Friday, October 22, 2021 – YOU THINK WE HAVE ROCKS ON R.I., CHECK THIS ONE OUT!

By admin

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2021

THE  501st EDITION

The story of the house-size rock

between two

apartment buildings off

Riverside Drive

from EPHEMERAL NEW YORK

West 114th Street between Riverside Drive and Broadway is a quiet sloping block of light brick rowhouses, similar to other side streets in the area.

But there’s one massive difference that sets West 114th apart: the 100-foot rock lodged between two houses and walled off behind an iron fence. This hulk of Manhattan schist was nicknamed Rat Rock years ago by locals, who were understandably spooked by the rodents that used to enjoy nesting there, according to a 2000 New York Times article.

Like all the rock outcroppings found in Manhattan, the story of Rat Rock began hundreds of millions of years ago, when the bedrock that helps support skyscrapers was formed. Manhattan schist is a type of bedrock, and while most bedrock lurks beneath ground, geological fault lines forced some rocks to the surface, The Times piece explains.

Having big boulders above ground wasn’t a problem in Central Park. Though some were dynamited away when the park was being built, others were left behind to provide a rustic feel amid the lake, pond, and pastures.

Rat Rock in 1917

But when developers encountered rocks like this on the street grid, they either blasted them away or left them alone. For unknown reasons—perhaps because it’s just so enormous—Rat Rock remained, and builders worked around this break in the streetscape.

Apparently, it’s here to stay. The land is owned by Columbia University, and they have no plans to get rid of it. “The lot and development rights are incredibly valuable, but removing the rock could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” states The Times.

Enormous boulders like this didn’t get in the way of nearby development a century or so ago, however. The Museum of the City of New York has this 1903 photo in its collection of a similar rock thwarting the building plans of a row of houses on Riverside Drive between 93rd and 94th Streets.

I’m not so sure this photo is labeled correctly; it doesn’t look like the Riverside Drive of the era to me. But assuming it is, the rock has long been removed.

Over on the East Side, this undated photo shows rock outcroppings at Fifth Avenue and 117th Street, with modest houses built on top of them far off in the distance. The rocks here are no longer.

FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND
LIGHTHOUSE
WITHOUT THE LIGHT
NEW TOP IS BEING INSTALLED, STAY TUNED
Laura Hussey, Jay Jacobson and Andy Sparberg  & Hara Reiser got it

from Andy Sparberg:
Good morning, this is Andy Sparberg. The answer to the Thursday photo is Roosevelt Island lighthouse, and Hallet’s Cove Apartments in the background.

May I add something to the Grand Central photo that appeared on Wednesday morning: If you look in the lower right of the Grand Central photo, you can see an elevated train. Until 1923, a short branch of the Third Avenue Elevated line existed atop 42nd Street between Third and Park Avenues, carrying a two car shuttle train that connected with the namesake elevated at Third Avenue. In December 1923 this branch was closed, and razed soon afterward.
Dear Everyone at RIHS and “from the Archive” – –

Another terrific daily e-letter – – and YOWZA, it’s the 500th!

To Judy and all your wonderfully helpful e-docents, you are just amazing, and soooooooo appreciated, for the totally interesting and fact-filled slices of living here in NYC. I’m a NYC native born and bred, and these subjects you select, and present so well, are so terrific! I really look forward to my daily e-letter!

I also recognize the time it takes to put out this daily e-letter, and to provide such compelling content. . so your contributions of time and brain power are also recognized, with gratitude.

Best to all,

Susan Rodetis (Manhattanite . . and I teach bike lessons around NYC and on Roosevelt Island)

from Clara Bella
ANOTHER DELIGHTFUL MORNING JOURNEY INTO THE PAST! The tributes said it all. HAPPY 500th!!!!🎉🥳👏🏼🎊🙌🍾
At last! A topless photo in From the Archive! The Roosevelt Island lighthouse is being renovated. Not quite as well-known as its counterpart under the George W Bridge, the RI Lighthouse has been the subject of much conjecture. From the delightful tale about the person who erected the lighthouse to prove that he had been improperly detained in the insane asylum to the saga of the memorial to lives lost on vessels traversing the notorious Hell Gate where waters from Long Island Sound, and the East and Harlem rivers swirled, our lighthouse has stood. In the late 1970s, when it was not yet fully secured, our son Dan and I wandered in with the hope of climbing to the peak for the view. We found, however, such a state of disrepair that even we foolhardy folks realized we couldn’t responsibly risk the intrusion.
JAY JACOBSON
JJJ

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter  and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)

EPHEMERAL NEW YORK

Riverside Drive is one of New York’s most historic (and beautiful!) streets. Join Ephemeral New York on a walking tour of the Drive from 83rd to 107th Streets on October 24 that takes a look at the mansions and monuments of this legendary thoroughfare.

[Third image: New-York Historical Society; fourth image: MCNY x2010.11.3102; Fifth image: MCNY 93.91.367]

Tags: Bedrock in NYC, Boulders of NYC, Central Park Rock Outcroppings, Geology of Manhattan, Manhattan Schist NYC, NYC Geology, Rat Rock 114th Street, Rock Outcroppings Manhattan

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