The reopening of High Bridge has renewed calls for a waterfront greenway in the Bronx. The pedestrian walkway between the Bronx and Manhattan opened last Tuesday after 40 years of neglect, prompting outward revelry and inward speculation that developers might now turn their attention to the outer-borough's long-neglected Highbridge neighborhood. Although new development may be a bit of a ways off, community activists are already discussing bringing an extended greenway to the Bronx waterfront, DNAinfo reports. According to the site, the Bronx side of High Bridge deposits pedestrians and cyclists into a "small park with benches and tables" that runs alongside University Avenue that some people would like to see expanded right down to the southern tip of the Bronx peninsula.
The mile of land north of High Bridge between it and the George Washington is owned by the Parks Department, which claims that they'll transition the industrial swath into parkland as funds become available in the future. The MTA also controls the area south of High Bridge, which is largely covered by Metro-North rail tracks. An MTA spokesman told DNAinfo that the MTA would "be open to receiving specific plans illustrating a possible greenway, provided we could be given a guarantee that the construction or existence of the greenway would not create any safety concerns or impact train operations." Meanwhile, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has been urging the city to redevelop a swath of land south of High Bridge, between 138th and 149th streets, into a waterfront park with new housing and commercial buildings.
· High Bridge Reopening Leads to Renewed Calls to Develop Bronx Waterfront [DNAinfo]
· The High Bridge Is Now Open After 40 Years, and It's Glorious [Curbed]
· Mapping the Crucial Developments That Will Reshape the Bronx [Curbed]
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