The East Coast Greenway cuts across Van Cortlandt Park under the bridge along the old Putnam Trail.
An ambitious plan set in motion 25 years ago is already almost a third of the way complete, with 850 miles of paved trails that will connect 450 towns from the Canadian border at Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida via the 3,000 mile East Coast Greenway—and The Bronx is a part of this interconnected network of existing and planned trails.
Thousands of cyclists are already using the existing trails in The Bronx which comprise the East Coast Greenway in our home borough such as The Bronx River Greenway, Pelham and Mosholu Parkways Greenway, Shore Road Greenway, through Van Cortlandt Park and many other local greenways.
These Bronx greenways and trails contribute over 13 miles to the East Coast Greenway
You can even see markers for the greenway along these points in The Bronx.
Besides the 3,000 miles of the main greenway, there are approximately 1,000 miles of “complimentary routes and spurs including one that takes you down The Bronx River greenway from the river’s source in Westchester and down through the South Bronx.
New York State segment of the East Coast Greenway
One of the many goals of the ECG is to not only create a 3,000-mile greenway for long distance biking but to encourage local communities it runs through to a healthier lifestyle whether it’s biking and exploring along the trail in their neighborhoods or walking, jogging, running as well.
Once it’s ready, it will be possible to complete the entire path in one month by biking 100 miles per day. However, that’s not the intent, according to its founders. The project hopes to encourage people to slow down and experience all that the Eastern seaboard has to offer by stopping to visit some of the sites and cities along the way.
“It’s about seeing America at the right speed, where you can take in all of the culture around you,” Dennis Markatos-Soriano, the executive director of ECGA, told City Lab. “And you don’t have a windshield between yourself and the community.”
The Bronx River Alliance, Sustainable South Bronx, and Mosholu Preservation Corporation are just some of the many local organizations that have partnered up with the East Coast Greenway to make this a reality.
New York State segment of the East Coast Greenway
There is no set timeline when the entire project will be completed but according to Travel and Leisure, officials believe the entire trail will be traffic free some time in the 2030s. This is a truly exciting endeavor and we’re just happy that The Bronx can be a part of this adventure.
The East Coast Greenway comes down from Westchester via Shore Road and cuts across The Bronx along Pelham Parkway ad it heads through the rest of the northern part of our borough.
In the meantime, we can enjoy our existing local greenways until the entire system is completed.
Oh and take THAT Brooklyn. Finally something cool that only The Bronx and Manhattan are a part of .
St Mary’s will receive $30 Million for major capital improvements
St Mary’s Park, the largest park in the South Bronx serving the Mott Haven and Melrose communities for over a century has remained a neglected eyesore for the residents who have lived here for decades—it is a stark reminder of a tale of two cities where economically depressed communities such as these, were left with little to no resources to keep up with even the most basic of maintenance of these parks.
Where in Manhattan, park funding is boosted by generous philanthropists, our parks have awaited desperately for an infusion of capital and in the process have languished.
But for St Mary’s Park, the wait is over.
Today, at a press conference at the park itself, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, announced $150 million in capital funding for 5 parks across the city—one in each borough as part of the administration’s Anchor Park program—where over 750,000 New Yorkers love within walking distance of these spaces.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio
“New Yorkers deserve to have the greatest parks in the world steps from their homes. That’s why this administration is focused on park equity, which brings fair access to and development of parks across the city. The Anchor Parks program, joined with the Community Parks Initiative and Parks Without Borders, marks another major step in advancing park equity for all New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
“I am proud to be part of a team announcing $150 million in capital improvements coming to parks in all five boroughs.” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “Outdoor spaces like St Mary’s Park are great equalizers for our city, and this funding makes it clear that every New Yorker, in every neighborhood, deserved access to quality outdoor spaces. I thank Mayor de Blasio and Council Members Mark Levine and Julissa Ferreras-Copeland for their engaged and collaborative work on Anchor Parks Initiative and look forward to our continued partnership as we work to ensure every New Yorker in every neighborhood in our City has access to quality, open spaces.”“
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver
We call these sites Anchor Parks because they provide a stabilizing, centering force for the communities they serve by offering larger and more diverse resources than smaller community parks. Now, New Yorkers in all boroughs have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make their older parks new again,” said Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP.
For decades, community leaders and residents have pleaded with city officials to fund much needed improvements for St Mary’s, one of the original 6 Bronx parks and the first in NYC to become a full service park back in 1951 under Robert Moses.
Bleachers have been gone from St Mary’s ball field for quite some time now.
Although a fitness loop and two tennis courts were added in 1996 and synthetic turf added in 2006, they were but minor patches on a broken park.
From broken stairs and paths leading over the rolling hills of the park, to the baseball field where the bleachers have been removed, and poor lighting, St Mary’s Park will now have the necessary funding to reverse the decades of neglect.
One of several stairs throughout the park with a barricade due to unsafe conditions
St Mary’s Park’s 35 acres itself are steeped in history as not only one of the six original parks of The Bronx but also home of our borough’s first playground in 1914 and as previously mentioned, the first full service park in 1951 featuring am indoor recreation center complete with a swimming pool.
Other parks receiving funding are: Highbridge Park in Manhattan, Betsy Head Park in Brooklyn, Astoria Park in Queens and Freshkills Park on Staten Island.
St Mary’s Park playground West which already received $1.5 million last year for upgrades.
But it is The Bronx, the greenest borough with almost 25% of its land dedicated to parks and green spaces, which stands to benefit the most—especially the undeserved areas of the South Bronx.
With the newly reopened High Bridge connecting The Bronx to Highbridge Park in Washington Heights in Manhattan, Bronx residents will benefit from the $30 million being invested there as part of the initiative, a park that’s heavily used by Bronxites.
Also, with Randall’s Island Connector which opened last year and providing easy access to over 300 acres of parkland on Randall’s Island, Bronxites can readily access Astoria Park in Queens which, thanks to Anchor Parks program, will also receive $30 million.
Although our borough is the greenest with the most parkland, South Bronx residents have some of the worst rates of access to green spaces in the city. It is one of many Bronx dichotomies.
For now, we have our work cut out for us as NYC Parks department will begin community outreach this fall so we can determine how to allocate this funding.
Let’s get one thing straight. I. Hate. Buses. Like I really hate having to take one and I rather walk than get on one and get car sick with the stop and go rhythm as it creeps a few inches with traffic congestion keeping it from speeding down the road.
Add to that that for whatever reason our MTA system thinks that there shouldn’t be some sort of fully integrated transit map so you’re always flipping back and forth between subway and bus maps trying to make heads or tail of it all.
Now, thanks to one man and similar frustrations behold the map that binds them all!
System-wide Bullet Map via Anthony Denaro
Anthony Denaro has created the Bullet Map, a unified map of all Metro Card access systems in NYC (minus PATH trains because, let’s face it, it’s Jersey).
Denaro writes, “This map is for every resident of NYC – from the Northern Bronx to Eastern Queens to Southern Staten Island. From 12th Ave to York Ave; from Waterside to Bayside; from Inwood to Inwood; from the beginning of the A train to the end of the Q88.This map shows you how to get past Jamaica Center, far beyond Pelham Bay, over yonder Flushing, away from Eltingville.”
“The Unified Bullet Map fills the gulfs between and beyond subway lines to show you every possible way,included with your MetroCard fare,to get you to your destination.”adds Denaro on his website.
“The Subway Map. Much discussed, much stared at, much debated and much redesigned. It’s fun, for a certain type of a person, to look at it and to think of the alternatives.
Then the thought hit me: If I can transfer to the bus for free, why isn’t there a map that shows where to connect with buses?
Why does the system map only show subways?
Why bother showing LIRR stations, MetroNorth stations and all the ferry lines? Why are arterial roads, like Flatlands Av and the Cross Bronx Expwy, shown? Why is the Hugh Carey Tunnel and the Triboro Bridge shown? Why aren’t local buses, crosstown buses and the new fancy SBS buses shown? Could the whole bus system fit over a subway map, especially in the areas that aren’t served by the subway?
The whole system of buses and subways could fit on one map. It could work. Right?
And so I started out on a long slow journey to make one single map. This diagram would put together all NYC transit services that are included with an Unlimited MetroCard.
Millions of NYC residents live beyond a 15 minute walk to a subway station. Hundreds of thousands of people start their commute by boarding a bus and then transferring to the subway. This is a map for us.
One complex transit map, for one complex transit-reliant city.”
Although the map isn’t available beyond these bits and pieces he’s released or the entire map which isn’t hi-res, you can clearly see how it will make life simpler if and when he releases it or better yet, the MTA pays him and puts it out for the millions who use the system daily!
LOUIE & ERNIE’S: This Schuylerville pizzeria is the absolute tops, boasting classic slices that hit the crust/sauce/cheese/toppings marks with ease. You can’t go wrong with a plain slice ($3), but if you’re looking for something extra special and aren’t scared of huge chunks of meat, the sausage pizza here is the stuff of the Gods. A $4 sausage slice gets you a cheesy triangle topped with huge hunks of savory pig meat sourced from a local butcher. You will never deign to eat a $1 slice again, no matter how drunk or cash-strapped you are.
Louie and Ernie’s is located at 1300 Crosby Avenue in the Bronx (718-829-6230).
Cheese slices from Yankee Pizza (Navid Baraty/Gothamist)
NEW YANKEE SK PIZZA: This little spot, located under the 6 train station at Morrison-Soundview is as basic a slice joint as you can get, and that’s exactly what makes it so great. Two plain slices and a soda here will run you $6; the slices are massive, slathered with gooey fresh cheese, piping hot sauce and a firm crust. Sprinkle some pepper on top, blot excess oil with a napkin, fold and eat, as the Good Pizza Lord intended.
New Yankee Sk Pizza is located at 1616 Westchester Avenue in the Bronx (718-378-4488).
BROADWAY JOE’S: Broadway Joe’s may be a local haunt, but it’s no hidden gem. While its inconspicuous storefront by Van Cortlandt Park in Kingsbridge is easy to miss, the classic joint is popular among students from neighboring Manhattan College and the nearby Fieldston School for its hefty, foldable slices and accompanying garlic knots. Joe’s is unconcerned with both ambiance and innovation, but its fluorescent-lit interior houses some of the best no-frills ‘za this side of the suburbs. (Roxie Pell)
Broadway Joe’s is located at 5983 Broadway in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx (718-796-0376).
On a hot summer day on August 11, 1973, Kool Herc hosted a party at 1520 Sedgwick that went down in history as the birth of Hip Hop.
Now, 43 years and a day later, Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down on Netflix is finally out which chronicles the beginnings of this Bronx-born genre that took the world by storm.
We haven’t seen the rest of the episodes but did watch the first at the premier 3 weeks ago at the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse hosted by the Universal Hip Hop Museum and Netflix.
What we saw from that first episode gave us hope that after much controversy over the show and concerns we raised that they seem to have gotten it right.
This authenticity to the feel of those days is thanks to graffiti legends Crash and Daze who served as consultants to the show along with photographer Joe Conzo Jr who was credited by David Gonzalez of the New York Times as, “the man who took Hip Hop’s baby pictures”.
We’re looking forward to watching the first half of the season which was released today on Netflix and going through that emotional roller-coaster of nostalgia we felt from the first episode.
Many would ask why would you want to relive the traumas of the burning years and the answer is simple: Through the smoke and fires, through the deaths and crime, beyond that visceral veil that clung to the South Bronx there was life.
There was so much life happening in the most unlikely of places like a desert flower blossoming despite being surrounded by a barren and hostile environment.
Swizz throwing up the X yesterday after our meeting where we decided to collaborate on an event for Bronx artists in the near future.
Earlier yesterday, thanks to the legendary graffiti artist Crash, we met up with Swizz Beatz after several exchanges over social media regarding the No Commission Art Fair being held in Port Morris at one of Keith Rubenstein’s properties.
Several of the concerns voiced to Swizz was the fact that it’s being held on Rubenstein’s property which many feel and agree is a sort of ground zero for the gentrification that is occurring throughout the South Bronx—an event such as this would only help further the developer’s agenda and also show the precarious world artists have to navigate and often find themselves being used as pawns by said developers.
After talking for several hours with Swizz, I got to understand better the thought process behind the event. The event was already curated for some time and there was a push for it to take place in Brooklyn but the artist made it clear, “I’m not from Brooklyn, I’m from The Bronx and that’s where I want this event to take place.”
“I wanted to bring something special for the people of The Bronx which is why the event is free, something that anyone can enjoy and have asked for,” he said on why he’s holding the event at the property.
All that being said, after speaking with Swizz some more, we agreed to collaborate on a future event that will be curated to include Bronx artists as the highlight and to hold it at a more neutral location that doesn’t have such charged up negativity around it.
No date or logistics is set for this event but the will and commitment are there by Swizz Beatz because he wants to not only give back to the community but to be able to do something for the very very concrete for the community he came from.
As for the No Commission / No Bronx Artists Anti-Party to be held at Wallworks this Friday from 6PM-9PM is still going on but now being looked at more as an evening to celebrate Bronx art. Swizz loves the idea behind this event.
Gotta say that it’s pretty dope that he’s been so accessible to personally speak with folks, including artists, who weren’t happy with the event and the fact that we were able to agree to collaborate on a future event for Bronx artists just further shows he’s not just talking the talk but walking the walk. Several artists walked away with a better understanding and appeared satisfied.
I was impressed to see him acknowledging his privilege, owning it, and also making a sincere effort to utilize it for the people.
While some may say he may have been motivated to perhaps save face, ultimately what he says that fuels him is to be in a position to be able to contribute.
Swizz added, “I can’t save everything but I’ll try my best to help those that I can.”
In response to the gentrification “No Commission Art Fair” that claims to be “bringing contemporary art and music back to The Bronx, ” a counter action event will be held at Crash’s Wallworks NY Gallery at 39 Bruckner Boulevard this Friday August 12th from 6PM to 9PM.
The event will counter the No Commission Art Fair’s lack of Bronx representation and pro gentrification stance by providing a space for Bronx artists to gather. All are encouraged to bring a piece of artwork with them and by art that means anything from music, poetry, visual arts, anything. Heck, if you’re a performance artist come and perform!
Let’s make this a TRUE Bronx art fair and show the world how it’s done. Let’s recreate Fashion Moda if for just one day.
We just found out that the Gentrification Art party hosted by Swizz Beatz and Bacardi, the “No Commission Art Fair” we reported on yesterday is being hosted by Keith Rubenstein of Somerset Partners at one of his properties.
If you’ve been following Keith Rubenstein, you constantly hear or read that he claims he wants to be a part of our community yet in the meantime, he’s installing his own little businesses (well not his but handpicked by him) throughout Port Morris to create HIS vision of OUR neighborhood.
You would think that after all the negative press he received after October’s Macabre Suite “Piano District” party, he would have learned something but clearly, it has fallen upon deaf ears.
When you have an event geared towards the oligarchy of NYC with 36 artists but only ONE is from The Bronx, well that’s a many layered issue.
As if last year’s gentrification party by Keith Rubenstein wasn’t enough, Bronx-born Swizz Beatz is hosting what appears to be an unofficial sequel to that event this coming week from Thursday, August 11th to Sunday, August 14th at a “yet to be named warehouse on the South Bronx waterfront in the ‘Piano District‘.”
Last October, artist Lucien Smith along with developer Keith Rubenstein of Somerset Partners who is trying to rebrand parts of Port Morris and Mott Haven as The Piano District in anticipation of up to six 25 story residential market rate towers along the South Bronx waterfront, held an “art” party called the Macabre Suite in Port Morris.
That tasteless event depicted burning trash cans reminiscent of our burning days with a bunch of A-Listers and hipsters posing with them. Even Baz Luhrmann who’s South Bronx-based series, ‘The Get Down’ was there happily enjoying the truly macabre fete ushering in gentrifiers by the literal bus loads because they were too good to take a cab or subway.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr was also in attendance enjoying the scene (yes, we have photographic evidence of him enjoying himself with other politicians).
Bullet-ridden cars used as props for the Macabre Suite.
Now, Swizz Beatz, who was one of the hosts for the Macabre Suite, is claiming that he, along with co-host Bacardi are, “bringing contemporary art and music back to The Bronx” under the guise of ‘No Commission Art Fair’ featuring 36 artists and just ONE from The Bronx.
No Commission Art debuted in Miami during the annual Art Basel event and reaped over $1 million for artists with 100% of proceeds straight.
So where do we begin dissecting of EVERYTHING that is simply wrong about this 4-day event?
Do we start by the fact that despite the backlash and outcry from October’s Macabre Suite and Rubenstein’s attempt to call the area The Piano District this event is billed as taken place in said fictional, non-existent neighborhood?
Or do we begin with the sheer audacity, the balls, the arrogance, the utter fucking gall to proclaim that they are somehow bringing contemporary art and music back to The Bronx, you know, the borough that gave birth to Hip Hop? The borough that never stopped creating and kept gifting the world with our many talented artists and musicians?
What about the lack of any Latino artist in the group, I mean you’re hosting an event in the borough that’s majority Latino, the least you can do is get ahold of Latinos (preferably from The Bronx).
How about that only ONE of the 36 artists (John Ahearn and we’re still waiting to hear why he’d lend himself to this event) are being used for the sole purpose of showing the world “look how cool and hip The South Bronx is” so developers can get more attention towards their investment in gentrifying The Bronx.
(If investors and bankers are reading this, did you know that these planned developments along the Harlem River waterfront were flooded by Superstorm Sandy and will keep getting flooded. Who wants to live in an area susceptible to floods? Doesn’t sound like a good use of investment capital.)
But back to the issue of the 36 artists. About a little over a third of the artists have some connections to The Bronx, albeit tenuous at best. Many of those have exhibited or participated in events with The Bronx Museum but beyond that no major connections to our borough.
This isn’t to say that all artists have to be exclusively from The Bronx because that’s just not realistic or how things operate bit at least make a damned effort to scout the hundreds (and we’re pretty sure thousands) of artists that call The Bronx home and are not just creating art but creating communities via their work.
We have so many amazing artists (because we never stopped creating) doing fantastic things with our children.
If such an event as the No Commission Art Fair is to be held in our HOME it shouldn’t be for gentrification purposes and the very least include a large portion of Bronx artists so that they too can tap into that philanthropic vein of funds that’s ever so increasingly hard for artists to capture in a competitive market where art collectors are evermore cautious about spending their monies.
How dare you come into our home and disrespect us.
Once again, it’s safe to come to The Bronx but only when money leads the way.
If you’re interested in attending this free event (and I highly encourage folks to see how we’re being used) make sure you register and you have to be 21 and over to attend. So, to those who are clueless about what’s been going on, we say, #whatpianodistrict #thebronxisnotforsale
Artists that are participating in this event:
NO COMMISSION ART PERFORMS – BRONX 2016
/ A$AP ROCKY / SWIZZ BEATZ + FRIENDS / NINA CHANEL ABNEY / SO YOUN LEE / DERRICK ADAMS / KRISTEN LIU WONG / JOHN AHEARN / TOMOKAZU MATSUYAMA / RICARDO CAVOLO TAYLOR MCKIMENS / LUIGI CAZZANIGA / KARMIMADEEBORA MCMILLAN / SANDRA CHEVRIER JAYBO MONK / ALYSSA DENNIS RASHAAD NEWSOME / DELPHINE DIALLO OKUDA / FAILE / LYLE OWERKO / MIKE FALCON / EBONY PATTERSON / JEFFREY GIBSON / DANIEL PEDDLE / HASSAN HAJJAJ / PABLO POWER / SERBAN IONESCU / NATHANIEL MARY QUINN / MARCUS JAHMAL / JACOLBY SATTERWHITE / DOUGLAS JAMES SWOON / TODD JAMES / KEHINDE WILEY / KAJAHL / SAYA WOOLFALK / JEROME LAGARRIGUE / ZIO ZIEGLER
Tanya Fields talks to a group of funders about what Libertad Urban Farms and BLK Projek does.
Resilient.
If there’s one word to use to describe Bronxites it’s resilient. We’ve been through proverbial hell and back and by the grace of our community members and leaders we’ve lifted ourselves from the dark days.
On Wednesday, Libertad Urban Farm was vandalized and burglarized erasing years of hard work put in by its founder, Tanya Fields of The Blk Projek.
Tanya put out a video where she was in tears and devastated by what had happened which soon went viral.
The next day, Bronx residents rallied to rebuild what was lost.
Community that sticks together is stronger together. Check out the video below:
This is one historic tour you don’t want to miss next week Wednesday, August 10th at 6PM
Join the Historic Districts Council as we explore the past, present, and future of the Bronx Civic Center’s magnificent range of 20th Century architecture!
Guests will first be treated to a brisk walk with Adrian Untermyer, Deputy Director of the Historic Districts Council, with stops at the Art Deco Bronx County Building, the Grand Concourse Historic District, two Urban Renewal-era housing developments, and more.
Guests will then be treated to an intimate walk-through of the Grand Concourse’s mid-century Executive Towers with architect and Historic Districts Council Board Member Françoise Bollack, who is currently coordinating the lobby’s restoration and reconfiguration. Designed by architect Philip Birnbaum between 1959 and 1963, Executive Towers was touted in real estate brochures as “the first luxury skyscraper in the Bronx.”
The evening will conclude with wine and conversation in a high-floor apartment in the Executive Towers featuring exquisite views of the neighborhood.
$20 General Admission and $10 for Friends of the Historic Districts Council
As we reported several weeks ago, New York City somehow decided that it could take away land mapped and slated for parkland development, which was promised to the community, and now hand it over to developers so that they can construct “affordable” housing along our waterfront.
The lot, now known as Lower Concourse North, is sandwiched between Mill Pond Park and the 145th Street Bridge at 149th Street and was promised as part of the extension to Mill Pond.
The city has issued a request for interest expressions of interest (RFEI) and has stated that they will rezone the lot to accommodate up to a 40 story tower and a 26 story tower on the lot.
Although The Bronx is the greenest borough in all of NYC with 25% of our land dedicated to parkland and open spaces, The South Bronx has one of the worst access to green spaces and every acre added matters and is important for our health and well-being.
Fact is, we can’t breathe concrete!
So come out tomorrow and let folks know how you think this land should be developed, after all, it is public land and yes it was promised and slated for development as park land so you should have a voice in the matter. Don’t forget to RSVP!
Mill Pond Park map at the park itself shows the southern parcel as part of future expansion of Mill Pond Park.NYC Parks includes the extension’s 4.7 acres in the total 15 acres of the park. As it stands, only 11.3 acres have been improved as park land.ZoLa, NYC’s zoning and land use site shows the area mapped out as parkland as well. It even categorizes it as open space/recreation
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