Exterior Street -- Bronx

Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. "Exterior Street - Highbridge" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1887 - 1986. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-0596-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

This little known street in the Bronx runs along the Harlem River. In this picture from 1887 you can clearly see the street right near the water with the Washington Bridge in the foreground and the High Bridge in the background.

In the map below you can clearly see its location right at the river's edge as it passes under the High Bridge.

Highbridge 161st St. Business Improvement District Commissions Mural of A Rod

Photo by Silvio Pacifico

As reported in the Bronx Times in an article by Robert Wirsing, the 161st Street Business Improvement District commissioned a mural of New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez on 850 River Avenue across from Yankee Stadium on September 12. This event coincided with ‘Alex Rodriguez Day’ which was celebrated the next day at the ballpark.

Above, Fanny Baez with Andre Trenier, the muralist, and his completed mural of Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez.

©2015 COMMUNITY NEWS GROUP

Make Sure to Come to the High Bridge Festival this Saturday

Join NYC Parks & Recreation for The High Bridge Festival at Highbridge Park, on both the Manhattan and Bronx sides of the Harlem River 12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.Saturday, July 25, 2015

The High Bridge Festival celebrates the historic reopening of the High Bridge, NYC's oldest standing bridge. This free event has something for everyone to enjoy. Activities include:

• Bridge Making Workshop by the Bronx Children’s Museum
• Walking tours of the High Bridge
• Puppet Mobile by CityParks Foundation
• Rowing instruction and demonstrations by the Harlem River Community Rowing
• Live entertainment presented by ZTE
• Kung Fu Panda 3 Photo Booth
• Scavenger hunt
• Kids’ obstacle course
• International food
• A special guest appearance by Dora The Explorer!

And don’t miss the SummerStage concert featuring Jose Peña Suazo y La Banda Gorda at 7:00 p.m. To ensure that everyone on both sides of the bridge can access the concert, the High Bridge will be open until 10:00 p.m. on the day of the festival.

The High Bridge Festival will also feature activities, performances, and information from more than a dozen community partners, including: Bike New York, Bronx Children’s Museum, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Circa ’95, City Parks Foundation, CLIMB, Cocolart, Five Borough Bicycle Club, Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, Harlem River Community Rowing, Highbridge Voices, Jenae Schwartz, Robleswrites Productions, Row New York, Unicycle Bridge Tour, Waterfront Alliance.

The High Bridge Festival is supported by ZTE, Fresh Direct, Emblem Health, FlatRate Moving, and Kung Fu Panda 3.

Washington Heights to Yankee Stadium via the High Bridge

There is a very well done series of articles with plenty of images chronicling a trip through Washington Heights, Highbridge Park, The High Bridge, the Highbridge section of the Bronx, and, finally, Yankee Stadium.  This highlights many of the lesser known parts of the journey for anyone interested in taking the walk for themselves, or, for that matter, for just documenting, historically, what this area was like in 2015 for all future generations that might be interested to know.

Here are the links to the two parts in Forgotten New York.
Part 1
Part 2

A Tour of Metro North's Harlem Line Highbridge Station

A view from the recently opened High Bridge

The Harlem Line just put out a piece on the Highbridge station of the Metro North Harlem Line. It is very interesting.  While the station is not open to the public, it is still used by employees and it plays an important role in the history of the High Bridge.  Click on theharlemline to see this fascinating bit of information.

ECO FASHION IN THE PARK 2015 -- AUG 2nd 3:30PM - 5:00PM

The first Fashion Show on the High Bridge crossing from the Bronx to Manhattan.

The Wilson Lighthouse Highbridge, Bronx

At 945 Summit Avenue at the corner of 162nd St in the Highbridge section of the Bronx you will find the H.W. Wilson building. The building sits above the Major Deegan Expressway overlooking the Harlem River and to the East of the building a few blocks away is the New Yankee Stadium.  The most distinguishing feature of the building is the lighthouse that sits atop it. 

For most of my life I thought the lighthouse was used for navigation by boats in the river.  It may well have been, but that is not why it was constructed.  H.W. Wilson, was a publishing company that published Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, and the building with the lighthouse atop was part of the company logo, symbolizing the mission of the company: “To give guidance to those seeking their way through the maze of books and periodicals, without which they would be lost.”  Sort of a pre-internet Google search provider. The building was erected with the lighthouse in 1929 by the firm.  In June, 2011 H.W. Wilson merged with EBSCO Publishing and Tuck-IT-Away, a storage company, moved its headquarters into the building and painted the lighthouse bright orange.

The lighthouse, only being a short distance across and to the South of the High Bridge can be clearly seen on most days should you be looking in the right direction.