Its site chosen by General George Washington for the strategic vantage point it provided, Fort Independence was built by the Americans in 1776 and then destroyed a couple of times as it changed hands during the course of the Revolutionary War.
This was once the site of the Jerome Park Racetrack (built by our buddy Leonard Jerome), which hosted the Belmont Stakes from 1867 (its inaugural running) to 1889.
The city bought and condemned the racetrack to make way for this reservoir, completed in 1905 and filled with water from the New Croton Aqueduct, which, despite its name, is the oldest aqueduct still part of NYC's water supply system. The reservoir has been used only sparingly since 2008, when the New Croton system temporarily went offline pending the completion of a water treatment plant, but it's expected to be back in action within a year or so, when the aqueduct is reactivated.
In case you can't figure out how to reset the clock after the power goes out
there are still times when all you can do is tape a note to a door.
I'm walking every street in New York City.
This is the counterpoint to my walk across the US. Instead of seeing a million places for just a minute each, I'm going to spend a million minutes exploring just one place. By the time I finish walking every block of every street in all five boroughs, I'll have traveled more than 8,000 miles on foot — all within a single city. Details!
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
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Maps: Progress | Photos
Your donations allow me to keep walking full-time. If you think what I'm doing is valuable and you'd like to offer some support, I would be very grateful. On the other hand, if you think I'm a worthless bum, feel free to email me and tell me to get a job, bozo. Both are excellent options!
