Talk Bronx New York

Talks Focus on Bronx Golf Course

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. announced on Monday that the city had started talking with Sanford Golf Design to design and build a championship-caliber golf course over a former garbage dump at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx, potentially giving new life to a project that has been dogged by years of delay and problems. The project’s price tag has nearly quadrupled since it was proposed in 1998, to well over $80 million, by one estimate.

The proposed 18-hole, links-style Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course would be built using city capital funds, with an estimated completion by the fall of 2010. A public hearing on the proposal has been scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 26, 22 Reade Street in Manhattan. After construction has begun, the city plans to seek proposals from businesses to operate the golf course and make additional improvements, including a clubhouse and restaurant.

However, New York City Park Advocates, a community group that has often been critical of the Parks Department, quickly issued a statement criticizing the proposed deal. The group said that the city had not completed a study of the project’s environmental impact, noting that the site included a former landfill.

The project has a long and troubled history.

In 1998, during the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the Parks Department announced plans to have a developer, Ferry Point Partners, build a golf course. It would have received a 35-year lease in exchange for financing the $22 million project, which was to be completed by 2001. The 222-acre site called for a driving range, a clubhouse, two playgrounds, a banquet hall and a restaurant overlooking the East River, as well as a waterfront esplanade.

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The Bronx’s Hidden Treasures: Church Celebrates Legacy Of Bronx Notables

When people talk about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, it’s a safe bet the South Bronx and St. Ann’s Episcopal Church probably don’t enter the conversation. But perhaps they should be included.

“You have two of the founding fathers of the country that are buried here,” explained Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan.

Gouverneur and Lewis Morris, brothers, were little-known founding fathers of the country, who were born in the Bronx and buried in the borough at St. Ann’s.

“Lewis Morris was one of the revolutionary leading forces in this area and he went to the Continental Congress, and as a member of the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Ultan.

Lewis’ half brother, Gouverneur, played an historic role, as well.

“Gouverneur Morris was one of the principal framers of the Constitution of the United States,” explained Ultan. “He was given the task of writing the Constitution in some sort of literary style. So it is written in his style and therefore he is called the pen-man of the Constitution.”

Gouverneur Morris is buried in a tomb on St. Ann’s property. Lewis is buried in a crypt under the church. Several other prominent Morris family members are buried here. Historians say Gouverneur’s wife was famous, too. Ann Cary Randolf Morris was a direct descendant of Pocahontas and she was a quite feisty woman for her day.

The family built the church in 1841 as a shrine to honor their legacy, and the hidden treasure is the oldest functioning church in the Bronx.

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