Henry Hudson
Parkway as it cuts through Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Image: Google Street View. The Henry Hudson Parkway was part of
Robert Moses' West Side Improvement project, with the majority of the
funding and labor from the New Deal, as explained in the references below.
Moses chose to run the new parkway through Van Cortlandt Park because it was
already city property. To run it outside of the park would have required
condemning and buying up vast amounts of privately owned land. This image
shows where the parkway enters the park at about 254th Street; the
Parade Ground is seen through the trees at right.
References:
- da Cruz, Frank, Riverside
Park New Deal Sites.
- da Cruz, Frank, The Henry
Hudson Parkway.
- Caro, Robert A., The Power Broker - Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Vintage Books (1974), pp.526-540.
- NYC Parks Dept press release
of October 3, 1937: “The Department of Parks announces that on
Tuesday, October 12th, the 6.7 miles of parkway now under construction in
Riverside and Fort Washington Parks in connection with the West Side
Improvement will be officially opened to the public, thereby adding another
vital link in a great arterial express highway and parkway system for the
City of New York.”
- HISTORIC
AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD HENRY HUDSON PARKWAY HAER No. NY-334, New
York Metropolitan Transportation Council (2006).
- New Deal Assistance in
NYC Parks Department Projects, 1934-43.