Famous Permanent Residents of New Jersey - Allen Ginsberg

There is an unexpected quiet and peaceful little zone right at the south end of Newark and just across the border in Elizabeth. Hidden in the midst of the chaos of Newark Airport and the New Jersey Turnpike and U.S. Route 1 and Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor.

Entrance to Mr.Ginsberg's cemetery (Gomel Chesed) with a direct view of the Newark Airport control tower.

Somehow it seems to be the right sort of place for beatnik icon Allen Ginsberg to spend his eternity.  I recall reading somewhere that he once said that he would be buried within sight of the ginormous Budweiser brewery near Newark Airport.  A few days ago I wandered about the area with some friends to find out if that was true.

View of the Budweiser brewery from the Ginsberg family plot.

An even better view of a giant electrical substation.

In fact Ron had already scouted it so going straight for Allen Ginsberg's grave site was easy.  Indeed from the great beyond, if you believe in these sorts of things, he can see the mega-brewery. He gets even better views of a giant electrical substation along the northeast corridor tracks.

"Pioneer Lodge" seems an odd name for a Jewish cemetery, but the Star of David over the gate gives it away.  Small, like Gomel Chesed.

The giant Budweiser brewery, opened in 1951, is a very familiar site to users of Newark Airport.  This view is from just down the street from Gomel Chesed cemetery.  A different small Jewish cemetery, Bethel Memorial Park, is in the foreground.

He is buried in one of several small Jewish cemeteries either adjacent to each other or separated by relatively quiet streets.   Newark did have a large Jewish population at one time but why so many ended up in small cemeteries here I don't know.  It must not have made the master planners happy when plotting out the airport and the turnpike - my guess is that they would have much preferred to cover these little green splodges with roads or parking lots or "facilities" of some sort.  But they didn't - they probably couldn't without legal maneuvering and causing a ruckus among descendants.  There are also a couple of slightly larger cemeteries - Mount Olivet and Rosemount.  We walked through Rosemount which seemed to be secular.  I did not learn much about it poking around on the internet but did find that it had been recently involved in this grisly story (click here).

Rosemount is across the street from Gomel Chesed.  Somewhat larger and more elaborately landscaped.   It, along with comparably sized Mount Olivet cemetery and the little Jewish ones, provide a surprising smudge of green given the strictly utilitarian nature of most of the surroundings.

I definitely want to include Allen Ginsberg's final resting place on a hike, as much for the ambiance of the place as anything.  The area is small and it needs to be combined with other things.  By public transit it is easily accessed from the North Elizabeth train station (not to mention numerous buses, or just walking in from Newark or Elizabeth).  Although surrounded on three sides by pedestrian unfriendly megalopolis clutter, the approach from the south is from sidewalk-rich north Elizabeth with its pleasant rows of well-kept small wood frame houses.

The old Singer sewing machine factory in north Elizabeth is one of many dots easily connected on a hike with the south Newark cemeteries.  Said to be the largest factory in the world when built around 1875.  Who knows if that is true, but it is really, really big.  As best experienced by walking its length. 

An obvious combination is with another old and large cemetery nearby - Evergreen - in Hillside which includes author Stephen Crane among its permanent residents.  To the north one can take in Weequahic Park - once a crown jewel in Essex County's park system and still quite pretty.  To the south is the gargantuan Singer sewing machine factory and the Elizabeth waterfront park with its spectacular views across the Arthur Kill, and historic Elizabeth itself.  All dots worthy of connecting. 

A Cute Water Tower in Millburn/Short Hills

Two sorts of connectable dots of current interest are old smokestacks and water towers. Both provide useful landmarks often easily identifiable from a long distance on the congested urban landscape. Both are important elements of the megalopolis industrial and infrastructure heritage, a recurring hike theme.  Both can be historic, but often aren't. Smokestacks are often abandoned - water towers less so - we still need to drink water in our post-industrial age even if we get away with manufacturing many fewer things. Ranging in style from elaborate to utilitarian, there are few examples which would be described as "cute".

But I did stumble across this cute water tower in the Short Hills section of Millburn Township. Not just my opinion but several of the NY Ramblers with me on a recent hike agreed.  
Short Hills started life around 1880 as a faux-rural planned community developed by self-acting roller shade tycoon Stewart Hartshorn. To quote Mr. Hartshorn (from Wikipedia):  "a harmonious community for people who appreciate nature ... and where natural beauty would not be destroyed by real estate developments, and where people of congenial tastes could dwell together". Is this not the perfect water tower for such a community?

It is mostly the Mediterranean style tile roof and the little observatory looking thing at the top which gives rise to its cuteness. In fact some websites suggest it is a lighthouse or observation tower. Thanks to Rambler Chris Z. who sent me a reference from Arcadia's "Images of America" series which identifies it as a water tower and ascribes it to the East Orange water company (click here). I'm going along with Arcadia and calling it a water tower which is what I thought when I first saw it.

Water tank in Millburn Township's Fox Hill Preserve not far from the Mediterranean fantasy tower which is the subject of this post.  This one looks to be in use - well maintained with security fencing, warnings, etc.

The Short Hills water tower looks abandoned but I can't be certain. I found nothing about it on the East Orange Water Commission website. Nearby is a large water tank probably part of the current water distribution system.

Since I started this discussion with water towers and smokestacks, I end with a pair of the latter - at the old Schering factory in Union Township. The decorated brick one on the left of the photo is the sort especially prized in peripatetic perambulations. I'd call it "elaborate" (for a smokestack anyway), but not "cute", although I would not want to abide by strict definitions of either term.

Walk Across New Jersey Part X - Preview

In Walk Across New Jersey (WANJ) Part X we abandon, for the rest of the series, even the pretense of semi-wilderness (as experienced in the Watchung and South Mountain Reservations on the previous two hikes) and head into the heart of megalopolis.  We still have pleasant parks to traverse, but with more of an urban park character.  Additionally we will be walking through elegant pre-automobile age suburbs and old working class neighborhoods and lively commercial districts.  And past old factories, warehouses, Superfund sites, beautiful old churches, schools, cemeteries, etc. - a plethora of stuff almost too great to describe.

The hike begins with the pleasant railroad suburb of South Orange and ends seriously urban upon reaching Newark's Broad Street Station.  

The old firehouse (1926) near the South Orange train station.

There are many old factories in Orange - "hatmaking capital of the world", including a few where hats were made.  But my favorite is this art deco pile where Monroe calculators (those old fashioned things with lots of moving parts) were manufactured.

Starting at the historic South Orange train station we head north into the City of Orange with its distinctly more blue collar ambiance. A consequence of its industrial heritage - especially the manufacture of hats. Boasting some 21 or more (numbers vary from different sources) hat factories in its prime, including the original ones of of the Stetson family who went on to iconic western hat fame.  We'll see a few extant old factories along with elements of the ongoing transformation of this sometimes gritty formerly industrial zone into the "Valley Arts District" (click here).

Sad rivers of northeastern New Jersey.  We cross the almost imperceptible high ground between the  watershed of the Rahway River  (on the left)  draining into the Arthur Kill and  that of the Second River (on the right) draining into Newark Bay (via the Passaic River).  Both just below their headwaters in the Watchung Mountains.

Some of the giant light bulbs strewn about in West Orange - these in front of the municipal building.  Commemorating Thomas Edison who lived the latter part of his life and died in West Orange.  We pass by the entrances to his gated community and his laboratory.

Next, crossing from the Rahway to the Passaic River watershed, we visit West Orange - land of light bulbs thanks to its most famous resident, Thomas Edison (who actually "invented" the light bulb elsewhere - in Menlo Park visited on WANJ VI where we saw a much larger light bulb).  The hike passes through three of the four Oranges - only East Orange is missed.

As you can see from the sign, there are spaces available in Rosedale Cemetery. Should you be looking for a final resting place among New Jersey's captains of industry, you will be out of luck on the hike as the office will be closed.

Then beautifully landscaped Rosedale Cemetery - one of the oldest and most historic in the state.  New Jersey's industrial graveyard whose permanent residents include the founders of Colgate, Merck, Upjohn, Johnson & Johnson and A&P along with famous architect Charles McKim, pioneering tennis star Althea Gibson and a few other famous people.

This 1920's last of the bow bridges over the Morris Canal was still present March, 2014 and will certainly still be there when we do the hike.

From Rosedale Cemetery we make our way to the Morris Canal in Bloomfield.  Having used the Delaware and Raritan Canal for much of the early WANJ, it is  essential to include at least a snippet of New Jersey's greatest and most innovative (if much less well preserved) canal as well - and this is it.   There is not really any canal left here but there is a pleasant park along the alignment including a historic bridge slated for demolition (but still there at last check).  

Cherry blossoms in Branch Brook Park on April 16, 2013 - indications are that we should have them close to peak on the day of the hike.  Let's hope.

Just before reaching the end of the hike at Broad Street Station, we pass the very large Newark Cathedral - impressively sited on the highest natural elevation in the city,

A bit more street walking takes us to the north end of Newark's Branch Brook Park where the cherry blossoms could well be spectacular.  Ostensibly too late, a recent NJ.com article forecasts the peak to be one day after the hike. We'll walk through Branch Brook Park right the way down , then on to Broad Street Station passing a more few historic sites including the impressive Newark Cathedral. 

For a map showing all the Walk Across and Ramble Across New Jersey hikes completed prior to this one, click here.  WANJ hikes are in red, the alternate WANJ route through the Plainfields in pink, and RANJ in green.

Bridgebagging Along (and Across) Interstate 95 in the Bronx

Bridgebagging is to be a recurrent theme in this blog.  The big iconic ones - the George Washington Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, etc. - of course.  But footbridges as well.  All of them, from the grand and prominent (there are some) to the small and obscure (there are many).  The ones described in this article are in between.    

Our destination, Co-op City, in the background.  In the foreground, the 1909 MetroNorth Hutchinson River bascule bridge.  Taken from the Shore Road Hutchinson River bridge (also a bascule bridge, dated 1906 by my sources).

Hiking from Pelham Bay Park to Co-op City (another story for another day), three of us bagged two large footbridges running parallel and right next to Interstate 95 in the Bronx. It was safer and more pleasant than walking along the interstate. 

The first (southerly) footbridge.   Crossing Pelham Parkway/Shore Road adjacent to I-95.

In cross section it is apparent that it is a separate bridge from that which carries the highway.

Views through the security fence eastward along Shore Road.  The mound in the background is an old landfill adjacent to Pelham Bay Park.

The first bridge approaching from the south crosses Pelham Parkway (heading west) and Shore Road (heading east).  It is the only one of the two bridges we were able to see in profile where it looked as though it could be a covered walkway alongside I-95. But it isn't. As is so often the case, viewpoints are diminished by the security fencing which I suppose is a necessary evil of our times.

The second (northerly) bridge. Security must have been an even stronger concern (people angry with MetroNorth's many screw-ups?) as down the middle of the bridge there are solid opaque metal walls - no views at all. 

The second (northerly) bridge is nearly identical and must be of the same vintage.  It crosses the MetroNorth New Haven line tracks. The lack of any any view at all, even through a chain link fence, made it a tad scary, although all we saw was evidence of a homeless person who probably values the seclusion at night.    

At the far (northern) end of the bridge the solid metal walls give way to the usual tightly wound chain link fence, but at least you can see the railroad alignment.  This photo is bit deceptive as it is taken through one of the little holes - the actual view is not really this good.

On exiting the second bridge, we get gobsmacking views of I-95 (straight ahead, no security fence). And learned from a sign that what I had always thought was the New England Thruway is actually the "New York Thruway - New England Section".  Not that it makes the slightest bit of difference. Interstate 95 south of here is called the Bruckner Expressway.

The New England Thruway, or rather the New England Section of the New York Thruway, upon exiting the more northerly footbridge.  The friendly welcoming sign did not apply to us because we were walking.

We were there on a fine weekday and several people were using the two bridges.  They were useful - at least if you want to get from Pelham Bay Park to Co-op City and parts further north without driving.  They carried what looks to be a major bicycle path (which is rather imprecisely depicted on the 2013 NYC bicycle map) and we saw a couple of bicyclists.  One was all decked out in the colorful clothes serious cyclists tend to wear and had the resolute air of someone traveling far.  

Footbridge across the New England Thruway, with kids getting out of school.

We exited Co-op city on another pedestrian bridge - this one across rather than alongside the New England Thruway.  That bridge was more pedestrian (in more ways than one as it was also much more heavily used, not least because schools were letting out when we got to it).
For the 21st century urban hiker, footbridges make the boulevards of death (generalizing everyone's favorite Queens Boulevard moniker) and superhighways one inevitably has to traverse a bit more user friendly. There should be lots more of them.       
  

Diners as Dots

Connecting dots is a way of structuring peripatetic perambulations. Sometimes it forms the basis for a hike, as in the Brooklyn Patrick Keely hikes of years past, or my IND electrical substations hike planned for June.  The range of possibilities is endless.  Jean Arrington leads great hikes connecting NYC schools built by the visionary architect C.B.J. Snyder. Connecting dots of a particular sort works best when there are enough of them spread over a walkable distance and when there are plenty of dots of other sorts to maintain interest between those which form the main theme. Rarely a problem in NYC but elsewhere, it depends.  In a sense all good urban hikes can be thought of as "connect the dots" hikes. 

The Summit Diner (Union County).  A 1938 O'Mahony Diner, this is one of the most historic in the state.  Right by the Summit train station, it is easy to connect on various hikes.

So what about a New Jersey diner connect-the-dots hike?  It is a good thought and I keep notes just in case.   I've done Texas Wiener restaurant hikes in Clifton and Paterson which were generally well received (even by participants who actually consumed hot dogs at each site).  Diners are an iconic part of the NJ landscape and NJ was a major center for their manufacture - some say the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth made the first diners, although Wikipedia cites earlier examples.  Depends in part on how a diner is defined. 

Harris Diner - a 1952 O'Mahony in East Orange (Essex County).  Less than a half mile off the route of  Walk Across NJ No. 10.  But given distance constraints we will give it a miss.

There are serious diner enthusiasts out there.  Some focus on New Jersey diners and all of them, if they are really serious, have to make a pilgrimage to the Garden State at some point.  They organize tours (invariably by car) and have useful websites (one of the best can be found here) and fight for landmarking and preservation of historic diners, for which they are occasionally successful.  Michael Gabriele has written perhaps the definitive history of New Jersey diners (click here).  So there is plenty of source material to draw upon.  

The Arlington Diner in North Arlington (Bergen County) dates to 1966 (Kullman). Easily connected when bridgebagging the lower Passaic River.

I am not one of those serious diner enthusiasts. Although I do really like the old ones.  I find the food fine and generally good value - at least when ordering the right things - but I can't say I am extremely enthusiastic about it. I go inside as much to admire the often retro interiors as to have a meal or cup of coffee.  My interest in diners here is simply as dots to connect on hikes.

The Colonial Diner  in Lyndhurst (Bergen County) is a ca. 1948 Mountain View Co. diner.  Right across the street from the graves of William Carlos Williams and Joey Ramone (among others).

But I am unlikely to organize a diner themed connect-the-dots hike. For one thing, diners came into existence and grew up with the automobile and are largely tied to the automobile dependent parts of the NJ landscape.  Spread out, often on major highways.   Even in the more densely populated northeastern part of the state, a route to connect the requisite numbers of diners (I'd say at least five or six) is likely to mean more highway walking than even I am up for.

The old Short Stop Diner (Kullman/Manno, 1953) in Bloomfield (Essex County) masquerading as a Dunkin' Donuts.  Possible restroom stop on Walk Across NJ No. 10.  

So I think of diners more as adventitious dots to connect on hikes with other things in mind.  Some, like the Summit Diner are right by the train station and easy.  We get great views of the wonderful Arlington diner consequently to crossing the Route 7 bridge across the Passaic River.  I'm confident an excuse could be found to pass by almost every interesting and historic diner in the northern part of the state on some hike or other. Not that I have any intention of actually trying to do that, although it is a nice thought.  

Another New Jersey Diner pretending to be something else - in this case a New York Diner as if that were something to take pride in.   In Woodside, Queens and built ca. 1949 by the Mountain View Co.  The phony canopy thing in front is unfortunate.  Connected on Long Island Railroad bridgebagging hike in February, 2014. 

So here are examples of diners throughout megalopolis, all manufactured in NJ, which I have passed by on a hike of some sort. I could easily drive around and take pictures of lots more diners, but that would be cheating.  It would suggest, quite wrongly, that I am serious about diners.

Orange Reservoir Perambulation

Orange Reservoir from the north

I'm sure it is well known to regular visitors to South Mountain Reservation (Essex County, NJ), but has snuck up on me that Orange Reservoir, which sits at the north end of the reservation, is now generally open to the public and full of recent and upcoming "improvements".  Built in the late 19th century to supply water for the City of Orange it was abandoned for that purpose in the late 1990s (I venture a reason below).  Till a few years ago, one had to sneak through a fence to have a look.  Its long dormancy between water supply and public access was due to political and financial fights between the City of Orange, the Township of West Orange who own most of the property, and Essex County who has wanted it for its "South Mountain Recreation Complex".  Anyway, around July of last year things were settled at least to the extent that the county could lease the property and start to do things with it. I think the township is still grumbling about taxes, but I am not sure. It seems to have become one of County Executive Joseph DiVicenzo's favorite projects.

I decided to check it out about a week ago.  It is definitely a work in progress and definitely different from the rest of South Mountain Reservation (the reservation is adjacent to the reservoir - although I am not sure if the reservoir is technically part of the reservation, the two are so tightly coupled and both are managed by Essex County so it is probably best to think of them as a single entity).  

"Amenities"

While the reservation proper is dominated by rocky trails and unpaved carriage roads - more of a hiking experience if not an especially difficult one - the reservoir is looking much more "civilized", with paved paths, lighting, etc.  I'm of two minds.  With Turtle Back Zoo and the skating arena and all the other nearby amenities, I can see why Mr. DiVicenzo would want to expand recreational opportunities around the north end of the reservoir. And I won't complain about linking it all in a pedestrian friendly manner suitable to people with limited hiking skills or experience - it might even encourage some of them to walk ... a bit.  I just hope he does not go too far.  In any case, I like to walk just about anywhere and I found walking the new paths around the reservoir an enjoyable experience. And the serious hiking trails of the reservation proper are just a stone's throw away.


Path extending around the west side of the Reservoir.

Pedestrian Bridge over the Rahway River at the north end of Reservoir

Mr. DiVicenzo's new bridge on the way (I think the one on the left is already done)

As I said, it is also work in progress.  A county goal is a paved path circumnavigating the reservoir which means bridges to cross the Rahway River West Branch where it enters north and exits south.  The northerly bridge - at the busy end of the reservoir - is already in place.  The county has grand plans which are prominently displayed on giant posters for the bridge at the south end.   We saw the work taking place.  One of the news articles I found said it would be open April 2014, but this seems ambitious.  We'll see.



Muddy tracks at the end of the paved path on the east side

We started out by heading south on the east side of the reservoir.  The paved path soon turns to a muddy mess - presumably the old service road - the muddiness exacerbated by the recent thaw.  While we saw no restrictions to continuing, it was easier to turn back and head down the west side where we wanted to be anyway. And where the paved path is complete all the way down to the dam. 

Giant Mute Swans spotted by the Orange Reservoir

On the way we spotted waterfowl. The reservoir is good this time of year for waterfowl although this may be diminishing with all the recent development.  We saw a normal assortment of ducks - nothing special.  It was the Mute Swans which caught our attention.  Seems this aggressive Euro-invasive is evolving into a giant subspecies in its new home.  A bigger bird for a bigger country.  Someone suggested it was something in the water.  Perhaps the reason the City of Orange abandoned it for water supply?

Dam at the south end of the reservoir

The paved path on the west side ends at the dam.  It is quieter down there and I hope it will stay that way even with the new bridge.  A lonely old water tank hearkens to the municipal water supply days.  In the distance you see the workers building the new bridge.  Till that is finished you can't walk right the way around without fording the Rahway River - probably possible but the water was high and our plans took us deeper into the reservation.  From the dam a short road walk takes you to the Lenape Trail and the rest of the South Mountain trail network.  It all gets much wilder very quickly.

Given the newness of it all, many hikers familiar with South Mountain will not have walked the reservoir.  Many may not really want to given its relatively civilized character.  But for me it is interesting and pleasant enough and provides the sort of variety I look for in my perambulations. Most likely I will include it as part of our South Mountain traverse with the NY Ramblers in the third of the "Ramble Across New Jersey" series in April. 

Finally a note about public transit access.  The common and obvious way the car-less and car-adverse get to South Mountain is via the Millburn train station.  Which is great but lands one pretty much at the opposite end of the reservation.  Community Bus (Coach USA) route no. 77 provides reasonably frequent service, including weekends, directly from PABT.  Take it to the "West Orange Arena".  The bus stops just a few hundred yards from the north end of the reservoir.  Go into the arena/skating rink if it is open and you want to use the restrooms.  A useful alternative to the Millburn train not only for the reservoir but also for connecting many other interesting dots in the northern reaches of the reservation.  Complaints about this bus service might be noted (click here) but it was fine ... the one time I used it.  







Port Washington, NY History Seen Through Its Sewer Manhole Covers



Manhasset Bay from the Port Washington Waterfront Walkway

A week or so ago I joined a SW/OC/UTC hike in Port Washington, NY.  I had been there many times but not so much for walking.  Upon exiting the railroad station, I stumbled across a sewer manhole cover dated 1916.  I normally watch for manhole covers but only casually as they are only occasionally entertaining.  So I sort of dismissed this one as a mildly interesting reflection of early 20th century civic pride.  The railroad came in 1898 so that by 1916 Port Washington was a thriving bedroom community for NYC.  Which meant sanitary sewers.  It is possible the 1916 cover is from the town's first sewers, or may have reflected a need realized a bit later for expansion or improved maintenance access. The subject is fascinating and I refer you to www.sewerhistory.com rather than elaborating here.  Anyway it was from the very early years of the Port Washington sewer system.


Port Washington Manhole Cover Timeline

Then I noticed one from 1928.  Sensing a possible window into Port Washington's past, I started photographing manhole covers - unfortunately not being able to relocate the 1916 one rushing for the train at the end of the hike.  I managed to capture examples from 1928, 1929, 1946, 1948, 1960, 1961 and 1987.   None from the 1930s, 1950s, or the 1990s and later.  I'd like to think there was some deep significance to this (the great depression in the 1930s for instance) but it is almost certainly because my limited route simply didn't pass covers from these other decades.  Perhaps a scarcity of post-1987 covers reflects that Port Washington was largely built out by that time.

The geographical distribution of the manhole covers possibly illustrates the timeline of development for different parts of Port Washington.  A much more thorough survey than I will ever undertake would be required to properly test this.  But since my camera has GPS, it is easy enough to produce a map showing the locations of the ones I did photograph.  Click Here for the Map.   Trends are not obvious to me, but as noted the data set is rather limited.

 

Ghosts of the Past

Other manhole covers in Port Washington also harken to times past.  For example those of the often reviled and now extinct LILCO and Ma Bell.  And there are plenty of ordinary manhole covers about but I did not photograph any of them.
 
“Port Washington” itself is a curious entity, at least from a legal perspective. Wikipedia defines it as a hamlet and “census designated place”, or CDP, within the town of North Hempstead. In New York a hamlet would essentially be an unincorporated village (without defined borders) while a CDP is a census bureau abstraction created for statistical purposes (with defined borders). Further, despite what Wikipedia says, the CDP excludes four incorporated villages (with defined borders) – Manorhaven, Baxter Estates, Port Washington North and Sands Point. Manhole covers labeled “Port Washington” were seen in the CDP proper and at least two of the incorporated villages. Local residents think of all of these places as just the town of “Port Washington”. And the manhole covers tell us this has been the case since at least 1916 – probably earlier.

Sands Point Preserve

Of course the hike wasn't really about observing and photographing manhole covers.  Not surprisingly I was the only participant engaged in such activity.   Rather the main highlights were the waterfront walkway along Manhasset Bay and Sands Point Preserve with its Long Island north shore gold coast mansions, woodland trails, and magnificent views of Long Island Sound.  The weather was great if a bit cool and the hike well attended.  Thanks to Bill W. for leading a great hike.

As for manhole covers, don't expect a connect-the-dots hike anytime soon.  But there are precedents.  Artist Michele Brody has conducted manhole cover walks on 14th Street in Manhattan and provides an informative self-guided tour brochure (click here).  But for me,  manhole covers are best as adornments to peripatetic perambulations based on other themes.

Finally, here are a few more hike highlights:


Castle Gould at Sands Point Preserve

 

Long Island Sound from Sands Point Preserve

A Quirkier Side to Port Washington