Eyes on the Street: Risking Life and Limb for Greenway Access
Last Friday afternoon my wife and I walked the Hudson River Greenway from Morningside Heights north toward home in Inwood. It was nice and warm out, and after a while we wanted water, so just south of the George Washington Bridge we decided to head over to Broadway, where we could stop for a beverage before catching a train the rest of the way. We exited the Greenway at 165th Street in Washington Heights, a route neither of us had taken before. After crossing the pedestrian bridge over the train tracks and taking a trail under the Henry Hudson Parkway and through the woods, this is what we found.
![gway1.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway1.jpg)
![gway2.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway2.jpg)
![gway3.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway3.jpg)
![gway4.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway4.jpg)
![gway5.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway5.jpg)
![gway6.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway6.jpg)
![gway7.jpg](/wp-content/uploads/2009/07_09/gway7.jpg)
My wife and I are relatively healthy adults, and I think it’s safe to say we will not be entering or exiting the Greenway at this spot again. How the city would subject anyone — much less children, the elderly and disabled — to such inhumane conditions defies explanation. Then again, maybe that’s why there’s no signage — the Greenway at this point is as much attractive nuisance as it is public amenity.