Day 36

This bridge, completed in 1936 (here's a great shot of it under construction), always takes my breath away, although it's a shame that the Henry Hudson Parkway, which passes over the bridge, runs along the western edge of Inwood Hill Park through the only substantial forest left in Manhattan. Robert Caro, in his biography of Robert Moses, talks about the decision-making process behind the location of the roadway. The original proposed alignment of the parkway was east of Inwood Hill Park, and this design was favored by many urban planners, but Moses decided to build it through the park instead, because that would enable him to take advantage of free labor from the Civil Works Administration under the premise that he was building a "park access road", and it would also save the city the expense of condemning buildings needed for the parkway's right-of-way.