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ADVOCACY EDUCATION PRESERVATION STEWARDSHIP

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Fall offers us some of New York’s best weather. It is also a fine season to visit the High Bridge, the centerpiece of the original (“Old”) Croton Aqueduct, completed in 1848 and today the city’s oldest bridge. The High Bridge carried pure, plentiful Croton River water — the beginning of the city’s world-famed water supply — from the mainland, across the Harlem River, to Manhattan Island at a time when New York City existed only at the south tip of the island. The water pipes are still there, beneath the bridge’s deck where visitors stroll.

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Aqueduct Trail lovers show their appreciation for the trail’s respite from the Pandemic lockdown at Ventilator 19

Croton Dam Inspection 2020, photo: Tom Tarnowsky
Croton Dam Inspection 2020, photo: Tom Tarnowsky
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection closed the public walkway atop New Croton Dam for five days earlier this month, creating a safe work zone for an inspection of the dam.

The closure allowed a team of rope-access technicians to rappell down the face of the dam and inspect the stones that were used to build the structure 115 years ago. It was the largest dam in the world when it was completed in 1905.

Croton Dam plaque photo by Daniel Chazin
Author: 
FOCAAdmin

Friend Daniel Chazin writes: "Today, I visited the massive Croton Dam in Westchester County. On the roadway across the dam, there is a plaque to commemorate its construction. I was appalled to discover that, in the fifth line, the word "height" is misspelled. One would think that in preparing such a lasting memorial, greater care would have been taken to ensure that all words were correctly spelled. I sure hope that greater care was used in the actual construction of the dam!"

Author: 
FOCAAdmin

It was an impromptu mini event, since protocol demands social distancing and masks… A spontaneous gathering of talents and good cheer, the inspiration of Ildiko Viczian, our member who gives movement and meditation classes. Two guitar musicians were, perhaps, the stars - Sophie Skoggard and Carl’s friend Caroline. Sophie is playing meditative songs and Caroline, in contrast, presents hilarious songs about the London Underground (which after all is under ground like the Aqueduct) followed by a song about the way one little zucchini plant can take over the universe.

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