The Bronx

Lloyd Ultan, Shelley Olson

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780813573205
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Often overlooked by most tourists and locals alike, the Bronx—one of five boroughs that comprise the city of New York—is rich in cultural and historical attractions. From the Bronx Zoo (the largest urban zoo in the United States) to the New York Botanical Garden (one of the most visited botanical gardens in the world), this borough has something for everyone. Visitors can explore historical locations (including where George Washington slept and where Edgar Allan Poe lived and worked), watch a game in one of the most famous baseball stadiums in the United States—Yankee Stadium—and sample delicious Italian food in New York’s real “Little Italy” on Arthur Avenue and New England style seafood at City Island along the edge of Long Island Sound. Author and foremost historian of the Bronx Lloyd Ultan and educator Shelley Olson have teamed up to create a handy guidebook with detailed maps that will provide all the information prospective visitors need for planning their adventures to famous and little-known sites, including the hours, admission fees, and directions to featured attractions.   The Bronx —which includes thirty-six color photographs—provides visitors with informative chapters on more than twelve of the borough’s extraordinary destinations as well as self-guided walking tours of some of the most ethnically, architecturally, and historically diverse neighborhoods. History buffs will find beautifully preserved eighteenth- and nineteenth-century homes, the Hall of Fame for Great Americans (which pays homage to many familiar faces in American history), and Woodlawn Cemetery (the final resting place for prominent Americans including Duke Ellington, Joseph Pulitzer, Gloria Vanderbilt Whitney, and Thomas Nast). In addition to the botanical garden, nature lovers can enjoy the beautiful Pelham Bay Park and Van Cortlandt Park. The Bronx also highlights the surprising number of art galleries, museums, and performance venues that visitors are sure to enjoy, further demonstrating the borough’s cultural prominence..    

PART I

Attractions

The New York Botanical Garden

With fifty majestic gardens and over one million plants, the New York Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark. This world-class oasis of natural beauty is only a twenty-minute train ride from Grand Central Station.

Within the garden, stroll amid uplifting colors of seasonal flowerbeds, go bird-watching with a friendly guide during a Saturday morning walk, commune with ancient trees and extraordinary glacier-deposited boulders that appear as old as time, marvel at a chorus of breathtaking April cherry blossoms, or find solace in the soothing paths and whispering water of the Rock Garden in spring, summer, and autumn. Winter transforms the garden into a snowy wonderland.

Music and dance concerts as well as other events throughout the year are offered in this beautiful setting and are usually included with the price of admission.

The All-Garden Pass includes a tram tour that circles the property, with an auditory guide that will introduce you to the garden’s history and the scope of diverse plant life.

A stroll by the beautiful Bronx River awaits the visitor where the refreshing waterfall, just steps from the newly restored Stone Mill, which originally manufactured snuff, feels a world away from the bustle of midtown New York City.

INFORMATION

2900 Southern Boulevard (Dr. Theodore Kazimiroff Boulevard), Bronx, NY 10458

HOURS: From March 1 to January 14, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. From January 15 to February 28, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Closed most Mondays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. The Garden is open on some holiday Mondays.

ADMISSION: Grounds only, Adults $10.00, Seniors $5.00, Students with valid ID, $5.00, Children 2–12, $2.00, Children under 2, free. Grounds are admission free all day Wednesday and from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. on Saturday. Additional admission fee for All-Garden Pass includes admission to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Rock Garden (April to October), and the Tram Tour.

CONTACTS: For general inquiries, telephone: [phone]; website: www.nybg.org/plan_your_visit/. For special events, telephone: [phone]. For customized group tours, telephone: [phone]. For comprehensive directions, telephone: [phone]; website: www.nybg.org/visit/directions.php.

DIRECTIONS

BY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Take the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem local line from Grand Central Station to the Botanical Garden station. The Garden’s Mosholu Gate entrance is across the street on Southern Boulevard.

Alternatively, take the letter D or number 4 subway train to the Bedford Park Boulevard station. From the station transfer to the eastbound Bx26 bus to the Garden’s Mosholu Gate entrance.

BY CAR OR TAXI: Take Major Deegan Expressway north to the Van Cortlandt Park South exit. Take the left fork on the exit ramp to Van Cortlandt Park South. Turn left and go up the winding hill that is Van Cortlandt Avenue West. At the top of the hill at Sedgwick Avenue, turn left. Just past Dickinson Avenue continue right, then making a left onto Mosholu Parkway, turn right and later turn right again onto Southern Boulevard. Shortly thereafter, turn left into the Mosholu entrance to enter the Botanical Garden. There is on-site parking.

About the New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden occupies 250 acres in the northern half of Bronx Park bisected by the magnificent gorge of the Bronx River. The 40-acre forest on the grounds, open to visitors, is reputedly the last remnant of the forest that once covered all of New York City.

From the colonial times until the end of the nineteenth century, most of the site was farmland. In 1840, the Lorillard family erected a fieldstone snuff mill in the gorge, powered by the falls of the Bronx River, to produce tobacco products. Located on the east bank of the river, the mill is the oldest surviving factory building in New York City. It now has an outdoor terrace equipped with picnic tables and chairs overlooking the gorge with a view of the forest on the opposite bank.

In the 1880s, Nathaniel Lord Britton, one of the nation’s earliest botanists, taught at Columbia University. On a trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England, his wife asked him why there was no such institution in New York City. Britton then began a movement to establish the New York Botanical Garden. Getting the backing of the university’s botanical club and financial and political support from patrons Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan, the newly founded New York Botanical Garden was given control of the northern half of Bronx Park. Britton became the garden’s first director and supervised the landscaping and construction of the grounds in time for its opening in 1896.

Today, the garden has international recognition for its horticultural excellence, its educational programs, and its scientific research. It is a National Historic Landmark with twenty-seven outdoor gardens and plant collections and a Victorian-style conservatory (glasshouse) modeled after the one at Kew. Its library houses the most extensive collection of botanical and horticultural material in America and its Herbarium, with 5.6 million items, is the largest collection of preserved plant specimens in the Western Hemisphere.

Visitors can walk around the many gardens, see the special displays, stroll through the Bronx River gorge with its waterfall, and go bird-watching.

Attractions and Amenities

At the entrance, ask for a map of the Botanical Garden and a calendar of events to discover what will be going on that day that may be of interest to you.

TOURS

The Tram Tour is a delightful, twenty-five-minute, informative introduction to the 250 acres of the Botanical Garden. Included in the All-Garden Pass, it features a narrated introduction to the history, buildings, gardens, forest, and information on programs available as you are driven through the garden. Nine convenient stops provide areas to hop on or hop off to explore at your own pace. The tour is also an excellent way for visitors who cannot do a lot of walking to be able to see the garden. The tram is wheelchair accessible and equipped with a T-coil compatible induction loop. Headsets are found at the Visitor Center. Large-print written copies of the Tram Tour are available from the tram attendant.

Guided tours of the gardens, forest, and Enid A. Haupt Conservatory are available on specified days. Check the schedule of daily activities available at the entry gate for the time and meeting place of free guided tours on the day of your visit.

Audio tours are available through your personal cell phone: [phone]. Enter the prompt number for the item you wish to hear followed by the # sign. Walking through the grounds, find the audio tour icon signs at select points of interest or on your map. These phone tours may also be accessed from home. iTunes U Audio Tours of permanent or changing exhibits are also available. Access the New York Botanical Garden website and enter the keyword “Audio Tours,” to check on current iTunes U Audio Tours.

ENID A. HAUPT CONSERVATORY

This magnificent Victorian building, inspired by the impressive glasshouses in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, was designed by Lord and Burnham Company, a leading firm known for its designs of greenhouses. Completed in 1902 at a cost of $177,000, time took its toll and the glasshouse faced the prospect of demolition. It was saved in 1978 by the generosity of Enid Annenberg Haupt, who contributed five million dollars toward its renovation and endowed it with an additional five million dollars for maintenance. Significant improvements and repairs were also made in 1998.

In this spacious glasshouse, eleven different habitats are reproduced—​from the humid tropical rain forests filled with large-leafed, verdant vegetation to the arid habitats found in American deserts with a wide variety of hardy, sculpture-like cacti.

Special exhibits are held in the Conservatory throughout the year, for example, the annual Orchid Show in March and April. From mid-November through mid-January there is the holiday exhibit in which highly accurate model trains wind around miniature cityscapes of New York traveling from the Empire State Building through the Brooklyn Bridge and beyond, all built using plant material.

OUTDOOR SEASONAL DISPLAYS

Azalea Garden (early May to mid-June and beyond) consists of nearly one mile of wooded paths greeting a vast profusion of azaleas and rhododendrons from around the world. The Azalea Garden contains about 3,000 trees and shrubs, 28,000 ferns and forest-loving perennials, 40,000 bulbs, and 70,000 plants.

In Cherry Valley (spring) pink and white flowers adorn more than 200 blossoming cherry trees. Some trees are over sixty years old.

The Benenson Ornamental Conifers (all year) display the sculptural, green, four-season beauty of 400 conifer specimens growing on fifteen acres of rolling landscape.

Daffodil Hill (spring) has tens of thousands of glorious yellow and white daffodils comprising about 350 varieties, bringing joy to early spring.

The T. A. Havemeyer Lilac Collection (spring) contains about 90 varieties of lilacs with colors ranging from intense purple to delicate blue and white.

The Kobus magnolia located near the Visitor Center bears white blossoms reaching down to touch the ground (mid-March to mid-April). The grove of mature trees, Magnolia Way, greets the stroller with stunning silver-pink and white bursts of color and fragrance.

OUTDOOR THEMED GARDENS

The Rock Garden (April through November). This garden is adorned with delicate, jewel-like alpine flowers and woodland plants including sun-loving crocuses, delicate daffodils, and tiny tulips as well as a gently cascading waterfall. Thousands of woodland flowers along winding pathways display their beauty next to a refreshing stream leading to a calm pond. This 2.5-acre destination is considered one of the most magnificent rock gardens in the world.

Native Plant Garden. Housing over 100,000 native plants, this 3.5-acre section is striking. The 230-foot-long body of water at its center blends modernism in design with unhindered growth. Water gently flows through the three major segments, cascading from one segment to the next. This is an all-season garden with such plants as aromatic aster, New York aster, yellow trillium, and Indian grass, resplendent in the spring and gracefully asleep in the winter.

Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden (May through October). A rose by every name—​from Abraham Darby to Zéphirine Drouhin—​is here, and each one of the 600 varieties of roses was carefully bred by award-winning rose enthusiasts. Designed in 1916 and completed in 1988, the garden contains around 4,000 rose plants beautifully arranged in their well-proportioned spaces framed by walkways that radiate out from a gazebo and circular center.

Everett Children’s Adventure Garden (all year). This garden of exploration and discovery encourages children of all ages to interact with nature through a world of mazes and hands-on nature activities that use all five senses. Beautiful water birds will greet young visitors. Bring children to the Boulder Maze to climb and the Touch Tank to see and feel water-loving plants; young eyes meet microscopes as children explore and experiment. Halloween is a special time as pumpkins become magical faces and costumed guides greet visitors.

Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden (April through October). Gardening for the whole family occurs here for those with plots to cultivate. Resident children plant seeds, cultivate food they will eat, dig for worms, and enjoy hands-on activities every day. Come to the garden to learn about foods grown around the world.

Thain Family Forest (all year). This fifty-acre forest carries the unbroken heritage of the original, old-growth forest that was familiar to American Indians. Some trees are over two hundred years old. The forest is a major sanctuary for both migrating and resident birds. Enquire about guided tours before you visit.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Music Performances. From cocktail evenings to exhibit-themed afternoon concerts in both indoor and outdoor spaces, the Botanical Garden is a cultural destination.

Dance Performances. Enjoy the world’s diversity in dance concerts themed around current exhibits.

Educational Offerings. The garden offers lectures, workshops, and courses to the public about plants in their scientific, functional, aesthetic, and global diversity.

DINING AND PICNICKING

The Garden Café, southwest of the Mosholu Gate, offers healthy salads and soups as well as hot meals and snacks. Similar fare is available at the Pine Tree Café in the Leon Levy Visitor Center near the Conservatory Gate. Picnic tables are located on the Clay Family Picnic Pavilion.

GIFT SHOP

The garden’s gift shop, Shop in the Garden, between the Leon Levy Visitor Center and the Reflecting Pool, sells plants and gardening supplies as well as plant-themed jewelry, clothing, posters, gifts, books, and more.

The Bronx Zoo

From lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, exotic birds, snakes, and crocodiles to penguins flying through water, feel the extraordinary power and wonder of life around the globe with just a swipe of a Metro card and a short ride to the largest urban zoo in the world. The American bison was saved from extinction at the Bronx Zoo; wildlife conservation is a core mission of this institution. With 265 acres of habitats and exhibits and over 600 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and insects from around the globe, the zoo is the flagsh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Maps
• Acknowledgments
• Why Visit The Bronx?
• Part I: Attractions
• Color Plates
• Part II: Walking Tours
• Part III: Places to Go, Things to See
• Index
• About the Authors