es, clean the river and restore its natural ecology, including wetland habitats, and provide flood management for the parks and their surrounding neighborhoods. To achieve these goals, the land adjacent to the Bronx River has been cleaned, reshaped, and replanted.
Source: NYC DPR
The new shapes, created through excava on of fill and the building of berms (landscaped hills), allow the park to act as a floodplain that can hold and absorb floodwaters, while also filtering stormwater runoff from upland areas before it enters the river. Along the river’s edge, hard surfaces have been replaced where possible with rock groupings (also called rip rap) and wetland areas. The rip rap and wetlands create so er river banks with slopes that are less steep than the concrete walls they replace; these two characteris cs allow the river bank to absorb the energy from storm surges, making them less damaging to upland areas, and allow upland stormwater to more quickly drain away from the park and surrounding communi es.
Concrete Plant Park
istries for Peace and Jus ce (YMPJ). Their efforts were supported by The Point Community Development Corpora on, Bronx Community Board Two, elected officials and others who saw the site’s recrea onal and environmental poten al. Their efforts proved successful and DPR received jurisdic on for the property in August of 2000. Since 2001, DPR and the Bronx River Alliance, in collabora on with community and public agency partners, have re-established salt marshes on riverbanks that were once strewn with trash and res. Local organiza ons, such as the Alliance, YMPJ, Rocking the Boat, Sustainable South Bronx, and the Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School, support on-going ac vity at the park, including boa ng, youth workshops, water quality monitoring, and film screenings. The park re-
16
ceived a $10 million capital renova on from 2005 to 2009. Soundview Park According to DPR, Soundview Park has been called the “Gateway to the Bronx River.” The Park is located where the Bronx River opens into the East River. When the City of New York acquired the original 93 acres of land for this park in 1937, the en re area was composed of wetlands. Soundview Park, which was never completely developed a er it first opened, was built on a landfill that buried the natural open water and marshland. Design Details The design objec ves for the parks of the Bronx River Greenway are to create beau ful spaces and recrea onal opportuni es for the neighboring communi-
Plant species were chosen based on their flood and salt tolerance as well as their ability to mi gate soil erosion and absorb stormwater. The landscape architects have strategically placed these species so that those that are the most salt-tolerant are located along the river and low-lying areas, and those with greater water absorp on proper es that are less salt-tolerant are located higher up the slope. Finally, to ensure the en re park is resilient, park ameni es such as benches were located away from the river and constructed of durable materials. Concrete Plant Park Prior to construc on, DPR’s design team worked closely with community residents to develop a vision for the park, which centered on the idea of a “learning park” oriented towards passive use. The design objec ves for Concrete Plant Park were to create space for community