Manhattan: 170th-180th Streets

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170th - 180th Streets

The George Washington Bridge
178th St. at Ft. Washington Ave.
© PANYNJ
When this bridge opened in 1931 it was the world's longest suspension bridge: its main span is 3,500 feet long and the distance between its anchorages in Fort Washington Park and the New Jersey Palisades is 4,760 feet.. Designed by the noted American architect Cass Gilbert and engineer Othmar Ammann and rising 212 feet above the water, it elicited praise such as this:

"The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh. The car reaches an unexpectedly wide apron; the second tower is very far away; innumerable vertical cables, gleaming against the sky, are suspended from the magisterial curve which swings down and then up. The rose-colored towers of New York appear, a vision whose harshness is mitigated by distance."

Charles Eduard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier), When the Cathedrals Were White, 1947.
For more information, please visit the sites by Steve Anderson, the Port Authority of NY and NJ (PANYNJ) and Transportation Alternatives.

The bridge in holiday splendour.

The George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal
178th St. at Ft. Washington Ave.
© PANYNJ
The Port Authority's bus terminal at the eastern end of the GW Bridge was designed in 1963 by the Italian architectural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, famous for his ability to meld exciting form with economical design, and the Port Authority engineering staff. Nervi developed the light but strong ferro-cement and made frequent use of it in his designs. It is unfortunate that it is so difficult to get a good view of this terminal's soaring wings. Nervi's more successful structures include the acclaimed Giovani Berta stadium at Florence and three Olympic buildings in Rome.
The terminal's construction coincided with the addition of the GW Bridge's lower deck. It is estimated that in 1990 close to five million people passed through the station, which is a transfer point between numerous bus lines and the IND Eight Avenue A-train.

The Hudson Heights Owners Coalition

The Hudson Heights Owners Coalition is an association of owner-occupied residential properties in Manhattan west of Broadway between J. Hood Wright Park (173rd Street) and Fort Tryon Park (Margaret Corbin Circle at 192nd Street). Since 1993, member buildings have worked together and with others in the community to enhance the quality of life and the property values in the neighborhood.

The Little Red Lighthouse
At the Hudson River under the GWB
© Manhattan Island Foundation
The electric arc lamp of the 1921 Jeffries Hook Lighthouse warned grain barges away from the Hudson River shoals of Jeffry's Hook. When in 1951 navigational lights on the George Washington Bridge made the lighthouse redundant, it was put up for auction. However, it was saved from demolition by a flood of letters, many from children who had read The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift and Lynd Ward. Now owned and maintained by the City, the lighthouse is the site of an annual fall festival. More photos.

The Greenmarket
175th Street at Broadway
© Farmer's Market Federation of New York

This farmers' market at Broadway and 175th Street is open from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every Thursday from July through November. For more information, please contact Tony Mannetta at 212-477-3220 (fax: 212-533-0242) or Jim's Deli NYC Guide.

Highbridge Park
155th-Dyckman Sts. along the Harlem River
© City of New York Parks and Recreation
This park offers playgrounds, handball and basketball courts, ballfields and an outdoor summer swimming pool in 119 acres of landscaped grounds along the Harlem River. The Highbridge Recreation Center at 173rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue is open Monday-Saturday from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. To find out more about events such as basketball, weight-lifting and aerobics classes, call 212-927-2400.

High Bridge and Highbridge Watch Tower
173rd-174th Sts. at the Harlem River
© Transportation Alternatives
The High Bridge, built between 1837 and 1848 across the Harlem River to carry water to the city from the upstate Croton Aqueduct reservoirs, was the first to link Manhattan with the mainland. Its original picturesque Roman-style arches were considered an obstacle to shipping and so around 1923 they were replaced by a single steel span. The N.Y.C. Parks Department is considering reopening the pedestrian walkway closed in the 1970's after a fatal rock-throwing incident. The cost of rebuilding the crumbling stairs and pathways and installing bike ramps is estimated at over $6 million. Meanwhile, the New York Restoration Project, chaired by Bette Midler, has begun cleaning up portions of the Highbridge Park shoreline. The watch tower was rehabilitated in 1958 and outfitted with a five-octave carillon in memory of Benjamin Altman.

NB: The Ecological Restoration Committee of the New York Sierra Club will host a climb of Highbridge Tower on Sunday, July 2, at 11:00 a.m., as well as numerous rowing outings on the Harlem River. Please e-mail the Committee for more info.