White Plains-Harrison border. It serves as the site of the city’s September 11 monument honoring local residents lost on that day.
Bryant Mamaroneck Park features an eight-acre circular trailway on Bryant and Mamaroneck Avenue with rugged trails suitable for hiking. It is home to the StoryWalk Project—an initiative where children’s book pages are displayed along walking paths to encourage literacy and outdoor activity among young families.
The Battle Hill Pollinator Habitat was recently established between Robertson Avenue and Chatterton Avenue on Route 119 as Westchester County’s first naturalized pollinator area. State funding supported this project through contributions from Assembly member Burdick ($250,000), Senator Pete Harckham ($100,000), and Senator Shelley Mayer ($38,000).
Mayor Roach commented on the project: “The rewilding of a former parking lot to create a pollinator habitat in the Battle Hill neighborhood is an extraordinary accomplishment. The Battle Hill Pollinator Habitat now serves as a critical shelter and habitat for moths, butterflies, native bees, fireflies, beetles, and hummingbirds and provides a place of respite for our residents.”
The pollinator habitat includes native plants such as redbud trees; constellation dogwood; paper birch; serviceberry; oakleaf hydrangea; highbush blueberry; blue milkweed; butterfly weed; coneflower; New York aster; porous pathways made from organic materials like decomposed granite; three birdhouses; five benches; and other features designed to support wildlife while offering contemplative space for visitors.
The City continues efforts toward environmental stewardship by developing such naturalized areas which help manage flooding impacts locally while enhancing ecological health within urban settings.
