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Port Morris Branch: Saint Mary's Park

The "highlight" of the Port Morris Branch was a tunnel under St. Mary's Park. It was not easily (or legally) accessible from the street so I don't have any pictures from inside. But I would imagine that if there isn't too much standing water in it, there probably are street people calling it home. It would doubtless be a stimulating walk.

St. Mary's Park was part of the estate of Jonas Bronck (1600-1643), for whom the Bronx is named. The land was later owned by Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816). The land was annexed by the City of New York in 1874 and following the efforts of journalist John Mullaly (1835-1915), the 1884 New Parks Act lead to the purchase of land between 1888 and 1890 for six parks in the Bronx. This 35-acre park was named after the Episcopal church that stood three blocks to the west until 1959.

The tunnel under the park was dug in 1903 as part of a grade-crossing elimination project for the entire Port Morris Branch.

Starting in the early 1970s, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the Boston real estate company Continental Wingate a number of crumbling buildings here in the South Bronx along with mortgage guarantees, tax breaks and federal subsidies. This early example of privatization was intended to help improve the quality of life here, but, instead, the company became the area's biggest slumlord. In the mid 1990s, tenants organized to convince HUD to investigate the company. The probe found rampant negligence and fraud, compounded by HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo apparently looking the other way while the government and residents were fleeced by the company's owner, Gerald Schuster, who was a major Democratic donor. Once Continental Wingate was out of the picture, management was taken over by the Diego Beekman Mutual Housing Association, a non-profit entity run by tenants and community leaders.

Next: Port Morris Branch: Westchester Avenue Yard