BronXcursions (2026)

03/10/2023

I finally got my Borough Historian swag! Thank you and staff for procuring my business cards, letter head, pins, and of course - personalized jacket :) I am now completely prepared to answer and address all your Bronx historical needs. Make sure you grab a card from me the next time we meet - its historic.

03/10/2023

This past Saturday I had the honor of attending the opening of the Kingsbridge Historical Society at their permanent home in Riverdale. The organization can now be found in the beautiful former Edgehill Church of Spuyten Duyvil on Independence Avenue at Kappock Street, designed by Francis H. Kimball in the 1880s (Romanesque/Tudor Revival, Shingle style.) There you can still see some of the original Tiffany stain-glass and other marvelous church fixtures. My predecessor, former borough historian Rev. William Tieck, led the congregation there for many years until his death in 1997. Big shout out to Nick Dembowski, KHS Executive Director, for continuing the mission and his efforts in historic preservation. The Kingsbridge Historical now needs your help! The building does not have heat and needs a new roof. We can only save our borough’s precious structures with the limited resources available now. Please visit the KHS website and inquire about how you can help.

18/07/2023

Just because east Bronx neighborhoods like Castle Hill and Clason Point were left mostly undeveloped until the 1960s, does not mean anything was of interest there before. Take for instance the exciting Castle Hill Speedway of the 1940s, where Midget Car Racing was the emerging sensation of the time. Midget car racing started in 1933 back in Los Angeles, but soon became one of the most popular outdoor sports where ample space was available.

The Castle Hill Speedway opened in 1938 and was located east of Castle Hill Avenue, on the southeast corner of Havemeyer and Lafayette avenues (interestingly, the Havemeyer DMV road test site is located today, immediately south.) Race car legends like Mel Hansen and Cowboy O’Rourke frequented the track to the entertainment of thousands of Bronxites. The speedway was one of the last in the city that were part of the early board track racing era, where oval shaped race courses were composed of wooden planks.

Yet, World War II would put a stop to these type of outdoor venue activities. Facing a lack of new housing due to a Great Depression-ravaged market that created a development halt in the city for over a decade, thousands of soldiers returned to a city with virtually no space for them to live. In comes Mayor William O’Dwyer, who would alleviate the housing situation by purchasing of hundreds of military issued all-purpose portable buildings, or “Quonset Huts.” With a huge surplus of post-war materials, these huts were easily transportable and could house up to two families per unit.

Soon after, undeveloped spaces found in neighborhoods like Soundview and Clason Point became host to these new Quonset Hut communities. In Castle Hill, the speedway was obliterated and one of the neighborhood’s Quonset Hut communities would be situated at that precise location. The site of today’s NYCHA Castle Hill Houses was also occupied by Quonset Huts.

Want to learn more about Castle Hill? Join me this Saturday, July 22nd, at 11am, on the corner of Castle Hill and Westchester avenues for my first walking tour as your new borough historian. It would be my pleasure.

27/06/2023

Another High Bridge Tidbit: If you walk by 1079 Nelson Avenue you will immediately notice the large garage door, indicating a firehouse. It was indeed the headquarters for Ladder 49, dating back to 1904. The building was erected in 1913 and sits immediately behind 1080 Ogden Avenue, first headquarters for Engine 68, built in 1898 (By the way, this firehouse is said to be the only one in the city designed in Tudor Stye architecture.)

Dating back to times when steam power began its dominance over horse power, and ladder truck companies worked apart from their fellow fire truck companies, finding two firehouses near each other weren’t so unusual. After WWII, a city-wide assessment of firehouses led to the closing of many firehouses, including Ladder 49’s 1079 Nelson Avenue house. This forced the ladder company to move in with its Engine 68 neighbors, explaining why the shape of the garage door to the older structure went from round to square (more room!) In 1979 both fire companies found a new home at 1160 Ogden Avenue.

What’s interesting is that in 1957 the old Ladder 49 firehouse on Nelson Avenue was sold to Fordel Films, who were known for having government contracts to produce educational films in medicine and biology. It was around the same time noted filmmaker Sam Brody was working as a film laboratory technician for the company. Brody was a founding member of the Workers Film and Photo League, a socialist organization founded in 1931 to produce and present films documenting the Great Depression through a Marxist lens.

Labeled and investigated as a communist by the FBI in the 1940s, Brody was also known for his many films for organized labor and photographs of New York City. Some of his early work covered included a textile strike in Passaic, N.J., in 1926 and another in 1929 in Gastonia, N.C. He was also a cameraman for documentaries about national hunger marches on Washington in 1931 and 1932. Durning the investigations, he and his family lived on Crotona Park East. Today 1079 Nelson Avenue is a private residence.

26/06/2023

Since we had to postpone this Saturday’s tour of High Bridge due to the weather, I thought I’d share some random tidbits. Here’s one: Right after WWI there were talks on all levels of city government to tear down the High Bridge and replace the conduit with an underground pipe. The move, which would of improved ship traffic on the Harlem River and save costs on maintenance, was meet with strong opposition from local groups. Eventually, a plan was announced to just remove the stone arches on the Manhattan side and replace them with one steel arch to allow more river traffic. In 1926 this was done, and every single stone from the old arches can now be found embedded in the retaining wall on W.231st Street near Riverdale Avenue. What a great way to preserve history!

15/06/2023

I always carry a short speech in my pocket when I’m invited to historic events. Here’s one I prepared just the night before we celebrated the High Bridge’s 175th anniversary on June 6th. Someone should read it:

After 175 years stretching majestically across the Harlem River, the High Bridge continues to symbolize our city’s unwavering historic heritage. These words cannot ring any truer, for this bridge has seen many phases and faces, while it played its pivotal role in the making of our metropolis. When the High Bridge, or the Aqueduct Bridge, was opened in 1848, Manhattan still held a rural collection of villages and hamlets. The word “Bronx” was yet to be widely used, for that place was once part of Westchester County, with the actual bridge erected in what was then the old Town of West Farms. Painstakingly constructed by the hands of thousands of Irish immigrants, the High Bridge has since been traversed by citizens of many cultures of this world who would have no doubt of its curiosity.

Today, while we celebrate the historic milestone of this magnificent engineering marvel, let us continue our role in preserving and ensuring that its promenade remains open. Let us also continue to teach our city’s youth about the human contribution to society and how the world around them is constantly being built by those who have strived before them. The High Bridge today should never just be known for its beauty and wonder, but as a reminder of its valuable purpose. The City of New York owes its debt to the High Bridge, since it brought fresh water into it via the Croton Aqueduct and enabled its expansion north and beyond. Yet, there is even a deeper debt that is owed to the engineers, the laborers, and all those who, through their blood and sweat, have spent their days building the High Bridge under the most dangerous conditions.

After 175 years, happy birthday High Bridge. May you continue your role as a beacon of hope, growth, and prosperity today, and for eternity.

01/06/2023

This year we celebrate 175 years of one of our cherished landmarks, the majestic High Bridge. Considered to be one of our nation’s earliest engineering marvels, the High Bridge still stands as a symbol of our borough’s pride and historic heritage.

In 1848 the High Bridge opened as the Aqueduct Bridge because it connected the underground aqueducts from Westchester all the way to Manhattan, carrying water to downtown reservoirs. Originally designed as a stone arch bridge resembling a Roman aqueduct, its center arches were replaced in 1928 by a single steel arch to help ship navigation on the Harlem River (The Bronx side still retains the original arches.)

The High Bridge was a major innovation in its time of operation. Cholera and other epidemics had ravaged the city since the 18th century. Water supplies for fire fighting were inadequate and fires raged unchecked destroying entire city blocks. In a direct response to these issues, New York City was in need of a dependable water source.

In the early 1830s the Bronx River, being the city’s only fresh water river, was an immediate candidate. The idea of an above ground aqueduct spanning from the river, across what is now the South Bronx, and connecting into reservoirs in Manhattan was explored (imagine that?) Yet instead, plans to tap into the Croton watershed in upper Westchester County were approved and work on the new Croton Aqueduct System commenced.

Want to learn more? Come celebrate the bridge’s 175th anniversary on my inaugural walking tour as your new official borough historian. On Saturday, June 24th, meet me at the NW corner of 161st Steet and River Avenue for a nice stroll to the beautiful High Bridge. Tons of history on our way over.

31/03/2023

My fellow Bronxites mark your calendars! Saturday, May 13th, from 11-2pm, we will celebrate Bronx Week by adding (again) 52 additional acres to the mainland Bronx. Marble Hill, a fifty-two acre community, has been a part of both Manhattan and The Bronx at different times and for different reasons, according to the shifting sands of time and landfill. Then the United States Ship Canal, locally called the Harlem Ship Canal, was cut through just below the village. Although the construction project joined the Harlem and Hudson rivers, it severed Marble Hill from Manhattan in the process. Once virtually an island, when the Spuyten Duyvil creek was filled in Marble Hill became part of The Bronx, and thus, attached to the mainland United States. Join me and the The Great and Glorious Grand Army on this historic tradition that dates back to 1939 when Bronx Borough President James J. Lyons drove up to W.225th at the summit of Marble Hill and planted The Bronx flag to the dismay of local residents there. The march will start at The Bronx Public, located at 170 W 231st St, The Bronx, NY 10463. This is a free event and must wear battle gear and there is walking involved. Past news links in the bio. You’re welcome.

24/03/2023

Westchester Avenue was an ancient road, with many portions of it overlaying Native trails. As a turnpike laid out in 1727, it led from the Manor of Morrisania to the village of West-Chester, now Westchester Square. Between 1815-1867, some portions of the road were paved and it was briefly referred to as the Southern Westchester Turnpike (Gouvernuer Morris was recorded as the first to traverse the newly paved portion from his property by horse buggy, right before his death.) It was extended beyond Westchester Square in 1917 and became the main route to Pelham via Middletown. Westchester Square (the town square of the ancient West-Chester Village founded in 1655) was the seat for Westchester County for almost seventy years until 1758, when a massive fire burned down the main courthouse and forced the administration to headquarter in White Plains, where it remains today. Before English colonization, the Dutch held an outpost at today's Westchester Square in the early 1600s, and developed a village called Oostdorp - meaning "East Village," as it sat east of the colony of Nieuw Amsterdam. The English began to encroach on this territory from the Connecticut colonies by the 1650s and re-named the area "West-Chester," as it was west of the New England colonies (others say it's because the area is west of the city of Chester in England - either way, it's west of something.) Some fun facts about West-Chester: 1. The county’s very first newspaper “The West-Chester Patriot” was printed and published by a person named M. Lopez in 1813 at West-Farms. Although most likely a Sephardic Jew, it is still the very first time we come across a hispanic surname recorded in Bronx history. 2. In the 1880s there was once an 18-hole golf course called the “Westchester Golf Club” that was located immediately across the Westchester Bridge, over The Bronx River. The course was owned by the Watson family (Watson Avenue.) 3. The Bronx Giants’ Ballfield, also of the former Watson estate, was located on the south side of Westchester Avenue, near what would be today Wheeler Avenue. Famous base ball player Henry “Heinie” Zimmerman played there.

BronXcursions

03/10/2023

03/10/2023

18/07/2023

27/06/2023

26/06/2023

15/06/2023

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31/03/2023

24/03/2023

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