welcome to the final northern thread of a 4-part stroll up the grand concourse in the bronx.

 

Just north past the grand loew’s paradise theater is the fordham road intersection. Western Fordham road is the main shopping district in the bronx.  In typical ny fashion, at this busy intersection the grand concourse has “express” lanes in the middle that go under fordham rd and “local” access lanes on either side.

 

looking north along the east side of the gc

 

 

the once elegant 1930's deco wagner building

 

westside view here

 

A classic old street corner scene  :clap:

 

there is a lot of sidestreet retail too, here is an eastern  view of 188th st, just below fordham.

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

At NW grand concourse/Fordham road intersection, this is the old alexanders dept store building

(I’m only semi-old school, I would call it the former Caldor dept store building). candidate john f. kennedy gave a speech here in 1960 & many thousands lined fordham and the concourse to hear it

 

a pre-rehab shot of the old alexanders from 1999

     

 

one more -- the rest of the building just past fordham, taken from the over pass

 

other side of the street – the eastside looking at the NE corner

 

The same scene from further back away & cater-corner

 

Looking back at the SW corner

 

And west along Fordham rd at all the shopping (fordham rd is a thread for another day)

 

 

 

 

enough of all that, heading north again

 

 

 

emigrant bank fills the space of the former Dollar Savings Bank. This landmarked building was built by Halsey, McCormack and Helmer, who also built Brooklyn's answer to the Empire State Building, the iconic Williamsburg Savings Bank.

 

pause for a look back

 

Continuing north on the gc

 

* at this point is (edgar allen) poe park, I’ll skip it as you can click to this thread to see it:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,17571.0.html

 

another quick side-tour --  because something to the west of poe park demands attention

 

 

 

 

This is the towering the 8th regiment armory aka the Kingsbridge armory (b. 1912-1917).

 

The Kingsbridge Armory is a 575k sq ft nine-story red-brick building with a 180,000 square foot drill hall and an 800 seat auditorium, the armory covers the entire block from Kingsbridge Road and 195th Street to Reservoir and Jerome Avenues. The building has a two story office wing and two cellar levels, which used to house military vehicles, space for storage, lecture halls, and fitness rooms, that included a basketball court and a shooting gallery. It was designated a city landmark in 1974, while the Eighth Regiment's former home was demolished in the 1960's.[3] The state gave the title to the armory and its property to New York City in 1996.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Regiment_Armory_(Bronx)

 

The drill hall is said to be the largest in the world, it fits 4 football fields

 

 

Throughout the years the Armory has hosted many events like dog and boat shows, due to the size of the building, but it also was the site of a Beach Boys concert in June of 1971[7] and in 2006 Warner Bros. rented the Armory for seven months at the price of $350,000 to film parts of Will Smith's, I Am Legend. The drill hall was turned into a preproduction and studio set; Warner Bros choose this site due to the size and age of the building.

 

However, today nobody really knows what to do with it….last I heard was a….shopping center?!?!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/nyregion/22armory.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/10/01/2008-10-01_shopping_for_approval_public_hearing_on_-2.html

 

 

     

 

The Kingsbridge ‘el’ subway  stop – great view of the mammoth armory roof from up here

 

Some sights along the street around here

 

Please no hanging out! :-P

 

 

 

 

 

This one is almost back at the concourse

 

And again from the gc, heading north again

 

 

 

 

There are still some gc local and express lanes here

 

 

These are very stately -- 2615 Concourse, Charles Kreymborg, 1938.

 

 

 

look! somebody built their own little gc castle in the former rubble between these apt buildings!  :clap:

 

 

whoa - who took a bite out of this one?  :-o

 

 

these stripes are just off ‘course

 

 

 

 

 

left at 201st is st. philip neri church, rudy guiliani married his very 1st wife here – heh.  :angel:

 

 

another felson at 205th st, built in 1936, his most prolific year.

 

last up we come to the mosholu parkway at the northern top of the grand concourse

unfortunately....it all ends with this rather amazingly hideous concrete tower!!  :-o  :whip:

edit: these are the 41 story tracey towers (yes, there are 2 of them!!!) built, err...thrown up in 1972.

 

*** I hope you have enjoyed a multi-thread early fall walk up the grand concourse in the bronx ***

 

umm cuchifritos!!!  :)

 

The armory is HUGE.  Just ridiculously HUGE.

 

Some zombie scenes night scenes were shot there and that was a drop in the bucket compared to the red tape and BS to do those overnight scenes.

Last one looks like the silo Eaton wanted to have imploded.

Fantastic series!

Thank you for a most enjoyable tour! I appreciate your annotation, too.

 

One of the things I picked up from this is that while historic preservation is desirable, day-to-day commercial activity trumps that where a choice has to be made. The utilitarian retail stores like pharmacies, restaurants, grocers are what feed the energy that keeps a community alive. Some once-grand architectural masterpieces have been severely altered with contemporary low-budget signage and storefronts, but there are people living there who depend on those merchants. Thanks again for all your work in putting this together.

Holy crap...the Kingsbridge Armory is just absolutely amazing.  Thanks for the amazing tour.

Last one looks like the silo Eaton wanted to have imploded.

 

Disgusting housing project.

 

Sorta near my house. Maybe about a mile away from where I live.

Wow - this was a great series - thanks for putting it all together for us.  I was impressed by the deco stylings and the massive apartment blocks.  That armory is just massive and awesome.  On the other hand, those concrete silos are unfortunate...

What an excellent and comprehensive series mrnyc.  Thank you for taking the time posting these.  I really love the Bronx so this was a huge treat.