Built in the late 1840’s as a component of the Croton Aqueduct, the High Bridge is the city’s oldest span. Closed to pedestrians since the 1970’s, the bridge offers the opportunity to reconnect a number of vibrant neighborhoods and parks in Manhattan and the Bronx. Working in collaboration with the City of New York Parks and Recreation Department and Partnerships for Parks, AFHny is helping to visualize both the re-opening of the High Bridge and the re-invigoration of its adjacent parklands.

Working with local citizen groups and the Parks Department, AFHny is helping draft a vision for this historic public asset at both the scale of individual buildings and the scale of the entire park. Throughout the last three years, AFHny volunteers have sketched numerous ideas, creating an archive of possibilities for the Highbridge Parks and their surrounding neighborhoods. These sketch projects represent the many possible futures for both the historic bridge and its adjacent parklands. As conversations continue with the Highbridge communities, AFHny volunteers will continue to add to this archive of ideas.

Helping envision and depict the future of the Highbridge, AFHny volunteers created a rendering of the re-opened pedestrian span for one of the City’s public announcements of the project. As the project moves forward, AFHny will continue to help depict the public’s ideas and visions for a re-opened Highbridge.

Through many discussions with the Parks and Recreation Department and Partnerships for Parks, AFHny’s team has outlined three possible small-scale interventions. Currently, AFHny volunteers are researching the feasibility of these “catalyst projects”. These possible projects include a new public gallery for the High Bridge tower as well as the design of the bridge’s two temporary construction gates. Once completed, these design interventions would act as the public interface for the long-term restoration of the bridge.