| Bronx River | |
|---|---|
 The Bronx River in Shoelace Park, in The Bronx. | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| Region | Hudson Valley |
| Counties | Westchester and Bronx |
| Municipalities | Mount Pleasant, White Plains, Greenburgh, Scarsdale, Eastchester, Yonkers, Bronx |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Kensico Reservoir |
| • location | New Castle |
| • coordinates | 41°4′27″N 73°46′0″W / 41.07417°N 73.76667°W |
| • elevation | 354 ft (108 m)[1] |
| Mouth | East River |
• location | Hunts Point and Soundview in The Bronx |
• coordinates | 40°48′11″N 73°51′49.0″W / 40.80306°N 73.863611°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 24 mi (39 km) |
| Basin size | 38.4 sq mi (99 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Bronx Botanical Gardens[2] |
| • maximum | 3,460 cu ft/s (98 m3/s)[3] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • right | Troublesome Brook Grassy Sprain Brook |
The Bronx River (/brɒŋks/), is a river that is approximately 24 miles (39 km) long,[4] and flows through southeastern New York in the United States and drains an area of 38.4 square miles (99 km2).[4] 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, on a hill about 650 feet above sea level in what is now New Castle, New York. The river originated in an area the Weckquasgeek called Quaropes, which means White Marshes. It was fed by the Fulton Brook, Manhattan Park Brook, Davis Brook, and Tompkins Brook.[5] 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 originating from the reservoir serves as its source. The Bronx River flows south past White Plains, then south-southwest through the northern suburbs in New York, passing through Edgemont, Tuckahoe, Eastchester, and Bronxville. In the area known as the Aquehung, it is fed by Harts Brook and the north and south Fox Meadow Brooks. At Tuckahoe, it is fed by Troublesome Brook. At Bronxville, it is fed by Sprain Brook, its longest tributary system, which originates at Greenburgh Town Park.[6]
The river divides Westchester County into eastern and western areas, forming the border between the large cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon, and flows into the northern end of The Bronx, where it divides East Bronx from West Bronx, southward through Bronx Park, New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo and continues through neighborhoods of the South Bronx. It empties into the East River, a tidal strait connected to Long Island Sound, between the Soundview and Hunts Point neighborhoods.
- ^ "Kensico Reservoir". www.dec.ny.gov/. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ "USGS 01302020 BRONX RIVER AT NY BOTANICAL GARDEN AT BRONX NY". waterdata.usgs.gov/. USGS. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ "USGS 01302020 BRONX RIVER AT NY BOTANICAL GARDEN AT BRONX NY". nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/. USGS. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ a b Shaw, Richard K.; Reinhardt, Lindsay; Isleib, Jacob. "Soil Survey of Bronx River Watershed Bronx, New York" (PDF). www.nycswcd.net/. USDA. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
- ^ William Lawyer, Elizabeth Betts Leckie. Bronx River Retrospective: 300 Years of Life Along the Bronx River Valley. Greenburgh Nature Center, Scarsdale Historical Society, 1983, 2.
- ^ Lawyer, Leckie, 4.