Henry Hudson Park is a small park in the center of

Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx Spuyten Duyvil (, ) is a neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City. It is bounded on the north by Riverdale, on the east by Kingsbridge, on the south by the Harlem River, and on the west by the Hudson River,Wolfe, Gerald R. "Spuyten Duyvil neighb ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, located at the intersection of Kappock Street and Independence Avenue. The park contains a small overlook above

Spuyten Duyvil Creek Spuyten Duyvil Creek () is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from t ...

, named Half Moon overlook after the

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

Hudson sailed into the eponymous river. The park is named after famed

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

explorer

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

, who is also the namesake of the nearby

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Henry Hudson Parkway The Henry Hudson Parkway is a parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is in Manhattan at 72nd Street, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout i ...

and Henry Hudson Bridge. In 1906 it was decided to dedicate a monument celebrating the 300th anniversary of Hudson's arrival in what later became

Lower New York Bay Lower New York Bay is a section of New York Bay south of the Narrows (the strait between Staten Island and Brooklyn). The eastern end of the Bay is marked by two spits of land, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens. The waterway b ...

. The project encountered multiple delays, but in 1909 the city obtained the money, and in 1912 a Doric column, designed by Walter Cook of Babb, Cook & Welch, was set in place, but shortly after, funds for the project, which had been raised by subscription, ran out. It was revived by Robert Moses in the late 1930s, and by 1938, the area around the monument had been designated as a park and a bronze statue of

,Wolfe, Gerald R. "Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood" in , p.1224 sculpted by

Karl Bitter Karl Theodore Francis Bitter (December 6, 1867 – April 9, 1915) was an Austrian-born American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work. Life and career The son of Carl and Henrietta Bitter, he was ...

and Karl Gruppe, had been placed atop the column. The park underwent major renovations in 1989 and 1995, mainly due to the efforts of local community activist Paul Cymerman. For his dedication and volunteerism, a small playground area of the park was renamed Paul's Park in 2003, the only

park to be named for a living person. After his death in 2004, the local community continued his efforts to keep the park safe and clean.

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

br>"Paul Cymerman Memorialized in Park That Bears His Name"
''The Daily Plant'' (September 15, 2004)

References

Notes Sources
Henry Hudson Park
NYC Parks

External links

* {{Protected areas of New York City Parks in the Bronx Urban public parks Robert Moses projects Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx