Randall's Island-Bronx Shoreline-Bronx River-Arthur Avenue and more

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This is a 13 to 15-mile walk (give or take) with a possible bonus extension. We will meet on Saturday, May 16, at the northwest corner of Astoria Boulevard and 31st Street, outside of the Astoria Boulevard "N" Train station at 9:15am prompt. As food opportunities are limited for a good part of this walk, please plan accordingly. Also, as we will be walking through a number of unshaded areas, you are strongly urged to dress accordingly and bring along sunscreen.

I last led this walk (with Eric Schatz co-hosting) almost two years ago. This time, Tabitha Sprague, who scouted this route with me last weekend, will be accompanying us on this walk. This stroll was inspired by Tom Bergen, one of Shorewalkers' most beloved walk leaders.

The Details:

We will begin our stroll walking across the RFK Bridge (AKA the Triboro Bridge) where we'll have some great views of the upper stretches of the East River, Hell Gate, Riker's Island, and views northward to the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges. Once across the bridge, we'll be heading to the north shore of Randall's Island (restrooms available). We will then cross via the pedestrian footbridge into the Port Morris section of the South Bronx. Port Morris is an area of numerous large warehouses and is home of Silvercup Studios North. Once in the Bronx, we will be following or paralleling the shore as much as possible, but because the shoreline is broken by a few East River outlets, we will have to cut inland at various points before getting back towards the shore. Along the way, we will have great views of North Brother Island, where Typhoid Mary was institutionalized until her death. We will take a mini-lunch break at Baretto Point Park, a pleasant park situated along the riverfront (toilets and water).

Here's where sunscreen and head covering are a must, as the next part of our walk will be somewhat of a slog, with lots of asphalt and little shade, but will be interspersed with a couple of neat pocket parks along the shore. It is on this stretch that we will pass by the Hunts Point Coop Market, one of, if not the world's largest food distribution center, consisting mostly of enormous truck bays, wide roadways, and security checkpoints - it really is vast!. After leaving the Hunts Point complex, we will stop at the very pleasant Hunts Point Riverside Park at the mouth of the Bronx River, where we will take a well earned break. This park marks the beginning of the Bronx River Greenway.

At this point, we'll be diverging from Tom Bergen's route (which ended at the Soundview ferry terminal) and head towards the recently upgraded Bronx River Walkway, where we'll pass through Garrison, Starlight, and Old Cement Plant Parks (with bathrooms along the way), eventually making our way to Bronx River Park with a very nice waterfall (bathrooms, etc.). We then leave the park and head west along city streets to Arthur Avenue, where we will end part one of our walk. There’s restaurants and food halls, wine bars, and bakeries … and not everything is Italian (think Albanian!) if Italian food is not your thing. A few blocks up Arthur Ave brings us to Fordham Rd, with main bus routes, Metro-North, and the 4 Train nearby.

BONUS option: I will be offering a bonus walk after Arthur Avenue for those wishing to continue. This option includes walking to Manhattan via Fordham Road, over to Inwood Hill Park and then south to Fort Tryon, ending at the A Train near the GW Bridge.

Although the forecast is for nice weather, should this change, I will let you know Friday evening.

See you then!

Leader: Alex Gisser, 202-345-4128;
Co-host, Tabitha Sprague, 917-697-0085.