Build a path to real river access

Even Riverdalians who aren’t lucky enough to see the Hudson River and the Palisades from their home or apartment windows are ineluctably drawn to the beauty of these natural wonders.  Yet, half a century of efforts by community groups and government agencies to create public access to the waterfront has yielded just one tiny park at the Riverdale train station.ww

Of course, there’s hardly a teenager in the neighborhood who doesn’t know how to get to the shoreline illicitly, and strollers of every age can occasionally be seen along Metro North’s riverfront service road in good weather, but residents of the northwest Bronx have waited far too long for legitimate enjoyment of its namesake resource.

The Hudson River Greenway Act of 1991 gave hope that the local shoreline would become part of a scenic pathway linking communities on the riverfront from the southern tip of Manhattan to the Adirondacks. 

But more than two decades have passed, and only recently has the agency charged with developing a route through Riverdale, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC), promulgated a plan. And that plan is so flawed that it raises serious safety and property rights issues while barely offering any more access to the river.

Fearmongers from the Riverdale Spuyten Duyvil Coalition have posted signs in advance of a Wednesday, Feb. 26, community board meeting warning of impending doom, should the NYMTC plan be adopted. They envision “devastation of unique natural features and changes in grade within the Special Natural Area District... loss of street parking... increased road congestion... more construction noise... and destruction of mature trees, root systems and vegetation in ‘forever wild’ Riverdale Park.”