Image from Friends of Race St. Pier Facebook page

For those of you who have yet to explore Race St. Pier, Friday might be the day to do it. The new park, one of Philadelphia’s shiny new toys, has been open to the public for a couple of months and has generally gotten rave reviews from visitors. Let’s face it, a layer of outdoor carpeting would have been a welcome improvement for the former Pier 11, let alone a multi-million dollar effort from James Corner Field Operations, the folks who designed the High Line in New York.

Hm, that's kind of pixelated.

The First Friday Party After Dark will take place between 7pm and 10pm at the park. The party is hosted by Friends of Race St. Pier and Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Food and drink will be served, and Trinidelphia and DJ Jack Tripper will be spinning. With new development on the way at the old water pumping station across Delaware Ave., and the connector project hopefully moving along very soon, things are only getting more exciting at this spot. Which is nice, because it’s regrettably one of the only easy, pleasant access points for to the Delaware River for Center City residents. Come on, Master Plan, take us to the river already!