Outdoor Afro Celebrates its Youth Leadership!
By special invitation, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program and Coastal Stewards participated in Estuary Education Day at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. on September 27, 2012 in celebration of National Estuaries Day and the 25th Anniversary of the National Estuary Program.
Pictured left to right, U.S. EPA Director of Oceans and Coastal Protections Division Paul Cough with Coastal Steward & Outdoor Afro Youth Leader Tashonna Grant, an 11th grade student at Stephen Decatur High School, who shared information about her local Assateague National Seashore. Way to go Tashonna!
Environmentalism: Nothing New for African-Americans
Submitted by Morgan Powell, a landscape designer, who edits Bronx River Sankofa on You Tube and Facebook. He is passionate about New York’s Bronx River and its African American heritage. Here is his third submission in a series to highlight the generous yet delicate resource of the Bronx River and African American engagement with our environment as a whole.
This blog will address four decades in the life of a ghetto park's stages of development. We'll recognize some of the local leadership whose initiative was founded by a white Catholic activist in 1974. Today, a riverfront park is being rebuilt as a monument to over three decades of stewardship, civic accomplishment and vision that grew from those efforts: West Farms Rapids park along the Bronx River Greenway.
Africans are known to have been taken in as community members by Native Americans throughout the age of North American colonization by Europe. I believe this came out of a mutuality of consciousness -- two traditional cultures creating family for survival.
West Farms Rapids (2 Acres)
The West Farms Community is one of many historic settlements along the Bronx River, which is the only freshwater river in New York City. Measuring 23 miles, this blue corridor has been central to the life of the Bronx since pre-colonial days. It winds its way from the heights of Westchester County to meet the East River at Hunt's Point. Called Aquehung (River of High Bluffs) by the Mohegan Indians who fished and hunted along its banks, the Bronx River derives its name from Jonas Bronck (1600-1643), a Swedish sea captain who settled 500 acres of the mainland in 1639 as the Bronx's first European resident.
While his land extended to the Bronx River, his home overlaid by today's neighborhood of Port Morris, was closer to where the East River bends toward its path to the Long Island Sound. The attraction of beaver fur brought European traders in the early 1600s at a time when Africans were know to accompany some trappers in the region. Soon, the Dutch followed by greater numbers of English settlers arrived.
Mills began to sprout up along "Bronck's River." By the mid-1800s as many as 11 mills were processing paper, flour, pottery, cotton, rugs, barrels, lumber, grains (wheat, millet, corn & barley), gun powder and tobacco, powered by the stream. More than a small share of those raw materials (e.g. cotton and tobacco) were harvested by African-Americans as near as Connecticut and as far away as Louisiana working in bondage and freedom.
The Bronx River Valley's economy grew through the 1600s and 1700s. Farming and cottage industries developed and flourished until the Revolutionary War, when the river became a shifting battle line between American Patriots and British Loyalists. The De Lancey family estate, now part of the Bronx Zoo, is well documented as a site of 18th century tensions. American troops gained control of the area when British Loyalists evacuated in 1783.
During the era between the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 and again in the 1840s during the construction of the New York & Harlem Railroad, factories sprang up along the Bronx River shores, which harnessed the current to power manufacturing. At one time, at least 11 mills stood between North Castle and West Farms. The Bolton Bleachery for cotton and wool textiles operated for many decades on the same site where the Lorraine Hansberry Academy is now situated at the intersection of Boston Road and East Tremont Avenue.
These industries brought both prosperity and pollution as they dumped their refuse into the waterfront. In 1896, a report by the New York State Legislature stated that the river had become an "open sewer" and appointed a commission to remedy the problem. After intensive study, the commission recommended that the city purchase the land alongside this waterway and transform it from an unregulated zone of farms, slums and factories into a landscaped nature preserve. America's first parkway was thus born, allowing the city and state to control activity along the river and providing motorists, bicyclists and strollers with a pleasant venue for recreation and scenic trips.
The Bronx River Parkway (opened in stages from 1916-1925) protected the watershed as it entered Bronx Park as envisioned by major advocates of it from the Bronx Zoo. However, the Bronx River did not receive dedicated ecological rehabilitation south of East 180th Street until 1974, when Ruth Anderberg founded the Bronx River Restoration Project (BXRR) on the inspiration of then Bronx Police Chief Anthony V. Bouza, who had already launched an intergovernmental dialogue to clean the river. West Farms Rapids (formerly Bronx River Park, originally Restoration Park) marks the genesis of those efforts. The rock-stuffed rubber-tire retaining wall most prominent on the east bank is a landmark commemorating 1980, when this place was officially opened as a park. Around this time, BXRR also created what's now called the Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) nearby and River Garden, and published the Bronx River Restoration Master Plan. This plan advocated the ecological revival of the whole river complete with a continuous linear park from the Kensico Dam to its mouth at the East River.
Many hands contributed to these early efforts, including teen-aged and adult workers and community leaders from Lambert Houses, like BXRR treasurer Marcel Woolery, Jr. Meanwhile, independent efforts to rehabilitate the surrounding community and expand green spaces were accelerating under the leadership of MBD Housing with black icons like Genevieve Brooks and E. J. Mitchell.
BXRR's efforts were funded by city programs like Summer Youth Employment. Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), local elected officials, Phipps Houses, and other organizations dedicated resources for construction, programming and maintenance. In the 1990s, local residents and workers formed a new coalition to revive this site. Called the West Farms Friends of the Bronx River, members included Michelle Williams, Bernard Tim Johnson, Nessie Panton (still active at River Garden), Andre Williams, Juanita Carter (honored with a street sign), Perquida Williams, Sebert Harper (currently a New York City Housing authority tenant gardening consultant) and others.
They organized riverfront clean-ups, planted the park's original butterfly garden and worked with the Parks Department to install picnic tables for family recreation. In 1997, HPD gave the city jurisdiction over this park and by 2008 the Parks Department owned it. Also in 1997, Partnerships for Parks convened the Bronx River Working Group, comprised of 20 founding partners, including Phipps Community Development Corporation, BXRR and the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality. This collaboration culminated in 2001 with the creation of the Bronx River Alliance.
In 2000, the Transportation Equity Act allocated $770,800 to renovate the park. This mid-Bronx node of the Bronx River Greenway broke ground in 2008 to improve safety and enhance multi-modal access, featuring a canoe launch, a new butterfly garden, an amphitheater and direct access to East Tremont Avenue where Bronx Street was absorbed into this park and demapped. The Department of Parks and Recreation of the City of New York, the Bronx River Alliance and community partners continue to maintain this remarkably beautiful and historic site.
Find this park on a map!
More about the author – Morgan Powell is editor and founder of Bronx River Sankofa on You Tube and Facebook. His initiative is part of a local movement to recognize four decades of African American environmentalists & over 350 years of Bronx social history including Afro ethno - botany in the Bronx River watershed. Over 525 folks have attended live presentations of his. Bronx River Sankofa is an independent project of the Bronx African American History Project of Fordham University in partnership with the Bronx County Historical Society.
Day Tripping: What You Can Discover on the Bronx River and Beyond!
Morgan Powell is a landscape designer who edits Bronx River Sankofa on You Tube and Facebook. He is passionate about New York's Bronx River and its African American heritage. Here is Morgan's second submission in a three-part series to highlight the generous yet delicate resource of the Bronx River:
I've just taken my fellow Whole Communities alumni Audrey and Frank Peterman's challenge to enjoy my local natural treasures. The Petermans wrote the Outdoor Afro classic Legacy on the Land. I saw a vast natural place outside of my normal travel patterns both arresting in beauty and historic that has taken me over a decade to visit from the time I first learned of it. If you live in a big city or suburb of one, there are bound to be places like this near you too! Here's my story.
You are about to re - live my path to discovery of a wonderfully designed walking/ biking path in Westchester, NY from the Metro-North commuter train station of Hartsdale to the august Kensico Dam in Valhalla, NY. For those who wish to explore these riverfront paths on their own, I am including a second section at the very end of this blog for the other long Bronx River Path beginning in suburban Bronxville, NY and concluding in the village of Scarsdale with a rest break at Crestwood, NY (4.6 miles). First, however, I'm going to summarize my route to this journey. Are you ready?
Helping to rehabilitate paths and the ecological vitality of New York City's only fresh water river has been a joyous pass-time of mine since 1993 shortly after I graduated from high school in the Bronx, New York. A group on which our federal AmeriCorps and Vista are modeled for young adult public service got me into the game. Our group was called the City Volunteer Corps and all that's left today is an alumni group on facebook...along with this reminiscence.
Like many working class minority individuals growing up in an urban area that had only recently seen white flight, I lacked many social connections to my local civic fabric because so many of the pillars of the community were packing up and leaving throughout my teens without connecting with/ grooming successors among the incoming Latino/ African-American/ Asian population. I got involved with park stewardship despite that and this is how it happened!
Like AmeriCorps, the City Volunteer Corps was devoted largely to human service and open space maintenance and development. My peers and I learned and grew in our service. I even discovered that a waterway in my backyard - majestic as it rolled through the New York Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo - was being cared for in ways I had never known.
My team members and I once spent two weeks doing maintenance chores along that Bronx River; it validated my neighborhood for me to know that folks had been quietly stewarding this local geologic and watery gem with all its gorges and overflow basins, through water quality tests, park development and more.
Almost a decade passed where my attention had turned to college and making a living until the New York Times published a long illustrated story featuring almost three decades of Bronx River stewardship beginning shortly after Earth Day's inauguration. Oh, how I red "A River Rises" on December 3, 2000 with wrapped attention! I would later discover on my own that a number of African Americans had each dedicated many years to the effort including Marcel Woolery Sr. and Jr. (seasonal foreman and treasurer), Jessie Collins (former Bronx River Art Center chairwoman currently leading the Friends of Haffen Park, Bronx),
Charles Vasser (Bronx Council for Environmental Quality board member and a founder of the Bronx River Alliance), David Shuffler (Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice Executive Director), Diane Sargent (Chairperson of the Bronx Greenway Committee and Plan), Nessie Panton (River [community] Garden advocate) and Majora Carter (whom I am shown below with) to name a few.
My research since then can be found as interviews, essays and digital tour guides on YouTube and Facebook with a search for "Bronx River Sankofa." The word Sankofa comes from the Akan language of Ghana that translates in English to "go back and get it." Many groups of African descent use this word and symbol to describe the journey of drawing strength and wisdom from the past in order to move forward. Enjoy!
I'll never stop marveling at one thing that stands out from over a decade re-united with other river stewards within city limits. The only African - Americans I EVER met who seemed to know the suburban sections of our river and its trails seemed to have come to such knowledge through paid work. I'm just saying, aren't folks curious? We walk/ bike/ canoe/ clean it for miles within city limits and all know it starts in Westchester to the north as we see it flow to us in the south. And there actually have been hundreds of local volunteers over the years so why the disconnect and what have we been missing? The first part of that question would require interviews. The question's end was easy to answer with a commuter train trip that began just ten minutes walk from my apartment. I can say without hyperbole that it was a journey in jubilance and may be even more so during fall foliage show time. Discover the Bronx river trails in the related links section below. Would you like musical accompaniment? Try anything from the Terence Blanchard Quintet! Here's the fast version of this spectacular five-mile walk to the Kensico Dam which was built above the springs that becomes the Bronx River. That's right, over 5 % of NYC drinking water is of Bronx River origin.
Travel log:
- arrived at Hartsdale Station in time for the farmers market there (June to November Saturdays 8a.m. to 3p.m.)
- see blog post end for dining options surrounding the Hartsdale Station
- entered the trail less than thirty yards from the train station just over a small stone bridge to the east
- encountered the relatively new cell phone audio tour guide's Stop no.14: Duckpond/ Haubolt Gunpowder Mill and kept in mind that an existing mill building from 1805 stands down river in Tuckahoe that processed cotton in pre - Civil War days
- enjoyed the natural Gothic arches of the woodland trail
- found pleasant apertures offering views of local neighborhoods along the walk
- enjoyed Revolutionary War Battle Hill monument at White Plains
- appreciated the opportunity to break for a snack and rest in downtown White Plains
- was humbled by the simple beauty of a rustic fence and stone framing of a path
- loved every original Bronx River Parkway stone bridge along the way from the 1910s and 1920s
- found great satisfaction in arriving at the Kensico Dam
- learned so much by reading commemorative carvings atop the dam wall from 1925 including:
"He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the frost like ashes"
"He covereth the heavens with clouds: he prepareth rain for the earth"
"He causeth his wind to blow and the waters to flow"
"He maketh grass to grow upon the mountains."
"This work was planned in 1897 and begun June 9, 1905 with the appointment of the commissioners of the Board of Water Supply exactly four months thereafter October 9, 1905. A map plan and estimate of cost of a complete project calling for the delivery of 500 million gallons of water daily from the Catskill Mountains was made to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Sod was turned for the first contract on June 20, 1907 and on December 27, 1915 the first delivery of water was made from the Ashokan Reservoir to the City of New York."
You can learn more about the Bronx River Walk at www.FRIENDSOFWESTCHESTERPARKS.com where you may also download their tour to an iPod. Now it's time for your adventure. What new adventures do you want to take?
Related links:
Discover Audrey and Frank Peterman's work here!
Explore more NYC Bronx African American history here!
Find Bronx, NY trails at www.bronxriver.org
Let Terence Blanchard provide your soundtrack for this walk/ bike along the Bronx River.
Learn more here about the Kensico Dam!
Dining just outside the Hartsdale train station (zip code 10530)
Juice and Java
201 East Hartsdale Avenue 914 - 472 - 6916
Vega Mexican Cuisine
187 - 189 Hartsdale Avenue 914 - 723 - 0010
Masala Kraft Cafe (Asian Indian)
206 E. Hartsdale Avenue 914-722-4300
Amendola's Pizza Tratoria
203 E. Hartsdale Avenue 914-722-2666
BosphoRus; Healthy Turkish Mediterranean Restaurant
213 - 215 East Hartsdale Avenue 914 - 722 - 2000
Hunan Village II (Traditional Chinese Restaurant)
222 East Hartsdale Avenue 914 - 472 - 3838
Azuma - Sushi (Japanese)
219 E. Hartsdale Avenue 914 - 725 - 0660
B & M Bagels and More: New york Bakery and Deli
224 East Hartsdale Avenue 914 - 722 - 4444
Tour Section II: Bronxville to Scarsdale, NY (4.6 miles)
Both of these communities have commuter rail stations with parking available via Metro-North Railroad.
Want to stock up on travel snacks and water or have a light meal/ snack? Here are some options very near the Bronxville train station:
Brother's Fruit and Vegetable 38 Palmer Ave. 914-337-7003
Lange's Delicatessen 94 Pondfield Road 914-337-DELI (3354)
Swizzles Frozen Yogurt 102 Kraft Avenue 914-793-1100
The Paths you walk/bike/roller blade here are part of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation established to maintain the multi - modal Bronx River Parkway completed in City Beautiful style back in 1925. The civic boosters of the day were as concerned with design quality and the harmony of the project with the surrounding residential fabric as they were with getting the public around in newly popular automobiles. For context, not many people had cars then and driving was as likely to be a weekend pass-time as conventional sports are today among the upper crust. The speed limit was below 40 miles per hour and large tracts of lawn, winding walking paths, picturesque ponds and custom designed stone bridges are the norm here.
Enter the path along Palmer Avenue which is easy to identify because it's the singular road that runs under the train tracks at the station. You'll find it to the west of the station easily because the mature forest of the parkway makes a big statement in the near distance from the tracks. A stone bridge crosses the river within about two blocks and clear signage and a flower patch signal the entrance to the Bronx River Path several yards before the vehicular road which all indicate you have arrived. You'll feel your pride in America as you see that this forested right of way could only have been laid out by a generation that foresaw a life of active and natural recreation for their successors. There's a big difference between this route and the one described above -- you're usually walking just a foot or two above the water line unlike the extensive high gorges of the Hartsdale to Kensico section, although you'll get a little of that experience too later on beyond the village of Crestwood.
Soon, you will come upon Bronxville Lake made to look like a Corot painting with a perimeter of Alder trees accompanied by a poetically placed group of mature willows. Further still, you'll pass near the Tuckahoe train station and an 1805 stone mill on the river originally built to process cotton when enslaved Africans were the dominant harvesters. You can't help but pause here and reflect. The immaculately kept grounds here announce how much has changed since then; the mill is now an Italian restaurant! Many other mills processing a variety of goods like gun powder, etc. are to be appreciated today only by their man-made waterfalls.
Enjoy cooling vapor as you pass these early industrial relics and the soothing sound of falling water. Do you enjoy the diversity of forests? Here are some trees you'll see along your journey:
Hickory Ash
Alder Black cherry
Black willow American elm
Redbud Dogwood varieties
Oak varieties Red maple
Beech Norway maple
Sassafras Sweet gum
Crabapple Magnolia
Birch White pine
Eastern hemlock London plane
Tulip tree Sycamore maple
American sycamore
Recently replanted areas hold clusters of native plants. Look for the red-fruited winterberry, olive-like foliage in inkberry, happy-making petals of black- eyed susan meadows and more! Consider moving a little slower in the stretch just beyond Cretswood station and smell the white pine grove. I put their cones to my nostrils and rediscover peace as a gift from the woods.
Toward the end of your trip is an exceptional stretch called Garth Woods which has it's own highly active and effective friends group. The river is widest here of any place in Westchester outside of the dam-induced lakes and some sections have an appearance similar to the Schuylkill River so glorious at the edge of Philadelphia.
This journey is all about the water. Tune into the water, the trees, the day time wildlife (cotton tailed rabbits, chipmunks, ducks and other birds) and zone into nature's meditation. The sun's reflection off the water alone along the multiple gentle rapids will elevate whatever mood you arrive with!
Dining in Scarsdale:
Villa Roma Pizzaria & Restaurant 8 Depot Place (southbound side of train station) 914-472-4848
Go Greenly frozen yogurt 58 Garth Woods 914-722-2026
Tengda Asian Bistro 56 Garth Road 914-723-8868
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Founded in 2008 under the leadership of Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard University, The Root offers a unique take on breaking news, provides solid analysis and presents dynamic multimedia content. The Root raises the profile of black voices in mainstream media and engages anyone interested in black culture around the world. It is owned by the Washington Post Company.
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Outdoor Afro is so very grateful and honored, and consider this recognition a benefit for the entire outdoor recreation, retail, and education fields!
State of the Union: African Americans and the Great Outdoors
This is the theme of a not-to-miss panel discussion at the Black Environmental Thought Conference this week at the University of Minnesota, presented by Carolyn Finney, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley; Nina S. Roberts, Ph.D., San Francisco State University; and Michael Starkey, M.A., Dominion of New York magazine.
In this panel, these three thought leaders will discuss ideas and concepts of resilience born out of a legacy of limitation and marginalization in the U.S. (slavery, Jim Crow, racism, etc.). They will explore where the tensions lie for Black people trying to engage the environment on their own terms, within a larger societal context.
In addition, this panel will provide information about the various forms of Black expression that highlight (as we do here at Outdoor Afro) how African Americans have and have always had an intimate, ever-changing and significant relationship with varying historical and present-day connections to the land. Using themes from their own academic work as a starting point, they plan to pose the following questions for discussion:
- What are implications for our future–engaging or not engaging a broader constituency in the climate change debate and the role of the “new” voices in the regeneration of our communities?
- How do we engage a diverse public in protecting natural landscapes?
- What happens if our nation loses voters in support of parks and public lands when these spaces are threatened?
- How can Black Environmental Thought inform this process?
- What are some of the generative possibilities?
Feel free to chime in on this important conversation on Outdoor Afro, and share your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook page!
Almost 400 Years of Black History in a New York City Park
Who's ready to bridge Earth Day with African American History Month all year round? Keep it locked on Bronx River Sankofa at Facebook where we also do that and love Outdoor Afro!
Let's keep it real. From Zora Neale Hurston's Eatonville Florida to Harlem NY' s Marcus Garvey Park and vanished Senaca Village within Central Park, who writes the history of places helps shape their development and their accessibility to citizens and audiences. Let all with the capacity and access take the glorious burden of writing about the lands they trod. Here's my latest essay on a park set to open/ re-open on the Bronx River this fall. Find more at Bronx River Sankofa.
Find Starlight Park on a map!
Starlight Park
13 acres
Location: This central Bronx park bisected by the Bronx River has entrances at E. 174th Street, E. 177th street and by the Sheridan Expressway just north of the intersection of Westchester and Whitlock Avenues.
Today's public park occupies a site formerly used for a world's fair and subsequent amusement park. Built in conjunction with the Sheridan Expressway beginning 1958, this green space retains the name of a former local rival to historic Coney Island in Brooklyn. Many layers of history can be investigated here by wondering how this place has evolved since Native Americans walked the shores of the Bronx River on their own terms 350 years ago.
Two branches of the Mohegan Indians thrived on opposing sides of the Bronx River which they called Aquehung or "River of High Bluffs." This river valley, which remained partly wild well into the 1800s, included massive ancient American chestnut and Tulip trees. The original course of the river was winding, free of dams and flowed higher and perhaps faster than it does today. Dams, sewers and the paving of most of its watershed have severely reduced its liquid volume.
The attraction of beaver fur brought European traders in the early 1600s at a time when Africans were know to accompany some trappers in the region. A wealthy Swede, Jonas Bronck, "purchased" 500 acres from the Mohegans in 1639 partly fronting on the Bronx and East rivers although his house was in the area now called Port Morris. Soon, Dutch colonists followed by greater numbers of English settlers in this heretofore pristine blue-green world arrived. Mills began to sprout up along "Bronck's River." By the mid-1800s as many as 11 mills were processing paper, flour, pottery, cotton, rugs, barrels, lumber, grains (wheat, millet, corn & barley), gun powder and tobacco, powered by water from the stream.
In his 1817 poem "Bronx," Joseph Rodman Drake described "rocks" and "clefts" full of "loose ivy dangling" and "sumach of the liveliest green." The water was considered so "pure and wholesome" that during the 1820s and 1830s the New York City Board of Alderman debated ways to tap into it to supply the growing city with drinking water. In 1898, when all four boroughs surrounding Manhattan island were consolidated into New York City, the Bronx was chosen for the name of the borough after the Bronx River. It was then common in America to name places after their prominent natural features.
This section of the Bronx River south of the man-made dam at River Park by the Bronx Zoo and beginning by Drew Gardens at Tremont Avenue is an estuary where fresh water from Westchester springs from the north combines with salt water from the East River to the south. Before European farm settlement, damming and subsequent industrialization, this river section included part of an extensive salt marsh with pockets of woods.
This area began to urbanize, like much of the West Bronx, only after the Third Avenue el came through in the 1890s and subways followed even nearer by the 1910s after the annexation of this part of Lower Westchester into New York City (1874) and the establishment of Bronx Park (1888). Whereas, the population of the Bronx in 1900 was 200,000, the Bronx had 730,000 residents by 1920. The Bronx then contained more residents than Cleveland, Ohio, the seventh largest urban population in the United States. Farming gave way to speculative real estate development as NYC's urban fabric expanded northward and westward. The Wilson family farm had long been abandoned at this site leaving a stone mansion later re-purposed into a club.
The famous Astor family, whose wealth originated in fur trading before expanding in real estate, owned the land where Starlight Park rests today before a world's fair was begun there in 1918 called the Bronx International Exposition. Yes, they meant the world although Congress would not give it official backing; Japan and Brazil requested pavilions. Large and varied entertainments would be enjoyed there in coming years within the New York Coliseum from a rodeo to the circus. Outside, there was a roller coaster, exotic ethnic foods, marching bands and a Bronx River-fed salt water swimming pool with mechanically - produced waves. Sadly, the pool reflected the times as a white's only amenity. Various publications including the Bronx Home News edition of April 2, 1919 help us understand that this pool was one of at least three segregated pools, including at a Clason's Point private club and a short-lived Bronxdale Avenue private pool, in the Bronx through the 1960s.
Financial hardship for this international fair which opened during the summer before World War 1 (July 28, 1914 - November 11, 1918) came to a close sealed its doom in mid-1919. Starlight Park, an amusement park without the ambitions of exhibiting world industrial and cultural production, replaced it on the model of a modest Coney Island. A celebration of live music and electric lights at night illuminated this popular entertainment until the Great Depression followed by the announcement of the Sheridan Expressway signaled its end by 1939. The site was occupied by military materials and personnel during World War 2.
The Sheridan Expressway took almost two decades to design, finance and break ground. This limited access road honors Arthur V. Sheridan (1888 - 1952), who was the Bronx Borough President James Lyon's engineer and was a loyal supporter of Arterial Coordinator Robert Moses (1888 - 1981). Much was destroyed to create it including thousands of apartments, many industrial businesses and a swimming pool next to the Whitlock Avenue train station, however the site was trnsformed into a public park. That original park included a pair of grass baseball fields, two asphalt fields, eight handball courts, and five checker tables. Construction of the expressway began in 1958, and although the 1.2 mile strip was completed, it suffered the inadequacies of many other highways at the time in that its shoulders were too narrow and its acceleration/ deceleration lanes too short. Four years and $9.5 million dollars later the highway was renovated and reopened. Robert Moses then designed a 4-mile, 60-million-dollar northern extension intended to connect the Sheridan Expressway with the New England Thruway.
This second proposal met with great community opposition because of the excessive traffic and pollution it would bring to the Baychester and Pelham neighborhoods, in addition to disrupting the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden. The project was slated for completion in 1972, and although Governor Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979) initially supported the extension, nearly a decade of protests from civic and community leaders forced him to reconsider. In 1971 he reluctantly terminated the project, as well as many other projects designed to run highways through New York City.
In 1974, local residents and the Bronx borough police chief Anthony Bouza became fed up with the dismal conditions of the Bronx River. They formed Bronx River Restoration Project, Inc. (BXRR), with Ruth Anderberg, a long time progressive Catholic activist from Massachusetts, as its first director. Bronx River Restoration succeeded in removing a plethora of debris, including refrigerators, tires, and even a wine press along the shoreline in the 180th Street/ West Farms area and less exotic finds by Gun Hill Road. They also created summer job and year-round environmental literacy programs and events with lasting monuments like Bronx River Art Center (begun 1978) and West Farms Rapids park (originally Restoration Park) in 1980.
Local activists like Jorge Santiago of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality and Alexie Torres - Fleming of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ) continued to play a dynamic role in rehabilitating the Bronx River. Santiago raised the river's profile at the NYC DEP and NYS Attorney General's Office to address illegal dumping. His efforts have yielded millions of dollars in river development through Attorney General office restitution grants. YMPJ's deep engagement with local youth to envision the future of their river has yielded dozens of educational programs, guided the National Guard in removing car bodies, and helped realize the former BXRR's three- decade long campaign to rebuild and improve Starlight Park and transform a Concrete Plant a few block to the south into public park land. Other innovations include the boat house YMPJ proposed which has since been designed by Kiss + Cathcart architects as River House which is slated to house the Bronx River Alliance. Some contemporary Bronx River boosters first discovered this site in the 80s like Mel Rodriguez who has since founded Bike the Bronx and David Shuffler who became the Executive Director at YMPJ in 2010 after more than a decade as a program participant, worker and subsequent board chairman.
In 2001, the Bronx River Alliance was created to build on the 27-year history of restoration work started by Bronx River Restoration Project, Inc. in 1974; strengthened in 1996 with the Bronx Riverkeeper program developed in partnership with City of New York/Parks & Recreation and Con Edison; and fortified in 1997 with the formation of the Bronx River Working Group. The Bronx River Working Group, coordinated by Partnerships for Parks and Waterways & Trailways, expanded the effort to include over 60 community groups, government agencies, schools and businesses with federal grants and technical support in the form of the Urban Resources Partnership during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Congressman Jose Serrano, Bronx Boro President Fernando Ferrer, and many others were also energized to imporve local public open spaces. Waterways and Trailways is an alliance of NY Partnerships for Parks, Appalachian Mountain Club and the National Park Service for the purpose of facilitating partnership-oriented community conservation projects in the parks, waterways and trails of the greater New York area.
Starlight Park had its soil remediated by 2006 and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) broke ground for park development in 2010 with support from Governor David A. Patterson. This $17 million dollar extension to the Bronx River Greenway will make it easier to walk, run and cycle the Bronx River Greenway first envisioned in 1978 with BXRR's preliminary Bronx River Restoration Master Plan. The new park extends just under one mile from E. 177th St. to E. 174th St. on the east side of the Bronx River to E. 172nd Street on the west side of the Bronx River.
The renovation includes a soccer field, a basketball court, picnic areas, playgrounds for younger and older children, a spray shower for play, a multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians, floating docks for canoeing and boating and at least two new pedestrian bridges over the Bronx River as well as a new entrance at 177th street at street level. A new boat launch is available just south of the old industrial 173rd Street stone weir marking the end of dredging for this former manufacturing and coal transportation corridor. Look for it at low tide!
This project has been awarded Evergreen certification under the NYSDOT GreenLITES program for the many environmentally friendly aspects of the park. GreenLITES, or Green Leadership in Transportation Environmental Sustainability, is a nationally recognized program that measures the level of enhancement a transportation project makes to the environment. The GreenLITES program has four levels of certification, with Evergreen being the highest. Some of the features that led to this recognition include:
Rain gardens and storm water retention basins that will capture and filter 95 percent of the park runoff before it enters the Bronx River;
The use of recycled materials in park construction, such as recycled glass pellets in place of gravel in the construction of its rain gardens as well as recycling of Second Avenue Subway rock excavations beneath some walkways;
The creation and restoration of two acres of wetlands, both along the river and in the park interior;
The planting of 1.75 acres of wildflowers, more than 3,500 shrubs, nearly 200 trees and 2,000 vines, and more than 30,000 wetland grasses and other plants;
The removal of invasive plant species, dumped material and debris in order to allow for the naturalization of the area, and
The preservation of a catenary cable structure built as part of the historic New York, Westchester and Boston Railway in the early 20th century.
Dedicated to Nilka Martell, photojournalist at the Bronx Free Press and founder of G.I.V.E. (Getting Involved Virginia Avenue Efforts), winner of Citizen's Committee awards and more.
Submitted by Morgan Powell, a landscape designer, who edits Bronx River Sankofa on You Tube and Facebook. Here's his first of three blogs sharing his passion for New York’s Bronx River and its African American heritage. Written September 2, 2012/ updated September 18, 2012 based on the following sources: John McNamara (various writings), Dr. Eric Sanderson of the Wildlife Conservation Society , the Bronx River Alliance, Parks and Recreation of the City of New York Historical Sign program, the New York State Department of Transportation, numerous interviews and the unpublished manuscript, Starlight in the Bronx: from world's fair to amusement park 1918-1946 by Ronald O. Roth written in cooperation with the Bronx County Historical Society (1990).
A Day at Lake Thoreau
On the morning of Saturday September 15th, 2012 Outdoor Afro South Mississippi converged on the shores and trails of the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center located in Hattiesburg, MS. The air was cool and crisp. Birds were flitting in the trees all around us. The lake was beautiful as well as
all of the Outdoor Afros. We hiked around and along the shores of the lake. The kids ran ahead laughing, talking and screaming effectively frightening away all nearby wildlife.
The adults hung back and allowed the children to explore by and for themselves. My youngest daughter; Cassandra’s best friend (Alivia) spent the night with us the night before and was excited to be hiking through the woods. She was the loudest of the group and I think she enjoyed the outing more than anyone else. She was not too enthusiastic about the spiders and spider webs that we repeatedly encountered. Everyone loved the lake and the beaver dam especially the kids. We saw a tree that a beaver had started eating or trying to “cut” 
down for a lack of better terms.
We didn’t get to see much in the wildlife department on this trip but everyone had a wonderful time regardless. I always find spending time outside especially in a forest to be refreshing and mentally restorative. I prefer to sit still and quiet, patiently waiting for the nearby wildlife to 
return to their normal behaviors after being alarmed to my presence. Overall everyone had a wonderful time building friendships with each other and with nature. I wish I could do this every day!
#DispatchesDNLee: Iringa Tanzania Offers Culture, Wildlife, and Outdoor Adventure
Danielle N. Lee is a member of the Outdoor Afro Leadership Team. She is a Ph.D. Biologist currently in Tanzania doing a field study of African Pouched Rats. She will be sharing her Adventures from Africa here on Outdoor Afro. You can join her on her adventure at her blog The Urban Scientist at the Scientific American Network.
I took a weekend safari (journey/holiday) with other Ex-Pats to Iringa. Iringa is near the central part of the country and is the launching pad for many other Tanzanian adventures. Many people start their multi-park safaris from Iringa because of its vicinity to Ruaha, Udzungwa, and Mikumi National Parks.
On this visit, my friends and I visited Isimila Stone Age and Natural Pillars. If you didn’t know Tanzania is the Cradle of Mankind. The museum is modest, but the learning experience was one of a kind. I only regret that the travel books don’t warn you of the hiking you will be doing while visiting the Early Human Stone Tool site and the trek to the Natural Pillars. It was beautiful, but be mindful of your steps. There are no safety railings and walking trails and stairs are earth worn. Sadly, this (and most of the natural beauties I have witnessed so far) could not be traversed by individuals with mobility/physical ability issues.
We did stay at a lovely campsite, Rivervalley Campsite. The campsite offers Bandas (cabins), tented camps (with beds) and campgrounds if you want to pitch your own tents. Bandas vary in size and can sleep 2 – 6+ people. The five of us stayed in the larger banda that had its own bathroom plus 2 rooms – one with a double bed and the other with 2 sets of bunk beds. We discovered, as we were checking out, that there was a loft and it had a padded pallet on the floor with room to spare for a sleeping bag.
There are plenty of clean external washrooms and toilets throughout the camp. Plus, there is dining hall also offering hot meals. Prices vary, with bandas being the most expensive and tented camps costing less (and depending on your command of Kiswahili). However, I was very impressed with the accommodations and amenities. We paid $60 USD for one night and that included a hot breakfast. We also had dinner, which cost less than $5 USD. The campsite is also home to a popular language school, so there are many expats around most of the time.
Tented camps seem to be very popular in Tanzania and they are very nice lodging options for the cost-conscious person concerned about comfort. If you want to see and experience the culture, wildlife, nature, and beauty of Tanzania up close, then I definitely recommend this as a must-do adventure for Outdoor Afros.
Visit Tanzania. It is beautiful here!
Karibu!
Official #DispatchesDNLee postcard
artwork by @LalSox
Outdoor Afros, want a post card from Tanzania? I am here until September 23, 2012, so complete the Dispatches from Tanzania Postcard request form today.
An Urban Hike In Los Angeles: Seeing The Hollywood Sign Up Close
Guest post by Lesly Simmons
Lesly Simmons is an avid traveler, frequent hiker and social media strategist based in San Francisco. Visit her website at leslysimmons.com
The Hollywood sign in Los Angeles is a total tease as far as landmarks go. On a clear day it is visible from across the city, with massive letters that serve as everything from a navigational aid to a photo backdrop. On television and in movies it’s often seen in the same way--huge and far off in the distance. But in truth, it’s actually quite easy to see the sign up close and enjoy some incredible urban hiking along the way, as my husband Jole and I discovered earlier this summer.
Located in Griffith Park in the Hollywood Hills, there are several starting points for a hike leading to the sign. We chose the Hollyridge Trail off Sunset Boulevard as our point of attack. In true California fashion you really need to drive to get to most of the trail heads--they are buried in the neighborhoods below the sign, so (gasp!) walking or public transportation is inconvenient if not impossible. (Another convenient starting point is Griffith Observatory).
Now before you assume this hike is anything like the rest of LA--easily navigated, well labeled, and with plenty of resources along the way--let me warn you this is not the case. There is one vague sign at the start of the trail, and that was the last sign I saw along the way. Come stocked with plenty of water and snacks, because there are no stops along the way and it can get very hot, especially later in the day.
Once we had our route mapped we got an early start and got a parking space on the side of the road quite close to the start of the trail, one of the benefits of beating the crowds. There were few other people around and we had the trail mostly to ourselves and to the folks exploring it on horseback from the stables at the bottom of the hill.
This is not an easy hike--for most people its more than manageable, but it takes about 40 minutes (or nearly two hours if you miss the turnoff like we did), and there are some steep stretches. Right away a steep hill greeted us, setting the stage for the rest of the trip.
And yes, we missed the turn leading to the sign, and found ourselves in a completely different section of Griffith Park, where we got a nice overhead view of Burbank, ran into a crew of intense mountain bikers, and made our hike much longer and more strenuous than we planned. Again, there are no signs and while we had a basic map it clearly didn't help, and even the GPS on my phone was of no use. Luckily we packed well and felt confident to head back and get on the right track to the sign.
As we made our way back the trail was much more crowded--a good thing because we had plenty of people to follow in the right direction. It was also a lot hotter, which wasn't so good. And we still had almost an hour of walking ahead of us. Again, the trail is relatively steep at times, and there are some long stretches of a gradual incline that are almost worse! As we approached the summit there was only one way to approach the sign as we came around the bend. And a 15’ fence topped with barbed wire immediately greeted us!
The Hollywood sign has been vandalized a million times and a few years ago the trust that preserves it put in some serious security. In addition to the fence, there are security cameras and a helicopter that circles overhead on a regular basis. From this vantage point we were behind the sign--there are other hiking trails that lead to different points and other views of the sign at different angles, but this is the highest spot to experience it. And even from behind, and through a fence, it is quite impressive.
What began as a 40 minute hike ended up being closer to 2.5 hours, and by the end we were tired, sweaty and starving, but also exhilarated to been so close to one of the world's most recognizable landmarks. Growing up in Southern California I always focused on the beach as my fun-in-the-sun destination. Proving that it’s never too late to learn something new, I now have a new respect for the LA’s trails as well.
Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation Keynotes for "Keeping It Wild"
Queen Quet "Keeping It Wild" in Lithonia, GA!!!
Join Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation and Founder of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition as she provides a keynote address for "Keeping It Wild" in Lithonia, GA September 22, 2012.
Queen Quet is the founder of the advocacy organization for the continuation of Gullah/Geechee culture, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. She worked with the U. S. Congress, the United States National Park Service, and other organizations for the passage of the “Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act” which was signed into law by the President in 2006. She continues to work on protecting the environment and to insure that diverse groups of people engage in the outdoors and the policies governing them.
She was selected, elected, and installed by her people to be the first Queen Mother, “head pun de bodee,” and official spokesperson for the Gullah/Geechee Nation. As a result, she is respectfully referred to as "Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation and Head-of-State.”
Saturday, September 22, 2012
2 – 3 pm Reception
3:30 – 4:30 pm Lecture
4:30 – 5 pm Book Signing
Lithonia Women’s Club, 2568 Wiggins St., Lithonia, GA 30058
Parking : Wiggins Street and in parking lot on Main Street
For more information contact Erica Weaver at 770-634-2849
To read and download the flyer, simply click on the link below:
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1y65j/QueenQuetChieftessof/resources/index.htm
Queen Quet, Chieftess and Head-of-State for the Gullah/Geechee Nation and Founder of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition.
Queen Quet is the founder of the advocacy organization for the continuation of Gullah/Geechee culture, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. She worked with the U. S. Congress, the United States National Park Service, and other organizations for the passage of the “Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act” which was signed into law by the President in 2006. She continues to work on protecting the environment and to insure that diverse groups of people engage in the outdoors and the policies governing them.
She was selected, elected, and installed by her people to be the first Queen Mother, “head pun de bodee,” and official spokesperson for the Gullah/Geechee Nation. As a result, she is respectfully referred to as "Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation and Head-of-State.”
For more information contact Erica Weaver at 770-634-2849
To read and download the flyer, simply click on the link below:
http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1y65j/QueenQuetChieftessof/resources/index.htm
www.gullahgeecheenation.com