A RENEWED BRIDGE FOR THE BRONX COMES WITH A BOOK

Sesame Street’s Maria Leads the Countdown to

“The Lowdown on the High Bridge”

book

Sonia Manzano Reads To Children of the Highbridge Section Of The Bronx

New York, NY —June 1, 2015—In preparation for the official re-opening of the iconic High Bridge pedestrian walkway between the Bronx and Manhattan, Sonia Manzano will read from her new book published by the Bronx Children’s Museum entitled The Lowdown on the High Bridge on Monday, June 1, 2015. Sixty children from three Highbridge public, charter, and parochial schools alongside parents, teachers, elected officials and staff will join Manzano in the auditorium of P.S. 11 located at 1257 Ogden Avenue in the Bronx.

After the reading, the children will follow Manzano to the head of the bridge at the Bronx Highbridge Park located at 170th Street and University Avenue where they will be greeted by the Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz, Jr. and City Councilmember Vanessa Gibson who will introduce the NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver as well as the NYC Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora to start the countdown to the official opening. Sonia Manzano and the Bronx Children’s Museum will present the children with their own book as a gift.

The first Latina on a television series playing Maria over the award winning PBS Sesame Street, Sonia Manzano began to advocate for a children’s museum in the Bronx some ten years ago. “Every other borough has a museum dedicated solely to its children except for the Bronx where there are more than a quarter of a million children under the age of nine. And almost half of those children are living under the poverty level,” Manzano noted.  “I’m a big supporter of the Bronx Children’s Museum,” she affirmed. “Through their work they discovered this missing history and I was delighted to donate my services as writer to present the children of the Bronx with this story. Being from the Bronx myself, the opening of the High Bridge is a symbol of re-birth and the potential in every child, no matter where they live,” she noted, “to reach their goals. The story of the High Bridge is inspiring and speaks to all of us but especially the children of Highbridge.”

For generations, children living in the Highbridge area of the Bronx were unaware of the importance of this historic bridge,” underscored Carla Precht, Executive Director of the Bronx Children’s Museum who undertook this project two years ago. “This colorful picture book illuminates its magnificent past and beauty as the oldest standing Bridge in New York City.”

The Bronx has a rich history hundreds of years old and we are grateful to Sonia Manzano and the Bronx Children’s Museum for bringing a significant part of our extraordinary legacy to life with their new book  The Lowdown on the High Bridge said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. “The rebooting of the High Bridge, will enable the children, as well as the people of the Bronx, to enjoy a brighter future where they are able to reclaim, and identify with, the past glory of the High Bridge. Today we’re proud to welcome Sonia Manzano, the Bronx Children’s Museum and all these beautiful children from the Highbridge neighborhood to the head of the High Bridge to start the countdown to the official opening of the Bridge.”

We must all do our part to make sure all  New Yorkers have access to quality education, culture, and public spaces,” said City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “This new educational book will help the children of the Bronx visualize the stories of their parents, grandparents, and former Bronx residents when they enter onto the High Bridge. When High Bridge reopens in June, children from the Bronx and Manhattan will walk on the pathway and feel pride in their history as they enjoy the easy access to both boroughs.”

As City Councilmember Vanessa Gibson acknowledged, ‘The Lowdown on the High Bridge’ book is a part of just one of the many projects and programs that the Bronx Children’s Museum has undertaken in my district. Providing a key to our community’s hidden past, the Bronx Children’s Museum is educating an entire community and bringing the history of Highbridge to life for a new generation of young learners. I have proudly supported the Bronx Children’s Museum since its inception as I have always believed it is crucial for the children of the Bronx to have a museum of their own. I am so pleased that the Bronx Children’s Museum has been able to provide educational events for the community as their facility is being developed. I am confident that books like The Lowdown on the High Bridge are indicative of great things to come.”

 

“Breathing life back into the High Bridge, New York City’s oldest standing bridge, is something I welcome and support; it has become a hidden treasure in my district over the past 40 years due to its closure,” said Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner. “As we recount its story – thanks to Bronx Children’s Museum and Sonia Manzano – we can relive its ups and downs, and now, its rebirth as a vital part of the Bronx. I commend the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and New York City Department of Design and Construction for their efforts to bring back the High Bridge, restoring its place as a major attraction for not only my district’s families and residents, but all New Yorkers.”

NYC Department of Design and Construction Commissioner, Feniosky Peña-Mora said, I cannot think of anything more important than to share the historic treasures of our City with our children. It’s exciting to see children so invested in the history, and future, of their community. After all, who will be impacted more by the re-opening of the bridge, than the people who live in its neighborhood?  STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) programs like the one the Bronx Children’s Museum provides are so important for fostering curiosity and promoting scientific learning. I was first inspired to study engineering when I built bridges out of toothpicks as a young child. Our future architects, engineers, and scientists are sitting in Highbridge schools right now, using the High Bridge as inspiration to build their own bridges out of milk cartons and cardboard boxes. The DDC is proud to play a part in encouraging this inspiration.”

 

Book Background

The Bronx Children’s Museum and Sonia Manzano created the book as a gift to the children of the Bronx where Manzano was born and raised. The book will be given away during the month of June to 3,300 pre-K to third graders attending eight Highbridge Schools in which the Bronx Children’s museum has been providing history and STEAM-based programming during the past two years.

A passport from the past into the future, The Lowdown On the High Bridge

sheds light on the community’s namesake- the Bridge itself and the Bronx neighborhood also called Highbridge located on a steep hill in the South Bronx. The High Bridge overlooks the Harlem River and the Major Deegan.

History of the High Bridge

The High Bridge is the oldest standing bridge in New York City. Designed after a Roman aqueduct to bring clean water to an ever-expanding city, construction was begun in 1839 and completed in 1848. With the addition of a lovely brick walkway and railings, it became a pedestrian walkway 150 years ago. Connecting people in the Highbridge neighborhood in the Bronx to Washington Heights in Manhattan, it was a tourist destination as well as an easy way to get across the Harlem River between the two boroughs. Even Edgar Allen Poe strolled along the bridge when he lived in the Bronx. As the bridge became obsolete over the years, and the two neighborhoods it joined became populated with immigrants and people of lesser means, the High Bridge became a symbol of blight. Until now.

Completed in 1848, the High Bridge served as the first aqueduct to bring fresh drinking water to New York City and later as a tourist pedestrian destination walkway but it’s main purpose today will be as a connecting pathway between two boroughs. It has been undergoing major rehabilitation since 2012.

After nearly a $62 million renovation, the High Bridge is about to reopen giving the children of the neighborhood the opportunity to witness and experience its beauty. The High Bridge’s makeover will provide a quarter mile of new space to play and enjoy the outdoors with access to nature paths, lawns, baseball fields, basketball courts, and a large pool and playground across the bridge on the Manhattan side.

A new section of the New York City Greenway under the Bridge on the Bronx side will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to travel along the Harlem River on the Bronx side without worrying about car traffic.

            Bronx Children’s Museum Background

The Bronx Children’s Museum (BCM) provides highly effective and innovative inquiry-based educational programs and exhibits to children and families throughout the Bronx. Founded in 2005, BCM is the borough’s only cultural and educational institution designed to inspire children and families to learn about themselves and the diversity and richness of their surroundings, as well as the world beyond.

Currently a “museum without walls,” BCM serves 12,000 Bronx residents annually. Through innovative mobile programming, BCM engages children and adults in the arts and sciences using its purple bus as a roving learning environment. The Museum has temporary exhibits and ongoing afterschool and summer programming throughout the borough at community-based organizations, schools, shelters, libraries, local festivals and parks.  It is one of a few cultural institutions in the Bronx geared toward young children, especially those children and families who cannot afford, or would not normally visit, a museum.

With the Kids’ Powerhouse Discovery Center set to open in 2017 in a former power plant in the South Bronx, the Museum will always get its inspiration for its exhibits and outreach programs from the Bronx and its children.

Read more on the Bronx Children’s Museum: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/nyregion/adrift-for-years-bronx-childrens-museum-finds-a-place-to-park-its-purple-bus.html?emc=eta1&_r=1

Print Friendly, PDF & Email