WHERE: The Washington Bridge and the Broadway Bridge, both between the Bronx and Manhattan
START: 170 Street subway station (4 train), fully accessible
FINISH: 231 Street subway station (1 train), fully accessible
DISTANCE: 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers)
Photographs by Michael Cairl except as noted. Map courtesy Google Maps.
Route of this walk, reading from bottom to top.
Before this walk I had walked all the walkable bridges across the Harlem River except two: the Washington Bridge (not to be confused with the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River) and the Broadway Bridge. I decided to cross both of them in the course of one walk, which was the longest walk I had done for some time, on a clear, crisp Saturday afternoon. This included a good climb at the start along Macombs Road and the charmingly named Featherbed Lane. For some history of Featherbed Lane see the post entitled “West Bronx Mix 2” on the “Stair Streets” page. I’ve previously tackled many stair streets in this part of the Bronx.
A short distance into the walk was this apartment building, 1460 Macombs Road, with nice details.
From that apartment building almost to the Washington Bridge, the route was a steady, sometimes steep, uphill, but the climb was bracing.
The Washington Bridge opened in 1888, linking University Avenue in the Bronx and West 181 Street in Manhattan. At first it had two wide sidewalks; now, the sidewalks are not wide enough for two people to pass. I had to back up to the fence to allow people to pass. I’m glad to see that one of the Manhattan-bound car lanes has been converted to a bi-directional bike path.
Washington Bridge, circa 1900. Image courtesy Columbia University Libraries.
Washington Bridge, looking toward the Bronx. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Washington Bridge, looking toward Manhattan.
The chain link fence is understandable but a bit depressing. Still, I was able to get a view up the Harlem River showing the fall colors.
At the Manhattan end of the bridge is McNally Plaza, with a monument to neighborhood residents who died in the World War (World War I, that is).
I walked north on Laurel Hill Terrace, abutting Highbridge Park and its steep drop toward the Harlem River.
At West 184 Street I noticed what looked like well-maintained stairs going down to the Highbridge Park footpath. I’m going back there.
When i got to St. Nicholas Avenue and West 190 Street, I had the choice of going to and down the very steep street called Fort George Hill, or taking the elevator down to the 3-block long tunnel street to Broadway. For me, walking downhill without a handrail is more challenging than walking uphill without a handrail. I chose the elevator and tunnel street, which link to the deepest subway station in the city, the 191 Street station (1 train). The tunnel was recently and somewhat controversially rehabilitated to cover over the graffiti and open the surfaces to local artists. The graffiti is starting to return. At the Broadway entrance to the tunnel is a set of stairs next to a ramp that is too steep for wheelchairs, pedestrians, or much else.
What were they thinking?
At Broadway I began the second part of this walk, through the Inwood neighborhood to the Broadway Bridge. Walking along Sherman Avenue, I was in the heart of a vibrant community of people with roots in the Dominican Republic. I saw a lot of businesses offering money transfer and shipping services, the latter for people to send appliances and other things “back home.” I saw men playing dominoes at a table on the sidewalk. Sickles Street is co-named Santiago Cerón Way, for the Dominican singer who lived from 1940 to 2011. Sickles Street is named for the Sickles family, which once owned a tract of land in this area.
And there’s this establishment at Sherman Avenue and West 207 Street. Mofongo, piano bar, bakery, sushi. They have it all. I should try it.
While in this area I was interested to see if there were any sign, even a historical marker, noting the Inwood African Burial Ground that was on 10 Avenue between West 211 and West 212 Streets. Sadly, there is none. From the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum Alliance’s website:
In March of 1903, various New York City headlines announced the discovery of rows of skeletons under unmarked stone markers during construction that revealed a slave cemetery. City contractors ultimately destroyed the site to continue leveling the ground for urban development. The remains were quickly analyzed by amateur archaeologists before the bones were first left uncollected, then discarded. Today, no sign of it as a cemetery remains except in historical records. … This block is currently occupied by various Auto Shops and P.S. 98 - Shorac Kappock’s faculty parking lot.
I walked up West 212 Street to Broadway, where I turned north. I soon came upon the place where I started my climbing of New York City’s stair streets, at West 215 Street. This stair street was one of many personal triumphs recorded on this blog.
Soon I passed Columbia University’s Wien Stadium and came within sight of the Broadway Bridge.
The present Broadway Bridge is a vertical lift span that opened in 1962, replacing a swing bridge dating from 1906. The bridge has a lower deck for motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians and an upper deck for the subway, as the 1906 bridge did. The bridge spans what was called the Harlem Ship Canal, built in the late 19th century to facilitate navigation on the Harlem River, in place of the winding Spuyten Duyvil Creek. An excellent history of this area, and the bridges preceding the Broadway Bridges, may be found at https://www.welcome2thebronx.com/2018/08/02/in-search-of-the-historic-kings-bridge-on-the-bronx-manhattan-border/.
Broadway Bridge. Image from flickr.com.
View from the Broadway Bridge to Marble Hill and the Marble Hill station of Metro North Railroad’s Hudson Line.
From here I walked north on Broadway to the elevated 231 Street subway station, following lunch.
On this walk, not only did I cross the two bridges I intended to, I saw a lot of interesting things and imagined others, where there was no trace of what came before. The steady uphill to the Washington Bridge was a good workout. All this on a picture-perfect day.