1.
Bronx River
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The Bronx River, approximately 24 miles long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of 38.4 square miles. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City. It originally rose in what is now the Kensico Reservoir, in Westchester County north of New York City, with the construction of the Kensico Dam in 1885, however, the river was cut off from its natural headwaters and today a small tributary stream serves as its source. The Bronx River flows south past White Plains, then south-southwest through the suburbs, passing through Edgemont, Tuckahoe, Eastchester. It empties into the East River, a tidal strait connected to Long Island Sound, the same line would be retained when manors were granted to the Dutch and the English. The tract purchased by Jonas Bronck in 1639 lay between the Harlem River and the river came to be called Broncks river. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the became a natural sewer into which industrial waste was poured every day. An early mill on the river was the Lorillard Snuff Mill. With the decline of manufacturing in the area, the continued to receive water pollution from the communities that lined its banks. In December 1948, flow of the Bronx River was changed to eliminate a curve in its course in Bronxville, during the excavations a large sand bar was uncovered where sand had accumulated at the bend over hundreds of years and made a sandy beach. In the 21st century, environmental groups including the Bronx River Alliance proposed to return the river to its state as a clean waterway. The river became a project of U. S. Representative José Serrano, who secured US$14, under a November 28,2006 agreement, the municipalities of Scarsdale, White Plains, Mount Vernon and Greenburgh agreed to stop dumping sewage in the Bronx River by May 1,2007. Urban runoff pollution continues to be a problem for the river. Local alewife, taken from a tributary in nearby Connecticut, were released in the river in March 2006. The alewife were expected to spawn in the rivers headwaters and their offspring would spend the summer in the river, migrate out to sea in the fall, and in three to five years return, like all anadromous fishes, to their spawning grounds. Stocking was intended to be repeated annually for the five years. The fishes, among a group called river herring, feed low on the food-chain, and in fact, several adult alewife were found below the first dam on the river on April 7,2009
2.
The Bronx
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The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, within the U. S. state of New York. Since 1914, the Bronx has had the boundaries as Bronx County, a county of New York. The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a section in the west, closer to Manhattan. East and west street addresses are divided by Jerome Avenue—the continuation of Manhattans Fifth Avenue, the West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. Bronx County was separated from New York County in 1914, about a quarter of the Bronxs area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the boroughs north and center. These open spaces are situated primarily on land reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north. The name Bronx originated with Jonas Bronck, who established the first settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639, the native Lenape were displaced after 1643 by settlers. This cultural mix has made the Bronx a wellspring of both Latin music and hip hop. The Bronx, particularly the South Bronx, saw a decline in population, livable housing, and the quality of life in the late 1960s. Since then the communities have shown significant redevelopment starting in the late 1980s before picking up pace from the 1990s until today, the Bronx was called Rananchqua by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape, while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River, the origin of Jonas Bronck is contested. Some sources claim he was a Swedish born emigrant from Komstad, Norra Ljunga parish in Småland, Sweden, who arrived in New Netherland during the spring of 1639. Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the now known as the Bronx and built a farm named Emmanus close to what today is the corner of Willis Avenue. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem. He eventually accumulated 500 acres between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which known as Broncks River or the Bronx. Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Broncks Land, the American poet William Bronk was a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Broncks son or his younger brother. More recent research indicates that Pieter was probably Jonas nephew or cousin, the Bronx is referred to with the definite article as The Bronx, both legally and colloquially. The region was named after the Bronx River and first appeared in the Annexed District of The Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County
3.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
4.
New York Botanical Garden
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The New York Botanical Garden is a botanical garden and National Historic Landmark located in the Bronx, New York City. The 250-acre sites verdant landscape supports over one million living plants in extensive collections, the Garden is also a major educational institution. NYBG operates one of the worlds largest plant research and conservation programs, the Lorillard family owned most of the land that later became the New York Botanical Garden. That land and adjacent acreage was acquired by the City of New York and set aside for the creation of a zoo and botanical garden. The Garden was established on 28 April 1891 on part of the grounds of the Lorillard Estate and it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1967. The Garden contains 50 different gardens and plant collections, there is a serene cascade waterfall, as well as wetlands and a 50-acre tract of original, never-logged, old-growth New York forest. The forest, which was never logged, contains oaks, American beeches, cherry, birch, tulip and white ash trees, some more than two centuries old. The forest itself is split by the Bronx River, the fresh water river in New York City. Along the shores sits the landmark Stone Mill, previously known as the Lorillard Snuff Mill built in 1840, sculptor Charles Tefft created the Fountain of Life on the grounds in 1905. It was conceived in the spirit of Italian baroque fountains, with the movement of galloping horses. The laboratory is a research institution, with projects more diverse than research in universities. The laboratorys research emphasis is on plant genomics, the study of how genes function in plant development, one question scientists hope to answer is Darwins abominable mystery, when, where, and why flowering plants emerged. The laboratorys research also furthers the discipline of molecular systematics, the study of DNA as evidence that can reveal the evolutionary history, a staff of 200 trains 42 doctoral students at a time, from all over the world. Since the 1890s, scientists from The New York Botanical Garden have mounted about 2,000 exploratory missions worldwide to collect plants in the wild. At the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, genomic DNA from many different species of plants is extracted to create a library of the DNA of the worlds plants. This collection is stored in a 768-square-foot DNA storage room with 20 freezers housing millions of specimens, including rare, to protect the collection during winter power outages, there is a backup 300-kilowatt electric generator. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has granted the NYBG $572,000 to begin a project called TreeBOL, the Tree Barcode of Life. Prominent civic leaders and financiers, including Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, founded in 1899, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library is the largest, most comprehensive botanical library in the Americas
5.
Bronx Zoo
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The Bronx Zoo is a zoo located in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States and among the largest in the world, on average, the zoo has 2.15 million visitors each year and is world-renowned for its large and diverse animal collection, and its award-winning exhibitions. It comprises 265 acres of lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows. The zoo is part of a system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Credit for this belonged chiefly to Club members Madison Grant and C. Grant LaFarge, the zoo opened its doors to the public on November 8,1899, featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits. The first zoo director was William Temple Hornaday, who had 30 years of service at the zoo, Heins & LaFarge designed the original permanent buildings as a series of Beaux-Arts pavilions grouped around the large circular sea lion pool. In 1934, the Rainey Memorial Gates, designed by noted sculptor Paul Manship, were dedicated as a memorial to noted big game hunter Paul James Rainey, the gates were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The Rockefeller Fountain, that adorns the gardens just inside the Fordham Road Gate, was once a famous landmark in Como. Originally built by Biagio Catella in 1872, it stood in the square by the lakeside. It was bought by William Rockefeller in 1902 for 3,500 lire, in 1968, the fountain was designated an official New York City landmark, and is one of the few local monuments to be honored in this way. The New York Zoological Societys seal was designed by famed wildlife-artist Charles R. Knight, the seal depicted a rams head and an eagle to reflect the societys interest in preserving North American wildlife. While no longer in use, the seal can still be found on the lawn in the center of Astor Court. On December 17,1902, the zoo one of the seven zoos outside of Australia. The first animal was a male obtained from famous German animal dealer, the animal died on August 15,1908. The zoo received a male on January 26,1912, from the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania. The zoo received their final two animals from Sydney animal dealer, Ellis S. Joseph, the first was an unsexed individual who arrived on November 7,1916, in poor condition and died seven days later. The second and final animal was a female purchased from the Beaumaris Zoo by Joseph for £25 and then was resold to the zoo, arriving on July 14,1917. On a visit, the director of the Melbourne Zoo, Mr. Le Souef, said upon seeing the animal, I advise you to take excellent care of that specimen, for when it is gone, the species soon will be extinct
6.
Mosholu Parkway
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The roadway extends for 3.0 miles between the New York Botanical Garden and Van Cortlandt Park. The parkway is designated as New York State Route 908F, a reference route. The Mosholu Parkway begins at exit 8E of the Bronx River Parkway and it heads northward as an arterial boulevard through the northern parts of the Bronx. The highway crosses through Bedford Park, passing Bainbridge Avenue and it intersects with the Grand Concourse afterwards, with Jerome Avenue, Sedgwick Avenue and West Gun Hill Road soon after. Mosholu is an Algonquin word meaning smooth stones or small stones, the entire route is in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Mosholu, Bronx, the area surrounding Mosholu Parkway Mosholu Parkway at New York State Highway Termini Mosholu Parkway page at nycroads. com
7.
Bronx River Parkway
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The Bronx River Parkway is a 19. 12-mile long parkway in downstate New York in the United States. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels, the southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue near Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx neighborhood of Soundview. The northern terminus is at the Kensico Circle in North Castle, Westchester County, within the Bronx, the parkway is maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation and is designated New York State Route 907H, an unsigned reference route. In Westchester County, the parkway is maintained by the Westchester County Department of Public Works and is designated unsigned County Route 9987, most of the exits on the parkway, including the traffic light-controlled intersections in Westchester County, have interchange numbers. Current usage of the term is confined to the roadway, the southern third of the parkway, in the Bronx, is exclusively limited-access. It serves as a route, intersecting several major east-west routes. Halfway through the borough it begins to parallel the Harlem Line of Metro-North Railroad. In Westchester County, the continues to have the same character until the Sprain Brook Parkway splits off at Bronxville. The stretches north of that junction have more of the original park character, North of White Plains the exits take the form of at-grade intersections with traffic lights. The parkway begins at Story Avenue in the Bronx neighborhood of Soundview, immediately to the north is the cloverleaf interchange at the Bruckner Expressway, where most traffic enters the parkway. Basketball courts and baseball fields flank the highway in the strip of parkland as the leads to the north. North of Watson Avenue, within a half-mile of the southern terminus, the corresponding offramp for southbound traffic merges onto Harrod Avenue north of Westchester Avenue. Now in West Farms, another onramp joins the southbound lanes from East 174th Street, North of it is exit 4, the interchange with the Cross Bronx Expressway. The single ramp of exit 5 allows southbound traffic to follow East 177th Street to the terminus of the Sheridan Expressway. North of the interchange the road veers to the northeast slightly, at East 180th Street, the linear park ends temporarily. The road becomes elevated to cross the East 180th Street Yard along the former IRT White Plains Road Line, on the northbound side, as it enters the park, is an unnumbered exit allowing authorized vehicles access to local streets via Birchall Avenue. Past the exit the large wooded area on the west is the New York Botanical Garden, one half-mile further north, exit 8 allows access to the Mosholu Parkway and Allerton Avenue. The railroad tracks join the river and the parkland in paralleling the north as it continues straight along the east edge of Woodlawn Cemetery
8.
Pelham Parkway
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The Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a 2. 25-mile long parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the service roads. Pelham Parkway runs from the Bronx River Parkway out to Pelham Bay Park, hence the name, at the eastern end, it intersects with Interstate 95. Though the parkway ends here, the road continues as Shore Road. At its west end, it continues as East Fordham Road, then West Fordham Road, the residential neighborhood that surrounds the parkway is known by the same name. Pelham Parkway is maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation, while the surrounding landscaping, the parkway is designated as New York State Route 907F, an unsigned reference route, by the New York State Department of Transportation. The parkway was constructed from 1935 to 1937, a proposal put forth by Robert Moses recommended that the at-grade boulevard be upgraded to a limited access freeway in the 1950s. However due to Moses’ career coming to a close, the project never materialized, the parkway now handles approximately 35,000 vehicles per day. The Pelham Parkway begins at an interchange with the Bronx River Parkway in the Bronx Park section of The Bronx, an eastward continuation of East Fordham Road, the Pelham Parkway is six-lane divided parkway, crossing under the IRT White Plains Road Line at the Pelham Parkway station. The parkway continues east through the Bronxwood neighborhood, passing and intersecting with Williamsbridge Road, at this interchange, the Pelham crosses over the IRT Dyre Avenue Line. Leaving Bronxwood, the parkway bends eastward, crossing Eastchester Road, after Stillwell Avenue, the parkway crosses over the Northeast Corridor and enters Pelham Bay Park. In the park, the Pelham enters an interchange with the Hutchinson River Parkway. Less than 0.5 miles later, the parkway enters a cloverleaf with I-95 and this junction serves as the eastern terminus of the Pelham Parkway, which continues east into the park as Shore Road. The East Coast Greenway travels along Pelham Parkway and Shore Road, the entire route is in the New York City borough of the Bronx. New York Roads portal Pelham Parkway at New York State Highway Termini Pelham Parkway & Pelham Bay-Shore Drive @ NYCROADS. com
9.
Fordham Road
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Fordham Road is a major street in the Bronx borough of New York City that runs east-west from the Harlem River to Bronx Park. This street runs through the neighborhood of University Heights, divides Fordham from Fordham-Bedford and it begins at its eastern point as a continuation of Pelham Parkway and at its western point continues over the University Heights Bridge into Manhattan, where it runs as West 207th Street. It is a two-way, four-lane road, East of Webster Avenue Fordham Road runs concurrent with U. S. Route 1 from Webster Avenue to Boston Road. It geographically separates the North Bronx from the South Bronx, Fordham Road is under the management of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District, a non-profit organization under contract with the city of New York. The BID maintains, develops, and markets the merchants along Fordham Road, East of Webster Avenue and directly across from Fordham University, Fordham Plaza is a major hub for buses and a stop on the Metro-North Railroads Harlem and New Haven lines. Metro North Railroads Hudson Line stops at the University Heights station, Fordham Road is served by the New York City Subway at Jerome Avenue and Grand Concourse. The many bus routes in the include the Bx9, Bx15, Bx17, Bx19, Bx22, Bx41. The Bx12 and Bx12 Select Bus Service are the primary routes, Fordham Plaza is a major commercial and transportation hub. St. Nicholas of Tolentines Church is a prominent landmark on West Fordham Road at University Avenue in University Heights, rose Hill Campus of Fordham University is at 441 East Fordham Road. Theodore Roosevelt High School is on the side of Fordham Road from Fordham University. The Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden are at the terminus of Fordham Road in Bronx Park
10.
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
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The total area of the properties maintained by the department is over 30,000 acres. The department maintains more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds, Parks also cares for park flora and fauna, community gardens,23 historic houses, over 1,200 statues and monuments, and more than 2.5 million trees. The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation produces many special events, including concerts, the largest single component of parkland maintained by the department is the forever wild Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, with an area of 2,765 acres. The symbol of the department is a cross between the leaf of the London plane and a maple leaf and it is prominently featured on signs and buildings in public parks across the city. The London plane tree is on the NYC Parks Departments list of restricted use species for tree planting because it constitutes more than 10% of all street trees. The department is a mayoral agency, the current Parks Commissioner is Mitchell Silver. The current chair of the New York City Council Committee on Parks & Recreation is Mark D. Levine, the department is allocated an expense budget and a capital budget. The expense budget covers the expenses incurred by the agency. The capital budget is dedicated solely for new projects, as well as major repairs in parks that have a useful life of more than five years. Its regulations are compiled in Title 56 of the New York City Rules, Parks Enforcement Patrol officers have peace officer status under NYS Penal Law and are empowered through this status to make arrests and issue tickets. PEP officers patrol land, waterways and buildings under the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation on foot, bicycle, horseback, boat, PEP officers are also responsible for physical site inspections of NYC park concession facilities to assure the concessionaires compliance with state laws. The Urban Park Rangers was founded as a program in 1979 by then Parks Commissioner Gordon J. Davis, with the support. The program provides free programs year-round, such as nature walks. They also operate programs such as The Natural Classroom for class trips, explorer programs are available for activities such as canoeing in the citys flagship parks in all five boroughs. NYC Urban Park Rangers are easily identified by their uniforms, although NYC Park Rangers possess peace officer status, their primary mission is environmental education, protection of park resources, and visitor safety. Law enforcement in city parks is the responsibility of the New York City Police Department, most businesses that operate or generate revenue on New York City parkland are considered concessions and must obtain a permit or license from the Revenue Division of Parks. Pursuant to the Citys Concession Rules, these licenses and permits are awarded through a public solicitation process. Approximately 500 concessions currently operate in parks throughout the five boroughs, the food service concessions range from pushcarts selling hot dogs to restaurants such as Tavern on the Green and Terrace on the Park
