LIMP at Marcus/Lakeville/NSP - cont'd.
{etc.}
A Motor Parkway Panel has been convened to keep the LIMP alive in minds and museums.
RoW = Right-of-Way.
1929 LIMP Map
The office of North Hempstead Town Supervisor May Newburger tipped me off to a 1928 Adopted Zoning map of the Town, hanging in the Annex outside the Town Clerk's office at 200 Plandome Road in Manhasset. Sure enough, there is the LIMP, delineated clearly. It is framed and under glass with a lot of background glare but here it is, or at least that portion below the North Hempstead Turnpike (today's Northern Boulevard, Route 25A) and a closeup of the LIMP portion:
[Thumbnail images (except right, above) - click on pictures for larger images]
[All map photos 06 Mar 00 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
It was apparently drawn up in 1928 and was approved on 29 Apr 1929. That's Lake Success in the upper left.
Here is a series of medium-close photos (M1-M3) of the LIMP RoW on the North Hempstead map:
Next, we have close-up photos (C1-C5) of the same North Hempstead map, and the 1929 signature of approval:
[end of thumbnails]
and here's the scale of the drawing, blown up for reference:
LONG ISLAND MOTOR PARKWAY TODAY
(moved from main page on 17 Feb 00)
The only part of the Motor Parkway which is truly open to regular vehicular traffic today is the stretch from Half Hollow Hills Road (which runs west-to-east from Pinelawn Road/Wellwood Avenue [Co. Rd. 3] to Deer Park Avenue [Co. Rd. 231]) to Rosevale Avenue on the western shore of Lake Ronkonkoma. Most of that length is called Motor Parkway or Vanderbilt Parkway, Suffolk County Road No. 67, although it is now entirely a regular local road and has been significantly widened and completely repaved.
Large stretches of the original (or last resurfaced/pre-1938) pavement exist in central and eastern Queens, in western Nassau near New Hyde Park Road (see below), between Clinton Street and the southwestern entrance to Roosevelt Field immediately north of Stewart Avenue (walk in on Raymond Court), and in Bethpage State Park (when last I walked it), where that infamous curve (see below) was located. The section in southern Old Bethpage Village Restoration has some, as does the area around Melville.
The original railing posts still can be seen alongside the Clearview Expressway, in Cunningham Park, and on the Garden City/Roosevelt Field stretch, and elsewhere.
The Queens Historical Society and the Alley Pond Environmental Center regularly co-sponsor guided hikes along the route of the Motor parkway in Queens County, preceeded by an slide-illustrated program.
While in the vicinity of the Queens line 06 Mar 00, I drove around behind
NorthShore-LIJ Medical Center and westward through Glen Oaks, neatly bisected by
74th Avenue, which was the LIMP RoW there and shot these two views of the
continuation of 74th Avenue/the RoW between Little Neck Parkway (looking west into
the sun and the Queens County Farm Zoo
[<- 
26 Mar 04]
and Commonwealth Boulevard (looking eastward into the Queens Children's
Psychiatric Center, on the grounds and south of Creedmoor):
[Thumbnail images - click on pictures for larger images]
[Both photos 06 Mar 00 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
That shadow at the bottom of the right-hand photo is mine!
Creedmoor is off to the left in the that photo and to the right in the left-hand one.
LONG ISLAND MOTOR PARKWAY BRIDGES
(moved from main page on 17 Feb 00)
Several very large and lovely (if you like Art Deco) bridges, all carrying the Parkway over other thoroughfares and with walkways under either side, not only remain, in eastern Queens County, but have been beautifully restored and painted off-white (hopefully with grafitti-resistant paint). On 29 Nov 98, I visited three, those over 73rd Avenue at 199th Street, over Hollis Hills Terrace immediately east of the Clearview Expressway [I-295] and north of Union Turnpike (diagonally across from Cunningham Park), and over Springfield Boulevard immediately north of Kingsbury Avenue.
There were 65 bridges over and under the Motor Parkway, a good number of which survive. The maximum span was only 23', which is why so many have been demolished.
Anyone not familiar with it should go visit the very scenic bridge off New Hyde Park Road at the far northwestern end of Old County Courthouse Road (just east of New Hyde Park Road, accessible via Suburban Gate or Holiday Gate to Executive Drive and Knolls Drive North, or come in from Shelter Rock Road and take Old Courthouse Road west and then north a few blocks to the very end).
Rumor had it that the Town of North Hempstead may try to pull down this priceless and irreplaceable artifact, the only surviving bridge left in Nassau County where the LIMP went under a highway instead of over and one of the very few LIMP bridges of any kind left anywhere in Nassau and Suffolk counties; the Motor Parkway Panel has advised the proper authorities of its concern and opposition.
See Mike Abbey's photos on Jeff Saltzman's page, the LIMP Continuation Page 2 for more on this bridge (courtesy of the indefatigable Tom Walsh) and my own documentation on Continuation Page 4.
The bridge abutments in lower Melville immediately east of the south end of Maxess Road (in turn one block east of Route 110) between Ruland and Duryea Roads are rapidly disappearing under overgrowth but still accessible (wear heavy boots and pants) as is the one nearby at the south end of the Old Bethpage Village Restoration (in the dump area), although we (LIMP aficionadoes) hope to get this latter one cleaned up and marked.
LONG ISLAND MOTOR PARKWAY at the Confluence of
Marcus Avenue, Lakeville Road, and Northern State Parkway
(A study in industrial archaeology.)
The driveway south from Marcus Avenue, just west of Lakeville Road and immediately
south of the Northern State Parkway and Lake Success (the lake), which leads to my
HMO at 400-410-420 Lakeville Road, immediately north of the LIJ-North Shore
University Hospital complex in New Hyde Park, looked like it might be the LIMP RoW.
There is a low retaining wall# between Marcus and NSP there, implying that the LIMP
RoW crossed there. On a photograph of the destruction of the LIMP and
Lakeville Road overpasses over the Northern State Parkway when it was widened in
1969 (which I am forbidden to reproduce), the angle of the two bridges gives a
rather clear picture of where the LIMP RoW went. This is the western crossing,
where the LIMP cut northeasterly toward Lake Success; there was another crossing
just east of Lakeville Road, where the LIMP RoW then went back southeasterly toward
the Old Courthouse Road bridge mentioned several places on this site. I took
my digital camera over there to document the site.
[Thumbnail images - click on pictures for larger images]
[All photos ca. 15 Mar 00 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
Picture 1 (upper left) shows the retaining wall# opposite the driveway into the north
end of the medical complex at 400-410-420 Lakeville Road, taken from the south side
of Marcus looking WNW. Picture 2 (upper center), taken from atop the wall,
shows the driveway, looking SSW. Picture 3 (upper right) is of the row of pines
along the northwest side of the driveway where it borders the eastern lawn of North
Shore Towers; that's one side or the other of the LIMP RoW. Picture 4 (middle
left) looks NE back up the driveway at the wall# (across Marcus on the left) and the
continuation of the row of pines. Picture 5 (middle center) is a similar shot,
closer to the pines, showing a clear path (RoW?). Picture 6 (middle right) is a
most nondescript shot WSW along the pines with the NS Towers lawn and parking lot
to the right. Picture 7 (lower left) is almost impossible to decipher; I took it
from just south of Marcus and east of the driveway, looking along the north side of
the pines at the first three of a string of bare old Cyclone fence posts all along the
line of the north side of the string of pines between the medical complex parking lot
and Marcus; there is nothing there to fence off, unless possibly it was the old RoW
before the construction of the medical complex. Picture 8 (lower center) is a
detail taken from the top of the wall about 25' east of center, looking down toward
the NSP at a broken chunk of aggregate, about 18" wide, that looks identical to that
of the raw edge at the Clinton Street crossing; it may be coincidental, or it may be
significant. Finally, Picture 9 (lower right) is a view across Marcus looking NNE
from the center of the driveway at the "new" Lakeville Road bridge across NSP; if one
were to lay it out aganst the forbidden 1963 photo, the LIMP bridge would be at the
left, angling off to the left behind the sapling.
(20 Feb 04)
Not being satisfied with my coverage of this area, I returned on an overcast 20 Mar
00 and stood at the end of the center mall at the eastern end of 74th Avenue and
took a picture looking back westward along 74th Avenue into Glen Oaks Village and
turned around and took one looking eastward at the LIJ-North Shore Medical Center
power plant and stack (a newer one, not the old red brick one on 76th Avenue):
In the north central part of the LIJ-NS complex, I took a shot along the pine tree line
looking west and then two looking east (the second of which is only for reference to
locate the first in relation to that stack):
Then I ran around the LIJ-NS complex back into the parking lot of 400-410-420
Lakeville Road again, to the far northwest corner, by the pedestrian gate into
LIJ-NS@, and that is where I went astray! Do NOT
follow the line of younger pines; the "back" or western lot is NOT on the RoW!
I have removed the misleading photos. I then turned eastward, went back to
the RoW where the pines/fence/driveway bends northeastward and shot the eastern
parking lot of 400-410-420, looking past my "Nashcan" (oh, is that what the tail end
looks like; recognize those initials?) towards the final bend leftward (northward)
where it runs to Marcus and NSP:
[Thumbnail images - click on pictures for larger images]
[Photos 20 Mar 00 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
For even more on this Queens Line/400-410-420 Lakeville area, see
LIMP Page 4.
@ - I should note that the NW corner of the parking lot fence and LIJ gate IS
the Queens/Nassau county line; LIJ and 410 telephone numbers are in both
Queens (718-470-XXXX) and Nassau (516-470-XXXX)!
# - The retaining wall on the north side of Marcus is NOT the path of the RoW;
I took my digital with me on 18 Feb 2004 and took yet another shot of the area, this
time near sunset, and marked it up to show, once and for all, just what goes where:
(20 Feb 04)
[Thumbnail image - click on picture for larger image]
[18 Feb 2004 photo by and © 2004 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
NSP is down behind the cyclone fence, Lakeville is out of sight off the right margin,
and the Lakeville/NSP bridge is just past the big pine at right.
After further documenting the 74th/LIJ-NS/Marcus RoW area on 20 Mar 00, I drove north across the NSP on Lakeville Road and turned right (east) on Olive Street, immediately north of the westbound entrance ramp to NSP, turned immediately left (north) and bore right (east) on Tanners Road, parking at the very end (illegally, as I realized afterwards - there is no parking on any public highway in the Village of Lake Success - sorry). The RoW was quite obvious behind the houses on the north side of Tanners Road. Walking north about 50 yards, avoiding tons of goose poop, there she was, original and pristine, with neat concrete verges and what is probably relatively fresh blacktop. It lies entirely within the enormous property of Great Neck South High School, stretching up a gentle grade away to my left (west) and off into some woods to my right (east); I took these pictures plus one looking back south to my car at the end of Tanners Road:
Walking up the slight grade, watching great GNS lacrosse practice to my right, I photographed the RoW at a gate, then took a photo with the gatepost as a reference, and passed through and took a shot at the crest with a white car going south on Lakeville Road as reference (the driveway to the right going north to some GNSHS service buldings is most likely the inward end of the access ramp from the so-called Great Neck Toll Lodge):
Wandering over to the gate at Lakeville, I took a picture showing the deep woods on the west side of Lakeville and then a shot to the southwest, over the fence, showing the nursery school driveway on Jewish temple property which almost certainly was the LIMP where it turned eastward after crossing NSP:
Then I turned northwest and shot the traffic light about 100 yards north on Lakeville at Lake Avenue; Lake once continued east across Lakeville as the entrance ramp to the LIMP but nothing shows now. Lastly, turning around and walking back to the crest, I took a truly charming, bucolic shot of the gate with the LIMP winding off eastward (this is the LIMP as I vaguely remember it from my early childhood!):
[Thumbnail images - click on pictures for larger images]
[Photos 20 Mar 00 by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
The driveway on the left in the last picture is, again, that probable access ramp. In the private land east of Lakeville, between the MP on the south and the GNSHS property on the north and the driveway in question, sits a large, modern, private home; an eyewitness to its construction told me (12 Feb 01) that the Lakeville Toll Lodge was incorporated into the new house (ca. 1996) as its east (back) end and may now be the kitchen area.
Until the lodge was sold, Annie, the "great-great-granddaughter" of the lodgekeeper, probably in her 80s, lived there and tended her garden {the generations are most unlikely}.
{GNS continues on Page 9.}
On 04 Nov 00, I pulled off the E/B Northern State Parkway immediately west of New Hyde Park Road and took the following shot (left) of the RoW as it runs from the site of the old NSP bridge to the brush blocking the RoW into the GNS playing fields; most likely because of original pavement underneath, you can readily see where the RoW crosses the cloverleaf loop from NSP W/B to Lakeville S/B by the N-S gap in the lush vegetation visible from NSP E/B, about half way across the loop, which exactly matches the RoW as seen on the North Hills aerial view at the end of the Continuation Page 8, North Hills section. This gap became apparent as the Spring foliage deepened and is clearly seen to the left (N) during traffic tie-ups on NSP E/B instantly west of the Lakeville Road overpass. After taking the picture of the RoW west of NHP Road on NSP, I turned around at Little Neck Parkway, headed E, and pulled off immediately shy of the S/B Lakeville Road ramp to take this picture (right) of that gap:
[Thumbnail images - click on pictures for larger images]
[04 Nov 00 photos by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved]
More on the eastern NSP crossing near New Hyde Park Road on page 6.
Now, along comes Kevin Walsh with a contradictory 1930 map; because of space limitations, I've put it on Page 6.
Also because of space limitations, I've had to put three aerial views of the LIMP RoW in the area, taken from NOAA satellite data, on LIMP Continuation page 4 at LIMP at Old Courthouse Road.
LONG ISLAND MOTOR PARKWAY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Moved back to Page 0.
Because the Main Page overloaded, please visit the many Continuation Pages noted on the LIMP Index page.
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S. Berliner, III
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of this series of Long Island Motor Parkway pages.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 2000, 2001, 2002,
2004
- All rights reserved.
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