This is Riverside Park at 103rd street looking north from the top of the stairs next to the stone wall from 1879. This time it is winter and it looks like the 1920's.
This is part of the same series. The path next to the train tracks was probably located just a little east of the promenade that is now over the tracks. The park had a great deal of re-landscaping during the Westside Improvement Project and the tracks were covered, not moved. The field to the west of the tracks is landfill that will very soon be the West Side Highway, the ball fields and the swing rings at Hudson beach.
This beautiful house, with it's glass enclosed conservatory, was on 103rd street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. It is the original 310 Riverside Drive.
The original 310 Riverside Drive at 103rd Street
This is the original 300 Riverside Drive. It was owned by a family named Foster so it is often referred to as The Foster Mansion. Riverside Drive was on the original map of 1811, not as Riverside Drive but a street was there. Some maps refer to a "13th Avenue". It was not until the late 1870's that any serious work began on Riverside Drive. Then there were the law suits. Some of the households along the stretch now called Riverside Drive owned, or claimed to own the land, that extended way beyond the current lot lines. Where the drive now sits was disputed land in many cases.
This is detail of the Foster Mansion.
“Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? . . . this is the time to take a stand, to reverse the tide, so that we won’t all end up in a uniform world of steel and glass boxes.” - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Very interesting. I remember that park. Close to 103rd & West End Ave. What every happened to Gregorie's?
ReplyDeleteHe closed down about 15 years ago. He and his wife split and he is now a fancy food and olive oil salesman, doing ok. The park above was altered into the park I grew up with. I have another post from August of 2011 that has more pictures of this area of the park.
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