The Friends of Brook Park in the South Bronx are removing the asphalt so there will be even more space to grow things. Brook Park is a community garden in Mott Haven, they grow food there-- it's amazing. The adjacent lot was covered in asphalt for some reason years ago. (It never made any sense)

Well, Today was "tear up the pavement day" and a lot of people showed up to help out. City council woman Melissa Mark-Viverito stopped by to cheer us on. I think we got about a third of the asphalt up-- so, there's still more work to be done.



You have no idea how much fun it is to expose the soil a take back a little patch of the earth from all of the pavement. Today the South Bronx got a little more green space for once!

Here's the the Friends of Brook Park for making this happen!

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Nature, or the idea of nature, exists in the early 21st century mind as a commodity. We may purchase products with "natural" ingredients or we may travel to exotic sites, at great expense, to experience nature. Part of the rationale behind the creation of suburbs was an attempt to bring people closer to nature. But, what is nature? The word "nature" conjures images of green landscapes filled with non-human plant and animal life. Nature is thought of as anything or anyplace that is not human. Moreover, the very presence of humans "destroys" nature. Yet, strangely, many people feel that we have a fundamental urge to "reconnect" with that which, by definition, we can never truly experience in its purest form: the raw inhuman primitive energy of the wild.
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From: The Urban Naturalist.

Feral Grouds
Susan Murray, August 2005
Watercolor 16" by 22"

In another forum someone was looking at this artwork and they said:
Hi again...This is great as is...such a shame that people feel they have to deface such a pretty place...

This comment really set me off... can;t quite explain why, but here is my response:

I think it's a shame that the city stopped fixing the paths and lamps and cutting the grass. It's also a shame that the police don't go in there so the whole place is filled with drug dealer's. The biggest shame is the cross Bronx expressway... it cuts right through the park making it dark and scary even on a summer's day. The city has money to keep Bryant Park and The Battery Park in wonderful condition, but not enough for the basics in Highbridge Park. Highbridge Park is one of the oldest in Manhattan. It has a pedestrian bridge that connects The Bronx and Manhattan, the oldest bridge in the city. But it's a shame the city closed it in the late 60s and it's a shame they can't be bothered with opening it... even when they keep all the bridges for cars in perfect working order. It a shame they city thinks so little about people don't drive, that is, most of the people who live here!

This used to be the Harlem River promenade-- imagine women in skirts with bustles and guys with bowler hats out for a Sunday stroll! There was a racetrack called the "Harlem River Speedway" and in the summer the carnival would come and set up down on the boardwalk. Ask any old timer from Washington heights. Highbridge Park was the place to be!

Not anymore.

Considering the neglect, laceration by highways and willful indifference I think the graffiti are an improvement. It's color and energy in an otherwise dead place. If there were no graffiti I'd never go in to this park at all.

Oddly, the city, who can't seem to be bothered to fix a light bulb or even out the pavers in the walkways has time to paint over this graffiti on a weekly basis. I just don't get it. Especially the graffiti on the underpass at the cross Bronx expressway… a stone wall may have some merit, but anything built by Robert Moses is crap. It's almost as if the young vandals can sense the insult the overpass delivers to their park. It's ugly cement pillars stand in five foot height weeds, out of them graffiti rises colorful wild and anarchic. Suddenly, the ugly overpass has become playground. It makes my heart sing. It’s a shame more people don’t feel the same way.

( So how do you like my new painting? )

This is central park. I'm REALLY unhappy with this one. It's crappy but I can't explain why. Can you?

*sigh*

Today I walked the Old Croton Aqueduct in the Bronx with the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct as a part of "open house new york." The highlight was definitely a trip to the top of the highbridge water tower in Manhattan. The tower is octagonal and there are fantastic views in every direction. Even the expressway looks beautiful from up there. The tour was rather tame by "urban exploration" standards—but definitely worth the time.

On the Bronx side of the high bridge one can walk right up to the bridge entrance and, by peering through a heavy steel gate, one may catch a glimpse of the oh-so tempting pedestrian path that soars unobstructed over the Harlem river. How I long to walk over that bridge. I’m telling you, my soul is aching.

Deeper in the Bronx along the aqueduct one finds a series of paths that run behind the apartment buildings surrounded by crumbling masonry and wild grass. One section of the path is closed off by a gate at the back of "Aqueduct Lands Playground" at W 183 St. and Tremont. Looking through the gate I could see silver leaves dancing in the wind and tall black park lamps with broken bulbs buried in ragged greenery.

On the Bronx side of the park our guide showed us a wonderful flight of dark, stone Victorian stairs that goes down to the water just beneath the high bridge. Later, on the Manhattan side we were lost momentarily in high bridge park—but luckily, I know that park quite well from my painting excursions and I felt quit proud that I could lead the way.

I know I promised photos… but I forgot my camera! I guess I’ll just have to do the whole walk over again! (not that I mind)

Watercolor on hot press paper
18" Wide

I need a title..
Well, what sort of things do you think about when you see this?

When I first came across Highbridge Park (shortly after moving to Washington Heights) all I could think was: "how did this happen?" Here was an urban oasis on the order of central park in ruins. I started to do some research.
Basically Highbridge park has fallen off of the radar of new york city for nearly 30 years. This is strange considering it is
1. huge
2. a park
3. in Manhattan
A search of google for Highbridge Park returns the New York Restoration Project who has been working over the past few years (since 200 or so) to restore the park. When they first started it was filled with dumped cars and was a haven for prostitutes and drug dealers. Much of the trash has been removed, but the twisted lamp posts the cracked steps and graffiti (which covers every stone or concrete surface in sight) speak of what the park has been through.
Walking through the park fills me with a sense of despair—It’s like we’ve forgotten what a city is supposed to be. It’s evident that the city of new york simply gave up on this part of the city for many years.
( more of the park ... )

http://www.futurebird.com/highbridge/

When I first came across Highbridge Park (shortly after moving to Washington Heights) all I could think was: "how did this happen?" Here was an urban oasis on the order of central park in ruins. I started to do some research.

Basically Highbridge park has fallen off of the radar of new york city for nearly 30 years. This is strange considering it is

1. huge
2. a park
3. in Manhattan

A search of google for Highbridge Park returns the New York Restoration Project who has been working over the past few years (since 200 or so) to restore the park. When they first started it was filled with dumped cars and was a haven for prostitutes and drug dealers. Much of the trash has been removed, but the twisted lamp posts the cracked steps and graffiti (which covers every stone or concrete surface in sight) speak of what the park has been through.

Walking through the park fills me with a sense of despair—It’s like we’ve forgotten what a city is supposed to be. It’s evident that the city of new york simply gave up on this part of the city for many years.

There is a foot bridge (pedestrians only) in the park that connects the Bronx to Manhattan. It’s called the Highbridge and is the namesake of the park—it’s the oldest bridge in new york city. It was closed in the 70s because a boy threw a rock off of it and hit a tourist—There is nothing wrong with it structurally—the city was just unwilling to deal with the crime problems in the park so they basically fenced it off —much of the park remains fenced off even today.

I guess I’m writing this because I wonder of anyone has felt this way when encountering urban blight —there is something romantically post-apocalyptic about it—and something devastating and frightening. I can’t find much information on how or why the park fell in to disrepair—how or why the neighborhoods changed—

If you have any links please help.