Black Spades
The Black Spades were a African-American street gang which started in the Bronx during the late 1960s and gained popularity in the 1970s. The gang began to spread from the Bronx to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Rochelle, New Jersey and Connecticut by the late 1980s. During this period Hispanic and white members were more common; the Black Spades have made a comeback in 2019 with more members joining. The gang originated in 1968 in the Bronxdale Houses in the Soundview section of the Bronx as the Savage Seven; as the gang grew, they changed their name to the Black Spades. The Black Spades formed in Junior High School 123 on Morrison Ave in Soundview. A teenage street organization, The Spades followed the teachings of The Five Percent Nation, Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, were influenced by the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground Organization. Under the leadership of their original president David, a member of the Nation of Islam, the Spades organized to fight against the racism and bigotry in the Soundview, Clason Point, Castle Hill, Throgs Neck neighborhoods of the Bronx.
The 1st division Black Spades policed and protected Bronxdale Houses from the rise in crime, drug dealers, heroin addicts who began to take over the community. The gang spread to nearby housing projects in the area and throughout the Bronx, starting a subculture inviting music in the lives of gang members; the Black Spades were participants in the Hoe Avenue peace meeting. The Black Spades included a women's division that started in Clason Point housing and Junior High School I. S. 131. By the early 1970s the Black Spades had increased in numbers and members began to lose focus of their original purpose; the Black Spades and younger members became other divisions were unrestrained. David didn't like the direction. Afterwards the Black Spades became a full-fledged street gang. New York street gang activity peaked in 1973, began to decline. Reasons for this decline included violence and drug use as well as a move to the burgeoning hip hop culture in park jams, block parties and clubs. Afrika Bambaataa was a warlord in a Black Spade division before becoming a famous hip hop DJ.
He went on to form the Universal Zulu Nation on November 12, 1973. Kool DJ Herc, an early hip hop music pioneer, credits gangs including the Black Spades with getting the hip hop scene started, it started coming together as far as the gangs terrorizing a lot of known discotheques back in the days. I had respect from some of the gang members. There were Glory Stompers, Blue Diamonds, Black Cats and Black Spades; the organization had a strong following through the late 1990s. Around this time many young members of the organization transitioned their membership to the Bloods street gang of NYC. Universal Zulu Nation 80 Blocks From Tiffany's
New York (state)
New York is a state in the Northeastern United States. New York was one of the original thirteen colonies. With an estimated 19.54 million residents in 2018, it is the fourth most populous state. To distinguish the state from the city with the same name, it is sometimes called New York State; the state's most populous city, New York City, makes up over 40% of the state's population. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York metropolitan area, nearly 40% lives on Long Island; the state and city were both named for the 17th century Duke of York, the future King James II of England. With an estimated population of 8.62 million in 2017, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York metropolitan area is one of the most populous in the world. New York City is a global city, home to the United Nations Headquarters and has been described as the cultural and media capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city.
The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. The 27th largest U. S. state in land area, New York has a diverse geography. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut and Vermont to the east; the state has a maritime border with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the northwest. The southern part of the state is in the Atlantic coastal plain and includes Long Island and several smaller associated islands, as well as New York City and the lower Hudson River Valley; the large Upstate New York region comprises several ranges of the wider Appalachian Mountains, the Adirondack Mountains in the Northeastern lobe of the state. Two major river valleys – the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley – bisect these more mountainous regions. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes region and borders Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Niagara Falls.
The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, a popular vacation and tourist destination. New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. French colonists and Jesuit missionaries arrived southward from Montreal for trade and proselytizing. In 1609, the region was visited by Henry Hudson sailing for the Dutch East India Company; the Dutch built Fort Nassau in 1614 at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, where the present-day capital of Albany developed. The Dutch soon settled New Amsterdam and parts of the Hudson Valley, establishing the multicultural colony of New Netherland, a center of trade and immigration. England seized the colony from the Dutch in 1664. During the American Revolutionary War, a group of colonists of the Province of New York attempted to take control of the British colony and succeeded in establishing independence. In the 19th century, New York's development of access to the interior beginning with the Erie Canal, gave it incomparable advantages over other regions of the U.
S. built its political and cultural ascendancy. Many landmarks in New York are well known, including four of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, Niagara Falls, Grand Central Terminal. New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance, environmental sustainability. New York's higher education network comprises 200 colleges and universities, including Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, the United States Military Academy, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rockefeller University, which have been ranked among the top 40 in the nation and world; the tribes in what is now New York were predominantly Algonquian. Long Island was divided in half between the Wampanoag and Lenape; the Lenape controlled most of the region surrounding New York Harbor.
North of the Lenape was the Mohicans. Starting north of them, from east to west, were three Iroquoian nations: the Mohawk, the original Iroquois and the Petun. South of them, divided along Appalachia, were the Susquehannock and the Erie. Many of the Wampanoag and Mohican peoples were caught up in King Philip's War, a joint effort of many New England tribes to push Europeans off their land. After the death of their leader, Chief Philip Metacomet, most of those peoples fled inland, splitting into the Abenaki and the Schaghticoke. Many of the Mohicans remained in the region until the 1800s, however, a small group known as the Ouabano migrated southwest into West Virginia at an earlier time, they may have merged with the Shawnee. The Mohawk and Susquehannock were the most militaristic. Trying to corner trade with the Europeans, they targeted other tribes; the Mohawk were known for refusing white settlement on their land and banishing any of their people who converted to Christianity. They posed a major threat to the Abenaki and Mohicans, while the Susquehannock conquered the Lenape in the 1600s.
The most devastating event of the century, was the Beaver Wars. From 1640–1680, Iroquoian peoples waged campaigns which extended from modern-day Michigan to Virginia against Algonquian and Siouan tribes, as well as each other; the ai
James J. Peters VA Medical Center
The James J. Peters VA Medical Center, is a US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital complex located at 130 West Kingsbridge Road, The Bronx, it opened as United States Veterans' Hospital no. 81 on April 15, 1922. Prior to the creation of the Bronx Veterans Hospital, the site was used by the Sisters of Charity of New York as the Bronx Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum. By the 1970s, the original hospital had deteriorated to the point that a Life magazine article was written about it. One of the hospital's patients during this time period was Ron Kovic, who described the hospital as having "deplorable conditions"; the hospital was rebuilt in the late 1970s to address these issues. The Bronx Veterans hospital was renamed after James J. Peters in 2002. Peters, a US Army veteran, was patient of the Bronx Veterans Hospital who founded several organizations to address the needs of patients with spinal cord injuries, including the United Spinal Association known as the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association.
The hospital is the headquarters of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network. This network is the parent network to VA New York Harbor Healthcare System; the Fisher House Foundation is building two Fisher houses on the James J. Peters VA Medical Center grounds in 2018; the campus falls under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police. Rosalyn Sussman Yalow - Nobel laureate. Collaborated with Solomon Berson to develop radioimmunoassay. Solomon Berson - Collaborated with Rosalyn Sussman Yalow to develop radioimmunoassay. Shimon Glick - Worked in the laboratory of Berson and Yalow. Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University. Ludwik Gross - Director of the Cancer Research Division. Isolated murine polyomavirus. Paul R. Cunningham - Surgeon. Dean of Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. David B. Levine - Orthopaedic surgeon. Various positions at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Charles S. Lieber - Clinical nutritionist.
Known for research into excess alcohol consumption and cirrhosis of the liver. Victor Herbert - hematologist. Worked in the Nutrition Research Laboratory. Known for folate and megaloblastic anemia research. Nicholas J. Cifarelli - Nephrology. Pioneered the first Bioethics Advisory Committee in the United States. Kenneth Sterling - Director of the protein research laboratory. Made significant discoveries on thyroid hormone activation. Giulio Maria Pasinetti - Director of the Translational Neuroscience Laboratories. Known for neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine. Ronald Hearn - United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty on July 25, 1988 Eric Burroughs - American stage and radio actor. Timothy Wright - Grammy-nominated gospel singer and pastor. Veterans Health Administration United Spinal Association VA New York Harbor Healthcare System Ron Kovic - patient in 1968. Author of Born on the Fourth of July Born on the Fourth of July - film based on Ron Kovic's autobiography Official website VA New York Harbor Healthcare System New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network Bronx Veterans Medical Research Foundation
Health insurance coverage in the United States
Health insurance coverage in the United States is provided by several public and private sources. During 2016, the U. S. population overall was 325 million, with 53 million people 65 years of age and over, covered by the federal Medicare program. The 272 million non-institutional people under age 65 either obtained their coverage from employer-based or non-employer based sources, or were uninsured. 15 million military personnel received coverage through the Veteran's Administration and Military Health System. During the year 2016, 91.2% of Americans had health insurance coverage. Despite being among the top world economic powers, the US remains the sole industrialized nation in the world without universal health care coverage. Prohibitively high cost is the primary reason. At over 27 million, higher than the entire population of Australia, the number of people without health insurance coverage in the United States is one of the primary concerns raised by advocates of health care reform. Lack of health insurance is associated with increased mortality, in the range 30-90 thousand deaths per year, depending on the study.
Multiple surveys indicate the number of uninsured fell between 2013-2016 due to expanded Medicaid eligibility and health insurance exchanges established due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act known as the "ACA" or "Obamacare". According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2012 there were 45.6 million people in the US who were without health insurance. Following the implementation of major ACA provisions in 2013, this figure fell by 18.3 million or 40%, to 27.3 million by 2016 or 8.6% of the under-65 population. The Census Bureau reported that the number of uninsured persons rose from 27.3 million in 2016 to 28.0 million in 2017. The uninsured rate rose from 8.6% in 2016 to 8.7% in 2017. This was the first increase in the number and rate of uninsured since 2010. Further, the Commonwealth Fund estimated in May 2018 that the number of uninsured increased by 4 million from early 2016 to early 2018; the rate of those uninsured increased from 12.7% in 2016 to 15.5% under their methodology.
The impact was greater among lower-income adults, who had a higher uninsured rate than higher-income adults. Regionally, the South and West had higher uninsured rates than the East. Further, those 18 states that have not expanded Medicaid had a higher uninsured rate than those that did; the causes of this rate of uninsurance remain a matter of political debate. Nearly half those without insurance cite its cost as the primary factor. Rising insurance costs have contributed to a trend in which fewer employers are offering health insurance, many employers are managing costs by requiring higher employee contributions. Many of the uninsured are unemployed. Health insurance coverage is provided by several private sources in the United States. Analyzing these statistics is more challenging due to persons with multiple sources of insurance, such as those with coverage under both an employer plan and Medicaid. During 2016, the U. S. population overall was 325 million, with 53 million persons 65 years of age and over covered by the federal Medicare program.
For the remaining 272 million non-institutional persons under age 65: There were 155 million with employer-based coverage, 90 million with other coverage, 27 million uninsured. Of the 90 million with other coverage, 57 million were covered by Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program, 12 million were covered by the ACA/Obamacare exchanges, 11 million were covered by the ACA Medicaid expansion, 10 million had other coverage, such as private insurance purchased outside the ACA exchanges. Of the 12 million on the ACA exchanges, 10 million received subsidies and 2 million did not. Of the 27 million uninsured, 21 million were U. S. citizens while 6 million were non-citizens, including both documented and undocumented immigrants. In 2015, 45% of the uninsured were white, 32% were Hispanic, 15% were black. 15 million institutional personnel were covered by the Veteran's Administration in 2015. The uninsured rate fell from a peak of 18.2% in 2010 to 10.5% by 2015, due to ACA/Obamacare along with improvements in the economy.
States that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare had lower uninsured rates than states. Inability to afford insurance was the primary reason cited by persons without coverage. Lack of health insurance is associated with increased mortality, in the range 30-90 thousand deaths per year, depending on the study; this figure is calculated based on 1 additional death per 300-800 persons without health insurance, on a base of 27 million uninsured persons. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the number and percentage of uninsured during each year; the following table includes those under age 65. The 2010 figure represents the most recent peak, driven upward by the Great Recession. Most of the major provisions of the ACA took effect in 2014, so 2013 reflects the pre-ACA level. After reaching a record low in 2016 at the end of the Obama Administration, the number and percent of uninsured has risen during the first two years of the Trump Administration; the New York Times reported in January 2019 that the Trump Administration has taken a variety of steps to weaken the ACA, adversely affecting coverage.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the number of uninsured at 27 million in 2016, about 10% of the under-65 population of 272 million. Gallup estimated in July 2014 that the uninsured rate for adults was 1
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most the substance is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant which have been rolled into a small square of rice paper to create a small, round cylinder called a "cigarette". Smoking is practiced as a route of administration for recreational drug use because the combustion of the dried plant leaves vaporizes and delivers active substances into the lungs where they are absorbed into the bloodstream and reach bodily tissue. In the case of cigarette smoking these substances are contained in a mixture of aerosol particles and gasses and include the pharmacologically active alkaloid nicotine. In some cultures, smoking is carried out as a part of various rituals, where participants use it to help induce trance-like states that, they believe, can lead them to spiritual enlightenment. Smoking has negative health effects, because smoke inhalation inherently poses challenges to various physiologic processes such as respiration.
Diseases related to tobacco smoking have been shown to kill half of long-term smokers when compared to average mortality rates faced by non-smokers. Smoking caused over five million deaths a year from 1990 to 2015. Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. Tobacco smoking is the most popular form, being practiced by over one billion people globally, of whom the majority are in the developing countries. Less common drugs for smoking include opium; some of the substances are classified as hard narcotics, like heroin, but the use of these is limited as they are not commercially available. Cigarettes are industrially manufactured but can be hand-rolled from loose tobacco and rolling paper. Other smoking implements include pipes, bidis and bongs. Smoking can be dated to as early as 5000 BCE, has been recorded in many different cultures across the world. Early smoking evolved in association with religious ceremonies. After the European exploration and conquest of the Americas, the practice of smoking tobacco spread to the rest of the world.
In regions like India and Sub-Saharan Africa, it merged with existing practices of smoking. In Europe, it introduced a new type of social activity and a form of drug intake, unknown. Perception surrounding smoking has varied over time and from one place to another: holy and sinful and vulgar, a panacea and deadly health hazard. In the 20th century, smoking came to be viewed in a decidedly negative light in Western countries; this is due to smoking tobacco being among the leading causes of many diseases such as lung cancer, heart attack, COPD, erectile dysfunction, birth defects. The health hazards of smoking have caused many countries to institute high taxes on tobacco products, run ads to discourage use, limit ads that promote use, provide help with quitting for those who do smoke; the history of smoking dates back to as early as 5000 BCE in shamanistic rituals. Many ancient civilizations, such as the Babylonians and Chinese, burnt incense as a part of religious rituals, as did the Israelites and the Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.
Smoking in the Americas had its origins in the incense-burning ceremonies of shamans but was adopted for pleasure, or as a social tool. The smoking of tobacco, as well as various hallucinogenic drugs, was used to achieve trances and to come into contact with the spirit world. Substances such as cannabis, clarified butter, fish offal, dried snake skins and various pastes molded around incense sticks dates back at least 2000 years. Fumigation and fire offerings are prescribed in the Ayurveda for medical purposes, have been practiced for at least 3,000 years while smoking, has been practiced for at least 2,000 years. Before modern times these substances have been consumed through pipes, with stems of various lengths or chillums. Cannabis smoking was common in the Middle East before the arrival of tobacco, was early on a common social activity that centered around the type of water pipe called a hookah. Smoking after the introduction of tobacco, was an essential component of Muslim society and culture and became integrated with important traditions such as weddings and was expressed in architecture, clothing and poetry.
Cannabis smoking was introduced to Sub-Saharan Africa through Ethiopia and the east African coast by either Indian or Arab traders in the 13th century or earlier and spread on the same trade routes as those that carried coffee, which originated in the highlands of Ethiopia. It was smoked in calabash water pipes with terracotta smoking bowls an Ethiopian invention, conveyed to eastern and central Africa. Reports from the first European explorers and conquistadors to reach the Americas tell of rituals where native priests smoked themselves into such high degrees of intoxication that it is unlikely that the rituals were limited to just tobacco. In 1612, six years after the settlement of Jamestown, John Rolfe was credited as the first settler to raise tobacco as a cash crop; the demand grew as tobacco, referred to as "golden weed", revived the Virginia Company from its failed gold expeditions. In order to meet de
Gentrification
Gentrification is a process of renovating deteriorated urban neighborhoods by means of the influx of more affluent residents. This is a common and controversial topic in urban planning. Gentrification can improve the material quality of a neighborhood, while potentially forcing relocation of current, established residents and businesses, causing them to move from a gentrified area, seeking lower cost housing and stores. Gentrification shifts a neighborhood's racial/ethnic composition and average household income by developing new, more expensive housing and improved resources. Conversations about gentrification have evolved, as many in the social-scientific community have questioned the negative connotations associated with the word gentrification. One example is that gentrification can lead to community displacement for lower-income families in gentrifying neighborhoods, as property values and rental costs rise; the gentrification process is the result of increasing attraction to an area by people with higher incomes spilling over from neighboring cities, towns, or neighborhoods.
Further steps are increased investments in a community and the related infrastructure by real estate development businesses, local government, or community activists and resulting economic development, increased attraction of business, lower crime rates. In addition to these potential benefits, gentrification can lead to population migration and displacement. However, some view the fear of displacement, dominating the debate about gentrification, as hindering discussion about genuine progressive approaches to distribute the benefits of urban redevelopment strategies; the term gentrification has come to refer to a multi-faceted phenomenon that can be defined in different ways. Gentrification is "a complex process involving physical improvement of the housing stock, housing tenure change from renting to owning, price rises and the displacement or replacement of the working-class population by the new middle class. Historians say that gentrification took place in ancient Rome and in Roman Britain, where large villas were replacing small shops by the 3rd century, AD.
The word gentrification derives from gentry—which comes from the Old French word genterise, "of gentle birth" and "people of gentle birth". In England, Landed gentry denoted the social class. Although the term was used in English in the 1950s - for instance by Sidney Perutz and by William Xenophon Weed and Oscar Le Roy Warren, British sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term "gentrification" in 1964 to describe the influx of middle-class people displacing lower-class worker residents in urban neighborhoods. Shabby, modest mews and cottages—two rooms up and two down—have been taken over, when their leases have expired, have become elegant, expensive residences... Once this process of'gentrification' starts in a district it goes on until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report Health Effects of Gentrification defines the real estate concept of gentrification as "the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value.
This change has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses... when long-time or original neighborhood residents move from a gentrified area because of higher rents and property taxes. Gentrification is a housing and health issue that affects a community's history and culture and reduces social capital, it shifts a neighborhood's characteristics, e.g. racial-ethnic composition and household income, by adding new stores and resources in run-down neighborhoods."Scholars and pundits have applied a variety of definitions to gentrification since 1964, some oriented around gentrifiers, others oriented around the displaced, some a combination of both. The first category include Hackworth's definition "the production of space for progressively more affluent users"; the second category include Kasman's definition "the reduction of residential and retail space affordable to low-income residents". The final category includes Rose, who describes gentrification as a process "in which members of the'new middle class' move into and physically and culturally reshape working-class inner city neighbourhoods".
In the Brookings Institution report Dealing with Neighborhood Change: A Primer on Gentrification and Policy Choices, Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard say that "the term'gentrification' is both imprecise and quite politically charged", suggesting its redefinition as "the process by which higher income households displace lower income residents of a neighborhood, changing the essential character and flavour of that neighborhood", so distinguishing it from the different socio-economic process of "neighborhood revitalization", although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. German geographers have a more distanced view on gentrification. Actual gentrification is seen as a mere symbolic issue happening in a low number of places and blocks, the symbolic value and visibility in public discourse being higher than actual migration trends. E.g. Gerhard Hard assumes that urban flight is still more im
Harlem River
The Harlem River is an 8-mile tidal strait flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the New York mainland. The northern stretch called the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, has been altered for navigation purposes, it curved round the north of Marble Hill, but in 1895 the Harlem River Ship Canal was dug between Manhattan and Marble Hill, in 1914 the original course was filled in. The Harlem River forms a part of the Hudson estuary system, serving as a narrow strait that divides the island of Manhattan from the Bronx. 18,000 years ago the Laurentide ice sheet receded northward across the continent leaving behind a large escarpment creating the modern day Hudson River. About 6,000 years ago the Hudson River emptied into the ancient Atlantic Ocean, depositing sediments over the bedrock; the "river" is an estuary, as the Harlem River has neither a mouth nor a source, but instead connects two larger bodies of water, the Hudson River, via the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, to the East River –, itself not a river, but a salt water tidal strait – at Randall’s Island, near 125th Street.
The Harlem River is therefore affected by the actions of neighboring waterways. The ebb and flow of the tides causes the Harlem River’s currents to fluctuate throughout the day; the effects of the tides have influenced the spread of silts and other particles in the water. The tides were important in defining the usage of the Harlem River as they caused the currents to be difficult to navigate in the northern portion of the waterway, allowing only smaller ships and experienced sailors. Stretching 7 miles, the Harlem River meandered through its length, but its course today is much straighter than it was in its natural state due to changes in its route and shoreline character. Sherman Creek is a small inlet off Dyckman Street in Inwood. Named for a family that settled there in 1807, it was once the site of a number of racing shell clubs' boathouses along "sculler's row"; the last, belonging to Fordham University, was lost to suspected arson in 1978. As a name for the several blocks around it, Sherman Creek is something of a historical relic, although many regard it as a part of Washington Heights.
The Manhattan Institute held a forum, "Saving Sherman Creek," in January 2006 at the Harvard Club of New York. There has been an initiative among politicians over the last few years to re-zone this area for residential and commercial use, to create public access to the waterfront. Con Ed and the City of New York own some of the property in this area. In August 2017, a $100,000 project to restore the park's marsh and provide public waterfront space was announced. Pyramidal concrete structures known as "oyster castles" will be built that break the waves and allow oysters to grow on them; the resulting oyster reef protects the marsh by absorbing waves, both natural ones and those created by the wakes of boats. The financing of the project, which will be undertaken by the New York Restoration Project, founded by Bette Midler, will be provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, was secured by State Senator Marisol Alcantara; the Sherman Creek restoration is a pilot project, hoped will be put into effect to restore marshes along Inwood Hill Park and on Muscota Marsh.
Spuyten Duyvil Creek is a tidal estuary that flows south-eastward. It went up, around a Manhattan neighborhood known as Marble Hill before joining the Harlem River at its northernmost extreme; the channel was difficult to navigate, resulting in the construction of the Harlem River Ship Canal in 1895. This turned the watercourse west where 222nd Street would be in the Bronx, which had the effect of isolating Marble Hill. Two decades the original creekbed was filled in, physically attaching Marble Hill to the Bronx, though it remains part of the borough of Manhattan. Another channel was dug in 1937 to the west of the 1895 realignment straightening the Spuyten Duyvil towards the Hudson, it pared off a protruding tip of the Bronx, absorbed into Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park, home today to its Nature Center. The landmass of Marble Hill once provided a fine location for Native American encampments, where fertile soil, shelter by hills to the west, the abundance of fishing and “oystering” options nearby were found.
By the end of the 17th century most land along the “Harlaem River” had come under the ownership of the Dutch families whose names are now seen on street signs, area maps, parks, including Jonas Dyckman, Jacob Nagle, etc. The British Colonial authorities, however wrested control of the island from the Dutch, regulation of waterfront construction became the responsibility of the city, it was in this era that the first crossing on the Harlem was built, at the Old Albany Road in 1693, beginning a long history of bridge construction and physical alterations to the river. This came to be called King’s Bridge, where a toll was assessed for access to the island and lands south. While this crossing was intended to replace the ferry service provided in the same area from 1669 onward, the local population bridled over the toll, popular sentiment culminated in the construction of
United States
New York
New York City
The Bronx
