Bronx Harlem River Waterfront Bicycle and Pedestrian Study is out

Hey Bikers and walkers and skaters and paddlers!

The official Bronx Harlem River Waterfront Bicycle and Pedestrian Study is out and our waterfront park site is on the cover!

For more see:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/transportation/td_bx_harlem_river.shtml


The Bronx Harlem River Waterfront Bicycle and Pedestrian Study identifies bicycle and pedestrian connections to a section of the Harlem River waterfront in the southwest Bronx. This report includes the project area's existing conditions and future planned developments, with recommendations for improving non-vehicular access to the waterfront area. The implementation of the recommendations in this report would provide bicycle lanes and greenway segments for enhanced connections to existing and planned waterfront developments for bicyclists, pedestrians, joggers and rollerbladers, and would provide a connection between planned greenways to the north and east of the study area.

The study emphasizes the continuity of two-way bicycle and pedestrian traffic along the route, compatibility between recommended links, proximity to the waterfront, and the safety of all users. The plan outlines both short- and long-term options. Wherever possible, the preferred action is to plan, design, and build a Class 1 separated off-street path close to the Harlem River waterfront. Where on-street, Class 2 striped bicycle lanes are preferred and recommended if deemed feasible.

Sponsor Harry in a Triathlon!

Dear Friends,

As you know, I have been working hard to stop the water theme park on Randall's Island and to preserve this rich resource for all New Yorkers.

This Saturday I am going to be in a triathlon for the cause, and I need you to sponsor me!

Even just $1 a mile will go a long way to helping our lawyers push this case through to victory for all of us.

Please make a donation at:

http://preserverandallsisland.pledgepage.org

and to learn more. (And to see a picture of me at the only other triathlon I have ever done!)

Please pass this on to your friends and family and colleagues with a note.

Our goal is $1,000 in one week.

I will be thinking about you and your support as I run, bike and kayak the approximately 19 mile course.

Sincerely,

Harry

Planting Bulbs with Wave Hill and Council Member Arroyo

What a great day thanks to Wave Hill botancial garden in Riverdale. (wavehill.org)
That great local resource not only maintains an exquisite site on the cliffs of the Bronx overlooking the Hudson River, but they work to bring the green to communities like ours!

We worked with Wave Hill to organize a special Bulb Planting day, and they provided the bulbs, supplemental tools and connections with students from a country day school in riverdale. Teens working with Building with Books were also on hand to plant beauty for the Spring.

Council Member Arroyo and her chief of staff Joanne Otero planted bulbs with the youth and News 12 was on hand for a great interview. Thanks to Anne and Paulina for the pics!

Anne Hunter wrote:
"It was a perfect day for work in beautiful Brook Park in the Mott haven
section of the Bronx. Apparently Bronx News 12, who showed up to capture
the event thought so too! We had a great group of 26 volunteers from
Building With Books, the Fieldston School and the community. Among the
tasks accomplished were weeding, woodchipping, woodchopping,and bulb and
shrub planting."

Stewardship of the Bronx Kill

East River Appendages: Bronx Kill

The Bronx Kill is among New York City's most overlooked waterways. Indeed, this mile-long tidal strait, which links the East River north of Hell Gate to the Harlem River entrance, is best known by inference: it puts the "island" in Randall's Island and necessitates the third leg of the Triborough Bridge. A round of phone calls by Waterwire to the offices of Bronx official and trade groups demonstrated that the waterway itself is unknown to many of those who could become its best allies.

For now, the most dedicated steward of the Bronx Kill is Friends of Brook Park, a group of community gardeners who tend to a Mott Haven plot several blocks inland. But their connection to the Bronx Kill isn't as fanciful as it might seem: the eponymous brook is the long-interred Mill Brook that once emptied into the Bronx Kill.

The group has broadened the scope of its ecological work to Mott Haven as a whole, and the Bronx Kill is an accessible part of the estuary that happens to offer quiet, intimate beauty for kayakers and other human-powered boaters without the worry of larger vessel traffic. In a sense, they are reclaiming an ancient connection. Canoe and kayak expeditions through the waterway begin on the Harlem River, near the Third Avenue Bridge. Crossings must be well timed for the tides, to ensure both the correct current direction and sufficient water height: at low water, parts of the Bronx Kill entirely bottom out, revealing mucky stretches, castaway cars and other assorted junk. Consequently, no commercial vessels navigate the kill, with local businesses mostly opting instead for rail and truck transportation.

A few others see the gully: Amtrak workers riding over the trestle that leads to the Hell Gate Bridge, pedestrians and bikers crossing the Triborough Bridge (and the occasional driver stuck in traffic), and ballplayers on Randall's Island wistfully eyeing the trajectory of foul pop-ups. For much of the kill's length, public access to the Bronx shoreline is cut off by rails and industrial lots, but workers appreciate the peace afforded by the waterway. "I couldn't ask for a more beautiful, serene view, especially in the Bronx," says Gary Fescine, director of operations for the New York Post, which has its printing plant at the eastern end of the Bronx Kill. "If they can do kayaking when the tide is in, that's great."

The Bronx Kill blipped onto the public policy radar screen several years ago when the New York Power Authority offered to construct a pedestrian bridge linking the Bronx with Randall's Island -- part of the agency's mitigation and community giveback for building two new power plants in the South Bronx. That plan, however, fell by the wayside when local officials argued that an improved Triborough Bridge path would be sufficient. The state authority instead committed millions of dollars to energy efficiency measures in the borough as a whole, including a recently unveiled green roof on the county courthouse, says NYPA spokesman Michael Saltzman. Unrelated state funding announced in April will extend Randall's Island bike paths to the Bronx Kill.

The Bronx Kill may yet find itself in the spotlight in coming years, as controversy grows over plans to build a water park -- the first in the nation for a large city -- on the northwest corner of Randall's Island. Announced by the Giuliani administration as a $48 million, 15-acre project, the project has ballooned to encompass 26 acres at a projected cost of $168 million. While civic watchdogs are concerned that Aquatic Development Group (ADG), a firm based in upstate New York, was awarded the contract to build the park without a formal bid process, ecologists worry about wetlands destruction, the cutting of trees, and chlorinated water from the attractions entering the Harlem River, Bronx Kill, and East River. Neighborhood leaders and some elected officials, including City Controller William Thompson and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, contend that high ticket prices -- which could run $37 for adults and about $30 for children -- would exclude lower-income residents from public parkland. But the city Parks Department and ADG argue that the theme park will provide jobs and bring activity to an underused space.

Resources:

Blue Link: Bronx Kill, Waterwire

Bronx Shoreline Accessible Mainly in Dreams, The New York Times, David Gonzalez, Aug. 10, 2004

Governor Announces $850,000 For Randall’s Island Recreation, Press release from the New York Governor's Office, April 7, 2006

Randall's Island Park, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

Friends of Brook Park

Aquatic Development Group

Images: Panorama by Bart Michaels for Friends of Brooks Park
Image of clean section of Bronx Kill courtesy Friends of Brooks Park

By Erik Baard
October 9, 2006

See More From Waterwire.net!
Originally posted at: http://www.waterwire.net/News/fullstory.cfm?ContID=1923

News Article: Paved-over brook may rise again

Right now, all you see is a shallow slope - weeds sprouting up out of it - in the cracked, sunbaked asphalt basketball court in Brook Park in Mott Haven. It's hard to believe that once it was a stream flowing from the North Bronx through the southern tip of the borough into the Bronx Kill.
Dreary buildings overlooking the spot and cars whizzing past make it harder still to picture what had been the bucolic home of Indians before it became part of Morrisania, the vast manor of the Morris family, the English merchants who owned pretty much the whole borough.

They used the brook as the eastern boundary of their estate.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, its water powered sawmills, but after the Civil War it was overlaid with concrete and named Brook Ave., lined by apartment buildings and stores.

The arson and urban blight of the 1970s left rubble-strewn vacant lots along Brook Ave. One, at E. 141st St. was turned into an urban greenspace named Brook Park, flourishing as a flower-and-vegetable garden, a quiet oasis off the bustling thoroughfare.

Now Mill Brook - at least a small section of it - may again shimmer and sparkle, as part of an ambitious plan to "daylight" the long-hidden water.

"This is where the brook was," said Harry Bubbins of Friends of Brook Park, stamping his foot in a shallow ditch several yards from the verdant half of the park.

There, farmers from Westchester County were selling the first pumpkins of the season at the weekly greenmarket, and kids in uniforms sat on tree-stump stools and ate after-school snacks.

The first step in the hoped-for return to the past was accomplished with modern technology.

Last summer, a scientist using ground-penetrating radar equipment found the water, estimated to be less than 20 feet below where Bubbins stood.

"You drag it along the ground, like a vacuum cleaner, and it gives a signal of the type of substance - sandy, clay, bedrock," said Dr. Paul Mankiewicz, executive director of the Gaia Institute on City Island and a board member of the New York City Soil and Water Conservation District.

"The [TV] monitor shows what's below. It looks like bound water," Mankiewicz said. "But the resolution wasn't perfect. Cellphones interfere with the equipment."

The gadgetry came from the Department of Agriculture. The military uses similar equipment to search for landmines.

Mankiewicz said it was like taking an X-ray. "It was exciting, like being able to look into the ground, an amazing thing."

He said the brook originated in the Fordham gneiss, one of three types of rock that form bedrock in the Bronx, and flowed to the East River.

"It was probably quite beautiful, flowing over bedrock," he said.

Mankiewicz said he believes it would be the first time that a paved-over natural body of water has been unearthed in the city.

"We have to see if we can get the water and expose it, bring it to the surface, maybe using pumps," said Mankiewicz.

The raising of the brook is part of a development plan for the concrete half of Brook Park, to complement the green side.

The area will be called Harmony Grove, and include a rainbow labyrinth, which is already painted on the asphalt, as well as a circle of fruit trees.

The brook will be the dividing line in the middle of the park, providing a tranquil sight and sound.

Bubbins said his group is working with two City Council members, Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx) and Melissa Mark Viverito (D-Manhattan), to build Harmony Grove.

He said the councilwomen have allocated capital funds for the project, and he hopes to break ground by the end of the year.

After more than a century, an ancient stream that formed a thin line of blue through the South Bronx may come full circle.

NYC City Council Speaker Christine Quinn Visits Brook Park!

When District 8 City Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito takes a tour of the area with the Speaker, where does she go?

Brook Park is one hot spot on the tour!

We were honored to host Ms. Viverito and the Speaker to highlight the wonderful aspects of our community. On hand in the garden were the 5th grade students of Mr. Burns from PS 30 having a great time, thanks to Federico Perez and the Principal who recognized the importance of welcoming these dignataries.

Ms. Quinn was very excited to see first hand our Brook Park project, especially because she has been so supportive of Ms. Vverito's and Council Member Arroyo's budget requests for our Capital Revitalization Project (See: http://www.friendsofbrookpark.org/design). Ms. Quinn mentioned an underground Minetta Brook in her District on the weat side of Manhattan and the probems it caused by being paved over. Ms. Quinn asked to be invited when our brook is uncovered!

Later the Council Members continued to Randall's and Ward's island where the Speaker was brought current to the growing efforts to stop the alienation and conversion of public parkland for an aquatic theme park on 12 exisitng ball fileds that serve thousands of New Yorkers.

October Schedule

Have you noticed the migrating monarch flutterbies this season, on their way to Mexico!
While we harvest the goodness form the garden.
Here is an October schedule of many events and activities!
See our web calendar for updated listings.


October 3rd
Community Board #1 Youth Committee
Screening the Green Team Video
October 4th
Art Opening 5-830pm details Below

October 6th
Youth Canoe Paddle
Booked Full, with Leadership Academy

October 7th
Bronx River Golden Ball
Sign up today! Bronxriver.org

October 8th 4-8PM
Hula Hoop making/Dancing Workshop and Fire Hoop Performance

October 8th
Car Free Grand Concourse and Southern Bronx Greenways
1PM-330pm

October 9th Indigenous Peoples Day (aka Columbus)
Volunteer Day with Bowling Green
10am - 1PM

October 10th
Tipi Raising Workshop
Call to volunteer!

October 11th
Bronx Council on Environmental Quality Meeting
6PM-8PM

October 12th
East Harlem Parks Committee Meeting
Re: Randall's Island

October 13th
Canoe Paddle with ny4p.org
Booked

October 14th
Volunteer Day with Wave Hill
1-4PM

October 21
Volunteer Day: It's Our Park Day 10am -1PM

**Every Wednesday Farmer's Market 11-630PM and Trailer Park Art Installation

Teachers: schedule a session in the park!

_______
More info on above dates:


October 4th


Subject: October 4th invitation. A Cuban photo exhibit.

The Green Corner
141st Street and Brook Avenue

Fragmented Families:
"From the Shadow's Side"
5:45-8:30pm

A photo exhibit curated by Javier Machado.

This group show, by artists Aurora De Armendi, Juan Caballero and
Javier Machado, examines the impact of U.S. Cuba
policy on Cubans living in the U.S. and their families
on the island.

In 2004, the U.S. government issued new
travel restrictions that permit Cuban-origin residents
to visit their own country only once every three
years, and then for only two weeks. Through
documentary and experimental work, Cubans Artists
respond to these developments.

Javier Machado is a Cuban photographer who moved to the U.S. in 2003. He
has been reworking a series of portraits that he shot
in his old neighborhood in Havana. This show was
recently exhibited at the P.S. 122 Gallery.

For information about The Green Corner and Friends of
Brook Park and its upcoming exhibitis, call
646-206-5288, e-mail:
information@friendsofbrookpark.org, or visit www.friendsofbrookpark.org.


******

October 8th 4-8PM
Hula Hoop making/Dancing Workshop and Fire Hoop Performance
Free! Each participant will learn how to make their own hula hoop, how to dance and then there will be a fire hoop performance! All skill levels welcomed. Drummers and dancers too. $5 materials fee if you can swing it!
www.hoopergirl.com for more info.

^^October 8th

Join the Bronx River Alliance, Friends of Brook Park, Mosholu Preservation Corporation, and Sustainable South Bronx for an easy bike ride linking emerging "green" Bronx amenities: the Car-Free Grand Concourse, a park on the Harlem River, the developing South Bronx Greenway, Barretto Point Park, and the new Hunts Point Riverside Park -- the first new park on the Bronx River Greenway and the launching point for the Hunts Point Greenway!

This ride will meet at promptly at 1pm at the Grand Concourse and Mt Eden. Marshals will lead the group through the South Bronx to Hunts Point Riverside Park [or Barretto Point Park], and we will return to the Grand Concourse by 3:30pm. We will be traveling on-street, so remember to wear your helmet!

See pics form previous and similar rides on the web site of our partner Times Up!

http://www.times-up.org/peoplestour.php


**October 9th and 14th and 21st

Dig your hands in the Earth, celebrate Autumn!
We invite you to join us in giving active and loving care to our Brook Park. We welcome both skilled and unskilled alike to join our team in making improvements to our physical environment. Depending on needs at the time and the uniqueness of the group, we will tackle a variety of tasks and/or a joint project. Please join us for a day of service through focused and joyful work. Please let us know if you are intending to participate and sign up through our website via the Volunteer section.