A Buried Building

Beginning in 2016, I have been finding architectural fragments in the Bronx River. Chunks of brick, concrete, and a bit of terra cotta occassionally fall into the riverbed as the bank gradually erodes. 

When the Bronx River Parkway was built in the 1920s, the river itself was redesigned as a restoration and beautification project that included the clearance of hundreds of buildings from the areas along the river. Apparently the rubble from some of those buildings was used as fill when they realigned the stream, and now, a century later, a little bit of it has gradually been resurfacing as the forces of nature take their turn reshaping the river.

Among the fragments I have stumbled upon are four pieces from the same terra cotta cornice that surfaced years apart, two of which fit with one another. They are enough to piece together the design of this band of the vanished building's facade. 

Bad Markings

This shared-use path becomes precariously narrow on the bridge over the Bronx River. It is barely wide enough to comfortably ride; forget trying to pass anybody else. The thing is, there is some residual roadway space that could be repurposed to fix this problem.

The path drops from a full 14-feet-wide shared-use path
right at the bridge

Two Sides of the Same Woods

On one side of the road, you have tourists reading plaques about trees. On the other, gay men circle the woods looking for potential hookups. The Bronx River Forest is one of the few remaining sections of the great woodland that once covered the New York region. While we tend to consider the plants and animals that populate wooded areas like this as "wild," this landscape is highly shaped by the physical interventions and social activities of humans. It is easy to overlook how much human action can shape the "natural" environment, but the differences created by separate jurisdictional control over trails winding through the woods along the Bronx River on each side of Allerton Avenue create a stark contrast.

People duck under a fallen tree (covered in poison ivy) on the Blue Trail north of 204th Street in the Bronx Forest managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation

Tourists stop along the trail in the Thain Family Forest in the New York Botanical Garden to read facts about the trees 

South of Allerton Avenue, the Bronx River flows through the New York Botanical Garden. Since the 1890s, this land has been City parkland, part of Bronx Park, which is administered by a private institution specifically charged with the development and maintenance of a great living museum. To the north, the parkland is under conventional control of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

There are some physical differences in terrain between the two sections. To the north, the river passes through a floodplain. After flowing into the garden, it quickly drops into a ravine with some moderately steep slopes down to the river. Nonetheless, the main distinctions between these two sections is how the land is managed and access is controlled.

Into the Dead End

There is a path to nowhere along the Bronx River. It is a place I investigate from time to time, keenly aware that I tread there only due to my male privilege.

A wide, well constructed walkway passes under an arch of the Gun Hill Road bridge. After passing through the arch, it becomes narrower. It is somewhat overgrown, but well worn. It runs along the base of the retaining wall supporting the street above, which follows the bend in the river. When it reaches Bronx Boulevard, the retaining wall for the street above creates a dead end. I have never understood the purpose of this engineered walkway.