Throggs Neck or Throgs Neck?

The Throgs Neck Bridge, with one 'G.'
Photo courtesy of MTA Bridges and Tunnels.

"There's always been a controversy," Bronx Historian Lloyd Ultan says of the preference to use one 'G' or two in the name.

The bridge is Throgs Neck--one 'G'--that's for certain. But for fans of history and the way things used to be, Throggs Neck is the name of the community.

The name Throggs is originally named after John Throckmorton, who came to the Bronx in 1642 with a party to settle down. However, a Native American uprising started almost immediately, and they were saved by a passing English boat. The Native Americans slaughtered their cattle and burned their houses.

"But the name of Throckmorton was stuck to that neck of land," Ultan said.

Over time, people simplified the Throckmorton name, eventually having Throggsmorton, which then eventually became Throggs. "Some maps labled it Frogs Neck," Ultan said.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the older, more established people in the area spelled it with two 'G's. Some businesses, and even the area's post office, use two. But there were people who, for no reason in particular, had shortened Throggs to Throgs.

Today, the reason so many people only use one 'G' is because of, but who else, 'master builder' Robert Moses.

When the Throgs Neck Bridge opened in 1961, Moses used the one 'G' because he wanted to save money with sign costs. "It would take less paint to make all the signs leading to the bridge," Ultan said.

Henry Hudson Bridge turns 75 years old

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review.

By Brendan McHugh 

The Henry Hudson Bridge has hit the diamond anniversary. 

The Henry Hudson Bridge turned 75 years old on Dec. 12. All photos courtesy of the MTA.

On Monday, Dec. 12, 1936, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and master-builder Robert Moses cut the ribbon on the Henry Hudson Bridge.

Exactly 75 years later, the New York Public Library’s Riverdale branch has begun showing a month-long photo exhibit, highlighting the construction and life of the bridge. 

The exhibit includes more than a dozen photographs from the MTA Bridges and Tunnels Depression-era collection and will include a section for schoolchildren, focusing on different types of bridges and the building of the Henry Hudson, and another geared to the community before the bridge was built.

Jump below for the full story and some fascinating photos from the 1930s when the bridge was being constructed.

Will this be the last Veterans Day that our heroes are made to wait for memorial?

Here's a story from this week's Riverdale Review and Bronx Press.

By Brendan McHugh

ROTC students from several Bronx colleges
participated in the ceremonies to mark Veterans Day
in Van Cortlandt Park.

This past Sunday, about 100 people showed up on a brisk November afternoon to honor Riverdale’s veterans at the Van Cortlandt Park Memorial Grove. 

Herb Barret and Don Tannen, the leaders of the Memorial Grove Restoration Group and two veterans themselves, have held the ceremony for the past five years, not only for the veterans in the area, but also to highlight the need to restore the war memorial. 

“We were hoping that a good part of the grove would be completed,” Barret said at the ceremony. “We’d just like to see it finished.” 

The grove is set for completion this January, though Barret and Tannen have had to be relentless in getting the Department of Parks and Recreation in moving quickly. The grove is suppose to honor 37 deceased war heroes—including two Medal of Honor recipients—with 37 trees and plaques, but a handful of trees weren’t there and many of the plaques disappeared over the years. Many of those honored in the grove are from World War II, though a small number honor those who fought in World War I and the Korean War. 

Jump below for the full story.

Cuomo hasn't visited the Bronx once

I noticed this a while ago but didn't exactly have proof, but CityHallNews.com found it and wrote the article: Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't visited the Bronx once since he took office.

Our good friend Lloyd Ultan, the Bronx Borough Historian, told the news site that he can't recall any governor serving a single term without making a stop in “the most Democratic county in the whole country,” where 70 percent of registered voters are Democrats. To top it off, 90 percent of Bronxites voted for Cuomo in the past election.

From the site:

In fact, the Queens native has hardly visited New York City’s outer boroughs, home to more than one-third of the state’s population.

Travel records posted on Cuomo’s “CitizenConnects” website show him making just one trip each to Brooklyn and Staten Island this year. His only Queens appearance was to walk across the Nassau County border in the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day parade.

Meanwhile the governor has made seven appearances in Nassau County, six in the Buffalo area, and five in and near Syracuse, as well as a dozen in Manhattan. He recorded almost 50 trips upstate, including eight related to Hurricane Irene, about double the number he made to New York City and Long Island combined.

A spokesman for the governor deflected the inquiry into why he doesn't spend more time in the outer boroughs, saying he travels to all corners of the state to push his platforms and engage citizens.

Ultan doesn't buy it, saying that the Bronx is where his attention should be at right now.

“The Bronx is the poorest county in New York,” he told CityHallNews. “Anything that can be done on the state level, and anything the governor could do to alleviate those issues, would be welcome.”

To see all the other places Cuomo has been, click here and roll over the "See Where We've Been" tab.

Just noticed this on Liz Benjamin's State of Politics Blog and wanted to add it (right below the link for the CityHallNews story): The governor’s quick trip to San Juan for the Somos conference was all about shoring up his support among black and Latino voters, who have started to grumble of late about his lack of attention. Hey Drew (Can I call you Drew? Thanks.), if that's your plan, here's an idea: come to the Bronx. We have plenty of Latino and black voters. And if you come during the summer, you can hang out at Orchard Beach and it'll be just like hanging out in San Juan!

Plaque Unveiling Honors Woodlawn as National Landmark

A story that didn't make this week's paper. Enjoy.

By David Greene

At the unveiling are (l-r) Bronx historian Lloyd Ultan, Comptroller John Liu,
Woodlawn President John Toale and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
Photo by David Greene.

Dozens of Bronxites joined local elected officials in a plaque unveiling, celebrating Woodlawn Cemetery's recent inclusion to a list of America's national landmarks.

At the unveiling, held at Woodlawn on Sunday, Oct. 16, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. told the crowd, "In the United States, there are 2,500 known landmarks and in the state of New York, we have only 262, and today we are celebrating the 5th national landmark of the Bronx."

Diaz continued, "When you look at the wonderful resurgence and the renaissance of our borough, and the fact that we have been designated as a national historic landmark, it doesn't come easy; it comes with a lot of work."

New York City Comptroller John Liu remarked, "People are coming to the Bronx, no question about it, and in a time when our city and indeed our country is still struggling to get out of what is the deepest recession since the great depression. We have things that we can look forward to and great things are happening right here in the Bronx."

Jump below for the full story.

Is Riverdale really part of the Bronx?

In last week's issue, we ran a Person on the Street asking people if they thought Riverdale was really part of the Bronx. In the upcoming issue, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz responds in a letter to the editor.

This didn't make the paper, but here is an article our intern (who also does the Person on the Streets) wrote.

By AMANDA MACALUSO

Is Riverdale really part of the Bronx?

It’s a long-standing question between Riverdalians and Bronxites. Geographically and politically speaking, the area of Riverdale is obviously part of the Bronx. But asking the people of Riverdale and the Bronx whether they considered Riverdale part of the northern borough, the answer would not always correlate with the geographically and politically accurate answer.

So where does the indiscretion come in? Why is it questionable about what “proper title” to use?

Jump below for the rest of the article.