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For clarification, is this the Indian Pond in question? If so, I learned to ice skate there and my friends and I would skate on the pond in winter when it was cold enough. A treat, to be sure.
Knowing about its history lends a whole new perspective to the Pond and the surroundings. I got a kick out of the description of a short up-hill climb from the train station. W 246th street, from where it connects to Post Road (which, itself, is a climb) up to Tibbett Avenue has to be one of the steepest, if not THE steepest, roads in Fieldston/Riverdale. I’m surprised that a bus in 1913 could make the climb! The price of admission seems expensive. In 2026 dollars that would be $34. A concert ticket averaged 50 cents, or $17 in 2026 dollars.
Gerry Bogacz”s article reveals how precarious was the Revolution during the period of Washington’s army in NYC at the beginning of the War. Had it not been for the reticence of the English to follow up their victories, we would be singing ‘God Save The King’! Thanks for this, Nick.
.Tmara2 comes through again! I’m not sure why I didn’t see the prompt reply on August 9th. Thank you.
This accident may well be the accident I vaguely remember. It looks like it occurred on the west side track, too. I was 10 years and 3 months old at that time. I, together with my older sister and my mother, left for Iowa City in June of that year. We returned two and a half years later, in December 1950.
Brendon, I don’t remember the Goody’s hamburger store nor the sign. Where was it located?
Thank you for your recognition of my service. I served in Germany from September 1960 to January 1963 in the Army Security Agency and had a very easy time compared to those who fought in Vietnam, in fact, there is no comparison.
It seems as though things got done a lot faster 100 years ago. The elevator addition to the train station at W 242 street has taken over a year now.
Here is another picture of that same scene showing the date of 7/29/1908.
I’d like to add a new one with a date of circa 1920 that I believe to be at least 1923 or 1924.
https://collections.mcny.org/asset-management/2F3XC5IK5J_X?&WS=SearchResults&Flat=FP
My proof is the building 215 W 242nd street showing in the background that I have circled in red that was built in 1923 and is shown in the 1924 aerial view in NYC Now and Then app.
Also, the building with the United Cigars and Ice Cream stores was build much earlier, I believe, than the build date of 1931 shown in NYCMap, since they are shown in the picture.
By May 4, 1925 the Carousel was gone and 4652 Manhattan College Pkwy (just behind the street light globe) can be seen next to 215 W 242nd street. Looking to the left of the telephone pole in the center of the picture all the way down to the southwest corner of W 242nd street can be seen a gas station, probably the Gulf station that I have mentioned in previous posts. The neighborhood was becoming populated!
The vent in the wall of the store behind the telephone pole and is positioned to the right of it and a foot above the sidewalk in the 1925 picture can be seen in the red circle of the 1923-1924 picture below, thus firmly dating it to those two years.
I found this photo of the carousel that is claimed to have been taken in 1908. My guess at the construction date in my message #4995 is wrong. I’m providing a link to the photo as I believe that copying it and pasting it here might violate copyright law…I’m not sure.
Broadway & 242nd Street Bronx, NY 1908 B
Though I see no construction materials, the carousel doesn’t appear to be finished; no windows above.
Of interest is the Ferris wheel that appears not to have any seats for people. I wonder how that worked.
The station doesn’t seem to be finished, either. The wall that goes across Broadway doesn’t appear to be there yet. The roof over the stairs looks incomplete, too. So, the picture may have been taken before August 1, 1908, the day that the station was opened to the public.
The weather must have been warm, judging from the lack of overcoats on the woman seated and the man/boy seated by the telephone pole. The trees have leaves, so maybe May-June timeframe.
I wonder about the wooden building that can be seen beyond the carousel. Was it a hotel or a private home? Does anyone know? It looks like it is being razed in message #1877.
It might be advantageous to have a fade-out overlay of today’s streets to show where the hotel would be in today’s world. Would that be possible? I don’t have the skills to do so.
It’s sad that such a historical site degraded to one stone/brick wall in the 21st century. Going forward without a historical site designation, I easily see its destruction, to be replaced by a high-rise or a mini-strip mall.
The coincidence of these visuals and structures is so strong. I’d like to believe that they have a common origin. Is there anything that survives today ?
Nick, I’m wondering if you informed the lady who showed you her basement wall seven years ago the historical significance of it. If so, what did she think of that?
Thank you for this, Stephanie. An interesting history. I hope that the efforts to have the site designated a historical building, and thus save it from the wrecking ball, are successful.
Before reading the entire article, I wanted to find out the year that the building was constructed and went to the NYCMap site and searched for the address. The information given was 1961.
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/d826b115c87841d491c2b41fcb175305
I knew that that could not be so. I then continued to read further and found that the building was built in 1927.
This is not the first time that that site has had dubious construction dates, or outright error in this case!
Can anyone suggest a trustworthy on-line site for accurate, original construction dates in NYC?Brendan, you speak of old memories and distortion. I have one that I can’t find any evidence for and it is of an accident on the elevated train at the 242nd street station. I “think” that the train accelerated and crashed through the bumper on the west side track, ploughing through the wooden platform and coming to rest, hanging out over Broadway. I can’t find any evidence that this occurred.
I was away, either at college or in the army (1955-1963). I remember new planking in that area of the station when visiting home during that period. I probably am making it all up in my mind. I’d like to have you go through your memory bank to see if there is anything there.
I recall the traffic diversion on Broadway when the bridge in your picture was being put in place. Fun times!
I’m not sure if this is the place to put this, but…
It looks like the Tibbetts Brook Daylighting Project construction is about to begin. Work on cleaning up the VCP Lake began in 2024 and will conclude in the Fall of 2028. All of the contracts and permits have been issued. Pre-construction is to begin this month and be completed by November when major construction is to start. Final completion is scheduled to be complete by August 2030.
https://www.nyc.gov/site/dep/whats-new/tibbetts-brook-daylighting-project.page#
Click to access tibbetts-advisory-group-meeting-presentation-9.pdf
Here is an article in The Riverdale Press, dated August 5, 2026.
I’m happy to see that it is actually happening!
tmara2, that is a great find! I see that the wooden building I referenced is no longer there behind the Gulf station. Looking at NYCMap the development of that corner where the wooden building was, occurred in 1931, so my picture must have been taken a little time before 1931.
Peter, was the diving pool located just north of the existing pool? Google Earth seems to show a filled in square area. I can say with certainty that during the 1940s and up to 1955 there were no gangs in the area. It’s a shame that concern over gangs are with us today.
Thank you, Tom. I can see that the shape lends itself to bicycle racing as opposed to a baseball field. I’m sorry for the misdirection. Was it built on the same site as the aborted new Hilltop Park stadium?
With regard to the Hilltop Park stadium, I believe that I located the new stadium that was being built at 221st street and Kingsbridge Road. According to the article, the construction was not completed, but some structure (yellow oval) is evident in the 1924 aerial photo below (from the NYC Then & Now app).
In regard to The Hoboken Turtle Club, judging from the description of how the members ate (gorged), it wouldn’t surprise me that the majority of the men didn’t last into their 60’s before dying of either cirrohosis of the liver or arteriosclerosis, or both. Wow, what appetites! (Too bad about the turtles 8^(
If the purported history of the Kingsbridge Hotel is correct, what a shame that such history was ignored and disregarded. Is there even a plaque to commemorate the site? Probably not.
https://nytransitmuseum.catalogaccess.com/photos?search=&page=475&size=50&withImages=falseScroll
Scroll down to “Swimming Pool”
I was scanning through the N.Y. Transit Museum looking for photos of W242nd Street and came across this photo of the swimming pool and skating rink that I mentioned in my post #4308 above. The pool and rink supplanted the baseball field. The photo was probably taken from the catwalk that went from elevated train tracks to the repair barn. The photo is undated.
The low white building that is behind the pool’s vertical light posts may be the Gulf gas station (or not) and beyond that building is the wooden building that was just south of the carousel, both shown in the aerial photo in post #4957.I can’t count the number of times I looked at my Xrayed feet on the green screen as a child. I’m surprised that I haven’t grown a second head or had deformed children. I guess that the unit was shielded well…hopefully. I also vaguely remember turning in a used toothpaste tube at Fuhrmans (lead material If I remember correctly…UGH) during WWII…scrap metal. It was so long ago that I may be wrong about the scrap metal memory at Fuhrman’s. There may have been a collection bin at the entrance.
It’s a shame that de Babula’s home was razed. It looks so interesting.
I like his use of “cyclopean masonry” which makes his buildings look impressive as evidenced in the pictures above.
I wonder what happened to his wife, Eurana, or where they both are buried.Thank you, Tom and bstein, for the history of the Hotel. Indeed, Paul’s Restaurant was the place where we ate. Peter, I, too, recall that it had a dark ambience. I don’t recall why I chose that restaurant. I hosted the small group of friends who had attended the memorial for my Mother that was held at the Riverdale Presbyterian Church that day.
It looks as though the hotel was replaced with a new building in 1996, according to NYCityMap.Thank you, Tom. These answer my question as to the location of the Hotel. The triangle that is on the North side of Mosholu Ave was thought I had. I see, now, that it isn’t a part of this discussion.
Do you happen to readily have the history of the Hotel? I had a luncheon held in a restaurant, whose name I can’t recall, in that general location at the bottom of Mosholu Ave, on Broadway in 1976. Could the building have lasted that long?
Great picture of the trestle and map showing the station, Nick. Do you have a map showing the Lafayette Hotel at the corner of Broadway and Mosholu Ave.? I seem to recall that there was something of historical interest located in a triangle at that corner mentioned in another posting
Thank you for this, Stephanie.
IIRC the Study on the second floor in the existing structure was Sam’s bedroom. If the proposal for the addition is approved, the home will have six bedrooms with the possibility of making the upstairs Study into a seventh bedroom. That’s going to be a big house!Thank you, Stephanie, for this bit of history of Riverdale. Giovanni Morosini appears to be a self-made man with fortuitously good luck! As always, I’m enjoying this bit of Riverdale history.
Do you know if the home at 5294 Sycamore Ave was one of the Baum homes in the article? I was in that house a number of times in my teens as a good friend, Samual McCain, lived there.
