Clason Point, Bronx

Location of Clason Point in New York City

Clason Point

Clason Point is a peninsula geographically located in the south central Bronx. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including: Bronx River, Harding Park, Soundview-Bruckner, and Soundview. The neighborhoods are part of Bronx Community Board 9. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: The Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, the East River to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Soundview Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Clason Point. The local subway is the 6 line; operating along Westchester Avenue. ZIP codes include 10472 and 10473. The area is patrolled by the 43rd Precinct located at 900 Fteley Avenue. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled by PSA 8 at 2794 Randall Avenue in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx.

History

In ancient times, the Bronx River area to the West was known to the Siwanoys^[1] as "Aquahung". The site of a large Native American settlement, comprising more than seventy dwellings, Clason Point was then known to natives as "Snakapins", or "Land By The Two Waters".^[2] There was a local and plentiful food source of oak acorn nuts for grinding purposes here.

In more modern times, an early English settler, Thomas Cornell, began farming here from 1654, for which the area became known as Cornell's Neck.^[1] Clason Point was named after Isaac Clason, a Scottish merchant and a major land owner.^[3] Development in the 19th century soon attracted resort seekers and the area became known for its amusements and entertainment. From 1883-1927, it was the site of the Clason Point Military Academy.^[1][3]

Clason Point in the early-20th century was an era of trolley cars on the main thoroughfare, Soundview Avenue or, as it was were, Clason Point Road. Clason Point was a mixture of mansions, farmland and plenty of undeveloped fields and swampland. There were ferryboat and steamer excursions from "The Point" to downtown (Manhattan) as well as local service across the East River to College Point, Queens. The last boat to College Point terminated during World War II.^[1]

The area was then known for dance halls, roller coasters, picnic groves and baseball games, as well as the world's largest saltwater outdoor swimming pool known as "The Inkwell". There was a volunteer fire department, even a small airport and docks for sailboats and motorboats.

Clason Point was an area for family outings, children’s parades and, in contrast to the heavily built metropolis of today, open fields consisting of wild rabbit and pheasant.

There were also many shoreline fishing spots where fish such as porgie, flounder, striped bass and bluefish could be caught. Alternatively, there were also plenty of saloons and novelty shops.

Kanes' was a major saloon in the Clason Point area in the 1920s which featured Helen Kane, a singer who coined the phrase "Boop-oop-a-doop". Cartoon flapper Betty Boop was modeled after her. After World War II, Kane's became the site for the Shorehaven Beach Club. The Shorehaven Beach Club was purchased by Soundview Associates an investment group including investors such as Sly Stallone & Zeckondorf and was to become the Shorehaven Condominiums. The Shorehaven Condominiums was planned to be composed of 1,183 condominium townhomes in a gated community. ^[1] With all the amusement park rides and novelties in 'Clason Point Park' the Harding Park area of Clason Point was then known as "The Coney Island of the Bronx".

Today the Harding Park section of Clason Point is known as "Little Puerto Rico" with narrow streets and bungalow type homes along the waterfront.^[1]

Subsections

Bronx River

Bronx River is a subsection of Clason Point. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: The Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, Westchester Avenue to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Bronx River includes the Bronx River Houses. The area is usually included in the Soundview section.

Pugsley Creek Park separates Castle Hill Neck (right) from Clason Point (left)

An artificial Lagoon at the south end of Soundview Park

Harding Park

Harding Park is a subsection of Clason Point. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Lacombe Avenue to the north, Pugsley's Creek to the east, the East River to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Harding Park includes "Little Puerto Rico". The area is also referred to as Clason Point.

Soundview-Bruckner

Soundview-Bruckner is a subsection of Clason Point. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Westchester Avenue to the north, White Plains Road to the east, the Bruckner Expressway to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Soundview-Bruckner includes the Bronxdale Houses. The area is usually included in the Soundview section.

Soundview

Soundview is a subsection of Clason Point. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: the Bruckner Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, Lacombe Avenue to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Soundview includes Soundview Park as well as multiple low income public housing developments.

Transportation

• Bx27: to Simpson St station (via Rosedale Av)
• Bx39: to Wakefield - 241st Street station (via White Plains Rd)

Facts

• Soundview Avenue once stretched from White Plains Road and O'brien Avenue in Harding Park to Westchester and Morrison Avenues in Soundview-Bruckner before the construction of the Bronx River Parkway. It was then known as Clason's Point Road.
• P.S. 100 in Soundview was named after Isaac Clason.
• The Clason Point Gardens, located in Soundview, was the first NYCHA development in the Bronx.
• The Clason's Point Branch of The New York Public Library is located at 1215 Morrison Avenue, just north of Westchester Avenue in Bronx River.
• The Clason Point post office is located at 873 Soundview Avenue just south of Story Avenue in Soundview.
• The Bruckner Expressway which now bisects the area along the center was once known as Ludlow Avenue.

References

(1) www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/lucds/bx9profile.pdf

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Kenneth T. Jackson: The Encyclopedia of New York City: The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 239.
2. ^ Powell, Bernard W. "Preliminary Report on a Southwestern Connecticut Site", from the Bulletin of the Archeological Society of Connecticut, February 1958. Accessed June 5, 2007. "These Siwanoy, from their name alone, would seem to be coastal members of the Confederacy;27 Skinner felt they were the occupants of the historic village of Snakapins on the East River. This is tentatively linked to the Clasons Point site in the Borough of the Bronx - within easy traveling distance of the IF site."
3. ^ ^{a b} Lopate, Phillip. "New York, Brick by Brick", The New York Times, June 18, 2000. Accessed April 6, 2008.

Coordinates: 40°48′54″N 73°51′35″W / 40.815°N 73.85972°W / 40.815; -73.85972