Bloomberg Unveils Restored Path to Historic Bridge
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A $60 million plan to reopen the city’s oldest bridge moved closer to reality yesterday as Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a newly restored $4.2 million access path leading to Washington Heights’s historic High Bridge.
At a press conference at Highbridge Park in Manhattan, Mr. Bloomberg said the park was at “the beginning of a new era” after years of neglect.
An Assembly member, Adriano Espaillat, whose district includes the park, said that the now-pristine area was once a “homeless city,” overrun with squatters and filled with trash and abandoned cars.
Work on the High Bridge, which was built in 1848 and has been closed down since the 1970s, is slated to begin next spring.
Renovations on the bridge are expected to be completed in 2012 and will include restoring and reinforcing its stone structure, repairing its walkway, and adding a safety fence.
