I finally finished my two Brooklyn tours through school and was back up in Harlem today. It was a long day of walking as those city blocks across are long. I started at the subway stop at 168th Street and walked down to 155th Street (the subway was not running to 155th Street over the weekend).
As usual when I have to walk down Broadway, I stopped at my new favorite bakery, Estrella Bakery at 3861 Broadway (check out the numerous reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for chicken pastelitos and cubanitos.
The pastries at Five Star Estrella Bakery are wonderful
If you like hot snacks and sweet desserts, this will be your ‘go to’ place for a quick snack when walking up here. The food here is wonderful and the selection of baked items and snacks is extensive. It is still one of the reasons why I don’t complain about getting off at 168th Street when the C subway is not in service. I like to stop at one of the pocket parks on Broadway to relax and eat. It was a long afternoon of walking.
Don’t miss Five Star Estrella Bakery at 3861 Broadway
My walk over these three days took me from 155th Street to 145th Street from Riverside Drive to Lenox Avenue (there are still some side streets on the other side of Jackie Robinson Park that I have not finished yet). Don’t let these maps fool you, these are long blocks being walked in humid weather.
I started my walk today at the Hispanic Society of America Museum at 613 West 155th Street which is on the Boricua College-Manhattan Campus. It shares the campus with the American Academy of Arts & Letters, which closed down in June for the rest of the summer. The Hispanic Society of America is a free museum that is small enough that you can enjoy the visit for about an hour without being overwhelmed like you would at one of the bigger museums.
The Hispanic Society of America at 613 West 155 Street
It was a small but no less impressive collection of Spanish Art from different periods. The Hispanic Society of America was founded as a free museum and research library in 1904 by the American scholar and philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington (1870-1955). Over the past century, the Hispanic Society had promoted the study of the rich artistic and cultural traditions of Spain and Portugal and their areas of influence in the Americas and throughout the world. The Museum and Library constitute the most extensive collection of Hispanic are and literature outside Spain and Latin America (Hispanic Society of America literature).
The front galleries
The museum had a nice crowd that afternoon, (how these people found it I will never know. I never knew it existed) and the galleries were small but the work was impressive. Some of the pieces that stood out were Jouquin Sorallo y Bastida’s ‘Vision of Spain’ created between 1911-1919, with many traditional views of parts of Spain and ‘After the Bath’ done in 1908, which looked more like a contemporary beach scene.
The portrait gallery
The one piece that stuck in my mind was a new piece to the collection, ‘The Four Fates of the Soul’, which showed Death, Heaven, Purgatory and Hell. The sculpture really proved it’s point and made me think that we really are being watched from above. Even the guard as I was leaving said it was a new piece to the collection but people really talked about it as they were leaving.
I thought this painting was a bit creepy
After the museum, I had about ten minutes to walk around Trinity Cemetery, which is a quiet but scenic place. On a nice sunny afternoon, it can be an interesting place to tour around in.
The graves on this side of Broadway overlook the Hudson River and are so peaceful with beautiful views, it makes you think of where you want your final resting place to be located. To live eternity here says something. Even the views of New Jersey are gorgeous. Be sure to get to the museum and the grave site early as they do close at 4:00pm.
Trinity Cemetery on 155th Street
I began my zig-zag trip of this part of Harlem at 154 Street and from there until 145th Street, the areas between Riverside Drive and Edgecombe Avenue house some of the most beautiful and elegant brownstones that I have seen in the city. So many of the them are under scaffolding as the new population moving up here is putting a lot of money into the renovations of these properties. The results are amazing with wooden doors, elegant metal work cleaned up and lively planters all around the stairs and the windows.
With the CUNY campus just south of this area, you can see that college population is spreading its wings all over the neighborhood as the students, even in the summer, are moving in or living in this neighborhood and invest in buying in the bodegas, restaurants and hanging around the parks.
Walking down Edgecombe Avenue from East 155th Street to East 145th Street
The more diverse population looks like it is really making an effort to work together for this neighborhood. The most beautiful of these blocks is concentrated between Amsterdam Avenue and Nicholas Street so take time to really look at these homes and see the love and care that is put into them.
Another stop I made was in the Hope Steven Garden at 153rd Street that runs through 152nd Street. This was an empty lot between all the buildings that has now been cleaned up and the neighborhood held their Annual Open House & Barbecue for the neighborhood. It was not much of a turnout at that point of the afternoon but all the neighborhood seniors looked at me like ‘oh oh, another one is moving in’. You begin to pick up on these things when you walk through neighborhoods that have not seen me before.
Hope Steven Garden at 505 West 142nd Street
Everyone was really nice though and some of the ladies were explaining how the neighborhood banded together to clean and landscape the garden. The garden now contains peach trees, berry bushes and a grape arbor while supporting a cat colony that lives in the garden. Some of the neighbors were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and older residents were chatting amongst themselves. No one made a fuss about me eating and since I was not hungry, I did not partake in the barbecue but it looked pretty good.
Most of the residents sat around and chatted with their neighbors or busy working in the garden. As I sat down to rest, two of the women who volunteer here, looked like they wanted to recruit me to do the same as they told me the story of how the city’s water aqueduct runs underneath the garden so they can never build here and how bad the neighborhood had become and how it was coming back to life. It takes a big person to show the immense pride in a neighborhood.
I stopped back in Convent Garden again to visit Ms. Davis, who was chatting the afternoon away while getting her exercise working in their garden. She was telling me that they will be having a jazz concert with food on Labor Day Weekend and invited me to join in. This I don’t want to miss as it is my two favorite things, jazz music and food. The volunteers were really working away at making this garden the well maintained and colorful place that the garden is to the neighborhood. Everything is in full bloom right now.
Convent Garden in full bloom at Convent Street and St. Nicholas Avenue
The Sugar Hill neighborhood is really impressive and you could see that this was not one of the places that went downhill as the rest of Harlem decayed in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. It was and still is an grand group of homes that their owners take a lot of pride in. Now that the rest of the city has caught up with it, it will be interesting to see what comes out of it the next few years.
Maggie’s Garden is now part of the NYC Parks system
Another small oasis exists on 149th Street, which is Maggie’s Garden. It was locked at the time but also another garden taken from an empty lot and brought back to life. Maggie Burnett, are Harlem resident, turned what was once a ‘rickety old house’ when torn down into an urban oasis starting in 1974.
Fighting off drug dealers to build the garden, she got some help from New York Restoration Project and its founder, Bette Midler who assisted in 1999 helping clear the site and now it is a garden with trees, flowers, a full vegetable garden and a barbecue. You could not see all that from the locked gates. (Daily News article).
Maggie’s Garden at 564 West 149th Street
The artwork in front of Maggie’s Garden on a recent trip
I was able to start my walk on the other side of Bradhurst Avenue on the other side of Jackie Robinson Park. I will let you know that the college students from CUNY have discovered the park and were sunning themselves the afternoon I walked around the park. Bradhurst Avenue has a lot of new buildings on it and the businesses include a Starbucks so you know that neighborhood is going through a transition.
Jackie Robinson Park at 85 Bradhurst Avenue
To let you know though, this transition stops here and the further you get away from the park, the seedier the area gets. By the time you hit Lenox Avenue, gentrification has not hit this area of the neighborhood and you should watch yourself. The buildings are beautiful and there is a police station a block in but it still needs a lot of work on this side of West 145th Street.
The end of the walk that day was at 145th Street and lunch at Harlem Brothers Pizza & Wings at 346 West 145th Street (Closed in 2021) which is right next store to Victorio’s Pizza that is more of the rave. The pizza was just average and the sauce did not have much flavor to it. The funny part was to listen to Indian music while eating my pizza. That was strange.
The pizza at Victorio’s is excellent. Very crisp and the sauce is amazing
My recommendation is go to Victorio’s Pizza and get it to go and eat it in Jackie Robinson Park. The middle of the park has benches to sit on and the park is really pretty with its slopping walkways and rock work and it’s large trees to sit under.
The front of Jackie Robinson Park’s band stand facing Bradhurst Avenue
The entire walk between 155th Street and 145th Street with an extra afternoon walking down Convent Avenue took almost five hours. Again, don’t let these blocks fool you as they are long and you will want to stop in the parks and gardens and walk around.
Places to Visit:
Jackie Robinson Park
85 Bradhurst to Edgecombe Avenues at 145th Street to Manhattan Avenue
I went to the Museum of Natural History this morning for a walking tour called “The History of Sharks” that took us through several galleries as the tour guide explained the history of sharks from pre-historic times to present day.
‘The History of Sharks’ exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History
How we live with sharks, how their DNA developed over the years and a discussion on the famous attacks on the New Jersey shore in 1916 to the movie ‘Jaws’.
How we live with sharks, how their DNA developed over the years and a discussion on the famous attacks on the New Jersey shore in 1916 to the movie ‘Jaws’.
The front of the American Museum of Natural History
The museum runs these special tours for members and it was nice to explore the museum as a small group. Their volunteers do a wonderful job explaining things and the museum, in anticipation of a major rainstorm that never happened, was packed to the gills. I never see it that busy.
The Dinosaur Hall
The Native American Wing just after the renovation of the hall
The Pre-Columbian Wing
The Pre-Columbian Wing
After my visit to the museum, I decided to take a walk up Riverside Drive. It was such a beautiful day with no sign of rain coming, I walked the length of Riverside Drive from 86th Street to 155th Street, crossed over 155th Street to St. Nicholas Avenue and walked down the street to 145th Street to get a better look at the brownstones and mansions and then back up to 155th Street and back down the other side of Riverside Drive to 110th Street and across to the subway station the corner of Central Park.
This part of the walk took me past many historical sites and statues, past pocket parks and mansions and the beauty of Riverside Park. When I revisited the walk again in July 2026
Starting the walk at West 72nd Street and admiring some old mansions
The twin mansions at the corner of West 72nd Street and Riverside Drive
This ‘twin’ mansion was actually two homes with a courtyard created in between the two homes. The Beaux Arts home on West 72nd Street was owned by the Sutphen family, and the right plainer mansion was owned by the Prentiss family both designed by mansion architect C.P.H. Gilbert. Both descended from old colonial families, the Sutphen family were the first one to build their mansion and it was finished 1902 and the Prentiss Mansion was built in 1900. The architect built the courtyard to compliment both homes (Wiki).
At the corner of Riverside Drive and West 72nd Street, just inside the park is a statue dedicated to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Known for her many civic and charitable contributions to the government at the time one top of being a teacher, women’s rights activist and raising five children during the Presidency, she fought for the rights of people.
Eleanor Roosevelt Statue by artist Penelope Jencks in Riverside Park
The statue was done by sculptor Penelope Jencks and Michael Middleton Dwyer and the architects on the project were Bruce Kelly and David Varnell. Ms. Jencks is an American artist who studied at Boston University and graduated with BFA.
The monument lies at the threshold of the Riverside Park and is one of a sequence of civic monuments along Riverside Drive honoring people of historical significance (NYC Parks.org). It’s a nice place to just relax and watch the world go by. This is also the end of Riverside Park which ends at West 72nd Street.
One building that stands out right across the street from the beginning of Riverside Park is the Chadsworth Apartment Building at 344 West 72nd Street built in 1904 designed by architect John D. Scharsmith for owner George F. Johnson. It was designed to face the park in an English garden fashion. It was lavishly designed in detail to attract the wealthy patrons of Fifth Avenue, who had started to abandon their mansions after the turn of the 20th century (Wiki).
Done in a brick and limestone exterior, the detail work on the building is magnificent. Carved angels, faces and flowers line the building, and the iron work of the lamps and banisters are just breathtaking. You really have to look beyond the scaffolding to see the true beauty of this building. They just don’t build apartment buildings with this type of detail anymore.
When I walked Riverside Drive again in July of 2026, I started the walk on West 72nd Street and walked up both sides of the Drive, stopping at historic and cultural sites and small parks that dot Riverside Park. I forgot how much there was to see and do along the way.
The mansions that line Riverside Drive
First there is nothing like walking around the west side of Manhattan along Riverside Park. It is a truly wonderful park with people jogging, biking, sunbathing and picnicking. Everyone was really enjoying this clear, sunny Summer afternoon. On a quiet Sunday, the park is mostly yours depending on where you are walking.
Walking along Riverside Drive park side
All along the way uptown, Riverside Park and Drive are lined with many memorials and statues. I was amazed on many were in the area of the drive. My first stop along the way was the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument at West 89th Street that was dedicated to the Union Army soldiers and sailors who contributed in the American Civil War.
The Sailor’s & Soldiers Monument in the Fall of 2024
The monument in the Summer of 2026
This structure was completed in 1902 and President Theodore Roosevelt presided over the opening. A very impressive structure that I can see most people miss. Part of the structure is still in disrepair but you can still walk around the pillared structure and gaze at its beauty.
Soldier’s & Sailors Monument on Riverside Drive near West 89th Street
I took a turn and swung into Riverside Park to visit a small playground and a very lively birthday party.
Hippo Playground in Riverside Park
Hippos in Hippo Park
I dropped into Hippo Park at 91st Street, a lively little playground with tons of kids running around, climbing on playground structures and actually acting like kids.
The park in the Summer of 2026
I see far too many children obsessed with the cell phones not paying attention to what is going on around them. The kids were obviously having fun while the parents handed out food and gossiped amongst themselves.
The water feature at Hippo Park
Hippo Park is part of the Riverside Park Conservatory and run by volunteers in the neighborhood that also provides entertainment during the summer with outdoor concerts and a newly renovated playhouse for parties. Check out their website for details.
I walked behind Hippo Park to discover a beautiful floral garden that was the 91st Street Garden that J had missed on previous walks in the park. The Garden did not look like this in the Fall.
The 91st Street Garden in the Summer of 2026
The sign for the garden
As I passed the garden, I remember this was the garden in the last scene of the movie, “You Got Mail” when Meg Ryan realizes that her secret email pal is Tom Hanks. It was such a great scene and the perfect end to a great Rom-Com.
The end of the movie “You Got Mail” with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks
The Gardens from the front
The flowers in full bloom
The flowers in full bloom in July 2026
All I could think about was this scene as I walked around the garden. The funny part is this was the first time I had ever visited this garden as I did not know where it was located. I knew it was on 91st Street but could never figure out where. You have to walk on the path behind the Hippo Playground and follow it to the other path.
The gardens from the front
Walking back up through Riverside park from the Hippo Playground
Walking in Riverside Park in the 90’s
Walking up Riverside Drive in the 90’s
Walking along Riverside Drive at West 92nd Street
When you cross Riverside Drive at West 93rd Street, you pass the statue of Joan of Arc by artist Anna Hyatt Huntington, which sits on the island inside the park.
Joan of Arc Statue
(From the NYC Parks.org website)
In New York, a prominent group of citizens formed a Joan of Arc monument committee in 1909. Their efforts coincided with those of a young sculptor, Anna Hyatt Huntington, to create a sculpture of Joan.
Artist Anna Hyatt Huntington was an American born artist and one of the most success sculpturers in the early twentieth century. She was known for her realisitc animals sculptures, she was one of the first women artists inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Wiki).
Her first version, in which she emphasized “the spiritual rather than the warlike point of view,” was submitted to the prestigious Salon in Paris. It received an honorable mention from the jury, nevertheless skeptical that such an accomplished work of art could have been made solely by a woman (NYCParks.org).
Joan of Arc statue
The New York monument committee, headed by J. Sanford Saltus, was so impressed by her work, that they awarded her the commission. Architect John van Pelt was retained to design the pedestal, which is made of Mohegan granite composed of Gothic-style blind arches, decorated with coats of arms. A few limestone blocks from the tower in Rouen where Joan of Arc had been imprisoned were incorporated into the base. Van Pelt situated the monument at the top of the steps in the park island at 93rd Street and Riverside and had planted a screen of trees to disguise the buildings (NYCParks.org).
The Joan of Arc statue
Huntington’s version is both heroic and infused with naturalistic detail. For Joan’s armor, she conducted research at the arms and armory division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the refinement of the equine anatomy was based on a horse borrowed from the fire department of her native town of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her niece posed astride a barrel, as she modeled the figure, first nude, then in costume (NYCParks.org).
I continued the walk down Riverside Drive through the high 90’s, admiring the architecture and beautiful trees and gardens in full bloom.
Walking down Riverside Drive around West 100th Street
The next monument that I passed was the Firemen’s Memorial at 100th Street and Riverside Drive. Being a veteran of the fire service, this sculpture has a lot of personal meaning to me.
The Firemen’s Memorial from street side
The statuary is so beautiful
This is a very quiet and relaxing sculpture that is dedicated to the members of the Fire Department who have lost their lives in the line of duty. This sculpture was dedicated in 1913 and has been renovated a few times since. During the tragedy of 9/11 in 2001, this became a vigil site for those morning the loss of so many members of the FDNY. This stop is a must for all fire fighters. The sculpture was designed by artist Harold Van Buren Magonigle (NYCParks.org).
Artist Harold Van Buren Magonigle was an American born architect, artist, and author best known for his memorials. He had worked at several well known architectural firms before working as a artist (Wiki).
Next I passed the statue of Shinran Shonin at the New York Buddhist Church. I had noticed the statue several times when walking around the neighborhood but never knew its meaning. It had survived the atomic blast at Hiroshima and was shipped New York after the war.
The New York Buddhist Church at 331-332 Riverside Drive
The New York Buddhist Church (founded 1938) is a temple of Jodoshinshu True Pure Land School Buddhism, whose head temple is Nishi Hongwanji in Kyoto, Japan. May the Wisdom and Compassion of Amida Buddha, which embraces us just as we are, touch your heart so that you may be awakened to the world of Living With Nembutsu, guided by the teachings of Shinran Shonin (New York Buddhist Church website).
In the last 65 years, the Shinran Statue has known two homes. Its latest home is a fenced stoop on Riverside Drive outside of the New York Buddhist Church. But before that, the Shinran Statue stood proudly outside of a temple in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.
More specifically, the statue stood only 1.5 miles from the center of the atomic blast that decimated 70 percent of the buildings in the city and took the lives of 150,000 people. Amazingly, the statue emerged from the explosion unscathed, still standing guard at the burning temple (AtlasObsura.org).
Following the war, a Japanese man shipped the statue to New York where it has stayed since 1955. The statue has been free from radiation since it began its stay in the United States and has never posed a danger to visitors (AtlasObsura.org).
Video on the statue
Today, the 15-foot bronze statue stands as a monument to world peace and the frightening power of the atomic bomb. Its weathered bronze exterior is visible in front of the Buddhist Church, and its amazing legacy is preserved in the nation responsible for its near destruction (AtlasObsura.org).
The story of Shinran Shonin
My next stop was at the Franz Sigel Statue at West 106th Street. The majestic statue of a Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War. He encouraged many then German-Americans to fight for the Union. After the war, he became a proud New Yorker. This small park faced Riverside Drive on the other side of the street overlooking the Hudson River.
Franz Sigel was a German born American officer in the US Army during the Civil War. Before the war, he was a teacher in the New York City school system and after the war got involved with politics and publishing (Wiki).
The statue was created by artist Karl Bitterin the Summer of 2026
Karl Bitter was an Austrian born American artist who was best known for his architectural sculpture and memorials that he sculpted. He was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Austria. He immigrated to New York City in 1889 (Wiki).
Riverside Drive at 110th Street
The stonework on the building at 110th Street with beautiful windows
As I continued the walk up further, the monuments continued with the statue of Samuel Tilden, a former Governor of New York located at West 112th Street.
Tilden’s career was illustrious with fights against the Tweed stronghold in NYC and some saying that he had the Presidential election stolen from him with the Electoral College by Rutherford Hayes. His large estate and book collection helped found the New York Public Library (Wiki).
The statue was created by sculpturer William Ordway Partridge, an American born artist who had studied at both Columbia and Ecole de Beaux Arts. He had worked under many well known artists both here and abroad. He is known for his life like sculptures.
The Samuel Tilden statue in the Summer of 2026
(From the NYCParks.org website)
Tilden was active in city, state, and national politics. Elected to the state assembly in 1845, he also served in the Constitutional Convention of 1846 and ran on the Democratic ticket for Attorney General in 1855. He was a member of the Free Soil movement, which fought the extension of slavery into U.S. Territories. In 1863, Tilden moved into a home on Gramercy Park. He combined that house with an adjacent townhouse in 1874 to form a mansion where he lived for the remainder of his life. The mansion has been the home of the National Arts Club since 1905 (NYCParks.org).
By 1868, Tilden had assumed the leadership of the Democratic Party in New York State. In 1870, he launched a high-profile attack on the Tweed Ring, which had dominated New York City government from 1860 to 1871. Tilden helped to impeach several judges, exposed the plunder amassed by certain Tweed officials, prosecuted many of them on behalf of the state, and described the Ring’s illegal dealings in the pages of the New York Times (NYCParks.org).
Walking up Riverside Drive
As I made my way up Riverside Drive, I stopped at another bend on the street and came across the statue of Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the Hungarian uprising in 1848. The statue was created by Hungarian artist Janos Horway.
Kossuth was born to a family of noble heritage in Monok in northeastern Hungary. In the early 1830s, he emerged as a leader of the country’s radical reform movement. Trained as a lawyer, Kossuth edited several journals and newspapers that allowed him to broadcast his increasingly popular ideas. He issued fiery pleas for Hungary’s independence from Vienna’s Hapsburg Monarchy, for emancipation of the peasants, and for industrial development. Kossuth was elected to the Hungarian Diet (national assembly) in 1847, and a year later he led the revolution that created a new national government for Hungary (NYCParks.org).
The new government fell to invading Russian and Austrian armies in 1849, and Kossuth fled into exile. Rallying support for Hungarian independence, he dazzled European and American audiences with his eloquence. Sympathizers in the United States identified with the aims of overthrowing the foreign monarchy and establishing republican government for Hungary. Kossuth visited New York in December 1851 at the start of a seven-month tour of the United States. Upon arrival, he was given a tremendous welcome, described in the newly-founded New York Times as one of “the most magnificent and enthusiastic ever extended to any man in any part of the world.” A reception hosted by Mayor Ambrose C. Kingsland, banquets, and a parade up Fifth Avenue were held in his honor. Kossuth lived in exile in England and (after 1865) in Italy. After his death in Turin in March 1894, his body was brought to Budapest and buried in state (NYCParks.org).
The Kossuth statue was designed by artist Janos Horvay
Janos Horvay was a Hungarian born artist who studied under artist Edmund Hellmer. Known for his realistic sculpture work, he was also known for his funeral works of art (Wiki).
Walking through Riverside Drive in the Morningside Heights Historical District
When I crossed over 110th Street, I walked through the most western part of the Columbia Campus in Morningside Heights section of Harlem and admired the beauty of the architecture of the Morningside Heights Historical District.
The sign for Historical Morningside Heights District
The last sculpture I passed in Riverside Park before I got to Grant’s Tomb was the Woman’s Health Protective Association Fountain at West 116th Street created by artist Bruno Louis Zimm. The fountain is currently undergoing a renovation.
The Women’s Health Protective Association Fountain
Members of the WHPA were usually part of the city’s elite, and Charlotte Wilbour, one of the names inscribed along the Riverside Park benches, helped to found the first New York City Woman Suffrage Association in 1870. This more radical branch of the movement (in comparison with the relatively conservative chapter in Boston) lobbied against the passage of the 15th amendment, which proposed to give suffrage to African-American men. Leaders Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the male focus of the bill and suggested a new, 16th amendment in its place, one that would offer “universal suffrage” to all races, genders, and religions (NYCParks.org).
The dream of the founding suffragettes finally actualized on August 16, 1920, eleven years after this fountain was commissioned. With the vote in hand, the National Woman Suffrage Association disbanded, but its surviving members went on to become the core of the League of Women Voters and to continue the focus on women’s health issues in New York City (NYCParks.org).
The fountain was under renovation and not working but was beautifully designed
Artist Bruno Zimm was a New York City born artist and studied under Artist Carl Bitter and at the Arts Student League of New York under Artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He was known for his freestanding memorials, fountains and architectural sculptures (Wiki).
In the afternoon, I finally made it to one of my goals for the day, Grant’s Tomb (see the reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com), the final resting place of our 18th President Ulysses Grant and his wife, Julia. This monument has had a love-hate relationship with the city.
The President died of throat cancer in 1885 and his wife recommended that his burial place be in New York City over West Point and Washington DC as President Grant and his wife made this their home for the last years of their life (Wiki).
The monument was designed by architect John H. Duncan and was finished in 1897 and the President’s remains were moved here before the dedication. His wife died in 1902 and was buried along side her husband.
In 1958, the National Park Service took the monument over and was given a small budget to oversee it. In the 70’s and 80’s as the city had declined, this part of the park was a mess and the monument was vandalized to the hilt.
The graves of President Grant and his wife
It had gotten so bad at one point where the descendants of the family threatened to pull the bodies out of the tomb because of neglect. Since the 90’s, the monument and the park have been restored and it is open to the public for limited times during the week.
The side view of the tomb facing the park
The park now is used for picnicking and parties as many were going on as I walked through the park. The tomb itself was closed for the day but I returned another day to tour the tomb, watch a video on the family and enjoy the park.
The park behind Grant’s Tomb
The park near the tomb
Off to the side of the monument, inside Riverside Park next to the path, is the Amiable Child Memorial (See review on VisitingaMuseum.com), the resting place to St. Clair Pollock. This touching little monument is dedicated to a child who died in 1797 in the fifth year of his life from a fall from the cliffs somewhere in the current park. It is one of the private graves located on public land. This small stone funeral urn is on a pedestal marking the grave. It is a very touching grave to a small child. I left a coin there as many have in the past.
I continued the walk up through the park until I hit Riverbank Park on 145th Street, one of the unique parks I have ever seen. The 28 acre park is built on the top of a water treatment plant that was inspired by parks built on roof tops in Japan. This park has everything. It has a pool, basketball courts, tennis courts, soccer field, baseball field, a cool off fountain and ice skating rink. It has it all and has the neighborhood embraced this park. The place was packed in all venues. It was a truly democratic park as all races play here.
I was most impressed by the number of families having parties and barbecues in the park. There must have been about a dozen birthday parties going on at once. The smells of barbecue meats and vegetables wafted in the air and the sounds of laughter and singing was all over the place. Even on a hot day, nothing stops people from having a good time.
I was most impressed by the Snack Bar located in the park’s main building. For $6.00, I got a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke and for a park snack bar they were really good. The portion size was generous and I can tell you for fact that the fries are excellent. Even if you don’t like sports make a special trip to snack bar and you won’t be disappointed. (See review on TripAdvisor)
Admiring the street art on the extension of 12th Avenue off Riverside Drive
Riverside Drive as you walk up the stairs at
After a 45 minute detour of this amazing park, I walked the rest of the way through Riverside Park until I hit Trinity Cemetery again and crossed 155th Street to St. Nichols Avenue again. I wanted to take a better look at the mansions at 150th Street in Sugar Hill. This section of Sugar Hill I did not have time to take a good look at the last time I was walking St. Nichols Avenue.
Homes along West 142nd Street
The Palisades Playground at West 148th Street and Riverside Drive
I stopped in the Palisades Playground for a rest and to go to the bathroom. I loved the stonework and masonry of the park. The views from the top of the park has a breathtaking view of both the park below and the Hudson River.
Inside the playground
The view of the playground
I finished my walk of Riverside Drive at West 155th Street when I got to the Trinity Church Cemetery and then walked up and around Broadway. I then did the turn around
The Berler-Levy Houses at 809-811 Riverside Drive East at the corner of West 158th Street and Riverside Drive East
The two joined brick houses, designed by Moore & Landsiedel in a Spanish style, feature a tiled roof and a one-story conservatory at either end. Notice the arched windows with fanlights, the pairs of Doric columns flanking each door and a balustrade at each window (AudubonPark.com website).
The front of the house
In 1920, Nathan Berler, a wholesale clothing manufacturer, and lawyer Charles Levy, built the Berler-Levy duplex as a prototype for an alternative to apartment dwelling in Washington Heights (AudubonPark.org website).
The homes and brownstones in this area are just gorgeous and give you a totally different prospective of Harlem. Most of these buildings have been sandblasted and restored or in the process of being done. The mansions on the corner of 150th Street and Edgecomb Avenue hark back to a time when this was a very fashionable avenue and don’t miss the Bailey House that is fully restored.
I took a pit stop and stopped for a quick slice of pizza on 145th Street at Victorio’s Pizza Plus at 348 West 145th Street and one of the best slices of pizza I have ever had for $1.00. The pie had just come out of the oven and it was a thin crust made with fresh mozzarella and it was heavenly. Flavorful sauce and the right amount of cheese that was cooked perfectly at any price the pizza was delicious. This is a must for all the CUNY students. (See TripAdvisor review)
The walk took me back across 155th Street and back down Riverside Drive. The park, even at twilight is busy. There were so many bikers, joggers and walkers that you had to move a lot on the sidewalks. My last structure I saw as I walked down Riverside Drive was the Ralph Ellison art piece “Invisible Man” (the picture above) done by sculpture Elizabeth Catlett at 150th Street. Ms. Catlett was a artist who themes were the struggles of the Black experience with race and feminism. Her work was influences by Primitivism and Cubism (Art.net).
It was dedicated to the novelist work on his book “The Invisible Man” about his experience as a Black man during the Civil Rights Movement in NYC. Ralph Ellison lived in the area before he died in 1994. It really is quite the statue.
As I passed Grant’s Tomb, there were about three parties going on in the park. I don’t think the President even partied that much in one evening when he lived in the city. I could not believe that the park around the tomb would be this busy at eight at night. There were colorful lights all over the trees and a grill going.
I got to 110th Street around 8:30pm and as I rounded Riverside Drive to 110th Street the neighborhood which had been on the fringe for many years has completely changed. The area by Riverside Park had always been nice but as I walked further down the street this area has been sandblasted and rebuilt. Many parts of uptown that had been ignored for years look more like the Upper East Side.
I even saw people walking into Morningside Park which when I was working in the city in the 90’s was a death trap that you would not walk anywhere near but like the rest of the parks like Tompkins Square in the Lower East Side and Bryant Park behind the main library time has passed and they have been fixed up, cleaned up and the area around them now is priced higher.
My last stop of the evening was Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too at 366 West 110 Street. This neighborhood staple has been around for years and in a much gentrifying neighborhood that seems to be getting away from its Harlem roots. I hope owns the building. The food and service were just excellent. The biggest problem I had with the restaurant is that I over thought how hungry I was that night. After a big lunch at 5:00pm and a slice of pizza by the time the food came I was barely hungry.
Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too at 366 West 110th Street
Miss Mamie’s is not to be missed. They had a dinner special that was $19.99 for a salad that was one of the best restaurant salads I had had in years. It was crisp with fresh lettuce and tomatoes with a light dressing, for the entrée was freshly Fried Chicken that was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside and the chicken had so much flavor to it.
I had it with Mac and Cheese and Mashed Potatoes, not the most healthy choices but after a five mile walk I figured I had burned off a few calories. It was so much food that I had to take half of it home with me along with the Peach Cobbler dessert that was included in the meal (See the review on TripAdvisor).
Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too
The service was friendly with out being overwhelming. I must give off certain vibes in this neighborhood because the waitress asked me if I was a lecturer for Columbia. I laughed at the one and asked why. She said I looked smart. I don’t know what looking smart is but I took it as a compliment. Usually above 110th Street every assumes that I am either a cop or DEA. Amazing what being tall is to people.
I ended the evening totally exhausted and took the subway from the 110th Street and Central Park West. Another sign of changes in the neighborhood is that I saw people jogging into the northern park of Central Park at 9:30pm. Things have really changed up here.
mywalkinmanhattan 