Update – December 2008
The NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation (Parks) has determined that the segment of the Putnam Line within Van Cortlandt Park is owned by New York City. Therefore, Parks is proceeding with design of a recreational trail along this segment.
Parks is also working on the section of the Putnam Line between Van Cortlandt South and West 230th Street. The Community Board is awaiting a ULURP application that will enable Parks to map this section of the old rail as parkland. Once it is mapped, a separate ULURP will be submitted to enable Parks to acquire the property.
The section of the old rail below West 230th Street will be addressed at a future date.
Background
An unused portion of the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad runs through Van Cortlandt Park and southward along the west side of the Major Deegan Expressway. Referred to as the Putnam Line, this abandoned corridor provides an excellent opportunity for development as a recreational hiker-biker trail.
In its October 1998 Report, the Bronx Advisory Committee to the Hudson River Valley Greenway considered a trail along the portion of the Putnam Line from the Westchester border to just south of West 225th Street. The report supported “a multi-use path along the Putnam Rail…” and recommended “that NYC Department of Parks and Recreation initiate a full study in cooperation with NYC Department of Environmental Protection” (DEP). The DEP was considering restoring Tibbetts Brook, which now runs out of Van Cortlandt Lake into the Broadway sewer, back to a surface stream, as part of its effort to reduce combined sewer overflows.
This trail would provide needed recreational facilities to Bronx neighborhoods that are presently underserved. It would intersect with local roads, providing access to communities and to on-road bike routes. It could also be a major segment of a much longer continuous trail stretching from lower Westchester, where portions of the Putnam Line have already been transformed into trails, to the South Bronx, where a revitalized Harlem River shoreline will offer a multitude of new recreational facilities.
Broadway development in 2005
On February 22, Community Board 8 held a public informational meeting to present the results of a request for proposals by the New York City Economic Development Corporation for development of a large parcel north of West 230th Street between Broadway and the Putnam Line.
One of the proposals includes acquisition of a portion of the Putnam Line. Development of this portion would cut off a large segment of the rail corridor from public access and destroy the possibility of creating a continuous recreational trail along it.
The Preservancy has written to the Community Board opposing development. We believe that any development along the Putnam Line should consider and facilitate future development of a recreational trail along the corridor.
