Going from hiking trails in the north Bronx to the more developed setting that is Ft. Tryon Park.
Fort Tryon Park is one of the most beautiful public parks of America -- landscaped with trees, lawns, terraces, rock gardens, paved walks, and many benches, all cleverly ordered in harmonious composition. The precision of its design is explicitly urban. The views from its heights are perhaps the finest Manhattan offers, for they sweep mile after mile of the Hudson and the Palisades, and, to the east, range across the lowlands of Inwood.
Most famous today for housing the Medieval collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a series buildings connected by cloisters that were imported from actual French monasteries. The most popular works of of art in this stunning Manhattan Monastery is a series of Unicorn Tapestries but my favorite is called Triptych with the Annunciation, known as the "Merode Altarpiece."
Ft. Tryon also has my favorite public garden on Manhattan island. If the driving snow is obstructing you view, on the sign that sort of welcomes visitors to what I've been told is the largest collection of heath and heather in NYC you will read "Let no one say, and say it to your shame, that all was beauty here, until you came."
The park has a very rich history.
Originally inhabited by the Weckquaesgeek Tribe, who lived in the area until the early 17th century, this densely forested high ground at the northern end of Manhattan was "Lang Bergh" or Long Hill to the early Dutch colonists. The Continental Army called the strategic series of posts along the Hudson River "Fort Washington" during the summer of 1776, until Hessian mercenaries fighting for the British forced the troops to retreat. The British then renamed the area for Sir William Tryon (1729-1788), Major General and the last British governor of colonial New York.
Margaret Corbin (1751-1800?), for whom the park's drive and the circle near the entrance are named, took control of her fallen husband John's cannon during the 1776 attack and was wounded during the clash. In 1977, the City Council named the drive in her honor.
During the 19th century, wealthy New Yorkers built elegant estates around the Fort Tryon area, the most notable being the house of Cornelius K.G. Billings, a wealthy horseman from Chicago. From 1901 to 1905, Billings reportedly spent more than $2 million building his Tryon Hill mansion. In 1909, Billings funded a stele erected at the apex of the park memorializing Corbin and the Continental Army's defense of the site in honor of the Hudson Fulton Celebration.
In 1917, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) bought the Billings mansion and began developing the property, employing the Olmsted Brothers architectural firm to help him realize his vision for the site. Rockefeller even purchased land on the New Jersey side of the Hudson-now known as the Palisades State Park-to preserve Fort Tryon's stunning views. Although the Billings mansion burned to the ground in 1925, a small frame and stucco gatehouse from the original property remains located just west of Corbin Circle. Rockefeller donated the land to the City in 1931, and it was designated parkland the same year.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870-1957), son of the co-designer of Central and Prospect Parks, spent four years transforming the site's rocky topography and thin soil into a manicured landscape. Olmsted designed Fort Tryon Park with promenades, terraces, wooded slopes, and eight miles of pedestrian paths, careful to preserve open areas and the spectacular views of the Hudson and the Palisades. He noted in 1927 that this park had one of the few unspoiled river views in Manhattan.
If you live out west you would call Ft. Tryon a hillside park but by Manhattan standards it is a mountainous park. In the same neighborhood as and part of the Long Hill that creates the the highest natural point in Manhattan.
When you take the subway to the park there is a long elevator ride to the park entrance. The subway will take you to Margaret Corbin Circle. When you get off the elevator you might feel like you've come across a concentration of famous women because besides the circle being named after Margaret Corbin, the hero of the American Revolution who stood firm against a Hessian advance on one of the hills in the Park, the street is also called Cabrini Boulevard. If you look around a bit you will also find out that Mother Cabrini is still there.
Oh yea, this is suppose to be about photography. The entrance to Ft. Tryon Park in Tuesday's snowstorm.
Want a closer look?
Then into the promenade that overlooks the garden.
Surprisingly I did not have the park to myself. The little speck it the photo above is a father and son sitting in the snow.
And they were not the only ones there. The squirrel seems a bit hunkered down in the snow but the cardinal looks right at home.
All of these snowstorm photos seem to have a black and white quality about them.
But there was color to be found. Here is a beech tree along one of the park paths for an earth tone, a little green from a rhododendron and some red leaves.
One of the best features of Ft. Tryon park is the architecture. Just like Central Park the buildings represent what Frederick Law Olmsted though park buildings should look like. Here is The New Leaf Cafe in the snow.
But it is the hillside views that make the park so special. Here is the stairs to the overlook.
The overlook where you can imagine German mercenaries battling with Colonist for the high ground.
And that spectacular view of the Hudson on Tuesday.
Looking south over the garden with the George Washington Bridge in the background.
And then back down the stairs to the garden promenade.
Taking a little break before the walk to the Cloisters.
Here's the park path to the Cloisters that is on an escarpment overlooking the Hudson and a photo of an interesting rock formation.
And finally, the Cloisters in snow.
Before the drive home to dry off.
I hope you enjoyed this Manhattan snowstorm. Thank you for looking.
If you ever come to New York City or even if you already live here and you would like to see Ft.Tryon park, I can offer a very efficient and almost magical way to see the park and a whole lot of fine art. You will need to start out early and since the Metropolitan Museum has late hours this would work better on Friday and Saturday but any day will do. The efficiency of this Manhattan loop is that admission to the Cloisters is also good for the Metropolitan Museum. The magic will be everywhere but there will also be a scenic bus trip in your day.
Start out early in the morning before the Cloisters even opens and take the "A" train to the park. Then see the grounds during early morning walk. The garden is wonderful in the morning and this is the best time to see the Palisades across the river. If you have the time and the funds, breakfast at the New Leaf Cafe is great. If not they also sell coffee and pastries to take away and that cafe is also the place to find a public restroom in the park.
Go to the New Leaf before going to the Cloisters because there is a walk between the two. Then see the Cloisters and the works of art in the late morning light. These courtyards are transformational. It sort of makes your trip to New York seem like a trip to some remote European monasteries too. Do you remember the scene in Godfather 3 where the Michael Corelone tells his confession? Well the Cloisters are sort of like a trip to the Church of Santa Maria della Quercia in Viterbo Italy. Light has a way of not penetrating this Medieval art collection making noon the time to see both the art and the courtyards.
Then after seeing the Cloisters you can find a regular city bus right outside that will take you on a scenic tour of upper Manhattan and leaves you right at the steps of the Metropolitan Museum. Starting out with Arms and Armor would feel about right but if you go there between April and October make sure you see the roof garden.
This year besides the amazing Central Park and New York skyline view there will also be a fifty foot tall bamboo sculpture on the roof of the Met. |
