Sam & Dave’s “Excellent 2019 Vanderbilt Day”- #8 Garden City
In the eighth post of the series, the father and son team of Sammy and Dave Russo explored the Garden City section of the Motor Parkway.
To learn more about this fascinating stretch of the Parkway, please join Bill Bellmer, village historian of Garden City, and me at this Thursday's meeting of the Long Island Motor Parkway Preservation Society at the Bethpage Public Library.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
2019 Vanderbilt Day
March 30, 2019
Dave Russo :
So we did it yesterday. After a one year hiatus, Sam and I resumed our annual Vanderbilt Day tradition.
What better starting point than the Deepdale Mansion in Lake Success, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr.'s residence in the early 1900s. The home is still standing, just steps off of the Motor Parkway. I'm sure not by coincidence.
Moving west to east as always, we traveled 18 miles by bike from Lake Success to the Maxess Road Bridge in Melville We had a great time!
The western wall of the "Mayan Ruins" is gone - two new homes now stand uninhabited. But the eastern abutment (or wall piece) still remains - as Art's friend saw me and thought I was some kind of tax assessor and was quite upset but then we identified ourselves and he was great and allowed us to look at everything!
Sloped abutment piece
Lots of shrubs on the wall
Another familiar street name - this one in Garden City - right off Clinton Road.
Great fence posts.
The Motor Parkway's General Manager's Office, now a private residence.
The Clinton Road Motor Parkway bridge abutment.
So we climb up the bridge and get to work looking back to the west from the LIMP.
This section of LIMP also has more debris than it ever did in the past.
The General Manager's Office from the LIMP.
Different posts align the LIMP in this stretch - square shaped holes that held wooden barriers along both sides of the bridge embankment.
A portion of this wall across the road remains. It was built to keep automobiles off the Parkway after the bridge was demolished around 1939. There used to be more of this wall just a few years ago.
Heading east.
More remnants as we head to Raymond Court and the end of the Garden City section.
Comments
Great episode guys….
There’s some old coverage of Russell Road from 2004 on my LIMP Central Nassau page at <http://sbiii.com/limpcns1.html#russ-ocr> and a lot on Roslyn Road from 2002 and earlier on my LIMP page 12 (which, with pp. 10 and 11, somehow never got transferred - I’ll do it now, promise) <http://sbiii.com/limpwy12.html#roslodge>. Sam, III
WHOO! That was far more work than I expected but my LIMP Page 12 <http://sbiii.com/limpwy12.html> is now converted and posted, with Roslyn coverage as promised, plus John Russell Pope. Pp. 10 and 11 (other subjects) to follow. Sam, III