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University Woods

Parks in the BronxUniversity Heights, Bronx

University Woods, also known as Cedar Park, is a small woodland park in the University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Overlooking the Harlem River, the park sits between Sedgwick and Cedar Avenues. After having been named "the city's worst park" by the New Yorkers for Parks in the years 2003–2006, a restoration project was begun in 2008 by the Friends of the Woods organization, with a $500,000 grant from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.University Woods, formerly British Fort #8, has a two-tiered pathway and the original stone walls used by the British troops during the American Revolutionary War. The main stairs, now pending restoration, are a popular passageway between Cedar Avenue and Sedgwick Avenue and lead further up to the Hall of Fame terrace and Bronx Community College. Friends of the Woods is an organization founded by Brandy Cochrane in 2006 to rehabilitate and maintain the park. Formerly a real estate professional she was drawn to the park while assessing housing in the vicinity. Even though Cochrane had been a resident in the neighborhood for over four years, she was stunned to discover this idyllic hideaway just blocks from her home. Since that time, she has been a public supporter of not only the preservation of rural areas in her neighborhood, but of the value of community cohesiveness, inclusiveness, and assertive actions that can be taken to improve the quality of life in urban areas.Friends of The Woods received $500,000 from the city of New York and has set about to restore the infrastructure of University Woods. They have partnered with the Parks Department, The Harlem River Ecology Center, the New York State Horticultural Center, and many other ecologically conscious groups to make further improvements to this once abandoned woodland. DJ Kool Herc, who grew up near the park in the 1970s, attended a block party held in 2008 in celebration of the park.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article University Woods (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

University Woods
Sedgwick Avenue, New York The Bronx

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N 40.858852 ° E -73.91505 °
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Colston Hall

Sedgwick Avenue 2020
10453 New York, The Bronx
New York, United States
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Hall of Fame for Great Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans

The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It is the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the University Heights campus of New York University (NYU), the structure was designed by architect Stanford White to conceal a retaining wall for the Gould Memorial Library. The hall commemorates 102 prominent citizens of the United States, selected by a board of electors and grouped into one of fifteen categories. The physical structure consists of a loggia with colonnades measuring 630 feet (190 m) long. The colonnades contain niches with plaques and 96 bronze portrait busts. The philanthropist Helen Gould donated funds for the structure in 1900, and the Hall of Fame was formally dedicated on May 30, 1901. Soon after the Hall of Fame opened, it became a focal point for U.S. national pride. Originally, the hall only contained plaques honoring native-born U.S. citizens. The first bust was installed in 1907, and foreign-born citizens were inducted starting in 1915. The majority of the busts were sculpted between 1922 and 1930. Most of the busts dedicated between 1930 and 1970 were installed shortly after the elections of their respective honorees. The Hall of Fame became part of BCC after NYU sold its Bronx campus to City University of New York in 1973. The last honorees were elected in 1976, and the Hall of Fame has largely fallen into obscurity since then. Four of the busts were never sculpted due to a lack of funding, while the remaining 98 busts started to decay over the years. Following periods of deterioration, BCC renovated the Hall of Fame several times in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. BCC removed two busts of Confederate generals following a controversy in 2017.

Gould Memorial Library
Gould Memorial Library

The Gould Memorial Library (GML; also nicknamed Gould) is a building on the campus of the Bronx Community College (BCC), an institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), in University Heights, Bronx, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Stanford White of the firm McKim, Mead & White. Constructed between 1895 and 1900 as the central library of New York University (NYU)'s Bronx campus, it was part of the New York University Libraries system. The library is named after railroad magnate Jay Gould, whose daughter Helen Miller Shepard funded the project in his memory. Gould is no longer used as a library, instead serving primarily as an event space. Gould's facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks, and it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Gould is arranged in the shape of a Greek cross and is surrounded by the Hall of Fame for Great Americans to its west. The library's main entrance is on the east side, where there is a portico with a Corinthian-style colonnade. The copper dome contains an ornamental frieze as well as an oculus at its center. Inside the entrance vestibule, a barrel-vaulted stair hall leads up to offices and a circular reading room. The ornately designed reading room contains two colonnades flanking two balcony levels; multiple Tiffany glass windows; a balustrade with sixteen statues; and a coffered ceiling. Originally, the reading room was surrounded by three levels of stacks and 18 seminar rooms. Under the library was a 600-seat auditorium. New York University's Bronx campus was developed in the 1890s. Construction on the library started in 1895 after Shepard anonymously donated $200,000. During the 20th century, NYU used the library for commencement ceremonies and other events. Additionally, the university installed numerous busts of artists inside the library during the 1920s and 1930s. NYU built additional campus libraries in the 1950s due to a lack of space at Gould, and the auditorium was rebuilt after an arson attack in 1969. After NYU sold its Bronx campus to CUNY in 1973, the Gould Library was converted into an event space, and the library fell into disrepair. The auditorium was restored in 2000, and the library was further refurbished in the early 21st century.