Telephone: 718-430-1890. [214], There are five major hiking trails in the park. [324], Highway construction in the mid-1930s further altered the park. [263] In 2015, the Jaspers moved to Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, New York,[264] but in 2021, the Jaspers moved back to Van Cortlandt Park. Excavations at the Van Cortlandt Mansion, the central structure of an eighteenth-century plantation located in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York, highlight the difficulty of using archaeological evidence to document the story of enslavement in early America. [135] City investigators took water samples from the lake and found that they contained large amounts of weeds and sediment. [357][358] The Woodlawn station was built later as part of the IRT Jerome Avenue Line, opening in April 1918 as the line's northern terminus. During the 1690s the enslaved Africans he owned dammed Tibbetts Brook to create a 16-acre lake to power the gristmill. The ceremony will be streamed on the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance's Facebook page at 11 a.m. Those who were enslaved on the Van Cortlandt plantation were freed 200 years ago in 1821. The Van Cortlandt name was first associated with the tract of land bounded by modern Yonkers City Line between Broadway, Jerome Avenue, and Van Cortlandt Park East in 1694, when Jacobus Van Cortlandt bought the property. [217] Previously unpaved, the Putnam Trail underwent a reconstruction project starting in August 2019 and was reopened in October 2020 as a paved pedestrian and bicycle path. [187] The lake is 4 to 8 feet (1.2 to 2.4m) deep at various times of year, and has an area of 18 acres (7.3ha). Forever Wild : NYC Parks Ultimately, the parks were established despite the objections of major figures like Mayors William Russell Grace and Abram Hewitt; Comptroller Edward V. Loew; and Assemblymen Henry Bergh and Theodore Roosevelt. [303] It was completed and planted with trees in 1905. [147] The city of Yonkers eventually attributed the cause of the Van Cortlandt Lake's pollution to four storm sewers that were found to be illegally connected to Tibbetts Brook upstream. [290] It is the home course for Fordham University; Iona College; New York University; and Manhattan College, located across the street. Boy and Parents Are Found Dead in Bronx Park - New York Times [336] In response, Moses promised to place landscaping on the new expressway so it would fit with the park's character. [142] Because of the swampy nature of the ground underneath it, the pools soon began to crackle and set. [142], There are two nearby New York City Subway stations. [13][14][15] This property included the modern park parade grounds. [231] There is a large, steep hill in the center of the trail. [350] The main line also saw fewer riders as the years passed, and on March B, 1958, with daily ridership numbering between 400 and 500 commuters, the New York State Public Service Commission gave its approval for the railroad to stop passenger service on the line. The last day of service was June 1, 1958, and the station was abandoned, the line now only being used for freight. [170], To lessen the disruption caused by the plant's construction, in 2010 the city used mitigation funds from the construction budget to restore the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground. Located 169 feet (52m) above sea level, it is northeast of the Parade Ground and west of Tibbetts Brook and the Van Cortlandt Golf Course. [328] Unlike the Concourse extension, the Henry Hudson Parkway was minimally opposed by the community, as it was widely seen as an improvement. Van Cortlandt Park's sports facilities include golf courses and several miles of paths for running, as well as facilities for baseball, basketball, cricket, cross-country running, football, horseback riding, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and track and field. the VC Rangers, whose fedoras match their striped shirts. [168] An excavation in the 1990s yielded over 2,500 artifacts. Van Cortlandt Park : NYC Parks [321] In 1931 they managed to get the extension built, albeit with a reduction in width from 182 to 80 feet (55 to 24m). [346], By 1942, the railroad was already seeing signs of decreased ridership: there were 600 daily riders on the Yonkers branch, down from 2,000 daily riders sixteen years prior. [109][110] However, during and following World War I, the Parade Ground was used for war training. [136] "Unpleasant odors" in the summer also reduced recreational opportunities on the lake, and these conditions combined made it virtually impossible to come into contact with the lake's water without getting sick. [28][29] As early as 1962, a New York Times reader wrote of vandalism on Vault Hill. [121], In 1979, New York City Councilwoman June Eisland released a report on Van Cortlandt Park. [284], Van Cortlandt Park is a popular site for cross-country running, owing to its miles of cinder trails and hills as well as its steep terrain. [180] NYC Parks started renovating the Woodlawn Playground in 2021 for $1 million. Bearing left, go underneath the overpass and then take a sharp left into the parking lot. [140] Also in the late 1960s, the city decided to build a series of public pools on the site of the Colonial Garden, consisting of a diving, a swimming, and a wading pool. [70] Hands-on education programs at the park were reduced to passive observations of flora and fauna.