Highbridge Park
Highbridge Park | |
---|---|
Bx35, Bx36 | |
New York City Landmark | |
Designated | June 26, 2007[1] |
Reference no. | 2237[1] |
Designated entity | Bathhouse facade and pool |
Highbridge Park is a public park on the western bank of the
History
Highbridge Park derives its name from New York City’s oldest standing bridge, the
Establishment
The New York City Department of Public Parks acquired a 2.25-mile (3.62 km) strip of land on the Harlem River between 155th and Dyckman Streets in May 1884. Afterward, several commissioners were appointed to assess the value of existing land lots within the park.[5] Local landowners complained about a New York state law that would force them to pay for half of the park's assessed value.[6] A New York Supreme Court judge halted the project in 1886 following disputes over property appraisals.[5][7] The park hosted the 1887 USA Cross Country Championships.[8] In February 1888, Samuel Parsons Jr. and Calvert Vaux were ordered to prepare plans for Highbridge Park, with a main entrance at 159th Street.[9] That June, the secretary of the city's Board of Street Opening was asked to prepare a resolution setting the park's northern and southern borders at 186th and 155th Streets, respectively.[10] The borders were revised in December 1888 to encompass the land between Tenth (Amsterdam) Avenue to the west and the Harlem River to the east.[11][12]
Three men were appointed in April 1889 to appraise 1,976 lots on the site;[13][14] one of the appointees, former U.S. President Grover Cleveland, declined the position.[15] Property owners continued to oppose the new park,[16] speaking out against a proposed northward extension to Dyckman Street that would have cost $2.5 million.[17] In December 1889, the Board of Street Opening formally decided to reduce the park from 79 to 52.62 acres (31.97 to 21.29 ha), running only from 170th to 181st Street.[18][19] The majority of the new park, approximately 30 acres (12 ha), was to incorporate the original High Bridge Park on the same site.[18]
The area between 190th and 192nd Streets was occupied by the
20th century
Early 20th century
The cliffside area from West 181st Street to Dyckman Street was acquired in 1902, and the parcel including Fort George Hill was acquired in 1928. In 1934 the Department of Parks obtained the Highbridge Tower and the site of the old Highbridge Reservoir
By the early years of the 20th century, upper-middle class New Yorkers would promenade along the wide boardwalks in top hats and bustles. The park provided access to the Harlem River and places for horseback riding and other outdoor sports. By the 1920s dirt and other materials from the build-up of the new Washington Heights neighborhood threatened to ruin the nascent park; a harbinger of bad times to befall the park.[22]
Works Progress Administration renovation
In 1934, mayor
Moses was especially interested in creating new pools and other bathing facilities, such as those in Jacob Riis Park, Jones Beach, and Orchard Beach.[26] He devised a list of 23 pools around the city, including one at Highbridge Park.[27][28] The pools would be built using funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created as part of the New Deal to combat the Depression's negative effects.[26][29] Eleven of these pools were to be designed concurrently and open in 1936. Moses, along with architects Aymar Embury II and Gilmore David Clarke, created a common design for these proposed aquatic centers. Each location was to have distinct pools for diving, swimming, and wading; bleachers and viewing areas; and bathhouses with locker rooms that could be used as gymnasiums. The pools were to have several common features, such as a minimum 55-yard (50 m) length, underwater lighting, heating, filtration, and low-cost construction materials. To fit the requirement for cheap materials, each building would be built using elements of the Streamline Moderne and Classical architectural styles. The buildings would also be near "comfort stations", additional playgrounds, and spruced-up landscapes.[30][31][32]
Construction for some of the 11 pools began that October,[31][33] with work commencing on the Highbridge and Hamilton Fish Pools.[33] Highbridge Park had been among the first pool sites to be selected, having been announced by The New York Times in April 1934.[34] By mid-1936, ten of the eleven WPA funded pools were completed and were being opened at a rate of one per week.[26] The Highbridge Pool was the fifth of these pools to open,[35][36][a] being opened on July 14, 1936.[37] The complex included a 166-by-288-foot (51 by 88 m) main pool and 166-by-288-foot (51 by 88 m) wading pool.[38]
Later 20th century
The controversial '
By the 1970s, Highbridge Park and other city parks were in poor condition following the
NYC Parks continued to face financial shortfalls in the coming years, and the pools retained a reputation for high crime.[46] In June 1984, a man set fire to the Highbridge Tower roof before jumping to his death.[45][47] By the mid-1980s, Highbridge had become so degraded that during a manual cleanup in 1986, 250 tons of garbage and 25 auto wrecks were removed, but garbage again began to fill the park within a matter of days.[48] For the summer of 1991, mayor David Dinkins had planned to close all 32 outdoor pools in the city, a decision that was only reversed after a $2 million donation from a trust created upon the death of real estate developer Sol Goldman[49] and $1.8 million from other sources.[46] Additionally, in the 1990s, a practice called "whirlpooling" became common in New York City pools such as Highbridge Park, wherein women would be inappropriately fondled by teenage boys.[50][51] By the turn of the century, crimes such as sexual assaults had decreased in parks citywide due to increased security.[46]
The condition of Highbridge Park has gotten better, and it is no longer a haven for petty crime and other illegal activities. In November 1991, the water tower was restored.[45][47] The New York Restoration Project, chaired by Bette Midler, has been working since 1999 to restore the park.[52] The park also received a renovation in 1996, which included a $305,000 pool filtration system and a $445,000 renovation of heating and ventilation in the pool area.[45]
21st century
On May 19, 2007, the first legal mountain bike trails and dirt jumps in New York City were opened in Highbridge Park. New York City Mountain Bike Association, working with NYC Parks & Recreation, and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), worked to design and install the trails; the opening weekend featured a festival and cross-country mountain bike race.[53][54][55] Around 2010, the waterfront Speedway was rehabilitated and reopened as the Harlem River portion of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.
By late 2011, despite the efforts of both the NYRP and NYC Parks, the infrastructure of the park had decayed significantly.
In 2016, about $30 million in funding was allocated for further improvements to the park's recreational facilities as part of the city's Anchor Parks program.[61][62] At the time, NYC Parks postponed plans for an ice-skating rink due to a lack of interest.[59] The first phase of Highbridge Park's renovations started in December 2018. This entailed upgrades to lighting and paths, cleanup of a 10-block section of the park, restoration of the "Grand Staircase", creation of a "welcome garden" at Dyckman Street, and creation of an ADA-accessible entrance plaza at 184th Street.[63] The second phase, which started in July 2019, included restoration of the water tower and the Adventure Playground at 164th Street.[64]
Attractions and facilities
Playgrounds
There are six playgrounds in Highbridge Park:[65]
- Adventure Playground, at the intersection of 164th Street and Edgecombe Avenue. It was created in 1973, emulating the concept of adventure playgrounds in Europe, and was renovated again in 1989 and 2017.[66]
- CPF Playground, at 173rd Street near the pool
- Fort George Playground, at the intersection of Fort George Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue. It was named after Fort George and was formerly the site of Fort George Amusement Park before it was destroyed in 1914. The playground was acquired by NYC Parks in 1928 and restored in 1999.[67]
- Quisqueya Playground, at the intersection of 180th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The name "Quisqueya", honoring the local Dominican community, means "cradle of life" which was a native name for Hispaniola. The playground was created in 1934 and restored in 1998.[68]
- Sunken Playground, at the intersection of 167th Street and Edgecombe Avenue
- Wallenberg Playground, at the intersection of 189th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
High Bridge Water Tower
The
Highbridge Play Center
The Highbridge Play Center, on
Bathhouse
The bathhouse is set on an ashlar base above the surrounding street level, while the rest of the structure is made of brick. The building is rectangular: the longer side is on a north-south axis (i.e. parallel to Amsterdam Avenue), while the shorter side is on a west-east axis (i.e. parallel to 173rd Street). Its main entrance is on an elevated, slightly projecting portico at Amsterdam Avenue and 173rd Street. Stone staircases on either side ascend to the portico. The portico itself consists of two brick towers with flagpoles, two concrete piers that carry a concrete architrave, and a bronze sign with the words highbridge play center at the top of the architrave.[35] Just inside the portico, there is a circular turret with a second-story loft, overlooking the first-floor entrance.[35]
The north and south wings respectively contain the women's and men's locker rooms and are nearly identical. Both have nine windows separated by eight brick pilasters. The stone capitals of the pilasters line up with the lintels of the windows. Ramps lead from the extreme ends of each wing. The ground slopes down northward, so that the northern wing is at a higher elevation above the ground than the southern wing.[35] The eastern facade is similar to the western facade, except that it contains entrances to both genders' respective locker rooms, as well as a bronze clock hanging from the architrave. A cellar is below the northern wing.[46]
Pools
The Highbridge Pool contains two rectangular pools: a main pool to the east and a wading pool to the west. The main pool measures 228 feet (69 m) wide by 165 feet (50 m) long, with the wider dimension extending north-south,[46][b] and a depth of 10.5 feet (3.2 m).[72] The wading pool measures 228 feet (69 m) wide by 97 feet (30 m) long. A 29-foot-wide (8.8 m) promenade surrounds the pool area on the north, south, and east sides. A set of concrete bleachers is to the north of the pool area. A short brick wall encloses the pool area, and niches along the eastern boundary provide another seating area. Just east of the pool area is a set of stairs that leads to the High Bridge. The water tower is at the northeast corner of the pool area.[46]
Landmark designations
The High Bridge Water Tower was designated a
See also
References
Notes
- ^ The pools opened in the following chronological order: Hamilton Fish Park, Thomas Jefferson Park, Astoria Park, Tompkinsville Pool, Highbridge Park, Sunset Park, Crotona Park, McCarren Park, Betsy Head Park, Colonial Park, and Red Hook Park.[30][36]
- ^ Dimensions of the main pool are alternatively given as 220 by 162 feet (67 by 49 m).[72]
Citations
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- ^ Nathan Kensinger (June 25, 2015). "As High Bridge Reopens, a Neglected Park Remains in Its Shadow". Curbed New York. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
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- ^ "Public Swimming Facilities in New York City" (PDF) (Press release). New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. July 23, 1934. p. 3 (PDF p. 30). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ^ "City to Construct 9 Pools To Provide Safe Swimming". New York Daily News. July 23, 1934. p. 8. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2019 – via newspapers.com .
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- ^ "History of The High Bridge". NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
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- ^ a b Hellman, Peter (May 28, 1999). "Bette Midler Was Here: A Park Gets a Second Act". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
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- ^ Terrazzano, Lauren (July 11, 1994). "Deep at City Pool; Sex harass is pervasive". New York Daily News. pp. 7, 20 – via newspapers.com .
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- ^ "Highbridge Park Projects" (PDF). NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation. February 11, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ Chung, Jen (May 15, 2007). "Highbridge Trails, NYC's First Mountain Bike Trail". Gothamist. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ "The Daily Plant : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
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- ^ Barron, Laignee (June 19, 2013). "Washington Heights to get biggest skateboard park in the entire city". nydailynews.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ a b Kensinger, Nathan (June 25, 2015). "As High Bridge Reopens, a Neglected Park Remains in Its Shadow". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ a b Pichardo, Carolina (April 29, 2016). "Highbridge Park Ice Rink Plan Dropped After No One Wanted to Run it". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "High Bridge reopens to bikes, pedestrians" Archived July 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine MyFox TV
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- ^ Krisel, Brendan (August 18, 2016). "City to Invest in Highbridge Park". Washington Heights Media. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ Krisel, Brendan (December 20, 2018). "City Breaks Ground On $30M Highbridge Park Renovation Project". Washington Heights-Inwood, NY Patch. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ Krisel, Brendan (July 15, 2019). "Work Begins On Second Phase Of $30M Highbridge Park Renovation". Washington Heights-Inwood, NY Patch. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "Highbridge Park Playgrounds : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "Highbridge Park Highlights - Adventure Playground : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "Highbridge Park Highlights - Fort George Playground : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ "Highbridge Park Highlights - Quisqueya Playground : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
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Sources
- Noonan, Theresa C. (June 26, 2007). "Highbridge Play Center Exterior" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
- Rodgers, Cleveland (1952). Robert Moses, Builder for Democracy. New York: Holt. OCLC 528489.