Landmark status sought for historic Port Morris gantries
990 Pelham Parkway South
Bronx, NY 10461
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BY KYLE VUILLE
Once a part of a thriving industrial
area, the Port Morris
gantries have long been abandoned
and forgotten.
However a historic landmarks
request was recently
submitted to examine the role
they played during a time crucial
period of a long gone era.
According to director of
Communications at NYC
Landmarks Preservation
Commission, Zodet Negron, a
request was made to see if the
gantries have the qualifi cations
to make the cut.
LPC sent the following
statement to the Bronx Times:
“The Landmarks Preservation
Commission received
a request on November 18 to
evaluate the Port Morris gantries
for consideration as possible
individual landmarks.
The agency is in the process of
reviewing the request, which
is done in light of the standards
and requirements of the
Landmarks Law.”
Negron explained while
the public can propose a landmark
through a request for
evaluation (RFE), it is up to
the LPC to identify any considerations
to be merited as
landmarks.
She went on to say once the
LPC receives the request and
its supporting materials, the
agency conducts an evaluation
and once proved worthy,
additional research is done to
be determine where the suggested
landmark meets the basic
criteria for designation.
According to Negron, there
is no specifi c timeframe for the
evaluation or research done in
order to move forward and every
review is circumstantial.
The LPC classifi es landmarks
in four different categories:
individual landmarks,
interior landmarks, scenic
landmarks and historic districts.
The RFE for the gantries
was fi led under the ‘Individual
Landmark’ category.
Minimal requirements for
an individual landmark are:
must be at least 30 years old
and have “a special character
or special historical or aesthetic
interest or value as part
of the development, heritage,
or cultural characteristics of
the City, state, or nation.”
The gantries, located at
East 135th Street date back to
1925 and were a major component
in ferry transportation,
particularly for those who
worked and lived on Riker’s
Island and North Brother Island
before the bridge to Riker’s
was built.
South Bronx United is the
driving force behind the effort
to landmark the gantries.
Mychal Johnson, a South
Bronx United member, said
the group has been advocating
for decades to make the gantries
and surrounding area a
public space.
“A lot of people work in that
industrial area and they don’t
even have a place to sit down
and eat lunch,” Johnson said.
Johnson said South Bronx
United has approached several
architects to produce renderings
of how the potential
public space could be used.
Though the gantries have
not been recognized as a historic
landmark yet, the waterfront
space has been recognized
by Historic District Council
and the NYC Department of Environmental
Conservation has
it designated as an open space
site, according to Johnson.
South Bronx United has a
vision for the transformation
of the gantries, but giving life
to them is dependent on the
LPC at the moment. “It’s sad
that this underserved, overburdened
and economically
oppressed community doesn’t
have waterfront access,” Johnson
said. “This site should be
preserved and sustained, to be
enjoyed by the community.”
The Port Morris gantries as they stand today. Recently a non-profi t organization, South Bronx United, put in a
request for evaluation to NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to make the gantries a historic landmark.
Ideas and plans for the revitalization of the gantries are already underway. Photo courtesy of South Bronx United
/bronxhouse.org
