Thursday 8 April 2010

The Bronx River

The Bronx River, approximately 24 miles (39 km) long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after Colonial settler Jonas Bronck.

It originally rose in what is now the Kensico Reservoir, in Westchester County north of New York City. With the construction of the Kensico Dam in 1885, however, the river was cut off from its natural headwaters and today a small tributary stream serves as its source. The Bronx River flows south past White Plains, then south-southwest through the northern suburbs, passing Edgemont, Tuckahoe, Eastchester, and Bronxville. It divides Yonkers from Mount Vernon, and flows into the northern end of The Bronx, southward through Bronx Park, New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo and continues through urbanized areas of the South Bronx where it divides East Bronx from West Bronx. It empties into the East River, a tidal strait connected to Long Island Sound, between the Soundview and Hunts Point neighborhoods.