Neighbors to city: Don’t give up on park bridge

Somewhere along the way, the point of this project has lost sight. You can go back 20 years where the advocacy about this project was about equity. Part of equity was about getting from Point A to Point B in a faster way.”

KIM FURLETTI president, Bronx Women of Woodlawn

Before automobiles, Van Cortlandt Park was a bucolic place where the only sounds were those of nature in the third-largest park in New York City.

Eventually, two parkways — Henry Hudson and Mosholu — and one highway — Major Deegan Expressway — broke up the serenity as they were built through the middle of the 1,000-acre park.

Today more than 125,000 drivers travel over the Major Deegan Expressway every day. It passes by several Bronx landmarks, including Yankee Stadium and the Regal High Bridge. The expressway also helps travelers make their way to the other boroughs. But since it was built through Van Cortlandt Park, it left pedestrians without a clear way to travel to the other side of the park.

The plan to build the highways through the park was laid out by parks commissioner Robert Moses in 1939 to connect the Triborough Bridge and the Grand Concourse. In 1956, Moses extended the highway from 144th Street through Van Cortlandt Park. The cut separated parts of Woodlawn Heights and Woodlawn to the western side of the Bronx.

A 2009 feasibility study in 2015, advocated $12 million should be allocated for a pedestrian bridge that will finally bring the west and east together. The proposed location was the eastern side of the Allen Shandler Recreation Area and connected to the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail.

But it was not enough to build the bridge. And now that plan is up in the air as the city parks department looks at alternatives for pedestrians.

Five years later, Councilman Andrew Cohen at the time secured $11.5 million to make up the balance of $23.5 million for the bridge. Everyone expected the bridge to continue as planned. That’s not what happened.

During Covid-19, all capital projects, including the pedestrian bridge project, were halted in the city. The initially proposed project is now facing a budget shortfall of $15 million due to supply chain costs.

Forty percent of the design phase was delayed due to Covid. The cost was estimated at $35 million, which increased to $38 million.

“Currently, we are exploring alternative enhancements that will improve access to and throughout the park and we will continue to provide updates regarding our efforts to provide the best possible park improvement for this community,” said Dan Kastanis, senior press officer of the parks department.

Design has changed to accommodate the Americans with Disability Act, which would affect an old grove in the Croton Woods.

The agency is looking for other forest-friendly approaches to successfully complete the long overdue project while simultaneously preserving the forest.

The proposal was originally presented to the Filtration Monitoring Committee meeting in January and later in March to Bronx Community Board 12, which covers Woodlawn and other neighborhoods surrounded it on the east.

But some residents within the community board had reservations about the project as it will be nearly a mile-long detour to walk along the East 233rd Street highway off-ramp, which could take 45 minutes.   

The representatives took the community feedback and presented a revised plan to CB8, which uses an existing overpass at East 233rd Street at Jerome Avenue with two options.

Those include:

• Modifying at-grade connection to the Aqueduct Trail that does not go as far north as the original.

• Not going north at all and making a short south turn along the existing trail just south of the gas station.

But at the end — the walk is still relatively long.

Annie Winmayr, a forester for the agency, aimed to give an easier connection from east of the park with paths to the parade ground, which is located near Manhattan College and Horace Mann School campuses. She provided time estimates in the CB8 meeting where she translated miles into minutes.

Kim Furletti, president of Bronx Women of Woodlawn, clearly expressed her disappointment and called the travel time inaccurate as it measures time from outside of Woodlawn.

“Somewhere along the way, the point of this project has lost sight,” Furletti said. “You can go back 20 years where the advocacy about this project was about equity.  Part of equity was about getting from Point A to Point B in a faster way.”

Matt Donham, director of capital design and construction for the parks department, said the proposed project now is a question of priorities. The amount parks aim to spend is less than what they have in place.

“We are typically operating in a world where we are trying to minimize these kinds of expenses,” Donham said.

When the director said “minimize expenses” he is referring to elevated walkways as it is cheaper to build pavement on grade. However, he will explore more if the community believes elevated boardwalks are a priority.

“I think what we are seeing now is that they’re trying to solve this problem as cheaply as possible so they can spend this money on other projects for the park,” said Debra Travis, chair of the CB8 parks committee.

However, residents are encouraging the city agency to spend a large sum of money on this project since this will be a long-term infrastructure project.

Geraldine McCleave, a Woodlawn resident says the project is multi-generational, which “our children and our children’s-children will enjoy.

“I think it’s a shame to not remember that this should have been built 70 years ago, and we can find the money if we want to.”

“We have less resources on our side of the park, there are more resources on the other side of the park, there are more programs on the other side of the park,” Furletti said.

The west side of the park has a stadium, pool and parade ground.

Residents like Furletti want to join programs for themselves or their children. She said walking there would be great. However, it would still take 45 minutes to walk from point A to point B. 

She created a petition on Change.org that has 188 signatures to support a pedestrian bridge in Van Cortlandt Park. She states the issue, background and new information.

The alternative must provide a safe passage for pedestrians as they would be forced to cross intersections of Jerome Avenue and East 233rd Street, the petition says.

Travis still has questions about the project that was not addressed at the parks committee meeting. “In Van Cortlandt Park in particular there seems to be often this conflict between pedestrians and folks on bikes,” she said.

The park representatives were unable to answer Travis as it is too early in design. However, they are aware that bike connections are something to explore.

Stephanie Ehrlich, the executive director and Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, did not respond for comment in the CB8 meeting from Travis and Donham, telling Travis, “I think you know how I feel.”