Bronx Park

Public park in the Bronx, New York

Bronx Park is a public park along the Bronx River, in the Bronx, New York City. The park is bounded by Southern Boulevard to the southwest, Webster Avenue to the northwest, Gun Hill Road to the north, Bronx Park East to the east, and East 180th Street to the south. With an area of , Bronx Park is the eighth largest park in New York City. Founded in the late 1880s, Bronx Park is the location of the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo, which respectively occupy much of the northern and southern portions of the park. Fordham Road runs east–west between the zoo and botanical garden, bisecting Bronx Park, while the Bronx River Parkway runs north–south near the eastern edge. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

The land for Bronx Park was acquired with funds authorized by the 1884 New Parks Act, which was intended to preserve lands that would soon become part of New York City. Much of the land was acquired from Fordham University, which gave away the land on the condition that it be used as a zoo and botanical garden. Other sections were obtained from the family of Pierre Lorillard, who operated the Lorillard Snuff Mill in what is now the New York Botanical Garden within the northern section of Bronx Park. The snuff mill, a National Historic Landmark, still remains and is the oldest existing tobacco manufacturing building in the United States. Land was also acquired from the Lydig family, another prominent local family, who had bought it from the DeLanceys, yet another local family. The original were acquired in 1888–1889. The northernmost were allocated in 1891 to the New York Botanical Society. Another were allocated in 1897 to the New York Zoological Society. An additional were acquired in 1906, at the southeast end of the park; this area is now known as Ranaqua, where the Parks headquarters is located.

Much of Bronx Park is taken up by the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden, both of which are private entities. However, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) still pays for some of the maintenance costs. According to NYC Parks, Bronx Park is , However, another measurement in the Encyclopedia of New York City places the park as only being in area. The park is crossed by a road connecting Fordham Road to the west and Pelham Parkway to the east. West Farms to the south, and Belmont to the west.

The New York Botanical Garden is located on the northern side of Bronx Park, west of the Bronx River Parkway. It was founded by the New York Botanical Society in 1891. The botanical garden covers 250 acres in total. although the garden also includes a parcel that was formerly the easternmost portion of the campus of St. John's College (now Fordham University). Since 1967, the Botanical Garden has been a National Historic Landmark. The Bronx Zoo is located on the southern side of Bronx Park, west of the Bronx River Parkway. Founded by the New York Zoological Society, it first opened on November 8, 1899. The zoo covers , making it among the United States' largest urban zoos. The Bronx Zoo has several landmarked features, including the Rainey Memorial Gates at the Fordham Road entrance, which is a New York City designated landmark and a National Register of Historic Places listing.

The main watercourse in Bronx Park is the Bronx River, which flows southward from Westchester County to the East River, running for 2 mile (3 km) through the park. The section of river within the park is for the most part a natural watercourse. The river hosts a diverse ecosystem with a hardwood swamp and floodplain forest composed of red maple trees. and the Bronx Zoo. The river, once a heavily polluted waterway, was cleaned up in the late 20th century due to an effort led by the Bronx River Alliance. The Mitsubishi Riverwalk, a free public trail along the Bronx River that opened in 2004, runs along the eastern bank of the river within the Bronx Zoo's Boston Road parking lot. There are three waterfalls in Bronx Park. The first is a cascade near the Lorillard Snuff Mill. To the south is a waterfall of pink granite, about 12 feet (4 m) high, located slightly upstream of the Boston Road entrance to the zoo. At this location, there is a small island that splits the waterfall into two cascades. A third waterfall is the 182nd Street Dam near River Park. It was formerly used by the DeLancey family, which operated a farm in what is now the Wild Asia section of the Bronx Zoo, but now consists of a Fordham gneiss dam with a fish ladder. although in 1971, of Lake Agassiz were taken by land reclamation for a new bison "prairie" in the Bronx Zoo. A larger lake, the Bronx Lake, is located south of Lake Agassiz and stretches for nearly 1 mile (2 km) through the zoo. In 1983, the JungleWorld exhibit in the Bronx Zoo was built atop the site of the boathouse. In addition, there are several ponds not connected to the river. Cope Lake, located near the Fordham Road entrance to the Bronx Zoo, is a pond that predates the zoo. In the mid 20th century it became used by pelicans. However, the pelicans were moved to an indoor exhibit inside the zoo in the 1990s. Another pond, Twin Lake, is located at the northern portion of Bronx Park, next to the Pfizer Lab in the New York Botanical Garden. The scenic ponds were formerly a public area, but were confiscated by the botanical garden, causing an uproar on the part of the local community. The lakes had previously been a very popular winter ice skating venue, with free access.