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Scenic bike path from Van Cortlandt to Pelham Park
Place Details
Borough : Bronx
Neighborhood : Pelham Bay Park
Place Matters Profile
The borough that has the most greenspace, the Bronx, also has a bike trail that connects its large, beautiful parks.The North Bronx Bikeway is a scenic bike path through the north and central Bronx extending from Van Cortlandt Park in the northwest, down past the Botanical Gardens in Bronx Park, along scenic Pelham Parkway, and ending up in Pelham Bay Park, City Island, and Orchard Beach.
To ride the path, just follow the signs for the city's Greenway System which was developed by the Department of City Planning to provide a recognizable identity for the city-wide greenway system while guiding users along the routes. The Department of City Planning’s goal is 350 miles of proposed bicycle and pedestrian paths throughout the five boroughs. Seventeen percent (or 59 miles) of the system exists in good condition (another 31% or 106 miles needs improvement, and the remaining 52% is in the proposal stage), and this includes the North Bronx Bikeway, or the Mosholu/Pelham
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The borough that has the most greenspace, the Bronx, also has a bike trail that connects its large, beautiful parks.The North Bronx Bikeway is a scenic bike path through the north and central Bronx extending from Van Cortlandt Park in the northwest, down past the Botanical Gardens in Bronx Park, along scenic Pelham Parkway, and ending up in Pelham Bay Park, City Island, and Orchard Beach.
To ride the path, just follow the signs for the city's Greenway System which was developed by the Department of City Planning to provide a recognizable identity for the city-wide greenway system while guiding users along the routes. The Department of City Planning’s goal is 350 miles of proposed bicycle and pedestrian paths throughout the five boroughs. Seventeen percent (or 59 miles) of the system exists in good condition (another 31% or 106 miles needs improvement, and the remaining 52% is in the proposal stage), and this includes the North Bronx Bikeway, or the Mosholu/Pelham Greenway.
New York City has the largest urban park system in the country with nearly 26,000 acres (which include a variety of places such as wetlands, beaches, golf courses, historic houses, ballfields, and zoological and botanical gardens). Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape architect for Central and Prospect Parks, was the first to design a "park way" for carriages and bicycles on scenic drives. He also created Brooklyn’s Eastern and Ocean Parkways to link Prospect Park to its surrounding communities. The first bicycle path in the United States opened on Ocean Parkway in 1895. Throughout the city there are vestiges of bikeways that were created in the 1930s--many of these are still in use and others will be restored as part of the proposed system.
The Bronx has the most parkland in the city with 24% of the borough having greenery. The Mosholu/Pelham Extension of the greenway system is not only a great path for bicycling, but along its route are many of the highlights and landmarks of the north and central Bronx.
Starting in the northwest there is Van Cortlandt Park. Occupying 1,146 acres the park is the third largest in the Bronx. Originally the home of Wiechquaeskeck Indians, the Dutch West India Company purchased the land in this area and in 1646 sold it to Dutch lawyer Adrian Van der Donck. In 1694 it was bought by Jacobus Van Cortlandt (who later was a New York City mayor). The park came under New York City ownership in 1888. Aside from its many trails and public art, the park also contains the country’s first public golf course, the Bronx's largest freshwater lake, and the oldest remaining house in the borough. This house, the Van Cortlandt Mansion, is a Georgian-style residence built in 1748 by Jacobus' son Frederick, and was inhabited by the family until the 1880's. It was also here, during the Revolutionary War, that George Washington stayed and planned the battles of White Plains in 1783. To visit the mansion, call 718-543-3344 for more information.
Near Van Cortlandt Park is Woodlawn Cemetery, one of the largest in the country at 400 acres. It was designed in 1863, and following the Civil War, many mausoleums for prominent figures were built at the cemetery--the largest mausoleum in the country is located there. There are over 300,000 interments there including many famous figures in music and politics like, Fiorello LaGuardia, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and F.W. Woolworth. It is a New York City-designated landmark and bird sanctuary, and considered one of the most "elegant and impressive" cemeteries in the United States (Encyclopedia of New York City, 1995:1272).
Following the bike path south, bicyclists will enter Bronx Park, which is bisected by Fordham Road and at 661 acres contains the New York Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo. The bike path skirts the edges of the New York Botanical Gardens, one of the largest (240 acres) and oldest botanical gardens in the world. The land was purchased in 1884 from the Lorillard family, a tobacco dynasty with an estate in the Bronx. In 1891 the New York State Legislature founded the gardens at this site. The gardens are based on the design of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, England. Preserved on this site are the gorge of the Bronx River, a virgin hemlock forest, and some of the historic buildings that pre-date the founding of the gardens. The holdings include 47 garden and plant collections. This National Historic Landmark is open all year round, and can be reached at 718/817-8700.
Crossing Pelham Parkway/Fordham Road is the Bronx Zoo. The Zoo opened in 1899, and was sponsored by the New York Zoological Society (renamed the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1993) which was established in 1895 to advance wildlife conservation and the study of zoology. Situated on 265 acres it is one of the largest and most diverse zoological parks in the country. The zoo is also the site of some landmark projects in the world of wildlife conservation:
*In 1899 a few bison were purchased and a zoo herd was started. In 1905 when fewer than 1,000 American bison were alive in the wild (prior to westward expansion the herds numbered 50 million in North America), the American Bison Society was founded at the zoo. This organization helped get national protection for bison as well as establishing rangeland for the herds. In 1907, fifteen Bronx Zoo bison were shipped to the Wichita Mountain Preserve in Oklahoma and later to other preserves in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Little by little the herds in the wild have grown and many of the bison living in the western United States today are descendants of the animals shipped out from the Bronx Zoo.
*In 1903 snow leopards were exhibited at the Zoo-the first zoo in the western hemisphere to exhibit these elusive animals.
*And in 1941 the Zoo opened the exhibit, African Plains, becoming one of the first zoos in the country to use naturalistic habitants in place of cages for the exhibiting of animals. It was also the first exhibit in North America to show predators and prey side-by-side (lions and nyala were separated by moats).
Visitors can see these and other animals at the Zoo all year long, go to: www.bronxzoo.com/bz-hours_and_rates for more information.
Leaving Bronx Park, the bike path that parallels Pelham Parkway. The parkway, whose official name is the Bronx and Pelham Parkway since it was designed to connect Bronx Park with Pelham Bay Park, didn’t get a road until 1911, but prior to that it was used as a trotting course; and before World War II it was closed off on Sundays when bicycle races were held in its lanes. As ones rides eastward you pass the Peace Plaza Memorial at the intersection of Pelham Parkway and Williamsbridge Road. Here are stone monuments to veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. Further down just past Eastchester Road is the Christmas House where during the Christmas season, cars are lined up outside this home to see the life-size dolls, lights, and Nativity scene (see Place Matters Census nomination for more information).
Past the Hutchinson Parkway, the path approaches the outskirts of Pelham Bay Park. On Shore Road is the Bronx Victory Column & Memorial Grove built in 1933. It is a 75-foot Corinthian column atop which sits Winged Victory, and was created to honor Bronx serviceman who were killed in action during World War I. The surrounding grove contains over 500 Norway maples and linden trees. The bike path eventually splits and you can follow it through the Park to Orchard Beach or take it to City Island.
Pelham Bay Park is the City's largest park at over 2,700 acres. After the Dutch West India Company purchased it from the original indigenous inhabitants in 1639, they named the area, Vreedelandt, meaning "Land of Freedom." The Siwanoy Indians continued to live on this land and in 1654 Thomas Pell, an Englishman, purchased an area of land which included what is now the park from Siwanoy leader, Chief Wampage. During the Revolutionary War the land owned by Pell was a buffer zone between Manhattan, which was controlled by the British, and Westchester which the revolutionary forces held. The remains of stone walls which can be seen by the park’s golf course, were where 600 Massachusetts patriots held off British and Hessian forces marching north. Between 1936 and 1842 Robert Bartow, a descendant of Thomas Pell, built the Bartow-Pell Mansion, which is now a museum as well as a city and national landmark. The mansion’s elegant federal style exterior, is matched by the interior’s Greek Revival styles which is considered one of the best examples of this style in the city. For information on the park call 718/430-1890; to visit Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum call 718/885-1461.
The park also is home to the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary which can be traversed by the Split Rock Trail, through Goose Creek Marsh and Hutchinson River Marshes, salt marshes which are home to many species of fish and birds such as egret, herons, red-winged blackbirds and marsh wrens. Or during the summer you may want to go to Orchard Beach, the park’s most popular attraction, to swim in the Bronx’s only public beach. The beach is 1.1 miles long and 115 acres along the Long Island Sound. It was created by Robert Moses in the 1930s and contains an ensemble of WPA-era buildings. During the summer, the beach, nicknamed the “Riviera of the Bronx” is used by thousands, and it is common to hear salsa concerts at night for entertainment. Admission is free to the beach (just a fee for parking).
If you decide to veer off to the right instead and go to City Island you can ride straight down the main artery of City Island Avenue (originally Main Street). City Island has a long and continuing history as a maritime community, but most people visit there for the shops (see the Place Matters Census nomination for Mooncurser Records) and food, especially the seafood restaurants that dot the main street. The area was originally settled by Siwanoy Indians, and in 1685 the English established a settlement there. By the mid-18th century it was a port where ships received supplies as they traveled between Manhattan and points north. Later it became a ship building center, and in this century it was highly regarded as a resort spot and for its oyster farms. Among the more popular restaurants are, Johnny’s, Sammy’s Fish Box, and Tito Puente’s (64 City Island Avenue, 718/885-3200) owned by the late star and legend of Latin music, and where one can still see mambo and salsa musicians perform.
