$61 Million Restoration of New York City’s Oldest Bridge – Closed For Decades – Is Part of
PlaNYC Vision for Eight Transformed Regional Parks
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today broke
ground on the restoration of the High Bridge, one of the eight regional
parks being transformed under
PlaNYC, the City’s long-term plan for a greener, greater New
York. The $61 million rehabilitation of the High Bridge will reopen it
for pedestrians and bicyclists, while providing a crucial link between
Manhattan and the Bronx over the Harlem River.
By 2014, the High Bridge will be rehabilitated and reopened for
pedestrians and bicyclists, providing an essential link in New York
City’s expanding waterfront Greenway. It will allow Bronx residents to
reach the Highbridge Pool and Recreation Center, and
Manhattan residents to reach the Harlem River waterfront. Regional
parks address the need for open space for New York City’s growing
population. There are currently 6.3 million New Yorkers who live within a
ten-minute walk of a park or playground, an increase
of 600,000 since PlaNYC was implemented in 2007. This project is
an inter-agency collaboration by the Departments of Parks,
Environmental Protection, Design and Construction and the Landmarks
Preservation Commission. The Mayor was joined at the groundbreaking
by First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris, Parks Commissioner Veronica
M. White, Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David J.
Burney, and Congressman José E. Serrano.
“Bringing the High Bridge up to modern standards while preserving its
historic character is a challenging bit of civil engineering – but one
that will pay dividends for generations to come,” said DDC Commissioner
David J. Burney.
“I thank Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner White and her team at the Parks
Department, and Congressman Serrano for their dedication to improving
our city’s green spaces and built environment. In giving this underused
structure a new lease on life and by reopening
a key link between neighborhoods, we hope the restored High Bridge will
become a ‘High Line’ for upper Manhattan and the Bronx.”
“Today’s groundbreaking
represents a remarkable milestone in our evolution into a greener,
greater city,” said DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland. “The High Bridge
was an important feat of engineering in the history
of our water supply, and today demonstrates once again Mayor
Bloomberg’s leadership in laying the foundation for an even brighter
future for New York City. DEP is proud to have contributed financial and
structural support to this landmark undertaking.”
“Though it has been a while coming, the start of this project is
particularly gratifying,” said Congressman José E. Serrano, who provided
more than $5 million in federal funding for the project in 2005 and
2006. “The City and
neighborhood groups deserve special praise for taking the seed money
that we were able to pull together more than seven years ago, and adding
to it and bringing us to today’s groundbreaking. Our borough has often
been symbolically disconnected from the rest
of the City, and so the High Bridge will rebuild a great connection.
The High Bridge is the oldest remaining bridge in New
York City. The bridge spans the Harlem River, connecting the
neighborhoods of Highbridge in the Bronx and Washington Heights in
Manhattan.
First opened in 1848 as part of the Old Croton Aqueduct, the
1,200–foot–long, 116-foot-tall High Bridge walkway first brought fresh
water to New York City from Westchester County and fueled the city’s
northward expansion. It was closed to regular public use
around 1970.
