The Highbridge Park
A Bridge Between Two Worlds?
Highbridge Park is located at West 155 & Dyckman Streets, Edgecombe & Amsterdam Avenues. The area is best known as “Washington Heights”. In total, the park is 118.75 acres, containing the High Bridge, which connects the boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan.
A "scenic" view of Highbridge Park's very own bridge between the Bronx and Manhattan.
One of New York’s older parks is the Highbridge Park. This park spans between West 155th street and Dyckman Street, Edgecombe avenue and Amsterdam avenue. It is located in the Washington Heights neighborhood, right by the Harlem River Drive. This park was established between 1865 and 1901, with the land for the park being acquired in 1865 from the New York City Water Commission (the area was formerly the site of the Highbridge Reservoir). The Highbridge park claims its name and fame from the bridge it contains, New York City’s first standing bridge. That bridge is the High Bridge, and it used to be used as a footbridge between the Bronx and Manhattan. The High Bridge connected the parklands of two New York City boroughs, the Bronx and Manhattan. It was also known as the “Aqueduct Bridge” because its design derives elements from the old Roman aqueducts.
“As a result of fiscal crises in the 1970s and 1980s, Highbridge Park suffered a period of neglect and deterioration. The park was frequently used as a dumping ground and site for drug use and prostitution.” –Breanne Scanlon
Grafitti covers a pillar of the Highbridge Park's most famous landscape. Would you bring your kids here?
The High Bridge had to close down in 1960, so the park’s trademark feature was lost at that time. The New York City Roads website page on the High Bridge (http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/high/) explains why this happened: “The bridge was closed to pedestrians in 1960, soon after the span had become a popular hangout for vandals and delinquent youth who tore out fences and dropped debris on cars and boats below.” Following the closing of the bridge, other parts of the Highbridge Park started to deteriorate as well. The stairways and roads in the park, for instance, started to decay eventually. The Highbridge Park started to become a sort of haven for crime, until 2000 when the park’s restoration project began.
Before discussing the park’s restoration plans, it is best to first look at demographic information about the park during that time. Between 1999 and 2000, the majority of the average household incomes (22.9%) are less than $10,000. As the amount of average household income increases, less of the population is presented. For instance, the amount of people in the area around Highbridge Park earning between $100,000 and $124,999 at the time was at 3.2%. These statistics correspond with the educational representations of people in this area. For the population at 25 years of age and older, 49.2% have education that is less than high school level, and 3.0% have master’s degrees while 7.9% have earned bachelor’s degrees.
More than half the residents around Highbridge Park have not completed highschool. Numbers from US Census Bureau.
The restoration plans for the Highbridge Park started in the year 2000, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg devoting $60 Million to the restoration of Highbridge Park. According to the website of the New York City Parks and Recreation Department, “The project is part of New York City’s PlaNYC initiative to provide a park that every New Yorker can walk to within 10 minutes”
(http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/highbridge/html/highbridge_restoration.html).
- A new feature in the Highbridge Park’s resoration project: the Highbridge now contains one of New York Citys first mountain biking paths.
“With a full restoration — including higher, more durable railings — this should again be a well-used public walkway, making it easier for people to walk from the Bronx to the swimming pool and recreation areas in the restored Highbridge Park on the river’s western bank.”
–The New York Times
Besides restoring the High Bridge, there are other aspects to the Highbridge Park’s restoration, such as:
- Restoration of the stone arches
- Restoration of the steel arch
- Restoration of the brick walkway and handrails
- Stabilization of the 90–inch water pipe
- New wheelchair– and bicycle–friendly ramps
- New safety fencing
- New lighting
Most recently, early this year Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers and Chu & Gassman Consulting Engineers signed a contract to provide designs for the restoration of the High Bridge in Highbridge Park.
“In the summer of 2007, the Parks Commissioner opened the three-mile long BMX-Highbridge Park Mountain Bike Trails, New York City’s first and only mountain bike trail. The High Bridge has been closed to pedestrian traffic since the 1960s, but the Parks Department is currently working to re-open it and is aiming for completion in 2009. “
(“Highbridge Park, Pool & Water Tower”, Breanne Scanlon, Places That Matter, http://www.placematters.net/node/1235)
Can the city connect the dots before it's too late?
