136-648: The Grand Concourse (also known as the Grand Boulevard and Concourse ) is a 5.2-mile-long (8.4 km) thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City . Grand Concourse runs through several neighborhoods, including Bedford Park , Concourse , Highbridge , Fordham , Mott Haven , Norwood and Tremont . For most of its length, the Concourse is 180 feet (55 m) wide, though portions of
272-458: A metamorphic rock that is very hard to weather . The Tibbetts Brook valley is set in Inwood marble , which weathers more easily. The east side of the park near Indian Field contains Yonkers granite, an igneous rock that mixed with Fordham gneiss as a hot magma before later cooling. Van Cortlandt Park contains the Bronx's largest freshwater lake , the eponymous Van Cortlandt Lake. The lake
408-504: A nursery needed to be built to transport the plants during the garden's reconstruction. The rustic wooden bridges were to be replaced with stone bridges, while the wooden stairs were to be superseded by stone stairs. Not only did many plants die during the process, but the actual rebuilding was delayed until 1911. Two years later, the Parks Commissioner for the Bronx refused to allocate reconstruction funds because, he stated,
544-626: A 1910s excavation for a sewer pipe, stones were unearthed that were suspected to be from the old van der Donck estate. During World War I , the Parade Ground was used to train soldiers. Eight tennis courts opened in 1914 with admission being $ 1 per person, and owing to the Van Cortlandt Golf Course's immense popularity, the Mosholu Links also opened that year. By 1917, the Parade Ground contained 10 out of
680-468: A 69% drop in accidents along this section between 1998 and 2005. The final part of the demonstration project was completed in 2008. Following the success of the "demonstration" reconstruction, the NYCDOT unveiled a four-phase capital project between 161st Street and Fordham Road as part of a capital project, which would receive funding directly from the city. The demonstration project was the first phase of
816-399: A boat. To thwart robbers, besieged golfers quit playing in traditional foursomes and instead ventured forth in football-team-sized units. Some players added an extra club—a night stick—or tucked tear gas spray into their golf bags." Years later, one writer recalled that dozens of the course's trees died, and "flagsticks were reduced to broken bamboo poles stuck into the ground." Weeds overgrew
952-509: A county in themselves, or are completely separate and independent of any county. Each borough is represented by a borough president . Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island each have a Borough Hall with limited administrative functions. The Manhattan Borough President's office is situated in the Manhattan Municipal Building . The Bronx Borough President's office used to be in its own Bronx Borough Hall but has been in
1088-487: A county. When the western part of Queens County was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County on Long Island , thereafter making the borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other. The term borough was adopted in 1898 to describe a form of governmental administration for each of
1224-621: A few blocks west of the Grand Concourse in 1917, initiating a housing boom amongst upwardly mobile, predominantly Jewish and Italian, families who were fleeing the crowded tenements of Manhattan. In 1923, Yankee Stadium opened near the Grand Concourse at 161st Street, down the hill from the Concourse Plaza Hotel . South of Fordham Road, the palatial Loew's Paradise theater, one of the Loew's Wonder Theatres and at one time
1360-556: A need for a larger water supply. Major David Bates Douglass was appointed to perform engineering studies on the future Old Croton Aqueduct in March 1833. Douglass made estimates for the new aqueduct in 1833–1834 and John Martineau performed a separate study in 1834. Both found the proposed route, which ran through the present-day park, to be okay. Thus, in 1837, construction started on the Aqueduct, which ran 41 miles (66 km) from
1496-478: A sawmill, creating a mill pond at the site where the lake is. Later, he also added a gristmill. The sawmill was relocated around 1823 and stayed in operation until 1889. The gristmill was destroyed by lightning in 1901. By the time the park was created, Van Cortlandt Lake needed to be cleaned, as cesspools in Yonkers had leaked sewage into Tibbetts Brook, which fed into the lake. A 1903 annual report from
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#17327763027451632-423: A series of culverts before draining into the south edge of the lake at approximately West 242nd Street. There are efforts to daylight this south end into the former New York and Putnam Railroad right-of-way that runs through the park as part of the park's faster plan. There is no surviving documentation for the creation of Van Cortlandt Lake. In 1699, Jacobus Van Cortlandt dammed Tibbetts Brook to power
1768-549: A sprawling lawn dubbed the "Parade Ground," while the Van Cortlandt House was converted into a public museum. The construction of the Parade Ground required demolition of a few old buildings and cornfields. The Parade Ground was immediately used by the National Guard for brigade practice, replacing the parade ground of Prospect Park . The ground received unspecified "improvements" in 1893–1894. With
1904-415: A study to determine the specific elements of the park that needed restoration. Highway structures were also reconfigured to clean runoff from these structures. An excavation in the 1990s yielded over 2,500 artifacts. A set of tennis courts were proposed within the park east of the Van Cortlandt House in the 1990s; despite concerns from preservationists, though the courts were approved. The city built
2040-418: Is 4 to 8 feet (1.2 to 2.4 m) deep at various times of year, and has an area of 18 acres (7.3 ha). The lake is used for recreational fishing, as it includes species such as largemouth bass , black crappie , brown bullhead , bluegill , pumpkinseed , golden shiner , common carp , white sucker , and yellow perch . It is fed by Tibbetts Brook , a stream originating in Yonkers, which runs through
2176-669: Is also used by politicians to counter a frequent focus on Manhattan and thereby to place all five boroughs on equal footing. In the same vein, the term outer boroughs refers to all of the boroughs excluding Manhattan, even though the geographic center of the city is along the Brooklyn–Queens border. All five boroughs were created in 1898 during consolidation, when the city's modern boundaries were established. The Bronx originally included parts of New York County outside of Manhattan that had previously been ceded by neighboring Westchester County in two stages; in 1874 ( southern Yonkers , and
2312-415: Is briefly a ten-lane boulevard with four roadways, two in each direction, until just south of 165th Street. There, the northbound and southbound inner roadways merge into a five-lane undivided roadway with two lanes in each direction and a left-turn lane and painted median in the center. The buffered bike lanes on each service road end at East 171st Street, and conventional bike lanes start on the right lane of
2448-638: Is known as the Peach War . This forced the settlers, including van der Donck's widow, to flee to Manhattan. Following the takeover of the New Netherland colony by the British in 1664, the claim to the estate was awarded to Hugh O'Neale, the new husband of van der Donck's widow. Because the O'Neales lived far away from the land, the claim was awarded to O'Neale's brother-in-law and van der Donck's widow's brother, Elias Doughty, who proceeded to sell off
2584-560: Is the third-largest park in New York City, behind the Staten Island Greenbelt (1,778 acres (720 ha)) and Pelham Bay Park (2,772 acres (1,122 ha)). It has numerous attractions and features that are both recreational and educational. The different parts of Van Cortlandt Park have a varied geology. The Northwest Woods and Old Croton Aqueduct Trailway have a steep terrain dotted with Fordham gneiss ,
2720-622: Is used in Connecticut , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania , where a borough is an independent level of government, as well as with borough forms used in other states and in Greater London . New York City is often referred to collectively as the five boroughs , which can unambiguously refer to the city proper as a whole, avoiding confusion with any particular borough or with the Greater New York metropolitan area . The term
2856-906: The Bronx County Courthouse for decades. Since the abolition of the Board of Estimate in 1990 (due to a 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court ), the borough presidents have minimal executive powers, and there is no legislative function within a borough. Executive functions in New York City are the responsibility of the Mayor of New York City , while legislative functions reside with the New York City Council . The borough presidents primarily act as spokesmen, advocates, and ceremonial leaders for their boroughs, have budgets from which they can allocate relatively modest sums of money to community organizations and projects, and appoint
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#17327763027452992-533: The Bronx River Parkway , and Pelham Parkway between Jerome Avenue and Pelham Bay Park. By the 1960s, large portions of the park, such as Tibbetts Brook, were being polluted by human activity; in addition, the brook now flowed into the Broadway sewer at the south end of Van Cortlandt Lake. Pollution from upstream and the highways, and spillover of chemicals used in the golf course, killed fish in
3128-546: The Croton Water Filtration Plant , a drinking water treatment facility, under the park's Mosholu Golf Course. Plant operations began in 2015. The plant was needed in order to filter contaminants from urban runoff pollution in the Croton River watershed and protect the public from Giardia and Cryptosporidium , microorganisms which can cause serious health problems. The Croton plant
3264-629: The George Washington Bridge , has also been called the sixth borough. Yonkers , in Westchester County, is often referred to as the sixth borough as well. Van Cortlandt Park Van Cortlandt Park is a 1,146-acre (464 ha) park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City . Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation , it is managed with assistance from
3400-628: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated numerous buildings around the Grand Concourse as part of a city landmark district. Additionally, several individual points of interest are located on or near the Concourse, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Edgar Allan Poe Cottage . The Grand Concourse's southern terminus is at East 138th Street. Shortly afterward, it merges with
3536-591: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Grand Concourse from 153rd to 167th Streets as part of the Grand Concourse Historic District. The State of New York had previously nominated the buildings at 730–1000, 1100–1520, 1560, and 851–1675 Grand Concourse for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Borough (New York City) The boroughs of New York City are
3672-622: The New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera performed in the field during the summer. However, it too had deteriorated because of intensive use: the grounds' topsoil had eroded away and the sidewalks started to buckle. In 1978, the Perrier Company donated a fitness trail consisting of 12 exercise machines to the park; there were originally supposed to be 18 machines, but the extra six machines were deemed unnecessary. Two shuffleboard courts were also installed in
3808-532: The New York metropolitan area as well as in other states, U.S. territories , and foreign countries. In 2011, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the city's waterfront and waterways as a composite sixth borough during presentations of planned rehabilitation projects along the city's shoreline , including Governor's Island in the Upper New York Bay . The Hudson Waterfront , in
3944-691: The U.S. state of New Jersey , lies opposite Manhattan on the Hudson River , and during the Dutch colonial era , it was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam and known as Bergen . Jersey City and Hoboken , in New Jersey's Hudson County , are sometimes referred to as the sixth borough, given their proximity and connections by rapid transit PATH trains to the city. Fort Lee , in Bergen County , opposite Upper Manhattan and connected by
4080-658: The Unami language . The strip of land on the Hudson River's east bank, between the current-day Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Yonkers , was sold to the Dutch West India Company in the early 17th century. Adriaen van der Donck , a Dutch settler, bought the land from the company in 1646. Van der Donck also paid the Indian chief Tacharew, whose tribe used to live on the land, as a friendly gesture. He named
4216-637: The 1939 WPA Guide to New York City , the Grand Concourse was described as "the Park Avenue of middle-class Bronx residents, and the lease to an apartment in one of its many large buildings is considered evidence of at least moderate business success." In 1941, the New York City Planning Department proposed converting the boulevard into an expressway, in order to connect the Major Deegan Expressway and
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4352-526: The 1980s, The New York Times characterized the Concourse as "a driver’s paradise". Traffic lights were timed so that motorists received a " green wave ", moving through multiple intersections per light cycle. Meanwhile, pedestrian crossings and trees were eliminated, and green highway signs were placed on the Concourse. During the 1980s, landlords along the Concourse and elsewhere in the South Bronx began rehabilitating their buildings. The Bronx Museum of
4488-560: The Arts , was one of the institutions to move to the area, relocating in 1982 to a former synagogue at Grand Concourse and 167th Street. The city created the "Special Grand Concourse Preservation District" in 1989 to preserve the character of residential buildings on the Concourse. This led to new building developments on the Concourse starting in the 1990s, including the Rafael Viñoly -designed Bronx Housing Courthouse at 1118 Grand Concourse. In addition, basement stores started opening on
4624-429: The Concourse are narrower. The Grand Concourse was designed by Louis Aloys Risse, an immigrant from Saint-Avold , Lorraine , France . Risse first conceived of the road in 1890, and the Concourse was built between 1894 and 1909, with an additional extension in 1927. The development of the Concourse led to the construction of apartment buildings (a plurality of six-story high-class semi-fireproof elevator apartment houses
4760-412: The Concourse in the 1980s, serving the predominantly minority communities around the boulevard. By 2003, a New York Times writer observed that "every block between 161st Street and 196th Street now has a grocery, a barber shop, a travel agency or a medical clinic". By the early 1990s, politicians and community advocates strove to make the Concourse more usable for pedestrians. At that time, the Concourse
4896-592: The Concourse was redesigned to be more motorist-friendly. Renovation and redevelopment started in the 1980s, and a portion of the Grand Concourse was reconstructed starting in the 2000s. The southern portion of the Grand Concourse is surrounded by several historically important residential buildings, which were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as part of the Grand Concourse Historic District . In 2011,
5032-533: The Concourse. The cost of the project was $ 14 million (worth $ 512,736,000 today). The Grand Concourse originally stretched from Bronx Borough Hall at 161st Street north to Van Cortlandt Park . It was expanded southward to 138th Street in 1927 after Mott Avenue was widened to accommodate the boulevard. Evidence of the Grand Concourse extension's old name is present at the 149th Street–Grand Concourse station , where there are signs reading "Mott Avenue". The Interborough Rapid Transit Company 's Jerome Avenue Line opened
5168-650: The Croton River upstate to the New York Public Library Main Branch and Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan . The project was built by 3,000–4,000 laborers who completed the entire aqueduct in five years. The aqueduct's builders constructed a gatehouse within the present-day park to provide access to the aqueduct's interior. The old aqueduct was supplemented by the New Croton Aqueduct in 1890, which also ran through
5304-589: The Croton Water Filtration Plant project, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was given $ 200 million to mitigate the effects of constructing the plant. A feasibility study in 2009 found that a bridge near the location of 233rd Street was the most feasible, and would connect the two sections of the trail. This bridge was deferred over lack of funding in 2014 before planning resumed in 2015. The John Kieran Nature Trail (1.25 miles (2.01 km), easy), which connects to
5440-539: The Mosholu Golf Course, was also built using Croton mitigation funds. As part of the "Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan 2034", critical ecological elements of the park, such as the forest, the rural landscape, and Tibbetts Brook, would be restored, and the brook would be diverted. As of March 2014 when the report was written, the lack of natural drainage points within Van Cortlandt Park led to
5576-540: The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation mentioned that the lake had probably not been cleaned since the mid-18th century, and now contained a layer of "refuse and vegetation on top, and an ooze two to three feet deep on the bottom," with qualities more like a "semi-bog." Cleaning of the lake started in 1903. The lake's original earthen dam was removed, the lake was emptied, and 30,000 cubic yards (23,000 m ) of deposits were dredged from
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5712-579: The Parade Grounds the same year, but went unused because of a lack of playing equipment. In response to studies and accounts that showed the bad condition of the lake, the state restored the fish population of the lake in 1978. In 1977, the Bronx Borough Board created a special committee to oversee and develop plans for improving Van Cortlandt Park. The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park soon came up with its own suggestions to improve
5848-581: The Parks Department proposed to dredge the swamp and create a lake in its stead, but despite this plan receiving $ 70,000 in funding in 1906, it was deemed "not feasible" to drain the swamp directly into the Broadway sewer. Another plan to remove the swamps in the park's southwest was approved in 1904. The plan was to build an athletic field in the southwest swamp's place, but all swamp-infill proposals for this sector were rejected in 1917. By 1922, there were 23 acres (9.3 ha) of swampland left in
5984-546: The Putnam Branch tracks, and a fungicide with 8.5% cadmium content that was being sprayed on the golf course. A year later, a private landscaping firm estimated that it would cost $ 4–7 million to restore the Van Cortlandt Lake. By this point, the lake was so dirty that a small boat could not float on it, even though the lake was 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. Catfish were the only fish that could survive in
6120-549: The Putnam Trail, opened in 1987 and is named after local writer and naturalist John Kieran. The path features 13 stone pillars, each made of a different variety of stone, that were tested for the facade of Grand Central Terminal during the terminal's construction . The variety eventually chosen was Indiana limestone because it was cheap. The trail hugs the edge of the Van Cortlandt Lake and Tibbetts Brook marsh. The John Muir Trail (1.5 miles (2.4 km), moderate)
6256-611: The South Bronx left for suburban areas in a process known as white flight ; they were helped by the construction of the Interstate Highway System . At the same time, African Americans and Puerto Ricans were moving to the Bronx for blue-collar jobs; however, these jobs were increasingly being shifted to the suburbs, the Southern United States , and other countries. Racial discrimination against these demographic groups prevented them from moving to
6392-541: The Van Cortlandt Course during winters. Also in the late 1960s, the city decided to build a series of public pools on the site of the Colonial Garden, consisting of a diving, a swimming, and a wading pool. Construction on the $ 1.5 million pools started in early 1969 and was completed by 1970. Because of the swampy nature of the ground underneath it, the pools soon began to crackle and set. By 1979,
6528-529: The Van Cortlandt Golf Course compounded the lake's dirty condition, and by 1912, the lake and brook contained significant sedimentation. Nearby residents also disliked the wetlands near the lake, as they could be used to breed malaria -borne mosquitoes, and were thus seen as "unsightly and unsanitary." In 1896, they proposed to fill the wetlands in, and the infill proposal was funded by the New York City Board of Estimate in 1899. Subsequently,
6664-567: The Van Cortlandt House on the former Tippett property, but died before its completion. The Van Cortlandts did not primarily live in that house, instead staying in Manhattan most of the time. A family burial ground was created in 1749, later to be known as "Vault Hill." Frederick, who was buried in Vault Hill, had willed the massive home and surrounding lands to his son, James Van Cortlandt (1727–1787). The Van Cortlandt family land
6800-659: The Van Cortlandt House on the property, but died before its completion. Later, the land was used during the Revolutionary War when the Stockbridge militia was destroyed by the Queen's Rangers . In 1888, the family property was sold to the City of New York and made into a public parkland. The Van Cortlandt House, later designated as a historic landmark, was converted into a public museum, and new paths were created across
6936-790: The Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-largest, was named for the Van Cortlandt family , which was prominent in the area during the Dutch and English colonial periods. Van Cortlandt Park's sports facilities include golf courses and several miles of paths for running, as well as facilities for baseball , basketball , cricket , cross-country running , football , horseback riding , lacrosse , rugby , soccer , softball , swimming , tennis and track and field . The park also contains five major hiking trails and other walking trails. Its natural features include Tibbetts Brook; Van Cortlandt Lake ,
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#17327763027457072-409: The areas along the Grand Concourse of most of its remaining middle-class residents. Many buildings in the area were damaged by arson, vandalism, and a lack of maintenance. The road itself was modified to be more hospitable to motorists. During the 1960s, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation removed the grass median on the Concourse and replaced it with cement that was painted green. By
7208-580: The capital project. A reconstruction of the Grand Concourse between 166th and 171st Street began in 2013 and was finished in June 2017. Funding is being allocated for a reconstruction of the Grand Concourse from 171st Street to 175th Street, which is already in planning. In January 2017, the New York City Department of Transportation started planning for a fourth phase, which will renovate the section between 175th Street and Fordham Road. Because of its attractive art deco buildings and close proximity to Manhattan ,
7344-494: The city border. The new course, which started at the original polo fields, did not conflict with either of the golf courses. In 1922, there was a proposal to acquire land for the future Saw Mill River Parkway , which would connect the park to 424 acres (172 ha) of open space in Westchester when completed. Through the 1930s, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation kept adding new recreational facilities in
7480-411: The city grew northward, it began annexing areas on the mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 ( West Bronx ) and 1895 ( East Bronx ). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as the Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with
7616-654: The city purchase the property. Around the same time, New York Herald editor John Mullaly pushed for the creation of parks in New York City, particularly lauding the Van Cortlandt and Pell families' properties in the western and eastern Bronx respectively. He formed the New York Park Association in November 1881. There were objections to the system, which would apparently be too far from Manhattan, in addition to precluding development on
7752-493: The city to propose alternate sites for the plant. The plant was built 160 feet (49 m) below the Mosholu Golf Course, at a cost of $ 3.2 billion. To lessen the disruption caused by the plant's construction, in 2010 the city used mitigation funds from the construction budget to restore the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground. The Sachkerah Woods Playground, located at the park's southeast corner near
7888-463: The city's approval, particularly overgrown areas of the property were made passable. Wide walking paths were built over original walkways, including the thin paths that led to the Van Cortlandt family cemetery, high on the nearby bluffs. "Certain lands" around the house were then filled in for the purpose of creating a "Colonial Garden," which was proposed in 1897. During excavation of the grounds, Indian artifacts and graves were found, corresponding to
8024-555: The city. In some document collections the boroughs used to be designated with a one-letter abbreviation: K for Brooklyn, M for Manhattan, Q for Queens, R for Staten Island (Richmond County), and X for the Bronx. The term "sixth borough" is used to describe any of a number of places that have been metaphorically called a part of New York City because of their geographic location, demographics (they include large numbers of former New Yorkers), special affiliation, or cosmopolitan character. They have included adjacent cities and counties in
8160-721: The corridor: Risse first conceived of the road in 1890, as a means of connecting the borough of Manhattan to the northern Bronx. Construction began on the Grand Concourse in 1894 and it was opened to traffic in November 1909. Built during the height of the City Beautiful movement , it was modeled on the Champs-Élysées in Paris but is considerably larger, stretching four miles (6 km) in length, measuring 180 feet (55 m) across, and separated into three roadways by tree-lined dividers, so some minor streets did not cross
8296-519: The counties are considered to be arms of the state government), rather than officials of the city government, they are not subject to the term limitations that govern other New York City officials such as the mayor, the New York City Public Advocate , members of the city council, or the borough presidents. Some civil court judges also are elected on a borough-wide basis, although they generally are eligible to serve throughout
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#17327763027458432-433: The course, and golfers would wear long-sleeved shirts to ward off against the city's insufficient mosquito repellents. Homeless squatters moved into the park, while courses fell into disrepair, replaced by dirt tracks and "huts and forts" built by neighborhood kids. In 1985, the city licensed control of the courses to Los Angeles -based American Golf Corporation for 60 years, leading to their restoration. Other parts of
8568-437: The creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including the Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter . All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were dissolved. New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As
8704-410: The entire corridor through 2006. As an experiment, the NYCDOT also completely rebuilt the section between 161st Street and 167th Streets starting in 1999, as a "demonstration" project. The Grand Concourse underwent an $ 18 million restoration and landscaping to widen and landscape the medians; improve lighting; add new signage; build pedestrian planters in the medians; and add bike lanes. This resulted in
8840-421: The entrance ramp to southbound Major Deegan Expressway ( I-87 ), as well as the exit ramp from northbound I-87. The Grand Concourse continues as a divided eight-lane avenue, with two to three traffic lanes in each direction, until East 161st Street. North of there, the service roads in each direction begin, and a unidirectional buffered bike lane runs on the left edge of either service road. The Grand Concourse
8976-422: The fact that Luther R. Marsh, vice president of the New York Park Association, owned land near Van Cortlandt Park in particular. Opponents argued that building a park system would divert funds from more important infrastructure like schools and docks; that everyone in the city, instead of just the property owners near the proposed park, was required to pay taxes to pay for the parks' construction; and that since Marsh
9112-496: The finest examples of Art Deco and Art Moderne architecture in the United States. Even though the Great Depression , which was happening at the time, ended the period of tremendous growth, privately financed apartment buildings continued to be constructed. Furthermore, work was done on the Grand Concourse as part of WPA programs. During this period, the Bronx had more amenities than other boroughs: in 1934, almost 99% of residences had private bathrooms, and 95% had central heating. In
9248-467: The first recorded people to inhabit in the area now referred to as Van Cortlandt Park. They settled in the area around the 14th or 15th centuries. The Lenapes used the geographic features of the area to support their community; for instance, they used the Tibbetts Brook , Spuyten Duyvil Creek , or Hudson River for fishing, and flatland areas for farming. They formed a village named Keskeskick, whose name roughly translates to "sharp grass or sedge marsh" in
9384-425: The five fundamental constituent parts of the newly consolidated city . Under the 1898 City Charter adopted by the New York State Legislature, a borough is a municipal corporation that is created when a county is merged with populated areas within it. The limited powers of the boroughs are inferior to the authority of the government of New York City , contrasting significantly with the powers of boroughs as that term
9520-431: The five major governmental districts that compose New York City . They are the Bronx , Brooklyn , Manhattan , Queens , and Staten Island . Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York : The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. All five boroughs of New York came into existence with
9656-432: The flooding of recreational areas within the park during heavy rains. The park's paths would also be restored with the addition of three new pedestrian bridges; a playground; four activity centers, of which two would be outdoors and two would be indoors; a skate park; an athletic field; and three basketball courts built within the park. "Comfort stations" and food concessions would also be added. The Van Cortlandt Golf Course
9792-408: The following June. Besides plants, the garden had rustic wooden bridges and wooden stairs and a "handsome fountain and central court." A "Shakespeare Garden" was also opened that year, with a grand stairway leading down to it. The next year, park officials realized that the Colonial Garden's construction was of poor quality and hard to cultivate. The garden had to be raised 3.5 feet (1.1 m), and
9928-525: The forests. The stock of younger, replacement trees in the old-growth forest had relatively little diversity compared to other natural forests. In 1979, New York City Councilwoman June Eisland released a report on Van Cortlandt Park. The report noted that pollutants from the Major Deegan Expressway were entering Van Cortlandt Lake, and that the park ecosystem was also being harmed by inadequate drainage, soil sterilants that were used on
10064-454: The former Van Cortlandt Park station can be seen along the trail. As part of the park's 2034 master plan, NYC Parks undertook a project to pave the entirety of the trail through Van Cortlandt Park as well as a short extension to the south, making it usable for both pedestrians and bicyclists. A construction contract for the paving project was awarded in October 2018 to Grace Industries, and it
10200-449: The garden looked just fine. Under threat of tearing the garden down, the city had to find money to fill and drain the ground. The rebuilding contract was awarded in 1909 and completed by 1911. Various adjustments were made over succeeding years. A network of roads through the park was built soon after, allowing the construction of picnic areas and hiking trails as well as making the forests more accessible to visitors. A stone memorial
10336-469: The house to deceive the British into thinking that his troops were still on the grounds. Washington used the house one final time in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris . The British had just withdrawn their troops from Manhattan, and Washington and George Clinton were getting ready to enter the island, stopping over at the house before doing so. In the 1830s, officials in a rapidly expanding New York City saw
10472-476: The lake and forest, which had been overtaken by invasive species introduced during highway construction. Since then, there have been seven plans for restoring natural elements of the park, as well as three plans for park restoration. Gradual improvements began taking place in the late 1980s, including the addition of new pathways, signage, and security, as well as the restoration of playgrounds and other recreational facilities. In January 1988, NYC Parks conducted
10608-415: The lake bed. A new 2,270-foot (690 m) retaining wall was then erected along the lake's eastern shore, and a new dam was installed to reform the lake and to allow future cleaning of the lake without having to dredge it. After the opening of an overflow drain in 1911–1912, which connected to the sewer under Broadway completed in 1907, Tibbetts Brook was directed into the new sewer, The construction of
10744-753: The lake was used by up to 3,000 skaters on weekdays and 10,000 on weekends. The ice-skating house, shared with the golf course, was added in 1902. By 1935, the lake was used by approximately 20,000 skaters daily. There are several old-growth forests with tree species and genera such as black oak , hickory , beech , cherry birch , sweetgum , red maple , and tuliptree . The forests also contain wild turkeys , red-tailed hawks , great horned owls , bats , Eastern chipmunks , Eastern gray squirrels , groundhogs , gypsy moths , Eastern cottontail rabbits , striped skunks , North American raccoons , Virginia opossums , white-tailed deer and Eastern coyotes . In addition, over 130 species of butterflies can be found in
10880-525: The lake water. The city of Yonkers eventually attributed the cause of the Van Cortlandt Lake's pollution to four storm sewers that were found to be illegally connected to Tibbetts Brook upstream. The utter disrepair in the park prompted some informal rules at the park's golf courses. For instance, the Los Angeles Times noted that "a player was allowed to drop his ball a club length away if it rolled up against an abandoned auto, or, in one case,
11016-432: The lake's surface area was being lost to sedimentation every year. In addition, an algal bloom caused the lake to be in a low-oxygen condition, endangering plants and animals in and around the lake. "Unpleasant odors" in the summer also reduced recreational opportunities on the lake, and these conditions combined made it virtually impossible to come into contact with the lake's water without getting sick. By 1976, there
11152-496: The lake. This problem was first noticed in May 1961 when thousands of dead bass , pickerel , catfish , perch , and carp floated up at the edge of the lake. The mass-death of fish was blamed on siltation, Three years later, fish were still being killed by siltation. City investigators took water samples from the lake and found that they contained large amounts of weeds and sediment . About 22,000 square feet (2,000 m ) of
11288-525: The land " Colen Donck " and built a house upon the land. The house was built between current-day Van Cortlandt Lake and Broadway . It faced south, probably because this was the location of a natural marshland. What is now the parade ground was used by van der Donck for farming. Van der Donck died in 1655. That year the Munsee bands that lived in the lower Hudson River valley briefly occupied New Amsterdam and attacked Pavonia and Staten Island during what
11424-497: The land part of the Philipsburg Manor , which extended from Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the Croton River in modern Westchester County . Philipse's wife died, and he remarried Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt's daughter, herself a widow. Philipse's daughter Eva later married Jacobus Van Cortlandt , who was Mrs. Philipse's brother. The land that Van Cortlandt Park now occupies was acquired by Van Cortlandt from Philipse in
11560-515: The largest freshwater lake in the Bronx; old-growth forests; and outcrops of Fordham gneiss and Inwood marble . Contained within the park is the Van Cortlandt House , the oldest known surviving house in the Bronx, and the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, the oldest public golf course in the country. The land that Van Cortlandt Park now occupies was purchased by Jacobus Van Cortlandt from John Barrett around 1691. His son Frederick built
11696-505: The largest movie theater in New York City, was constructed in 1929. Development of the Concourse was further encouraged by the opening of the Independent Subway System 's Concourse Line in 1933. By the mid-1930s, almost three hundred apartment buildings had been built along the Concourse. Customarily five or six stories high with wide entrance courtyards bordered with grass and shrubs, among these apartments are many of
11832-400: The locker rooms were heavily vandalized and the diving pool had been closed. The city's fiscal crisis in the 1970s caused the rest of the park to fall into disrepair. A dearth of funds exacerbated the pollution of the park. Hands-on education programs at the park were reduced to passive observations of flora and fauna. Elsewhere in the park, excessive foot traffic was eroding the soil in
11968-405: The media, they are technically and legally the district attorneys of New York County and Kings County, respectively. The same goes for Staten Island. There is no such distinction made for the district attorneys of the other two counties, Queens and the Bronx, since these boroughs share the respective counties' names. Because the five district attorneys are, technically speaking, state officials (since
12104-522: The members of the 59 largely advisory community boards in the city's various neighborhoods. The Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents also appoint trustees to the local public library systems in those boroughs. Being coextensive with an individual county, each borough also elects a district attorney , as does every other county of New York State. While the district attorneys of Manhattan and Brooklyn are popularly referred to as "Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr. ", or "Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth P. Thompson " by
12240-501: The mid-to-late 1690s. In 1699, Van Cortlandt dammed Tibbetts Brook in order to power a sawmill (and later, a gristmill , ), creating Van Cortlandt Lake as a mill pond in the process. In 1732, Van Cortlandt acquired an additional parcel from the Tippett family. The estate was then passed on to Jacobus's son Frederick Van Cortlandt (1699–1749) and family in 1739; it was once a vast grain plantation. In 1748, Frederick built
12376-420: The name of the county unchanged. There are hundreds of distinct neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs of New York City, many with a definable history and character to call their own. Since 1914, each of New York City's five boroughs has been coextensive with a county of New York State – unlike most U.S. cities , which lie within a single county or extend partially into another county, constitute
12512-594: The new park was being planned, the New York City & Northern Railroad, later the New York and Putnam Railroad , was built through the center of the park. It had two stops in the Bronx: one inside the park, and another to the south at Kingsbridge . South of Kingsbridge, the railroad merged with the present-day Hudson Line of the Metro-North Railroad . The tracks were used for passenger traffic until 1958, and by freight trains until 1981. A shuttle train
12648-560: The old aqueduct. The trail features vestiges of an old, disused brick tunnel that brought water to Manhattan, as well as a gatehouse for the aqueduct. Within the park, the Old Croton Aqueduct trail borders Mosholu Golf Center and Driving Range, as well as the Allen Shandler Recreation Area. Its southern end is cut off by the Major Deegan Expressway in the southwestern end of the park. As part of
12784-460: The old village of Keskeskick. The nine-hole Van Cortlandt Golf Course opened on July 6, 1895, as the country's first and oldest public golf course. The 2,561-yard (2,342 m) course comprised current holes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14. The first eight holes were easier and less than 200 yards (180 m) apart, but the last one had a fairway 700 yards (640 m) in length. The ninth hole, which spanned two stone walls and two small brooks,
12920-504: The park also fell into disrepair, such as Vault Hill, whose headstones and crypts were vandalized in the 1960s. As early as 1962, a New York Times reader wrote of vandalism on Vault Hill. A lack of annual maintenance of the park's jogging tracks and bridle paths had caused them to erode and become overgrown at some places. In 1978–1979, NYC Parks performed a wholesale renovation of the park's eroded and dilapidated bridle paths and jogging tracks. The Parade Ground remained popular, and
13056-405: The park into six pieces and demolished most of the remaining marsh in the park. This construction also induced siltation of the brook, leading to further creation of marshes. Moses also made improvements to the park itself, building new walkways, paving dirt roads, creating playgrounds, and installing lights. Baseball, soccer, and cricket fields were added in 1938. The Van Cortlandt Stadium
13192-460: The park since 1875, when records were first kept. Amphibians present include American bullfrogs , red-backed salamanders , and spring peepers . Also present in and around the park's waterways and wetlands are common snapping turtles and Eastern painted turtles , as well as red-eared sliders that were introduced to the region. There are five major hiking trails in the park. The Putnam Trail (1.5 miles (2.4 km), easy), runs north through
13328-462: The park to fall into disrepair. Gradual improvements began taking place from the late 1980s on including the addition of new pathways, signage, and security. In 2014, the "Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan 2034" was published. The forest in what is now Van Cortlandt Park has been around for 17,000 years, since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation . The Wiechquaskeck , a Wappinger people, were among
13464-507: The park's baseball diamonds. The park's recreational facilities were quite popular, with more than 10,000 people using them on a busy day. However, during and following World War I, the Parade Ground was used for war training. Until 1926, the baseball fields did not contain backstops , and had to be vacated by July 4 of every year, so the National Guard could use the field. The 6.2-mile (10.0 km) cross-country running course
13600-406: The park, and two airplane pilots were fined in 1947 for unauthorized airplane landings. Around 1939, the old aqueduct, which was now a popular hiking trail, started becoming a popular route with cyclists. Soon after, there was a proposal to redevelop the trail as a bike path. This proposal never came to fruition, although in the mid-1970s, the city built a separate bike path along Mosholu Parkway,
13736-486: The park, and the Parks Department hoped to convert parts of it for some athletic purpose, but this required the New York Central Railroad to raise one of its bridges first so the swampland could be accessed. However, there are no records of that bridge being raised or of the swamp being converted. In its early years, the lake was used for boating , canoeing , curling , and ice skating . By 1899,
13872-474: The park, the width of the parkways ' lanes was reduced. Tibbetts Brook was dredged and landscaped in 1938 to accommodate construction. Such construction continued until 1955, during which the Major Deegan Expressway (current Interstate 87 ) was also built, bisecting the Mosholu Parkway. This conflicted with Moses's plans for the park as a "rural oasis", as highway construction ultimately separated
14008-414: The park. In 1937, it was noted that the marshlands had fauna such as red-winged blackbirds , yellowthroats , green bottle flies , beetles , dragonflies , tadpoles , herons , kingfishers , and ospreys . Its flora included cattail , skunk cabbage , and moss . Its avian population during the winters has exceeded that of either Central or Prospect Parks; a total of 301 bird species have been seen in
14144-441: The park. After the parcourse for the parade grounds was approved in 1978, the New York City Department of Parks promised to cooperate on the Van Cortlandt Park improvement plans. The 1979 Eisland plan also detailed suggestions for park improvements. This culminated in the 1980 appointment of a park coordinator who would start devising details of a "master plan" for the park. In 1985, a study recommended ecological restoration of
14280-501: The park. The Colonial and Shakespeare Gardens had a combined 250,000 flowers by 1931, but both were demolished by the end of the decade due to bad drainage. In 1934, Robert Moses became the New York City Parks Commissioner, and during his 16-year tenure as commissioner, altered almost every aspect of the park. His job partially entailed balancing the needs of area residents, whose numbers had grown in
14416-509: The park. The Old Croton Aqueduct was in use until 1955, though the part that ran through the park was closed down in 1897 after the new aqueduct was connected to the Jerome Park Reservoir . In 1876, Frederick Law Olmsted was hired to survey the Bronx and map out streets based on the local geography. Olmsted noted the natural beauty of the Van Cortlandt estate, comparing it to Central Park which he designed, and recommended
14552-428: The parks would appreciate greatly over time; that the commission had only chosen property that could easily be converted into a park; and that Pelham Bay Park would soon be annexed to the city. Ultimately, the parks were established despite the objections of major figures like Mayors William Russell Grace and Abram Hewitt ; Comptroller Edward V. Loew; and Assemblymen Henry Bergh and Theodore Roosevelt. In 1880 while
14688-554: The past decade, with transit users who traveled to the park from the north and south. Moses's development plans in the 1930s called for the construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway and Mosholu Parkway to bisect Van Cortlandt Park and meet at a trumpet interchange about half a mile north of the center, merging into the Saw Mill River Parkway. Due to objections over the construction of roads inside
14824-497: The portions of the property. In 1668, a portion of the land was sold to William Betts, an English turner , and his son-in-law George Tippett, whom Tibbetts Brook would later be named for. This property included the modern park parade grounds. Next, Doughty sold a 2,000-acre (810 ha) tract of land, including the current site of the Van Cortlandt House , to Frederick Philipse , Thomas Delavall , and Thomas Lewis. Philipse bought out Delavall's and Lewis's land shares, making
14960-581: The property to make it more passable. In the 1930s, the Robert Moses –directed construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway and Mosholu Parkway fragmented Van Cortlandt Park into its six discontinuous pieces. The last remaining freshwater marsh in New York State , Tibbetts Brook , was dredged and landscaped to accommodate construction, causing large-scale ecological disruption within the park. The 1975 New York City fiscal crisis caused much of
15096-550: The proposed Park Avenue Expressway to the south with the Mosholu Parkway to the north. However, these plans were abandoned following the southern extension of the Bronx River Parkway in the 1940s and the extension of the Major Deegan Expressway to the north in the 1950s. The south and central Bronx rapidly deteriorated in the 1960s, as there was general disinvestment in the region's real estate, exacerbated by urban renewal and redlining programs. Many white residents of
15232-405: The respective service roads. This configuration with three roadways (two service roads and one main road) continues north until Mosholu Parkway , where the Grand Concourse ends. At Fordham Road , the main road passes underneath in a grade-separated junction , while the service roads intersect with Fordham Road. Grand Concourse is served by the following subway lines: And these bus routes serve
15368-462: The richer individuals that have gentrified other neighborhoods of the city. Several buildings of importance to New York City and the Bronx, both because of their history and their current use, are located along the Grand Concourse. There are also numerous structures designated as New York City Landmarks (NYCL) and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on the Concourse. From south to north (in increasing address order), they include: In 2011,
15504-622: The site. However, newspapers and prominent lobbyists, who supported such a park system, were able to petition the bill into the New York State Senate , and later, the New York State Assembly (the legislature's lower house ). In June 1884, Governor Grover Cleveland signed the New Parks Act into law, authorizing the creation of the park system. Legal disputes carried on for years, exacerbated by
15640-513: The southern portion has been experiencing gentrification and is drawing many young professionals to the area. Since the 2000s, the area around the Grand Concourse has been the center of what real estate agents are calling a “renewal", with new residents moving in, and severe crime rates having decreased significantly. The New York Times cited several residents who believed that, while the region would experience demographic changes, it would be working-class, “community-oriented” people, as opposed to
15776-486: The southwest of the Van Cortlandt Station was converted to a lake. An "outlet sewer" under Broadway was built in 1907. From 1903 to 1911, NYC Parks cleaned the 13-foot-deep (4.0 m) Van Cortlandt Lake, removed the original earthen dam , and emptied the lake in order to dredge the lake bed to a lower depth. A new dam was installed to reform the lake. The former marshland was filled in. During
15912-425: The suburbs, forcing them into deteriorating urban housing stock. The buildings around the Concourse thus came to be perceived as old and low-rent, and subsequent cycles of disinvestment led landlords on the Concourse to pay decreasingly less attention to their housing stock, while banks and insurance companies failed to give financial support to these neighborhoods. Further outward migration between 1968 and 1970 drained
16048-406: The three eastern towns of Queens County that had not joined the city the year before—the towns of Hempstead , North Hempstead , and Oyster Bay —formally seceded from Queens County to form the new Nassau County . The borough of Staten Island, coextensive with Richmond County, was officially the borough of Richmond until the name was changed in 1975 to reflect its common appellation, while leaving
16184-487: The towns of Kingsbridge , West Farms , and Morrisania ) and then following a referendum in 1894 (towns of Westchester , Williamsbridge , and the southern portion of Eastchester ). Ultimately in 1914, the present-day separate Bronx County became the most recent county to be created in the State of New York. The borough of Queens consists of what formerly was only the western part of a then-larger Queens County. In 1899,
16320-429: The war, however. Later, the grounds were used by Patriot militia leaders Comte de Rochambeau , Marquis de Lafayette , and George Washington . The house itself was Washington's headquarters after his troops were defeated in the 1776 Battle of Long Island . That same year, Augustus Van Cortlandt hid city records under Vault Hill to protect them during the war, turning them over to the new American government after
16456-430: The war. It was in "Indian Field," at the present-day intersection of Van Cortlandt Park East and 233rd Street, that the Stockbridge militia was destroyed by the Queen's Rangers , and 38 Indians from the militia were killed in 1778. In 1781, Washington returned to the house to strategize with Rochambeau while their troops waited outside on what is now the Parade Ground and Vault Hill. He later lit campfires outside
16592-584: The woods to the east of this lawn and west of Van Cortlandt Lake, through the golf course and along Tibbetts Brook and the former New York and Putnam Railroad line into Yonkers, where it connects to Westchester County's paved South County Trailway . Previously unpaved, the Putnam Trail underwent a reconstruction project starting in August 2019 and was reopened in October 2020 as a paved pedestrian and bicycle path. The rails themselves were overrun with weeds, but they were no longer usable by trains. The remains of
16728-401: Was a moratorium on all boating activities on the lake. The Van Cortlandt Golf Course was used as a ski slope during the winters starting in 1961, and up to 3,000 visitors would use the slopes each weekend. By 1964, with the use of artificial snow, it was also possible to ski during warmer days. The seasonal ski slope was closed in the late 1960s when the city decided to allow golfers to use
16864-479: Was added in 1939 on the site of a former swamp, and a pool followed in 1970. Moses also landscaped the areas near the Woodlawn and 242nd Street subway stations to attract park visitors from other neighborhoods. During his tenure as Parks Commissioner, Moses took aggressive approach to preserving the park's quality. For instance, six mothers were issued court summonses in 1942 after letting their children dig in
17000-436: Was among the country's hardest holes. Four years after the course opened, the city hired Tom Bendelow , nicknamed the "Johnny Appleseed of Golf", to expand it to 18 holes. The course added a clubhouse in 1902, which also doubled as an ice-skating house. At first, the park was sparsely used for sports. In 1899, there were 10, 7, and 5 permits issued for lawn tennis, baseball, and football, respectively. The Parade Ground
17136-463: Was built after a lawsuit was filed in 1997 against the city by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of New York . The city settled the suit and a consent decree was issued with the condition that the city would build the plant by 2006. The project experienced delays and ballooning costs due to objections from the local community, which required
17272-481: Was completed in October 2020. The Old Croton Aqueduct Trailway (1.1 miles (1.8 km), easy/moderate), was created in 1968 when the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation had bought a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) stretch of the Old Croton Aqueduct, for use as a walking trail. It starts in Van Cortlandt Park as a grass-and-dirt trail and runs north along the route of
17408-546: Was converted to recreational use starting in 1902, when the National Guard added fields for polo . In 1907, due to overcrowding, Dr. William Hornaday transferred 15 of the Bronx Zoo 's then-rare bison to the Parade Ground, where they stayed until they were shipped to prairie land in Oklahoma later that year. The Colonial Garden, designed by landscape architect Samuel Parsons , started construction in 1902 and opened
17544-594: Was inaugurated in 1914. The track started out as a flat path, became hilly, turned onto a "little spell of road work," went into the forest, and crossed a water before turning back. A year later, it hosted the Metropolitan Association of the Amateur Athletic Union's Junior and Senior Cross Country championships. A modified 3.1-mile (5.0 km) cross-country course opened on November 5, 1921, with runners simply changing direction at
17680-462: Was one of the most dangerous streets in New York City, with twelve pedestrians dying in 1991, rivaling the reputation of Queens Boulevard as the "Boulevard of Death". In 1992, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) conducted a study of the Grand Concourse, which resulted in improvements such as left-turn signals; pedestrian barriers; roadway markings; repainted crosswalks; and new and improved signage. These improvements continued along
17816-472: Was operated by Yonkers Rapid Transit Railway between Kingsbridge and Yonkers . It ran off the main New York and Putnam Railroad line immediately north of the Van Cortlandt station. Service began in March 1888 and ran until 1942 (see § Former railroads ). The family property was sold to the City of New York and made into a public parkland in 1888. The majority of the grain fields were converted into
17952-438: Was perceptibly interspersed with buildings that ranged from a more affordable tier of five-story New Law walk-up apartment houses to a handful of taller fireproof apartment houses comparable to those on Manhattan's luxury thoroughfares) surrounding the boulevard. By 1939, it was called "the Park Avenue of middle-class Bronx residents". A period of decline followed in the 1960s and 1970s, when these residences became dilapidated and
18088-443: Was placed at Indian Field in 1906, with a plaque misspelling the name of the Indian chief, Abraham Ninham, as "Abraham Nimham." One particular concern was the threat of the wetlands serving as breeding grounds for malaria -borne mosquitoes, which had drawn the ire of local residents and property owners as they believed the wetlands to be "unsightly and unsanitary." The marshlands were filled in between 1906 and 1922. The marsh to
18224-488: Was renovated in 2016. The skate park, new playground, and path improvements were completed in 2020. NYC Parks started renovating the Woodlawn Playground in 2021 for $ 1 million. One of the pedestrian bridges, which would have crossed the Major Deegan Expressway, was postponed in 2020 after its cost had increased to $ 23 million; the bridge was canceled in 2023. At 1,146 acres (464 ha), Van Cortlandt Park
18360-420: Was trying to parcel off some of his land to developers, the park's size should be reduced in order to prevent him from profiting off park usage. However, most of this opposition was directed at the construction of Pelham Bay Park , which was then in Westchester. Supporters argued that the parks were for the benefit of all the city's citizens, thus justifying the citywide park tax; that the value of properties near
18496-696: Was used during the American Revolution by both the Loyalists and Patriots , owing to James's leadership role early on in the revolution. On May 30, 1775, the New York Provincial Congress placed James on a committee to create a report on whether it was feasible to build a fort near his family's house. British General William Howe made the house his headquarters on November 13, 1776, thus placing it behind British-held ground. The Van Cortlandts wished to stay neutral in
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