WHERE: The Kingsbridge section of the Bronx
START: Kingsbridge Road subway station (4 train)
FINISH: 231 Street subway station (1 train), fully accessible
DISTANCE: 1.28 miles (2.06 kilometers)
Photographic credits as noted. Map courtesy footpathmap.com.
This day’s walk was supposed to have been longer, taking in a lot of pre-World War II architecture on the upper Grand Concourse before ending up in Kingsbridge. My friend Joe was the only person who joined me, so we did a different walk. What this walk lacked in distance was offset by physical challenge. Walking downhill is harder by far than walking down stairs. This walk featured a long, steep downhill on West Kingsbridge Road.
We started at the massive Kingsbridge Armory, possibly the largest armory ever built. It was constructed between 1912 and 1917 and covers all of a 5-acre (2 hectare) site. It was designated a city landmark in 1974. At that time the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission called it "an outstanding example of military architecture." The building fell into disrepair and title to it was transferred to New York City in 1996. Before that time and since, there have been several plans for re-use of the armory, none of which have come to fruition as the City and the community have been unable to develop a common vision for the armory. Meanwhile, it stands mute and unused. Outside the armory along West Kingsbridge Road were people selling all manner of stuff. Laid out on a blanket was an assortment of women’s wigs. I wish I had photographed all this. I might have to go back soon.
Kingsbridge Armory, looking west along West Kingsbridge Road from the elevated subway station. Photograph courtesy curbed.com.
We continued west on a gentle uphill past University Avenue and the Old Croton Aqueduct crossing, before beginning a tough downhill to the Major Deegan Expressway (Interstate 87) starting at Webb Avenue (for which the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture was named) and the Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This descent was 138 feet (42 meters) in 0.39 mile (0.63 kilometer), or 6.7 percent. Some sense of this can be gained from the following screenshots from Google Earth, proceeding west.
The rest of the walk was unremarkable, going past a large shopping center across from which is a large public housing complex. These were built on the bed of the old Spuyten Duyvil Creek. For more about this area go to my post “Over Hill and Through Riverdale” on the page “The Stair Streets of New York City.”
For me to walk down a steep hill requires care and mindfulness. Looking down the hill from Sedgwick Avenue, I said to Joe, “I’m not liking this hill.” I was concerned by the steepness of the hill and uncertain about the condition of the sidewalk. But I wasn’t going to go back to the Kingsbridge Armory, so we pressed on, carefully and successfully. I felt a lot of satisfaction after this walk.