Bridge Park is a park in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, 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, United States, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyte ...

. The park's name references three large arch bridges linking

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and the Bronx:

Alexander Hamilton Bridge The Alexander Hamilton Bridge is an eight-lane steel arch bridge that carries traffic over the Harlem River between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City. It connects the Trans-Manhattan Expressway in the Washington Heights ...

Washington Bridge The Washington Bridge is a -long arch bridge over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The crossing, opened in 1888, connects 181st Street (Manhattan), 181st Street and Tenth Avenue (Manhattan), Am ...

, and High Bridge.

History

Land for this park was gradually acquired by the

City of New York 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 ...

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 a lawyer, New York City planner, and civic leader. He is considered "the Father of Greater New York," and is responsible for Central Park, the New York Public Library, the Bronx ...

. 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 Interstate 87 (I-87) is a north–south Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of New York. It is most of the main highway between New York City and Montreal. The highway begins at exit 47 off I-278 in the New York ...

(

I-87 Interstate 87 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States: * Interstate 87 (New York), a highway running from New York City north to the Canadian border in Champlain, New York. * Interstate 87 (North Carolina) ...

) in 1939 and

Cross-Bronx Expressway The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 in New York, Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of Interstate 295 (New York), I-295 and U. ...

(

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

) 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 Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...

'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 Roberto Clemente State Park is a state park in Morris Heights, Bronx, New York City. The park is adjacent to the Harlem River, the Major Deegan Expressway ( Interstate 87), and the Morris Heights station on Metro-North's Hudson Line. Histor ...

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