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So when I came across this memorial, I wondered about it but discovered that it was part of a a larger memorial to both Cymermans, a tulip tree for Ana, and a second tree just a short distance away for Paul.
“Ana Cymerman was also a fixture in the park and always supported her husband’s love of the park, according to Mr. Cymerman. At the service, he recalled the story of Hercules, who was sent on a mission to find a blue rose. “I always had my blue rose,” he said, referring to his wife. “There are plenty of other roses-red roses, pink roses, white roses.” But he always had his blue rose, he said.
In memory of Mrs. Cymerman, Parks & Recreation planted a tulip tree (Oiriodendron Tulipifera). The tree will grow tall overlooking the park.”
The Daily Plant : Friday, September 19, 2003
THIS PARK’S FOR PAULhttps://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bronx-park/dailyplant/18168
The Cymermans were an elderly couple who lived in my building The Burton. They were holocaust survivors and like so many of us, became bonded with the beauty and grace of Henry Hudson Park. But from what I’m told, Spuyten Duyvil in the 90s was on the downslide, and there was crime occurring in the Park.
Mr. Cymerman and his wife took it upon themselves to clean up the playground for little kids daily, making sure the sandbox was clean and full and that ne’er do wells stayed away.
From the NYT:
“In Riverdale, Paul Cymerman, 73, a concentration-camp survivor who lost a niece and a nephew in the Holocaust, watches over the Henry Hudson Park sandbox with the intensity of a hawk defending its nest. His voluntary effort absorbs him seven days a week, from dawn, when he unlocks the playground, until way past dusk, when he closes it. It has brought him many community honors (“Honors, schmonors,” he says).
“You used to come out and see garbage and a million broken bottles,” he said one morning recently, his sharp blue eyes the same color as the sky. “Now, this park has a good name. You know the children aren’t going to get hurt.”
May 11, 1995, In City Parks, A Childhood Joy Is Now a Rarity
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/11/garden/in-city-parks-a-childhood-joy-is-now-a-rarity.html
The other day, while walking my dog in Henry Hudson Park, I discovered a recently uncovered plaque underneath a Tulip Tree. I walk through this area just about every day, and I can guarantee that until coming across this plaque the other day, it was not visible.
Apparently this memorial was for Ana Cymerman, the wife of Paul Cymerman, for whom the playground (at the the corner of Kappock and Indepedence) is named,within the lower portion of Henry Hudson Park.
Thank you Buddy Stein for letting me know about this example of historical People Power right here in our community, and providing the news coverage to fuel this 25 year effort.
REFERENCES:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804bm.gla00163/?sp=20&st=image&r=0.017,0.392,0.486,0.174,0
Riverdale Press, Historic Spuyten Duyvil Faces Losing Battle Against Future, Aug. 22, 1965
Riverdale Press, Asking City for Spuyten Duyvil Park, Jan. 13, 1966
Riverdale Press, Spuyten Duyvil Group Unveils Plans for Tweed Park Tonight, June 3,1976; Riverdale Press, Park Addition Wins: Four Acres Joined to Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront Lands, Nov. 14, 1968; New York Times, Estimate Board Approves Park in Spuyten Duyvil, Nov. 8, 1968
Riverdale Press, Letter to the Editor by Rolf von Hall, Experience shows communities can defeat developers, June 25, 1987.
Riverdale Press, Builder Battles Rezoning, April 24, 1969
Riverdale Press, Continued Support Urged for Spuyten Duyvil Park, May 1, 1969; Riverdale Press, Spuyten Duyvil Begins New Tree Preservation Program, Aug. 9,1973; Riverdale Press, Park Glows After Cleanup, Oct. 16.1986; Riverdale Press, Shorefront Park rehab, Sept. 29, 1988
Riverdale Press, 200 Willing Workers Aid Park Fix-Up, June 12, 1969; Riverdale Press, Spring Sweep-Up to Brighten Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront, May 24, 1973.
Riverdale Press, Penn Central may shelve riverfront marina plan, April 18, 1985.
Daily News, Park Opens after a devil of a time, Nov. 2, 1994; Riverdale Press, Editorial Comment, Shining Park, shining future, Nov. 10, 1994; Riverdale Press, Letter to the Editor by Rolf von Hall, Experience shows communities can defeat developers, June 25, 1987.
Daily News, Park Opens after a devil of a time, Nov. 2, 1994
THE HUDSON DIVISION from the New York Central Historical Society Blog: http://nycshs.blogspot.com/2008/10/hudson-division.html
The Hudson River Railroad Company was incorporated May 12, 1846 to build and operate a railroad from New York City to East Albany which is now Rensselaer. The road was opened for traffic in sections as completed, the entire length being put into operation by October 1, 1851. The railroad was built along the west side of Manhattan Island beginning at 32nd Street north to Spuyten Duyvil and then following closely along the Hudson River through Yonkers, Tarrytown, Peekskill, Cold spring, Fishkill (now Beacon), Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck (now Rhinecliff), Hudson, Castleton and finally to east Albany.
The railroad was initially opened for business to Peekskill on Sept. 30th and to Poughkeepsie Dec. 31st. 1849. The track had been laid during the summer and autumn of the year 1849 with rail weighting 70 lbs. to the yard. The road continued to be built in sections with the section between East Albany and Hudson opened on June 16th of 1851 and finally on October 1st of 1851, the entire road was opened between New York and East Albany. By 1850 a station had been located at Chambers Street in New York City and horses were used to draw the cars to 32nd Street.
The Hudson River Railroad became the Hudson River Division after the consolidation of the Hudson River Railroad and the New York Central Railroad in 1869, forming the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad. By the late 1880’s the Hudson River Division was shortened to the Hudson Division. When the Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad was opened between Spuyten Duyvil and Mott Haven on April 1, 1872 that railroad was incorporated into the Hudson River Division as it had been previously leased to the Hudson River Railroad on November 1, 1871.
Once the electrification was begun in the early 1900’s from Grand Central Terminal to Croton-on-Hudson and North White Plains, the Hudson Division territory between Mott Haven and Croton-on-Hudson was gradually absorbed into the Electric Division and that was completed by early 1910. The 30th Street Branch which operated down the west side of Manhattan Island continued as a part of the Hudson Division until control was transferred to the Electric Division in late 1929 or early 1930. This branch had been the original main line of the Hudson River Railroad until the Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad was completed allowing access to Grand Central Station.
Four-tracking of the entire Hudson Division between Croton-on-Hudson and Rensselaer was never completed and significant gaps remained between Peekskill and Garrison, Barrytown and Tivoli and Germantown and Castleton. The short section of four tracks between Tivoli and Germantown and Castleton and Rensselaer were reduced to two tracks early in the 1930’s as a result of the depression. Additional reductions of trackage occurred during the 1950’s and by the end of 1962 there were no four-track sections remaining.
In the early 1930’s, as a result of the depression, the management of the Hudson Division was transferred from New York City to Albany. Control continued in Albany under a Superintendent responsible for both the Mohawk and Hudson Divisions until the late 1950’s when operational control was returned to New York City as a result of organizational and related changes. The bulk of the former Hudson Division is now operated by CSX Transportation as far as Poughkeepsie, and by MTA Metro-North Railroad south to Grand Central.
From the MTA Metro North Newsletter, September 30, 2024
Happy Birthday Hudson Line
The Hudson Line can trace its roots back to the original Hudson River Railroad, which was chartered in 1846 to build from New York City north along the shore of the Hudson River. The line to Albany was completed in 1851. In 1864, the Hudson River Railroad became the second property acquired by Cornelius Vanderbilt, right after the New York & Harlem (today’s Harlem Line). In 1869 he acquired control of the New York Central Railroad which at that time ran between Albany and Buffalo and merged all three lines together to form the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad. The Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris Railroad was built to connect the Hudson River Railroad to the New York & Harlem at Mott Haven, plus a branch to Port Morris. Thus, the Hudson Line now had access to Vanderbilt’s Grand Central Depot, consolidating passenger service with the New York & Harlem (Harlem Line) and the New York & New Haven Railroad (future New Haven Line).Vanderbilt’s railroad empire would continue to grow to stretch all the way to Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis. The route between Albany and New York became known as the Hudson Division. The Hudson Division was the main line for New York Central and was four tracks wide in many places to handle all of the freight and passenger business. At Spuyten Duyvil, the original Hudson River Railroad branched off to run down the West Side of Manhattan, providing New York Central with lucrative direct access to New York City for its freight trains, establishing yards at 72nd Street, 30th Street, and a freight terminal near St. John’s Park. Abandoned by Conrail in 1980, the portion from Spuyten Duyvil to 30th Street was reactivated by Amtrak so Empire Service trains could access Penn Station. The rest of the elevated line was converted into High Line Park, the first portions opened in 2009.
Control of the Hudson Division passed from New York Central to Penn Central in 1968. In 1970, Metropolitan Transportation Authority signed a subsidy agreement with PC for operation of the lines out of GCT, and the Hudson Division between GCT and Poughkeepsie became the Hudson Line. PC became part of Conrail in 1976, and in 1983, the new Metro-North Commuter Railroad assumed direct operation of the Hudson Line, which continues to this day.
Today the Hudson Line is known for its scenic beauty and serves as an important artery for customers traveling from the Hudson Valley, providing a reliable alternative to the congested parkways and bridges for hundreds of thousands of daily riders.
https://new.mta.info/…/beauty-history-and-lasers-tap…jbakerjonathan- thank you so much for your support. I found the attached article in response to your question.
An Estate Marker and Gate in Riverdale Park