Harlem River Working Group

  The Harlem River Working group met last week at Lehman College for its third and last session on planning recommendations for the Harlem River Bronx Waterfront. The Bronx Borough Presidents office, Community Boards 1,4,5,7,8, and local elected officials are trying to connect Bronx residents with the Harlem River. There have been different plans that have been proposed over the past four years, and some have changed in one way or another.

  The Trust for Public Land (a national non-profit organization) along with Pratt Institute are gathering information from past and present working groups to come up with a definite plan for the Bronx Harlem River Waterfront. At Lehman College there were three breakout groups from different areas that brought out ideas, and then were presented to the group as a whole to add or comment on. 

  The project will begin at the the new Fresh Direct site in the Southern portion of the Bronx with a proposal for a pedestrian bridge at Lincoln Avenue for waterfront access. A path from the Bronx to Randall's Island under the current train trestle is proposed, while Pier 5 by Yankee Stadium is proposed to be a waterfront park. A new safer route under the Macombs Dam Bridge is also proposed, while a new 3 acre park at Highbridge is also in the works. Access to the Putnam Greenway by Fordham Landing along the Train tracks, and a waterfront park by the Spuyten Dyvil Metro North station are also proposed. 

  There was discussion on how people would get to the waterfront on the other side of the Metro North tracks, access across the Henry Hudson Bridge to the Greenway, the waterfront by Target, and to the waterfront Triangle at the Spuyten Dyvil station. 

  In June there will be a final proposal by Pratt for the Bronx Council for Environment Quality  and public to discuss. Several government agencies (EPA, HUD, Army Corp of Engineers, Fish & Wildlife Agriculture) as part of the Urban Waters Initiative are charged with this non funded mandate.

   Visit the BCEQ website for much more on this and other items of interest at http://www.bceq.org/ .

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