Bridge Park is a park in
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, created as part of a larger vision of creating connected waterfront parks along both sides of the
Harlem River
The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland.
The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...
. The park's name references three large arch bridges linking
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
and the Bronx:
Alexander Hamilton Bridge,
Washington Bridge, and
High Bridge.
History
Land for this park was gradually acquired by the
City of New York between 1884 and 2011. The oldest of the parcels was along the Bronx side of Washington Bridge, where winding trails and steps descended from the bridge's landing in the
Morris Heights neighborhood to the Harlem River's shoreline. The bridge was conceived by Parks Commissioner
Andrew Haswell Green
Andrew Haswell Green (October 6, 1820 – November 13, 1903) was an American lawyer, city planner, and civic leader who was influential in the development of New York City. Green was responsible for Central Park, the New York Public Library, ...
. An early advocate of expanding the City of New York, he envisioned the bridge as symbolic of the unity between Manhattan and the Bronx. The bridge was completed in 1889 and was named after the country's first president on the centennial of his inauguration. The construction of
Major Deegan Expressway (
I-87) in 1939 and
Cross-Bronx Expressway (
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
) in 1955 greatly reduced some of the parkland on the Harlem River shoreline in favor of highway ramps connecting Washington Bridge to the two highways.
Located on a narrow property between the water's edge and the
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State publ ...
's
Hudson Line, the park is located on a site that was originally an illegal dump and a dog pound. The area was difficult to access, and undeveloped until the City decided to develop unused waterfronts as linear parks connecting distant neighborhoods and providing opportunities to launch canoes and learn about wildlife living in Harlem River.
In May 2015, the strip along the Bronx side of Harlem River opened to the public as Bridge Park.
Bridge Park connects to
Roberto Clemente State Park to its north.
Current status
The master plan for Bridge Park includes passive and active recreational facilities and educational structures including a boathouse and canoe launch at the water's edge; a greenhouse, garden and picnic grove further inland, as well as a performance space and bike trails. Bridge Park's development is ongoing with community input on its design and acquisition of land to connect it with other parks on the Harlem River shoreline.
References
External links
*
{{Protected areas of New York City
Parks in the Bronx
Harlem River
Morris Heights, Bronx
Highbridge, Bronx