The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Tag: Robert Moses

Rowing on The Harlem River

Posted on by Harlem Shill

The Harlem River was (in the 18th and 19th Century) a popular destination for rowing or sculling. Remnants of this pastime were visible into mid 20th century.

In the photo below, you can see 4 large boat houses on the Bronx side of the Harlem River (note the Highbridge water tower in the back-left corner):

The bridge visible on the river would be the 155th Street Bridge, so the apartment buildings in the Bronx are the ones that overlook Yankee Stadium, today.

East River Crew reports that in 1937, Robert Moses The Power Broker” of New York City started evicting rowing boathouses “to build tennis courts for the people living in Harlem.”

By the 1950s all of the Row, boathouses were gone.

Can Collecting Property Hoarder

The Post has an interesting article on a woman who owns dilapidated property in Harlem, collects cans in a beat-up car, while living and hoarding in Brooklyn.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/21/nyc-to-demolish-landmark-building-owned-by-secret-millionaire-bag-lady/

Silicon Harlem Events

Silicon Harlem Meetup – Wed, September 21, 2022, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT

Register for the Meetup (virtual)

Please join us on September 21, 2022 to talk about the upcoming “Future Ready Communities” conference and our new impact token for uptown. Your voice matters!

Silicon Harlem 9th Annual Next Gen Tech Conference – Fri, October 21, 2022

Agenda and registration below:

futureready2022.cventevents.com (in person)

Please join us at the 9th Annual Next Gen Tech Conference at the iconic Schomburg Center Library in Harlem. Our theme this year is “Future Ready Communities”. The Conference will help prepare future ready communities through innovation and technology. Your participation will help solidify that!

Randall’s and Wards’ Islands

Posted on by Harlem Shill

This photo of Randall’s and Wards’ Islands during the depression (just after the Triborough Bridge was completed by Robert Moses) is fascinating in the ways in which you can see how dramatically the bridge, the island/s, and Harlem have changed in the last 80 years or so.

Note how recently constructed Astoria park (between the arched train bridge and the car bridge on the right hand side) is so new there are no trees and seemingly no grass – just the white reflection of bulldozed dirt.

Above you can see (at the bottom right) the new sewage disposal facility – state of the art in the 1930s, and still the place where everything you flush goes today in 2021.

Also (still in the photo above) note how distinctly Wards Island (below) and Randall’s Island (above) are separated. The 3rd island (top right) is now also joined to the other two, and the fill was leveled to create a series of sports fields and a tennis center.

In the blurry photo above, you can see how the Harlem waterfront (on the East River) had a number of working docks. Also the scraped dirt (white) area in the middle of the photo with a running track, is Jefferson Park – a park created by Moses by bulldozing a number of city blocks – mostly filled with East Harlem Italian residents.

In the photo above – showing the Triborough from 125th Street to Randall’s Island, note just above it, the swing-gate for the Willis Avenue bridge is open to boat traffic, and just above that (black and admittedly blurry) is the 2nd Avenue El, headed from Manhattan, over the Harlem River, and into the Bronx.

The Stadium (above) is where Jesse Owens qualified for the Berlin Olympics, and is now the Icahn Stadium and the site of numerous music festivals.

Lastly, take a look at the traffic on the vehicular bridge. Amazing.