Crossing the High Bridge: From the Bronx to Washington Heights!

RSVP's begin on Wednesday, August 19th at 9:00pm. Space is set aside for new members, first and 2nd timers who land on the waiting list. Email me at hankorenstein@gmail.com to request a spot.

The tour and museum are free with an welcome donation to your guide at the end of the tour via cash, venmo or zelle.

To Bring: Water to drink, snacks and/or an easy-to-eat lunch, sun protection. Recommend eating a hearty breakfast/brunch beforehand.

Closest subway stop is 167th Street on the D train which gets you within 2 blocks of the The Bronx Museum of the Arts. You can also take the #6 or D train to 161st Street Yankee Stadium (longer walk).

Note the walking tour starts at 12 noon outside the museum which opens at 11am. Arrive 30-40 minutes early to see the exhibit and use the restroom:

The total walking distance on this walk is between 4.5 and 5 miles. There is some uphill walking especially on one moderately steep street in the Bronx. You should be reasonably fit for this walk!

The Museum always has interesting exhibits along with free admission. From the museum website: "This exhibition, in its seventh iteration, showcases artwork from the most recent two cohorts of The Bronx Museum’s AIM Fellowship program. Within the program, these 28 artists developed structures of connection and community; presented together, their artworks here begin a conversation that invites and extends further communal experience.

The artworks in this show explore connection and disconnection: to one’s heritage, invoking memory, time, culture, and geography; to society and its norms, practices, and structures, through social and institutional critique; and to other individuals or groups, expressed through ideas of identity, intimacy, and distance. Both individually and seen together, these works map intersections and oppositions, isolation and belonging."

Directions and information via this link: https://bronxmuseum.org/visit/

TOUR OVERVIEW: En route to the city's oldest bridge (pictured above), we'll explore the Bronx neighborhoods of Concourse and Highbridge, areas that include art deco and art nouveau apartment buildings, community gardens, architectural curiosities and of course Yankee Stadium. The Grand Concourse was inspired by Champs-Élysées in Paris and we'll learn about the history of the area's development as we stroll along.

Highbridge Heights was settled in the 19th century first as a suburban haven with large homes. To the north hip-hop was born at an apartment building located at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the 1970's. The story goes that on August 11, 1973 DJ Kool Herc, a building resident, was entertaining at his sister’s back-to-school party, and tried something new on the turntable: He extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) to let people dance longer (break dancing) and began MC’ing (rapping) during the extended breakdancing.

The Highbridge was built in 1848 to carry water via a Roman-style aqueduct to Manhattan which was NYC's first major water supply system and critically important in being able to sustain the city's growing population. It was recently refurbished as a pedestrian walkway. Once back in Manhattan, we'll stroll through the southeast corner of Washington Heights for some surprising locations including a brief stroll through the woodsy Highbridge Park.

We'll end on Broadway at 168th Street convenient to the A train, #1 subway and buses.

Optional "afterparty" at the Fort Washington Public House at 165th Street & Broadway for a meal or a drink. https://fwpublichouse.com/menu

Cheers from Hank 646-596-3005