Thursday, May 5, 2011

☞ REMEMBER: The Most Picturesque View c.1901


The deadline for By the City/For the City has been extended until Sunday, May 8th and the above image from 1901 reminded us of one of the suggestions recently posted on the Urban Design site.  When the viaduct was built between 129th and 135th Street by Riverside Drive, it basically was the original High Line of Manhattan.  The architecture of it all was marveled by science publications and folks would use "the most picturesque thoroughfare" as a pleasant excursion from everyday activity.

Today, there seems to be a lot of cars parking on the sides and the wide, multi-lanes don't really get that much use. This could partially be sectioned off to be developed into green space but it would take a group of clever designers to come up with the way to do it.  The Institute for Urban Design wants more Harlem suggestions like this one so make sure to post on the By the City/For the City site before the deadline this Sunday and maybe the designer will come up with a proposal that could eventually turn into reality: LINK.  Archival photo courtesy NYPL
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1 comment:

  1. westsiderMay 6, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    Great suggestion, the original picture reminded me of the Brooklyn Promenade as it has a water view. These huge arches are such a signature of far west Harlem, and often seen in photos and movies including the new Spiderman, the massive graceful arches always remind me of the Eiffel Tower when passing under them. This viaduct deserves celebrating with some great development.

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