Day 394

Today’s route — 13.8 miles

January 27th, 2013

Day 394




St. James Park

Day 394

Beneath the 4 train

January 27th, 2013


Day 394

The Kingsbridge Road side

January 27th, 2013



of 2685 University Avenue

Day 394

St. Nicholas of Tolentine

January 27th, 2013



According to the AIA Guide to New York City, this is a "conservative granite ashlar neo-Gothic church from a time when exuberance in neo-Gothic matters had given way to solemnity." More photos here.

Day 394

A church and a hill

January 27th, 2013



University Heights Presbyterian

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Andrews Avenue

January 27th, 2013


Day 394

Those steps look slippery

January 27th, 2013



But they're not, because THAT'S ALL SALT.

(The hill is covered in actual snow, but 99% of the white stuff on the street, sidewalk, and stairs is salt.)

Day 394

Solar regatta

January 27th, 2013



Con Ed's new Academy Substation, part of the M29 Transmission Line Project

Day 394

Just hangin’ out

January 27th, 2013



on some giant feet.

That's the Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse in the background of this view from Roberto Clemente State Park.

Day 394

River Park Towers

January 27th, 2013



We've seen this soaring apartment complex from the other side of the Harlem River, but this is our first look up close.

Day 394

The High Bridge

January 27th, 2013



During the planning of the Croton Aqueduct in the 1830s, there was much debate over how the aqueduct should cross the Harlem River into Manhattan. There were three main alternatives being considered: a tunnel beneath the river; a low embankment crossing with a short arch span; and a substantial, high-level bridge. John B. Jervis, the chief engineer, favored the embankment and low bridge, as it would be the cheapest and easiest to build of the options. Many others, however, felt that this crossing should exude a grandeur befitting the monumental nature of the aqueduct.

Thanks to the timely heroics of our friend Lewis G. Morris, the State Legislature intervened in the process, passing a law that prohibited the new crossing from hindering ship traffic on the river, thus eliminating the embankment alternative from contention. Fearing uncertain, escalating construction costs, Jervis ruled out the tunnel option as well. And so it was decided that a stately series of high stone arches would carry the Croton water across the Harlem River in style.

The High Bridge finally opened in 1848, six years after the aqueduct, which used a temporary inverted siphon to cross the Harlem in the meantime. If you remember how to view those "Magic Eye" images, check out this stereograph of the bridge from 1859. After a pedestrian walkway was added on top of the bridge, well-attired promenaders would come from miles around to bask in the majestic views from high above the river.

While the aqueduct itself used only the force of gravity to deliver water to the city, pumping was necessary to fill the water tower visible in the photo above, along with a reservoir located near its base. The tower and reservoir were completed by 1872, providing the increased hydraulic head needed to serve the higher altitudes of Upper Manhattan.

Eventually a tunnel was drilled beneath the river, replacing the High Bridge as the conveyor of Croton water to Manhattan. In the 1920s, there was talk of demolishing the bridge, as its archways were proving too narrow for large ships to pass through. This proposal stirred protests among many, with Scientific American declaring that the bridge's destruction would constitute "an act of vandalism . . . without a precedent in the history of our country." A compromise was ultimately reached, and five of the masonry arches were replaced with the single steel span pictured above, improving navigation on the river while still preserving some of the bridge's original character. The High Bridge is generally claimed to be New York's oldest surviving bridge, but, as you now know, that's only partially true.

The pedestrian walkway was closed sometime in the 1960s or '70s, supposedly in response to people using it to throw things at boats passing below. The bridge has been left to deteriorate in the decades since, but, at long last, work is now underway to rehabilitate it and open it to pedestrians once again, albeit with an obnoxiously high safety fence obstructing the views.

Day 394

Aqueduct Bridge

January 27th, 2013



That's the official name of the High Bridge. But you don't have to take my word for it: just zoom in on the bridge pier at the right side of this photo.

Day 394

The former Stadium Motor Lodge

January 27th, 2013



In the early 1960s, this erstwhile motel was the in-season home of some Yankee ballplayers. It then became the Stadium Family Center (you can still make out traces of "FAMILY CENTER" below "STADIUM" in the photo above), which was a shelter for homeless families, before being recently converted into a men's shelter.

Day 394

Portal of the day

January 27th, 2013


Day 394

Once again

January 27th, 2013



I find myself standing beneath the Washington Bridge.

Day 394




Since we've already covered the history of this bridge fairly well, this seems like as good a time as any to share a couple of stories from McNamara's Old Bronx that take place in the area. The first is an account of a journey by boat through the Croton Aqueduct, while the second tells of a tightrope walker who cooked flapjacks for his spectators while balanced high above the Harlem River.

Day 394

Barberz #37

January 27th, 2013


Day 394




We covered the origin of Featherbed Lane's appellation last January, but I think it's time for a refresher. From John McNamara's History in Asphalt:

There are three well-known versions of the origin of this name. During the Revolution, residents padded the road with their feather beds to muffle the passage of the patriots. Another story is that the spongy mud gave riders the effect of a feather bed. Still another tale is that the farmers found the road so rough, they would use feather beds on their wagon-seats to cushion themselves.

There is a fourth supposition advanced by a native of Highbridgeville that Featherbed Lane was a sly allusion to ladies of easy virtue who lived there. In short, it was the local Red Light district during the 1840's when work on the nearby Croton Aqueduct was going on. Unsuspecting real estate developers of a later time liked its quaint name and retained it.

Day 394

Looking across the garden

January 27th, 2013



at this guy

Day 394

Whosoever Will Baptist Church

January 27th, 2013



Footage from Easter Sunday

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Sedgwick Houses

January 27th, 2013