:Van Cortlandt Park

The forest in what is now Van Cortlandt Park has been around for 17,000 years, since the end of the Wisconsin glaciation.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=12}} The Wiechquaskeck, a Wappinger people, were among the first recorded people to inhabit in the area now referred to as Van Cortlandt Park. They settled in the area around the 14th or 15th centuries.{{Cite web |url=http://forgotten-ny.com/2003/03/van-cortlandt-park/ |title=Van Cortlandt Park |last=Walsh |first=Kevin |date=March 8, 2003 |publisher=Forgotten New York |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108190516/http://forgotten-ny.com/2003/03/van-cortlandt-park/ |url-status=live }} The Lenapes used the geographic features of the area to support their community; for instance, they used the Tibbetts Brook, Spuyten Duyvil Creek, or Hudson River for fishing, and flatland areas for farming. They formed a village named Keskeskick, whose name roughly translates to "sharp grass or sedge marsh" in the Unami language.{{sfn|O'Hea Anderson|1996|p=4}}

The strip of land on the Hudson River's east bank, between the current-day Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Yonkers, was sold to the Dutch West India Company in the early 17th century. Adriaen van der Donck, a Dutch settler, bought the land from the company in 1646.{{sfn|O'Hea Anderson|1996|p=12}}{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=36}} Van der Donck also paid the Indian chief Tacharew, whose tribe used to live on the land, as a friendly gesture.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=36}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiYVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |page=17 |title=Who's Your Paddy?: Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity |last=Duffy |first=Jennifer Nugent |date=December 2, 2013 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-8503-4 |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233930/https://books.google.com/books?id=eiYVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=VIII}} He named the land "Colen Donck" and built a house upon the land.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5PfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA38 |page=38 |title=New York City and the Development of Trade: A Reading List |last=Seymour |first=Elsie Gansevoort |year=1914 |publisher=New York Public Library |location=New York |via=Google Books |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233931/https://books.google.com/books?id=k5PfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA38 |url-status=live }} The house was built between current-day Van Cortlandt Lake and Broadway.{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=VIII}} It faced south, probably because this was the location of a natural marshland.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} What is now the parade ground was used by van der Donck for farming.{{sfn|Annual Report|1916|p=253}}

Van der Donck died in 1655.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}} That year the Munsee bands that lived in the lower Hudson River valley briefly occupied New Amsterdam and attacked Pavonia and Staten Island during what is known as the Peach War.{{cite book |last1=Shorto |first1=Russell |title=The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America |date=2004 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0385503495 |pages=279–281}} This forced the settlers, including van der Donck's widow, to flee to Manhattan.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}} Following the takeover of the New Netherland colony by the British in 1664, the claim to the estate was awarded to Hugh O'Neale, the new husband of van der Donck's widow.{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=IX}} Because the O'Neales lived far away from the land, the claim was awarded to O'Neale's brother-in-law and van der Donck's widow's brother, Elias Doughty, who proceeded to sell off the portions of the property.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=38}}{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=IX}} In 1668,{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=IX}} a portion of the land was sold to William Betts, an English turner, and his son-in-law George Tippett, whom Tibbetts Brook would later be named for.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=38}}{{cite web|title=Tibbetts Brook Park North |url=http://www.wardpc.net/newsletters/2009-SPOTLIGHT-Tibbetts.pdf |publisher=Ward Associates, P.C. |access-date=January 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301123933/http://www.wardpc.net/newsletters/2009-SPOTLIGHT-Tibbetts.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2012 |url-status=dead }} This property included the modern park parade grounds.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2007|p=6}} Next, Doughty sold a {{Convert|2,000|acre|ha|adj=on}} tract of land, including the current site of the Van Cortlandt House, to Frederick Philipse, Thomas Delavall, and Thomas Lewis.{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=IX}} Philipse bought out Delavall's and Lewis's land shares, making the land part of the Philipsburg Manor, which extended from Spuyten Duyvil Creek to the Croton River in modern Westchester County.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=38}} Philipse's wife died, and he remarried Olof Stevense Van Cortlandt's daughter, herself a widow.{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=X}} Philipse's daughter Eva later married Jacobus Van Cortlandt, who was Mrs. Philipse's brother.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=38}}{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=X}}

File:Southern End of Westchester South County Trailway.jpg

{{anchor|Van Cortlandt property}}The land that Van Cortlandt Park now occupies was acquired by Van Cortlandt from Philipse in the mid-to-late 1690s.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=2}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=38}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/storybronxfromp00jenkgoog |title=The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=1912 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/storybronxfromp00jenkgoog/page/n235 177]–208 |author=Stephen Jenkins |access-date=January 2, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1064.pdf |title=Cultural Resource Assessment: Proposed Croton Water Treatment Plant Mosholu Site, Van Cortlandt Park Bronx County New York |date=October 30, 1998 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=Historical Perspectives, Inc. |access-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227031758/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1064.pdf |url-status=live }}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2007|p=6}} In 1699, Van Cortlandt dammed Tibbetts Brook in order to power a sawmill (and later, a gristmill,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=40}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/Riverdale-Kingsbridge-Spuyten-Duyvil-York/dp/B0006BVQL0 |title=Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil, New York City: A Historical Epitome of the Northwest Bronx |last=Tieck |first=William A. |year=1968 |publisher=Fleming H. Revell Co |page=25 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113171420/https://www.amazon.com/Riverdale-Kingsbridge-Spuyten-Duyvil-York/dp/B0006BVQL0 |url-status=live }}), creating Van Cortlandt Lake as a mill pond in the process.{{cite Hidden Waters NYC|pages=58–59, 247–249}}{{cite news |url=http://theweek.com/articles/454566/forgotten-streams-new-york |title=The Forgotten Streams of New York |date=December 13, 2013 |work=The Week |last1=Duncan |first1=Steve |access-date=January 2, 2017 |archive-date=January 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103094210/http://theweek.com/articles/454566/forgotten-streams-new-york |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Bolton |first=Reginald Pelham |year=1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/indianpathsingr00boltgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/indianpathsingr00boltgoog/page/n115 93] |title=Indian Paths in the Great Metropolis |publisher=Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation}} In 1732, Van Cortlandt acquired an additional parcel from the Tippett family.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2007|p=6}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1916|p=253–254}} The estate was then passed on to Jacobus's son Frederick Van Cortlandt (1699–1749) and family in 1739; it was once a vast grain plantation.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=41}} In 1748, Frederick built the Van Cortlandt House on the former Tippett property, but died before its completion.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1361}}{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=41}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2007|p=6}} The Van Cortlandts did not primarily live in that house, instead staying in Manhattan most of the time.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=41}} A family burial ground was created in 1749,{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} later to be known as "Vault Hill."{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/8774 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Vault Hill |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110162107/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/8774 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/nyregion/thecity/a-vault-of-history.html |title=A Vault of History |last=Pollak |first=Michael |date=October 30, 2005 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917033544/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/nyregion/thecity/a-vault-of-history.html |url-status=live }} Frederick, who was buried in Vault Hill, had willed the massive home and surrounding lands to his son, James Van Cortlandt (1727–1787).{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=32, 42}}

The Van Cortlandt family land was used during the American Revolution by both the Loyalists and Patriots, owing to James's leadership role early on in the revolution. On May 30, 1775, the New York Provincial Congress placed James on a committee to create a report on whether it was feasible to build a fort near his family's house.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=42}}{{Cite book |title=Naval Documents of The American Revolution VOLUME I : American Theatre Dec. 1, 1774–Sept. 2, 1775; European Theatre Dec. 6, 1774–Aug. 9, 1775 |publisher=U. S. Government Printing Office |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=William Bell |location=Washington, D.C. |page=572}} British General William Howe made the house his headquarters on November 13, 1776,{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/collectionsofnewv16newy |title=Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Year 1883 |publisher=New York Historical Society |year=1883 |location=New York |pages=99, 405–407}} thus placing it behind British-held ground.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} The Van Cortlandts wished to stay neutral in the war, however.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} Later, the grounds were used by Patriot militia leaders Comte de Rochambeau, Marquis de Lafayette, and George Washington.{{Cite web |url=http://www.vchm.org/the-history-of-van-cortlandt-house-and-family.html |title=The History of Van Cortlandt House and Museum |website=Van Cortlandt House Museum |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112184732/http://www.vchm.org/the-history-of-van-cortlandt-house-and-family.html |url-status=live }}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1361}} The house itself was Washington's headquarters after his troops were defeated in the 1776 Battle of Long Island. That same year, Augustus Van Cortlandt hid city records under Vault Hill to protect them during the war, turning them over to the new American government after the war.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1361}}{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} It was in "Indian Field," at the present-day intersection of Van Cortlandt Park East and 233rd Street, that the Stockbridge militia was destroyed by the Queen's Rangers, and 38 Indians from the militia were killed in 1778.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|pp=1361–1362}}{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=13}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=44}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11610 |title=Indian Field |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516185042/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/vt_van_cortlandt_park/vt_van_cort_07.html |archive-date=May 16, 2008 |access-date=September 30, 2016}} In 1781, Washington returned to the house to strategize with Rochambeau while their troops waited outside on what is now the Parade Ground and Vault Hill.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} He later lit campfires outside the house to deceive the British into thinking that his troops were still on the grounds. Washington used the house one final time in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris. The British had just withdrawn their troops from Manhattan, and Washington and George Clinton were getting ready to enter the island, stopping over at the house before doing so.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1361}}

In the 1830s, officials in a rapidly expanding New York City saw a need for a larger water supply. Major David Bates Douglass was appointed to perform engineering studies on the future Old Croton Aqueduct in March 1833.{{Cite book |title=The Reminiscences of John B. Jervis: Engineer of the Old Croton |last=Jervis |first=John Bloomfield |date=December 1, 1971 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-0077-0 |editor-last=FitzSimons|editor-first=Neal |edition=1st |location=Syracuse |pages=119–120}}{{Cite book |title=Water for a City;: A History of New York City's Problem from the Beginning to the Delaware River System |last=Weidner |first=Charles H. |year=1974 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-0672-2 |edition=ist |pages=38–39}} Douglass made estimates for the new aqueduct in 1833–1834 and John Martineau performed a separate study in 1834. Both found the proposed route, which ran through the present-day park, to be okay. Thus, in 1837, construction started on the Aqueduct, which ran {{Convert|41|mi|km}} from the Croton River upstate to the New York Public Library Main Branch and Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nysparks.com/parks/96/details.aspx |title=Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park |website=www.nysparks.com |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109022608/http://www.nysparks.com/parks/96/details.aspx |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/park-features/virtual-tours/old-croton-aqueduct-trail |title=Old Croton Aqueduct Trail |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108191000/https://www.nycgovparks.org/park-features/virtual-tours/old-croton-aqueduct-trail |url-status=live }} The project was built by 3,000–4,000 laborers who completed the entire aqueduct in five years. The aqueduct's builders constructed a gatehouse within the present-day park to provide access to the aqueduct's interior.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=46}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/Springs-Wells-Manhattan-Nineteenth-Century/dp/B000859H88 |title=Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, At the End of the Nineteenth Century |last=Smith |first=James Reuel |year=1938 |publisher=The New York Historical Society |edition=1st |page=229 |access-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116151313/https://www.amazon.com/Springs-Wells-Manhattan-Nineteenth-Century/dp/B000859H88 |url-status=live }} The old aqueduct was supplemented by the New Croton Aqueduct in 1890, which also ran through the park. The Old Croton Aqueduct was in use until 1955, though the part that ran through the park was closed down in 1897 after the new aqueduct was connected to the Jerome Park Reservoir.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=46}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/History-New-Croton-Dam/dp/B000OMEOMY |title=The History of the New Croton Dam |last=D'Alvia |first=Mary Josephine |year=1976 |publisher=Published by the author |isbn=978-1-135-79783-6 |edition=1st |pages=59–60 |access-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116151400/https://www.amazon.com/History-New-Croton-Dam/dp/B000OMEOMY |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/20/arts/old-croton-aquaduct-for-walkers-not-water.html |title=Old Croton Aqueduct For Walkers, Not Water |last=Dechillo |first=Suzanne |date=February 20, 1987 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109113131/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/20/arts/old-croton-aquaduct-for-walkers-not-water.html |url-status=live }}

In 1876, Frederick Law Olmsted was hired to survey the Bronx and map out streets based on the local geography. Olmsted noted the natural beauty of the Van Cortlandt estate, comparing it to Central Park which he designed, and recommended the city purchase the property.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=6}}{{cite web |title=Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/park-facilties/van-cortlandt-park/master-plan |publisher=New York City Parks Department |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108190535/https://www.nycgovparks.org/park-facilties/van-cortlandt-park/master-plan |url-status=live }} Around the same time, New York Herald editor John Mullaly pushed for the creation of parks in New York City, particularly lauding the Van Cortlandt and Pell families' properties in the western and eastern Bronx respectively. He formed the New York Park Association in November 1881.{{sfn|Gonzalez|2004|p=49}}{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/11/27/102771016.pdf|title=The Need of More Parks; First Meeting of the New-York Park Association Yesterday.|date=November 27, 1881|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 4, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=September 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924220129/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1881/11/27/102771016.pdf|url-status=live}} There were objections to the system, which would apparently be too far from Manhattan, in addition to precluding development on the site.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=3}}{{cite news |date=March 25, 1884 |title=The Albany Legislators |work=The New York Times |location=Albany, New York |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/03/25/106145636.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924220301/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1884/03/25/106145636.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2021}} However, newspapers and prominent lobbyists, who supported such a park system, were able to petition the bill into the New York State Senate, and later, the New York State Assembly (the legislature's lower house).{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=56}}{{Cite book|last=Mullaly|first=John|date=1887 |url=https://archive.org/details/newparksbeyondha00mull|title=The New Parks Beyond the Harlem: With Thirty Illustrations and Map. Descriptions of Scenery. Nearly 4,000 Acres of Free Playground for the People |publisher=Nabu Press|isbn=978-1-141-64293-9|location=New York|pages=117–138}} In June 1884, Governor Grover Cleveland signed the New Parks Act into law, authorizing the creation of the park system.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=56}}{{Cite news |date=June 15, 1884 |title=Gov. Cleveland and the Bills |pages=4 |work=The Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-gov-cleveland-and-the-bills/136048955/ |access-date=November 30, 2023}}

Legal disputes carried on for years, exacerbated by the fact that Luther R. Marsh, vice president of the New York Park Association, owned land near Van Cortlandt Park in particular. Opponents argued that building a park system would divert funds from more important infrastructure like schools and docks; that everyone in the city, instead of just the property owners near the proposed park, was required to pay taxes to pay for the parks' construction; and that since Marsh was trying to parcel off some of his land to developers, the park's size should be reduced in order to prevent him from profiting off park usage. However, most of this opposition was directed at the construction of Pelham Bay Park, which was then in Westchester.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=57–58}} Supporters argued that the parks were for the benefit of all the city's citizens, thus justifying the citywide park tax; that the value of properties near the parks would appreciate greatly over time; that the commission had only chosen property that could easily be converted into a park; and that Pelham Bay Park would soon be annexed to the city. Ultimately, the parks were established despite the objections of major figures like Mayors William Russell Grace and Abram Hewitt; Comptroller Edward V. Loew; and Assemblymen Henry Bergh and Theodore Roosevelt.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=57–58}}

File:Van Cortlandt station NYWP skelton cloudy jeh.jpg, Van Cortlandt Station inside the park|alt=Remains of the New York and Putnam Railroad's Van Cortlandt Station inside the park]]

In 1880 while the new park was being planned, the New York City & Northern Railroad, later the New York and Putnam Railroad, was built through the center of the park.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=8}} It had two stops in the Bronx: one inside the park, and another to the south at Kingsbridge. South of Kingsbridge, the railroad merged with the present-day Hudson Line of the Metro-North Railroad. The tracks were used for passenger traffic until 1958, and by freight trains until 1981.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=13}} A shuttle train was operated by Yonkers Rapid Transit Railway between Kingsbridge and Yonkers. It ran off the main New York and Putnam Railroad line immediately north of the Van Cortlandt station.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=46}} Service began in March 1888 and ran until 1942 (see {{section link||Former railroads}}).{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=13}}

The family property was sold to the City of New York and made into a public parkland in 1888.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} The majority of the grain fields were converted into a sprawling lawn dubbed the "Parade Ground," while the Van Cortlandt House was converted into a public museum.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1362}} The construction of the Parade Ground required demolition of a few old buildings and cornfields.Index to the Proceedings of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 1889, p. 177. The Parade Ground was immediately used by the National Guard for brigade practice, replacing the parade ground of Prospect Park.{{cite news |title=The New Parade Ground |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/08/22/100968308.pdf |access-date=January 8, 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=August 22, 1889 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233931/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/08/22/100968308.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=National Guard Gossip |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1890/06/08/103247262.pdf |access-date=January 8, 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=June 8, 1890 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233932/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1890/06/08/103247262.pdf |url-status=live }} The ground received unspecified "improvements" in 1893–1894.{{sfn|Minutes|1894|p=59}} With the city's approval, particularly overgrown areas of the property were made passable. Wide walking paths were built over original walkways, including the thin paths that led to the Van Cortlandt family cemetery, high on the nearby bluffs. "Certain lands" around the house were then filled in for the purpose of creating a "Colonial Garden,"{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXc_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1064 |title=Proceedings of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New York |author=New York (N.Y.) Board of Estimate and Apportionment |year=1897 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216211012/https://books.google.com/books?id=OXc_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1064 |url-status=live }} which was proposed in 1897.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=77}}{{sfn|Minutes|1898|p=76}} During excavation of the grounds, Indian artifacts and graves were found,{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=4}} corresponding to the old village of Keskeskick.{{sfn|O'Hea Anderson|1996|p=4}}

The nine-hole Van Cortlandt Golf Course opened on July 6, 1895,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=9}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=27, 32}} as the country's first and oldest public golf course.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=977}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11046 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Van Cortlandt Golf Course |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 11, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113132827/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11046 |url-status=live }} The {{convert|2561|yd|m|adj=on}} course comprised current holes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14. The first eight holes were easier and less than {{convert|200|yd|m}} apart, but the last one had a fairway {{convert|700|yd|m}} in length. The ninth hole, which spanned two stone walls and two small brooks, was among the country's hardest holes. Four years after the course opened, the city hired Tom Bendelow, nicknamed the "Johnny Appleseed of Golf", to expand it to 18 holes.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=27, 32}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=9}}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=515}} The course added a clubhouse in 1902,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=27}} which also doubled as an ice-skating house.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=72}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1901|p=66}}

At first, the park was sparsely used for sports. In 1899, there were 10, 7, and 5 permits issued for lawn tennis, baseball, and football, respectively.{{sfn|Annual Report|1899|p=21}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=87}} The Parade Ground was converted to recreational use starting in 1902, when the National Guard added fields for polo.{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|pp=74–75}} In 1907, due to overcrowding, Dr. William Hornaday transferred 15 of the Bronx Zoo's then-rare bison to the Parade Ground,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/nyregion/thecity/lost-and-found-lamp.html|title=Lost and Found Lamp|last=Pollak|first=Michael|date=May 8, 2005|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=February 9, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811104949/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/nyregion/thecity/lost-and-found-lamp.html|url-status=live}} where they stayed until they were shipped to prairie land in Oklahoma later that year.{{Cite web |url=http://www.forgotten-ny.com/YOU%27D%20NEVER%20BELIEVE/vancortlandt/vancort.html |title=Van Cortlandt Park |publisher=Forgotten New York |access-date=January 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529050614/http://www.forgotten-ny.com/YOU'D%20NEVER%20BELIEVE/vancortlandt/vancort.html |archive-date=May 29, 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/12424 |title=Parade Ground |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109184716/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/12424 |url-status=live }}

The Colonial Garden, designed by landscape architect Samuel Parsons, started construction in 1902{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=77}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|p=76}} and opened the following June.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=77}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1903|p=71}} Besides plants, the garden had rustic wooden bridges and wooden stairs and a "handsome fountain and central court."{{sfn|Annual Report|1903|p=72}} A "Shakespeare Garden" was also opened that year, with a grand stairway leading down to it.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=6}} The next year, park officials realized that the Colonial Garden's construction was of poor quality and hard to cultivate. The garden had to be raised {{Convert|3.5|ft|m}}, and a nursery needed to be built to transport the plants during the garden's reconstruction. The rustic wooden bridges were to be replaced with stone bridges, while the wooden stairs were to be superseded by stone stairs.{{sfn|Annual Report|1904|p=104–105}} Not only did many plants die during the process, but the actual rebuilding was delayed until 1911.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=78}} Two years later, the Parks Commissioner for the Bronx refused to allocate reconstruction funds because, he stated, the garden looked just fine. Under threat of tearing the garden down, the city had to find money to fill and drain the ground.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=78}}Mary Haldine to Samuel Parsons, May 11, 1906, Office of Landscape Architect Letters Sent 1902–1918. Incomplete 5 volumes, Department of Parks. New York City Municipal Archives. The rebuilding contract was awarded in 1909{{sfn|Annual Report|1909|p=50}} and completed by 1911.{{sfn|Annual Report|1911|p=126}}

Various adjustments were made over succeeding years. A network of roads through the park was built soon after, allowing the construction of picnic areas and hiking trails as well as making the forests more accessible to visitors.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=92}} A stone memorial was placed at Indian Field in 1906,{{sfn|Annual Report|1906|p=99}} with a plaque misspelling the name of the Indian chief, Abraham Ninham, as "Abraham Nimham."{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=44}}{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=13–14}} One particular concern was the threat of the wetlands serving as breeding grounds for malaria-borne mosquitoes,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=94}} which had drawn the ire of local residents and property owners as they believed the wetlands to be "unsightly and unsanitary."{{cite news|title=Propose Public Bathing Pool in Van Cortlandt|date=May 17, 1907|work=New York Evening Telegram|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%25206%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Telegram%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Telegram%25201907%2520May-%2520Jul%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Telegram%25201907%2520May-%2520Jul%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200257.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F525724667f9f5faa4bc666b17d84fc38#page=1|access-date=January 8, 2017|via=Fultonhistory.com|archive-date=May 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233934/https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%25206%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Telegram%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Telegram%25201907%2520May-%2520Jul%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Telegram%25201907%2520May-%2520Jul%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200257.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F525724667f9f5faa4bc666b17d84fc38#page=1|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=To Drain Tibbett's Brook |date=September 9, 1907 |work=Yonkers Statesman |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201907%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201907%2520-%25201163.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F33eb8d18ac86bb8e4aa7354d3b6a407a#page=1 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |via=Fultonhistory.com |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233934/https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201907%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201907%2520-%25201163.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F33eb8d18ac86bb8e4aa7354d3b6a407a#page=1 |url-status=live }} The marshlands were filled in between 1906 and 1922.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}} The marsh to the southwest of the Van Cortlandt Station was converted to a lake.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bZEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA195 |page=195 |title=Message of the Mayor to the Common Council of the City of New York ... |publisher=City of New York |year=1905 |location=New York |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233933/https://books.google.com/books?id=4bZEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA195 |url-status=live }} An "outlet sewer" under Broadway was built in 1907.{{cite news |title=That Monster Sewer |date=March 13, 1908 |work=Yonkers Statesman |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201908%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201908%2520-%25200347.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2Fe25f79236a44ff0ee95d983804156e98#page=1 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |via=Fultonhistory.com |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233935/https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201908%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Statesman%25201908%2520-%25200347.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2Fe25f79236a44ff0ee95d983804156e98#page=1 |url-status=live }} From 1903 to 1911, NYC Parks cleaned the {{convert|13|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}} Van Cortlandt Lake, removed the original earthen dam, and emptied the lake in order to dredge the lake bed to a lower depth. A new dam was installed to reform the lake.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=92}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=93–95}} The former marshland was filled in.{{cite web |title=Tibbett Gardens: Phase 1A Archaeological Assessment Report |date=January 30, 1987 |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/54.pdf |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Historical Perspectives |access-date=January 2, 2017 |archive-date=December 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223181050/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/54.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Sanderson |first1=Eric W. |last2=Fisher |first2=Kim |last3=Giampieri |first3=Mario |last4=McKibben |first4=Fiona |title=Welikia West Bronx: An Analysis of the Historical Streams and Wetlands Between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers and the Bronx River, New York City, With Recommendations for Restoration |date=January 10, 2014 |url=https://welikia.org/wp-content/uploads/WCS-final-report-West-Bronx-historical-ecology-1-10-2014.pdf |publisher=Wildlife Conservation Society |access-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171520/https://welikia.org/wp-content/uploads/WCS-final-report-West-Bronx-historical-ecology-1-10-2014.pdf |url-status=live }}

During a 1910s excavation for a sewer pipe, stones were unearthed that were suspected to be from the old van der Donck estate.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=5}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2oSJDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA196 |title=The Island At The Center Of The World: The Epic Story Of Dutch Manhattan And The Forgotten Colony That Shaped America |last=Shorto |first=Russell |year=2005 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-1-4000-7867-7 |page=196 |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417031905/https://books.google.com/books?id=2oSJDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA196 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-b3IU_iWZ6kC&pg=PA264 |page=264 |title=Unearthing Gotham: The Archaeology of New York City |last1=Cantwell |first1=Anne-Marie E. |last2=Wall |first2=Diana diZerega |year=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-09799-9 |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417031902/https://books.google.com/books?id=-b3IU_iWZ6kC&pg=PA264 |url-status=live }} During World War I, the Parade Ground was used to train soldiers.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=7}} Eight tennis courts opened in 1914 with admission being $1 per person,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=87}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1914c|p=212}} and owing to the Van Cortlandt Golf Course's immense popularity, the Mosholu Links also opened that year.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=27}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1914c|p=212}}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=515}} By 1917, the Parade Ground contained 10 out of the park's baseball diamonds. The park's recreational facilities were quite popular, with more than 10,000 people using them on a busy day.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=71}}Joseph Hennessy to Mayor Gaynor, May 27, 1912, Departmental Correspondence Received, Parks Department, Papers of William J. Gaynor. 1910–1913, New York City Municipal Archives. However, during and following World War I, the Parade Ground was used for war training. Until 1926, the baseball fields did not contain backstops, and had to be vacated by July 4 of every year, so the National Guard could use the field.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=71}}Joseph Hennessy to Mayor Walker, March 19, 1926, Departmental Correspondence Received, Parks Department, 1926. Papers of James J. Walker, New York City Municipal Archives.

File:Van Cortlandt Park (Bluemner).jpg, 1936|upright=1.1|alt=Van Cortlandt Park painting by Oscar Florianus Bluemner, created in 1936]]

The {{Convert|6.2|mi|km|adj=on}} cross-country running course was inaugurated in 1914.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=79}} The track started out as a flat path, became hilly, turned onto a "little spell of road work," went into the forest, and crossed a water before turning back. A year later, it hosted the Metropolitan Association of the Amateur Athletic Union's Junior and Senior Cross Country championships.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=79}}"Van Cortlandt Park is Selected for Cross Country Championship," North Side News, November 9, 1915, p. 4 A modified {{Convert|3.1|mi|km|adj=on}} cross-country course opened on November 5, 1921, with runners simply changing direction at the city border. The new course, which started at the original polo fields, did not conflict with either of the golf courses.{{sfn|Annual Report|1921|p=17–18}}

In 1922, there was a proposal to acquire land for the future Saw Mill River Parkway, which would connect the park to {{convert|424|acre|ha}} of open space in Westchester when completed.{{sfn|Annual Report|1922|p=17}} Through the 1930s, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation kept adding new recreational facilities in the park.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=4}} The Colonial and Shakespeare Gardens had a combined 250,000 flowers by 1931, but both were demolished by the end of the decade due to bad drainage.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=6}}

In 1934, Robert Moses became the New York City Parks Commissioner,{{sfn|Caro|1974|pp=502–503}} and during his 16-year tenure as commissioner, altered almost every aspect of the park.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=96}} His job partially entailed balancing the needs of area residents, whose numbers had grown in the past decade, with transit users who traveled to the park from the north and south.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=96–97}} Moses's development plans in the 1930s called for the construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway and Mosholu Parkway to bisect Van Cortlandt Park and meet at a trumpet interchange about half a mile north of the center, merging into the Saw Mill River Parkway.{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=534}} Due to objections over the construction of roads inside the park, the width of the parkways' lanes was reduced.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=15}} Tibbetts Brook was dredged and landscaped in 1938 to accommodate construction.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}} Such construction continued until 1955, during which the Major Deegan Expressway (current Interstate 87) was also built, bisecting the Mosholu Parkway.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=15}} This conflicted with Moses's plans for the park as a "rural oasis",{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=110}} as highway construction ultimately separated the park into six pieces{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}} and demolished most of the remaining marsh in the park.{{sfn|Caro|1974|pp=544, 565}} This construction also induced siltation of the brook, leading to further creation of marshes.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=122}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=110}}

Moses also made improvements to the park itself, building new walkways, paving dirt roads, creating playgrounds, and installing lights.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=15}} Baseball, soccer, and cricket fields were added in 1938.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=7}} The Van Cortlandt Stadium was added in 1939 on the site of a former swamp,{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=6}}{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/09/23/93964166.pdf |title=MOSES DEDICATES 22-ACRE PLAYSITE; Area, Once Swampland Near Van Cortlandt Park, Opened by Park Commissioner HE PRAISES WPA WORKERS Morris, Somervell and Lyons Also Speak—Contest Are Held on Athletic Field |date=September 23, 1939 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233935/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/09/23/93964166.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }} and a pool followed in 1970.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=6}} Moses also landscaped the areas near the Woodlawn and 242nd Street subway stations to attract park visitors from other neighborhoods.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=106–107}} During his tenure as Parks Commissioner, Moses took aggressive approach to preserving the park's quality.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=109}} For instance, six mothers were issued court summonses in 1942 after letting their children dig in the park,{{cite web | title=SIX MOTHERS SPARED JAIL; But Get Scolding in Court After Babies Dig Park Sod | website=The New York Times | date=May 23, 1942 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/05/23/85555218.pdf | access-date=September 20, 2017 | archive-date=May 8, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233935/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1942/05/23/85555218.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false | url-status=live }} and two airplane pilots were fined in 1947 for unauthorized airplane landings.{{cite web | title=PLANE IN PARK COSTS $50; Elevator Operator, a Student Pilot, Fined After Landing | website=The New York Times | date=January 30, 1947 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/01/30/93723708.pdf | access-date=September 20, 2017 | archive-date=May 8, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233936/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/01/30/93723708.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false | url-status=live }}

Around 1939, the old aqueduct, which was now a popular hiking trail, started becoming a popular route with cyclists. Soon after, there was a proposal to redevelop the trail as a bike path.Box 2639, Parks – 1937-1938-1939-1941, LaGuardia-Personnel Papers, New York City Municipal Archives. This proposal never came to fruition, although in the mid-1970s, the city built a separate bike path along Mosholu Parkway, the Bronx River Parkway, and Pelham Parkway between Jerome Avenue and Pelham Bay Park.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=99–100}}

By the 1960s, large portions of the park, such as Tibbetts Brook, were being polluted by human activity; in addition, the brook now flowed into the Broadway sewer at the south end of Van Cortlandt Lake.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=122}} Pollution from upstream and the highways, and spillover of chemicals used in the golf course, killed fish in the lake.{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/8183 |title=Van Cortlandt Park: Tibbetts Brook |publisher=New York City Parks Department |access-date=January 2, 2017 |archive-date=January 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103003642/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/8183 |url-status=live }}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=8}}{{cite web |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/15-natural-areas/46-tibbetts-brook.html |title=Tibbetts Brook |publisher=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy |access-date=January 6, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315230426/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/15-natural-areas/46-tibbetts-brook.html |url-status=live }} This problem was first noticed in May 1961 when thousands of dead bass, pickerel, catfish, perch, and carp floated up at the edge of the lake.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=122}}{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/05/08/97237771.pdf |title=MYSTERY AILMENT KILLS BRONX FISH; Thousands Dead and Dying in Van Cortlandt Lake |date=May 8, 1961 |work=The New York Times |last1=Devlin |first1=John C. |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233935/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/05/08/97237771.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }} The mass-death of fish was blamed on siltation,{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/05/10/97238246.pdf |title=Silt From Heavy Rains Blamed for Fish Deaths |date=May 10, 1961 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233936/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/05/10/97238246.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }} Three years later, fish were still being killed by siltation.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/19/fish-suffocating-in-van-cortlandt.html |title=Fish Suffocating in Van Cortlandt |last=Phillips |first=Mccandlish |date=May 19, 1964 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=September 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917033236/http://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/19/fish-suffocating-in-van-cortlandt.html |url-status=live }} City investigators took water samples from the lake and found that they contained large amounts of weeds and sediment.{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/05/20/106971942.pdf |title=CITY SLEUTHS, SEEK CAUSE OF FISH KILL; Mobile Laboratory Goes to Van Cortlandt Park to Test Water Samples |last=Phillips |first=Mccandlish |date=May 20, 1964 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233936/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/05/20/106971942.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }} About {{Convert|22000|ft2|m2}} of the lake's surface area was being lost to sedimentation every year.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=8}} In addition, an algal bloom caused the lake to be in a low-oxygen condition, endangering plants and animals in and around the lake. "Unpleasant odors" in the summer also reduced recreational opportunities on the lake, and these conditions combined made it virtually impossible to come into contact with the lake's water without getting sick.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=8}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=122–124}} By 1976, there was a moratorium on all boating activities on the lake.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=122}}

The Van Cortlandt Golf Course was used as a ski slope during the winters starting in 1961, and up to 3,000 visitors would use the slopes each weekend.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=119}} By 1964, with the use of artificial snow, it was also possible to ski during warmer days.{{cite web | title=Sprayed-On Snow Enables the Van Cortlandt Park Ski Area to Open; Van Cortlaridt Park Ski Season Gets Under Way With Sitzmark | website=The New York Times | date=December 12, 1964 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/12/archives/sprayedon-snow-enables-the-van-cortlandt-park-ski-area-to-open-van.html | access-date=June 20, 2018 | archive-date=June 20, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620182913/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/12/archives/sprayedon-snow-enables-the-van-cortlandt-park-ski-area-to-open-van.html | url-status=live }} The seasonal ski slope was closed in the late 1960s when the city decided to allow golfers to use the Van Cortlandt Course during winters.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=119}} Also in the late 1960s, the city decided to build a series of public pools on the site of the Colonial Garden, consisting of a diving, a swimming, and a wading pool. Construction on the $1.5 million pools started in early 1969 and was completed by 1970.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=114}} Because of the swampy nature of the ground underneath it, the pools soon began to crackle and set. By 1979, the locker rooms were heavily vandalized and the diving pool had been closed.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=115}}File:Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY (32616620620).jpg

The city's fiscal crisis in the 1970s caused the rest of the park to fall into disrepair.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=4}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BoOGYeaQ64C |title=Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City |last=Day |first=Leslie |date=May 10, 2013 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-1-4214-1149-1 |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=March 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321183317/https://books.google.com/books?id=-BoOGYeaQ64C |url-status=live }} A dearth of funds exacerbated the pollution of the park.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=4}} Hands-on education programs at the park were reduced to passive observations of flora and fauna.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=8}} Elsewhere in the park, excessive foot traffic was eroding the soil in the forests. The stock of younger, replacement trees in the old-growth forest had relatively little diversity compared to other natural forests.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}}

In 1979, New York City Councilwoman June Eisland released a report on Van Cortlandt Park. The report noted that pollutants from the Major Deegan Expressway were entering Van Cortlandt Lake, and that the park ecosystem was also being harmed by inadequate drainage, soil sterilants that were used on the Putnam Branch tracks, and a fungicide with 8.5% cadmium content that was being sprayed on the golf course.{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201979%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201979%252001020_1.pdf|title=Van Cortlandt Park's Future; The Eisland Plan|work=Riverdale Press|date=November 29, 1979|page=28|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com|archive-date=May 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233937/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2024/Riverdale%20NY%20Press/Riverdale%20NY%20Press%201979/Riverdale%20NY%20Press%201979%2001020_1.pdf|url-status=live}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=125–126}} A year later, a private landscaping firm estimated that it would cost $4–7 million to restore the Van Cortlandt Lake. By this point, the lake was so dirty that a small boat could not float on it, even though the lake was {{convert|15|ft|m}} deep.{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201980%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201980%252000167_2.pdf|title=City Seeks Liquid Assets to Restore Vannie Lake|work=Riverdale Press|date=March 6, 1980|page=13|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com|archive-date=May 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508233938/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2024/Riverdale%20NY%20Press/Riverdale%20NY%20Press%201980/Riverdale%20NY%20Press%201980%2000167_2.pdf|url-status=live}} Catfish were the only fish that could survive in the lake water.{{Cite news|last=Broitman|first=Mark|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201981%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201981%252000530_1.pdf|title=Help for Park Lake: So Near and yet so Far|work=Riverdale Press|date=July 31, 1980|page=1|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}} The city of Yonkers eventually attributed the cause of the Van Cortlandt Lake's pollution to four storm sewers that were found to be illegally connected to Tibbetts Brook upstream.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=124}}{{Cite news|last=Stein|first=Bernard|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201981%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201981%252000592_1.pdf|title=Powerful Ally Joins Crusade to Restore Lake; But Van Cortlandt Light Controversy Grows|work=Riverdale Press|date=August 8, 1980|page=1|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}}

The utter disrepair in the park prompted some informal rules at the park's golf courses. For instance, the Los Angeles Times noted that "a player was allowed to drop his ball a club length away if it rolled up against an abandoned auto, or, in one case, a boat. To thwart robbers, besieged golfers quit playing in traditional foursomes and instead ventured forth in football-team-sized units. Some players added an extra club—a night stick—or tucked tear gas spray into their golf bags."{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-20-mn-1973-story.html |title=Deteriorated During Fiscal Crisis in '70s : N.Y. Public Golf Courses Back Up to Par |last=Goldman |first=John J. |date=August 20, 1985 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110015804/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-08-20/news/mn-1973_1_american-golf |url-status=live }} Years later, one writer recalled that dozens of the course's trees died, and "flagsticks were reduced to broken bamboo poles stuck into the ground."{{Cite web |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%2520Disk3%2FAmenia%2520NY%2520Harlem%2520Valley%2520Times%2FAmenia%2520NY%2520Harlem%2520Valley%2520Times%25201995%2520Jul%2520-%2520Nov%2520grayscale.pdf%2FAmenia%2520NY%2520Harlem%2520Valley%2520Times%25201995%2520Jul%2520-%2520Nov%2520grayscale%2520-%25200111.pdf&xml=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3Dffffffffb4f31057%26DocId%3D10319684%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cIndex%2520I%252dE%252dV%26HitCount%3D18%26hits%3De%2Bf%2B10%2B5d%2B5e%2B5f%2B9e%2B9f%2Ba0%2B14b%2B14c%2B14d%2B2a1%2B2a2%2B2a3%2B2c2%2B2c3%2B2c4%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fNew%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false |title=A Golfing Adventure in Gotham |last=Tremont |first=Burt |date=August 3, 2016 |website=Amenia NY Harlem Valley Times |access-date=January 13, 2017}} Weeds overgrew the course, and golfers would wear long-sleeved shirts to ward off against the city's insufficient mosquito repellents. Homeless squatters moved into the park, while courses fell into disrepair, replaced by dirt tracks and "huts and forts" built by neighborhood kids. In 1985, the city licensed control of the courses to Los Angeles-based American Golf Corporation for 60 years, leading to their restoration.

Other parts of the park also fell into disrepair, such as Vault Hill, whose headstones and crypts were vandalized in the 1960s. As early as 1962, a New York Times reader wrote of vandalism on Vault Hill.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=121}}{{cite web | title=Letters to The Times | website=The New York Times | date=October 1, 1962 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/10/01/archives/letters-to-the-times.html | access-date=June 20, 2018 | archive-date=June 20, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620051130/https://www.nytimes.com/1962/10/01/archives/letters-to-the-times.html | url-status=live }} A lack of annual maintenance of the park's jogging tracks and bridle paths had caused them to erode and become overgrown at some places. In 1978–1979, NYC Parks performed a wholesale renovation of the park's eroded and dilapidated bridle paths and jogging tracks.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=116}} The Parade Ground remained popular, and the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera performed in the field during the summer.*{{cite web | last=Fraser | first=C. Gerald | title=Yanks Shut Out the Met; 'Butterfly' Moves to Park | website=The New York Times | date=June 21, 1976 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/21/archives/yanks-shut-out-the-met-butterfly-moves-to-park.html | access-date=June 20, 2018 | archive-date=June 20, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620181343/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/21/archives/yanks-shut-out-the-met-butterfly-moves-to-park.html | url-status=live }}

{{*}}{{cite news|title=Met brings Rigoletto to Vannie|work=Riverdale Press|date=June 19, 1980|page=15|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201980%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201980%252000539_2.pdf|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}}

{{*}}{{cite news|first=Edward|last=Baum|title=Symphony in tune for park concert|work=Riverdale Press|date=August 14, 1980|page=16|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201981%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201981%252000561_1.pdf|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}} However, it too had deteriorated because of intensive use: the grounds' topsoil had eroded away and the sidewalks started to buckle.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=117–118}} In 1978, the Perrier Company donated a fitness trail consisting of 12 exercise machines to the park; there were originally supposed to be 18 machines, but the extra six machines were deemed unnecessary.{{cite news|title=Joggers Get 'Parcourse'|work=Riverdale Press|date=October 26, 1978|page=1|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201978%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201978%252000932.pdf|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}} Two shuffleboard courts were also installed in the Parade Grounds the same year, but went unused because of a lack of playing equipment.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=118}}

In response to studies and accounts that showed the bad condition of the lake, the state restored the fish population of the lake in 1978.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=8}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=23}} In 1977, the Bronx Borough Board created a special committee to oversee and develop plans for improving Van Cortlandt Park.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=125}}{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201977%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201977%252000988.pdf|title=Boro-Wide Committee Launches Drive to 'Save Van Cortlandt'|work=Riverdale Press|date=November 3, 1977|page=5|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}} The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park soon came up with its own suggestions to improve the park.{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201978%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201978%252000571_1.pdf|first=Tom|last=Pedulla|title=Friends of Van Cortlandt Charge 'Troubled Park Getting Worse Each Weekend'|work=Riverdale Press|date=July 6, 1978|page=1|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}} After the parcourse for the parade grounds was approved in 1978, the New York City Department of Parks promised to cooperate on the Van Cortlandt Park improvement plans. The 1979 Eisland plan also detailed suggestions for park improvements. This culminated in the 1980 appointment of a park coordinator who would start devising details of a "master plan" for the park.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=126}}

In 1985, a study recommended ecological restoration of the lake and forest, which had been overtaken by invasive species introduced during highway construction.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}}{{Cite web |url=https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB90196346.xhtml |title=Diagnostic/Feasibility Study for Lake Restoration, Van Cortlandt Lake, Van Cortlandt Park, Borough of Bronx, New York. |year=1985 |publisher=National Technical Reports Library |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109185239/https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB90196346.xhtml |url-status=live }} Since then, there have been seven plans for restoring natural elements of the park, as well as three plans for park restoration.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=12}} Gradual improvements began taking place in the late 1980s, including the addition of new pathways, signage, and security, as well as the restoration of playgrounds and other recreational facilities.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=11}} In January 1988, NYC Parks conducted a study to determine the specific elements of the park that needed restoration.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/nrg/documents/Ecological%20Assessment%20-%20Van%20Cortlandt.pdf |title=Natural Area Mapping and Inventory of Van Cortlandt Park January 1988 Survey |date=January 1988 |website=nycgovparks.org |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=May 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506043718/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/nrg/documents/Ecological%20Assessment%20-%20Van%20Cortlandt.pdf |url-status=live }} Highway structures were also reconfigured to clean runoff from these structures.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=1}} An excavation in the 1990s yielded over 2,500 artifacts.{{Cite web |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/27.pdf |title=Archaeological Excavations at Van Cortlandt Park, The Bronx, 1990–1992 |last1=Bankoff |first1=H. Arthur |last2=Winter |first2=Frederick A. |website=nyc.gov |access-date=January 9, 2017 |last3=Ricciardi |first3=Christopher |archive-date=December 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223180603/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/27.pdf |url-status=live }} A set of tennis courts were proposed within the park east of the Van Cortlandt House in the 1990s; despite concerns from preservationists,{{cite news |last=Schneider |first=Steve |date=March 22, 1993 |title=Grounds for Battle Indian Site in Park in Dispute |page=23 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278590874}}}}{{Cite news |last=Radomsky |first=Rosalie R. |date=September 11, 1994 |title=Neighborhood Report: Van Cortlandt; Historians Cry 'Fault' Over Tennis Court Proposal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/11/nyregion/neighborhood-report-van-cortlandt-historians-cry-fault-over-tennis-court.html |access-date=November 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} though the courts were approved.{{Cite news |date=January 8, 1995 |title=Neighborhood Report; Bronx Update |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/08/nyregion/neighborhood-report-bronx-update.html |access-date=November 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}

File:Van Cortlandt Park Sachkerah Woods Playground IMG 3056 HLG.jpg

{{Anchor|Croton Water Filtration Plant}}The city built the Croton Water Filtration Plant, a drinking water treatment facility, under the park's Mosholu Golf Course. Plant operations began in 2015. The plant was needed in order to filter contaminants from urban runoff pollution in the Croton River watershed and protect the public from Giardia and Cryptosporidium, microorganisms which can cause serious health problems.{{cite web |title=Croton Water Filtration Plant Activated |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/15-034pr.shtml |date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) |id=Press release |access-date=April 10, 2022 |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026142024/https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/15-034pr.shtml |url-status=live }}

The Croton plant was built after a lawsuit was filed in 1997 against the city by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of New York.{{cite web |title=United States And State Of New York Announce Start Up Of Croton Water Filtration Plant In Compliance With Mandates Of Federal Consent Decree |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/united-states-and-state-new-york-announce-start-croton-water-filtration-plant |date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York |id=Press release |access-date=April 10, 2022 |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229053324/https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/united-states-and-state-new-york-announce-start-croton-water-filtration-plant |url-status=live }} The city settled the suit and a consent decree was issued with the condition that the city would build the plant by 2006.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/20/nyregion/pressed-by-us-city-hall-agrees-to-build-a-plant-to-filter-water.html |title=Pressed by U.S., City Hall Agrees To Build a Plant to Filter Water |last=Rohde |first=David |date=May 20, 1998 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110015341/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/20/nyregion/pressed-by-us-city-hall-agrees-to-build-a-plant-to-filter-water.html |url-status=live }} The project experienced delays and ballooning costs due to objections from the local community, which required the city to propose alternate sites for the plant.{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Douglas |title=Filtration Plant Is Placed Within Van Cortlandt Park |work=The New York Times |date=December 2, 1998 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/02/nyregion/filtration-plant-is-placed-within-van-cortlandt-park.html |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116181738/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/02/nyregion/filtration-plant-is-placed-within-van-cortlandt-park.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/nyregion/water-hazard-plan-to-put-filtration-plant-under-park-angers-the-bronx.html |title=Water Hazard?; Plan to Put Filtration Plant Under Park Angers the Bronx |last=Depalma |first=Anthony |date=March 25, 2004 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828184124/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/nyregion/water-hazard-plan-to-put-filtration-plant-under-park-angers-the-bronx.html |url-status=live }} The plant was built 160 feet (49 m) below the Mosholu Golf Course, at a cost of $3.2 billion.

To lessen the disruption caused by the plant's construction, in 2010 the city used mitigation funds from the construction budget to restore the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=12}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/press_releases/press_releases.php?id=20682 |title=Parks Breaks Ground On Renovation Of Van Cortlandt Park's Parade Ground |publisher=NYC Parks |date=October 22, 2008 |archive-date=October 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023121855/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/press_releases/press_releases.php?id=20682 |id=Press Release No. 116 |access-date=April 10, 2022 |url-status=live }} The Sachkerah Woods Playground, located at the park's southeast corner near the Mosholu Golf Course, was also built using Croton mitigation funds.{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/19612 |title=Sachkerah Woods Playground; July 2007 Park of the Month |date=July 2007 |website=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620231921/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/19612 |url-status=live }}

As part of the "Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan 2034", critical ecological elements of the park, such as the forest, the rural landscape, and Tibbetts Brook, would be restored, and the brook would be diverted.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=2–3}} {{As of|March 2014}} when the report was written, the lack of natural drainage points within Van Cortlandt Park led to the flooding of recreational areas within the park during heavy rains.{{cite news |url=http://ny.curbed.com/2016/12/15/13963898/yonkers-saw-mill-river-photo-essay |title=Daylighting the Saw Mill River: Efforts to Bring Back a Natural Yonkers Waterway Are Changing the City |date=December 15, 2016 |work=Curbed |last1=Kensinger |first1=Nathan |access-date=January 6, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107172622/http://ny.curbed.com/2016/12/15/13963898/yonkers-saw-mill-river-photo-essay |url-status=live }} The park's paths would also be restored with the addition of three new pedestrian bridges; a playground; four activity centers, of which two would be outdoors and two would be indoors; a skate park; an athletic field; and three basketball courts built within the park. "Comfort stations" and food concessions would also be added.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=2–3}} The Van Cortlandt Golf Course was renovated in 2016.{{Cite news |url=http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Oldest-golf-venue-is-new-again,60500 |title=Oldest Golf Venue Is New Again |newspaper=The Riverdale Press |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109023230/http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Oldest-golf-venue-is-new-again,60500 |url-status=live }} The skate park, new playground, and path improvements were completed in 2020.{{Cite web|last=Cohen|first=Jason|date=September 17, 2020|title=Parks Department Announces $42.6 Million in Improvements to Bronx Parks|url=https://www.bxtimes.com/parks-department-announces-42-6-million-in-improvements-to-bronx-parks/|access-date=September 18, 2020|website=Bronx Times|archive-date=October 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027185658/https://www.bxtimes.com/parks-department-announces-42-6-million-in-improvements-to-bronx-parks/|url-status=live}} NYC Parks started renovating the Woodlawn Playground in 2021 for $1 million.{{cite web | title=NYC Parks breaks ground on $1M Van Cortlandt Park playground renovation – Bronx Times | website=Bronx Times | date=December 6, 2021 | url=https://www.bxtimes.com/nyc-parks-breaks-ground-on-1m-woodlawn-playground-renovation/ | access-date=October 3, 2022}} One of the pedestrian bridges, which would have crossed the Major Deegan Expressway, was postponed in 2020 after its cost had increased to $23 million; the bridge was canceled in 2023.{{cite web | title=City kills long-planned bridge over Major Deegan in the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park | website=Gothamist | date=March 16, 2023 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-kills-long-planned-bridge-over-major-deegan-in-van-cortlandt-park | access-date=March 20, 2023}}

At {{convert|1146|acre|ha}}, Van Cortlandt Park is the third-largest park in New York City,{{efn|name=size|It has also been described as being the fourth-largest park at {{convert|1122|acre|ha}}, if Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens was counted at {{convert|1255|acre|ha}}.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|pp=978, 1361}} However, a resurveying in 2013 concluded that Van Cortlandt Park was 1,146 acres, while Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was calculated at a smaller {{convert|897|acre|ha}}.}} behind the Staten Island Greenbelt ({{convert|1,778|acre|ha}}) and Pelham Bay Park ({{convert|2,772|acre|ha}}).{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=978}}{{cite web |author=Foderaro, Lisa W. |title=How Big Is That Park? City Now Has the Answer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/nyregion/surveying-effort-alters-sizes-of-some-new-york-parks.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 31, 2013 |access-date=May 31, 2013 |archive-date=June 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601042251/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/nyregion/surveying-effort-alters-sizes-of-some-new-york-parks.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Frequently Asked Questions | publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation | url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/faq | access-date=February 19, 2017 | archive-date=February 20, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220013947/https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/faq | url-status=live }} It has numerous attractions and features that are both recreational and educational.{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark |title=Van Cortlandt Park |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |access-date=September 30, 2016 |archive-date=October 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001202627/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark |url-status=live }}

The different parts of Van Cortlandt Park have a varied geology. The Northwest Woods and Old Croton Aqueduct Trailway have a steep terrain dotted with Fordham gneiss, a metamorphic rock that is very hard to weather. The Tibbetts Brook valley is set in Inwood marble, which weathers more easily. The east side of the park near Indian Field contains Yonkers granite, an igneous rock that mixed with Fordham gneiss as a hot magma before later cooling.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=502}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/geology-New-York-City-environs/dp/B0006BQF02 |title=The Geology of New York City and Environs |last=Schuberth |first=Christopher J. |year=1968 |publisher=Published for the American Museum of Natural History [by] Natural History Press |edition=1st |pages=43–97 |access-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116152959/https://www.amazon.com/geology-New-York-City-environs/dp/B0006BQF02 |url-status=live }}

Van Cortlandt Park contains the Bronx's largest freshwater lake, the eponymous Van Cortlandt Lake. The lake is {{Convert|4|to|8|ft}} deep at various times of year, and has an area of {{Convert|18|acre|ha}}.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/61807.html |title=Van Cortlandt Lake |publisher=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110162526/http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/61807.html |url-status=live }} The lake is used for recreational fishing,{{Cite web |title=Van Cortlandt Park Fishing |publisher=NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/fishing |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110161341/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/fishing |url-status=live }} as it includes species such as largemouth bass, black crappie, brown bullhead, bluegill, pumpkinseed, golden shiner, common carp, white sucker, and yellow perch.{{Cite news |url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-fishing-spots-in-new-york-city/ |title=Best Fishing Spots In New York City |date=May 26, 2012 |work=CBS New York |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110161549/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-fishing-spots-in-new-york-city/ |url-status=live }} It is fed by Tibbetts Brook, a stream originating in Yonkers, which runs through a series of culverts before draining into the south edge of the lake at approximately West 242nd Street.{{cite book |title=History of the Town of Kings Bridge, Now Part of the 24th Ward of New York City |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6221416_000/ldpd_6221416_000.pdf |date=1887 |publisher=Privately printed |last1=Edsall |first1=Thomas Henry |access-date=January 4, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171606/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6221416_000/ldpd_6221416_000.pdf |url-status=live }} There are efforts to daylight this south end into the former New York and Putnam Railroad right-of-way that runs through the park{{cite web |url=http://www.siteations.com/courses/designresearch2014/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/08_Lenat_Daylight_Tibbetts.pdf |title=Daylight Tibbetts Brook |access-date=January 5, 2017 |archive-date=February 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221231657/http://www.siteations.com/courses/designresearch2014/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/08_Lenat_Daylight_Tibbetts.pdf |url-status=live }} as part of the park's faster plan.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=3}}

There is no surviving documentation for the creation of Van Cortlandt Lake.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=40}} In 1699, Jacobus Van Cortlandt dammed Tibbetts Brook to power a sawmill, creating a mill pond at the site where the lake is. Later, he also added a gristmill.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=40}} The sawmill was relocated around 1823 and stayed in operation until 1889.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=40}}{{sfn|Ferris|1897|p=XX}} The gristmill was destroyed by lightning in 1901.{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|p=74}} File:Van Cortlandt Lake, The Bronx.jpg

By the time the park was created, Van Cortlandt Lake needed to be cleaned, as cesspools in Yonkers had leaked sewage into Tibbetts Brook, which fed into the lake.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=92}}{{sfn|Minutes|1893|p=337}} A 1903 annual report from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation mentioned that the lake had probably not been cleaned since the mid-18th century, and now contained a layer of "refuse and vegetation on top, and an ooze two to three feet deep on the bottom," with qualities more like a "semi-bog."{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=93}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1903|p=72}} Cleaning of the lake started in 1903. The lake's original earthen dam was removed, the lake was emptied, and {{convert|30,000|yd3|m3}} of deposits were dredged from the lake bed.{{sfn|Annual Report|1906|p=88}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=93}} A new {{convert|2,270|ft|m|adj=on}} retaining wall was then erected along the lake's eastern shore, and a new dam was installed to reform the lake and to allow future cleaning of the lake without having to dredge it.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=93}} After the opening of an overflow drain in 1911–1912, which connected to the sewer under Broadway completed in 1907,{{sfn|Annual Report|1911|p=126}}{{sfn|Annual Report|1912b|p=140}} Tibbetts Brook was directed into the new sewer,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=9}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=93}} The construction of the Van Cortlandt Golf Course compounded the lake's dirty condition, and by 1912, the lake and brook contained significant sedimentation.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=93}}

Nearby residents also disliked the wetlands near the lake, as they could be used to breed malaria-borne mosquitoes,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=94}} and were thus seen as "unsightly and unsanitary." In 1896, they proposed to fill the wetlands in,"Taxpayers Association Meeting", New York Advance and Westchester Gazette, December 26, 1896, p. 1 and the infill proposal was funded by the New York City Board of Estimate in 1899.{{sfn|Annual Report|1899|p=26}} Subsequently, the Parks Department proposed to dredge the swamp and create a lake in its stead,Henry C. Schrader to George B. McClellan, June 25, 1905, Departmental Correspondence Received, Parks Department, 1905, Papers

of George B. McClellan, New York City Municipal Archives. but despite this plan receiving $70,000 in funding in 1906, it was deemed "not feasible" to drain the swamp directly into the Broadway sewer.{{sfn|Annual Report|1906|pp=91, 93}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=94}} Another plan to remove the swamps in the park's southwest was approved in 1904. The plan was to build an athletic field in the southwest swamp's place,{{Cite news|agency=Fultonhistory.com|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%25209%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201916%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201916%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25207049.pdf%23xml%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3D3c7c5393%26DocId%3D3438113%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cindex%2520O%252dG%252dT%26HitCount%3D6%26hits%3D11%2B12%2B13%2B14%2B15%2B16%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fNew%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&uri=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%25209%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201916%2520%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201916%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25207049.pdf&xml=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3D3c7c5393%26DocId%3D3438113%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cindex%2520O%252dG%252dT%26HitCount%3D6%26hits%3D11%2B12%2B13%2B14%2B15%2B16%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fNew%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false|title=Big Athletic Field to Replace Swamp|newspaper=New York Sun|date=December 3, 1916|page=5|access-date=September 16, 2017}} but all swamp-infill proposals for this sector were rejected in 1917.{{sfn|Minutes|1917|p=5}} By 1922, there were {{convert|23|acre|ha}} of swampland left in the park, and the Parks Department hoped to convert parts of it for some athletic purpose, but this required the New York Central Railroad to raise one of its bridges first so the swampland could be accessed.{{sfn|Annual Report|1922|pp=16, 17}} However, there are no records of that bridge being raised or of the swamp being converted.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=94}}

In its early years, the lake was used for boating, canoeing, curling, and ice skating. By 1899, the lake was used by up to 3,000 skaters on weekdays and 10,000 on weekends.{{sfn|Annual Report|1899|p=23}} The ice-skating house, shared with the golf course, was added in 1902.{{sfn|Annual Report|1901|p=66}} By 1935, the lake was used by approximately 20,000 skaters daily."A Perfect Setting for the 'Sport of Kings", Bronx Home News, February 7, 1934, p. 1

{{Wide image|VCP Lake pano.jpg|960px|Panorama of Van Cortlandt Lake from the east shore}}

There are several old-growth forests with tree species and genera such as black oak, hickory, beech, cherry birch, sweetgum, red maple, and tuliptree.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11595|title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Van Cortlandt Park – the Wetlands of New York City|publisher=NYC Parks|access-date=January 10, 2017|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113042620/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11595|url-status=live}} The forests also contain wild turkeys, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, bats, Eastern chipmunks, Eastern gray squirrels, groundhogs, gypsy moths, Eastern cottontail rabbits, striped skunks, North American raccoons, Virginia opossums, white-tailed deer and Eastern coyotes. In addition, over 130 species of butterflies can be found in the park. In 1937, it was noted that the marshlands had fauna such as red-winged blackbirds, yellowthroats, green bottle flies, beetles, dragonflies, tadpoles, herons, kingfishers, and ospreys. Its flora included cattail, skunk cabbage, and moss.{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/05/16/596104472.pdf|title=SPRING LIFE OF A MARSH; Birds and Flowers of Park Swamp Are Observed By the Hiker Home of the Yellowthroat Gay Insect Life |last=Letcher Butler |first=Lorine|date=May 16, 1937|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 20, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}} Its avian population during the winters has exceeded that of either Central or Prospect Parks; a total of 301 bird species have been seen in the park since 1875, when records were first kept.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMpWDwAAQBAJ|title=Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City|last1=Buckley|first1=P.A.|last2=Sedwitz|first2=W.|last3=Norse|first3=W.J.|last4=Kieran|first4=J.|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2018|isbn=978-1-5017-1962-2|page=35|access-date=February 5, 2019|archive-date=October 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014191249/https://books.google.com/books?id=PMpWDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} Amphibians present include American bullfrogs, red-backed salamanders, and spring peepers. Also present in and around the park's waterways and wetlands are common snapping turtles and Eastern painted turtles, as well as red-eared sliders that were introduced to the region.{{cite web |title=Natural Areas |website=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/110-natural-areas.html |access-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221144143/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/110-natural-areas.html |url-status=live }}

File:Putnam Greenway entrance from South County Trail.jpg

There are five major hiking trails in the park.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/hikingtrails |title=Van Cortlandt Park Hiking Trails |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109021121/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/hikingtrails |url-status=live }}{{sfn|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009|p=9–10}}

The Putnam Trail ({{convert|1.5|mi|km}}, easy), runs north through the woods to the east of this lawn and west of Van Cortlandt Lake, through the golf course and along Tibbetts Brook and the former New York and Putnam Railroad line into Yonkers, where it connects to Westchester County's paved South County Trailway.{{Cite web |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/13-trails/81-putnam-trail.html |title=Putnam Trail |publisher=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171554/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/13-trails/81-putnam-trail.html |url-status=live }} Previously unpaved, the Putnam Trail underwent a reconstruction project starting in August 2019 and was reopened in October 2020 as a paved pedestrian and bicycle path.{{Cite web|title=Van Cortlandt Park Putnam Greenway Construction : NYC Parks|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/4781|access-date=October 23, 2020|website=www.nycgovparks.org|archive-date=September 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215308/https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/4781|url-status=live}}

The rails themselves were overrun with weeds, but they were no longer usable by trains. The remains of the former Van Cortlandt Park station can be seen along the trail. As part of the park's 2034 master plan, NYC Parks undertook a project to pave the entirety of the trail through Van Cortlandt Park as well as a short extension to the south, making it usable for both pedestrians and bicyclists.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/park-features/van-cortlandt-park/putnam-rail-trail |title=Putnam Greenway, Van Cortlandt Park, Project Overview and Plans |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |access-date=September 3, 2018 |archive-date=September 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215256/https://www.nycgovparks.org/park-features/van-cortlandt-park/putnam-rail-trail |url-status=live }} A construction contract for the paving project was awarded in October 2018 to Grace Industries, and it was completed in October 2020.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/4781 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Putnam Greenway Construction |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=September 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919114721/https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/4781 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://riverdalepress.com/stories/parks-officials-poised-to-pave-putnam-trail,67508|date=November 25, 2018|title=Parks Officials Poised to Pave Putnam Trail|publisher=Riverdale Press|access-date=November 27, 2018|archive-date=November 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128075149/http://riverdalepress.com/stories/parks-officials-poised-to-pave-putnam-trail,67508|url-status=live}}

The Old Croton Aqueduct Trailway ({{convert|1.1|mi|km}}, easy/moderate), was created in 1968 when the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation had bought a {{Convert|26.2|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch of the Old Croton Aqueduct, for use as a walking trail. It starts in Van Cortlandt Park as a grass-and-dirt trail and runs north along the route of the old aqueduct. The trail features vestiges of an old, disused brick tunnel that brought water to Manhattan, as well as a gatehouse for the aqueduct. Within the park, the Old Croton Aqueduct trail borders Mosholu Golf Center and Driving Range, as well as the Allen Shandler Recreation Area.{{sfn|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009|p=3}} Its southern end is cut off by the Major Deegan Expressway in the southwestern end of the park.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/nyregion/pedestrian-bridge-in-van-cortlandt-park-has-an-obstacle-7-5-million.html |title=Pedestrian Bridge in Van Cortlandt Park Has an Obstacle: $7.5 Million |last=Foderaro |first=Lisa W. |date=March 31, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830063003/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/nyregion/pedestrian-bridge-in-van-cortlandt-park-has-an-obstacle-7-5-million.html |url-status=live }} As part of the Croton Water Filtration Plant project, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was given $200 million to mitigate the effects of constructing the plant. A feasibility study in 2009 found that a bridge near the location of 233rd Street was the most feasible, and would connect the two sections of the trail.

{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/bxcb8/downloads/pdf/vcp_pedestrian_bridge_report_part_1.pdf |title=Draft Final Report Van Cortlandt Park Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study (Part 1) |date=2009 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=Government of New York City |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215153011/http://www.nyc.gov/html/bxcb8/downloads/pdf/vcp_pedestrian_bridge_report_part_1.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{*}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/bxcb8/downloads/pdf/vcp_pedestrian_bridge_report_part_2.pdf |title=Draft Final Report Van Cortlandt Park Pedestrian Bridge Feasibility Study (Part 2) |date=2009 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=Government of New York City |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=February 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208195114/http://www.nyc.gov/html/bxcb8/downloads/pdf/vcp_pedestrian_bridge_report_part_2.pdf |url-status=live }} This bridge was deferred over lack of funding in 2014 before planning resumed in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/15-033pr.shtml|title=City Announces Plans to Construct New Pedestrian Bridge Over Major Deegan|date=May 8, 2015|website=nyc.gov|access-date=August 29, 2017|archive-date=August 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830054330/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/15-033pr.shtml|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2015/20/20-bridge-2015-05-15-bx.html|title=$12 Million Pedestrian Bridge in Van Cortlandt Park to Be Built|last=Rocchio|first=Patrick|date=May 17, 2015|work=Bronx Times|access-date=August 29, 2017|archive-date=August 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830065607/http://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2015/20/20-bridge-2015-05-15-bx.html|url-status=live}}

File:Cortlandthenge.JPG|upright=1.1|alt=Blocks of stone used for structural stone testing|left]]

The John Kieran Nature Trail ({{convert|1.25|mi|km}}, easy), which connects to the Putnam Trail, opened in 1987 and is named after local writer and naturalist John Kieran.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11616 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – The John Kieran Nature Trail |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108190533/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11616 |url-status=live }} The path features 13 stone pillars, each made of a different variety of stone, that were tested for the facade of Grand Central Terminal during the terminal's construction. The variety eventually chosen was Indiana limestone{{Cite web |url=http://untappedcities.com/2013/11/07/daily-what-13-stone-pillars-van-cortlandt-park-tests-grand-central-terminal-facade/ |title=Daily What?! 13 Stone Pillars in Van Cortlandt Park Were Tests For Grand Central Terminal Facade |date=November 7, 2013 |website=Untapped Cities |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109020933/http://untappedcities.com/2013/11/07/daily-what-13-stone-pillars-van-cortlandt-park-tests-grand-central-terminal-facade/ |url-status=live }} because it was cheap. The trail hugs the edge of the Van Cortlandt Lake and Tibbetts Brook marsh.{{sfn|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009|p=3}}

The John Muir Trail ({{convert|1.5|mi|km}}, moderate) is the park's only east–west trail that connects the three northern forested areas.{{sfn|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009|p=3}} It was established in 1997.{{Cite web |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/13-trails/79-john-muir-trail.html |title=John Muir Trail |publisher=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315233210/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/13-trails/79-john-muir-trail.html |url-status=live }} Various species of trees and flowering plants can be seen along the trail, such as northern red oak, sweetgum, and tulips.{{Cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/concrete-jungle-5-top-hiking-trail-article-1.2400384 |title=Fall Guide: Top 5 Hiking Trails in NYC |last=Stumpf |first=Melisa |date=October 16, 2015 |newspaper=NY Daily News |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=July 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716191014/http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/concrete-jungle-5-top-hiking-trail-article-1.2400384 |url-status=live }} There is a large, steep hill in the center of the trail.

The Cass Gallagher Nature Trail ({{convert|1.4|mi|km}}, moderate/difficult) is the hardest trail in the park. It was given its current name in 1984, named after a local resident who was a fervent advocate of preserving the park's environment.{{cite web |title=Cass Gallagher Nature Trail |website=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/13-trails/77-cass-gallagher-nature-trail.html |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315232528/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/13-trails/77-cass-gallagher-nature-trail.html |url-status=live }} Shaped as a loop, it extends through the rocky forests of the park's northwestern portion.{{cite web |last=Yarrow |first=Andrew L. |title=METROPOLITAN BAEDEKER; The Bucolic Pleasures Of Van Cortlandt Park |website=The New York Times |date=July 31, 1987 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/31/arts/metropolitan-baedeker-the-bucolic-pleasures-of-van-cortlandt-park.html |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110015735/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/31/arts/metropolitan-baedeker-the-bucolic-pleasures-of-van-cortlandt-park.html |url-status=live }} It was once a "self-guided interpretive nature trail" where hikers could observe natural elements along the trail.{{sfn|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009|p=3}} Along this trail, there is a "thick undergrowth" beneath a "canopy" of deciduous trees that date back centuries. However, logging and forest fires have killed some of these trees. Pioneer species, which inhabit the plots of the forest destroyed by logging and fire, include sumac and black locusts. There is also an outcropping of Fordham gneiss, the last vestige of a giant mountain chain that used to run through this area until the Wisconsin glaciation. The exposed rocks also contain mica and quartz. There have been many sightings of bird species along this trail, such as those of woodpeckers, owls, quail and pheasants. This trail repeatedly crosses a {{Convert|3|mi|adj=on}} cross-country trail.{{sfn|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009|p=3}}

A bikeway runs east from the golf course's clubhouse to connect to the Mosholu Parkway bike path.{{Cite web |url=http://www.traillink.com/trail/mosholu-pelham-greenway.aspx |title=Mosholu-Pelham Greenway |website=www.traillink.com |publisher=New York Trails |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108191540/http://www.traillink.com/trail/mosholu-pelham-greenway.aspx |url-status=live }} Some trail sections are a part of the East Coast Greenway, a {{convert|3000|mi|km|-long|adj=mid}} trail system connecting Maine to Florida.{{Cite web|url=https://www.greenway.org/pdf/ny_map.pdf|title=East Coast Greenway New York|date=April 2008|publisher=East Coast Greenway|access-date=January 10, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511144430/http://www.greenway.org/pdf/ny_map.pdf|archive-date=May 11, 2013}}

File:Van-cortland-house-bronx.JPG, now a museum]]

The Van Cortlandt House in the southern part of Van Cortlandt Park was erected by Frederick Van Cortlandt in 1748.{{Cite web |title=Van Cortlandt House Museum |publisher=NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/6371 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109020835/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/6371 |url-status=live }} This house still stands, making it the oldest known surviving house in the Bronx.{{Cite news|url=http://ny.curbed.com/maps/the-20-oldest-buildings-in-new-york-city|title=The 20 Oldest Buildings in New York City|last=Nevius|first=James|newspaper=Curbed NY|access-date=February 9, 2017|archive-date=February 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211082102/http://ny.curbed.com/maps/the-20-oldest-buildings-in-new-york-city|url-status=live}} The estate the house sits on was of major importance during the American Revolution. Troops from both the British and Colonial American armies rested in this house during the time of war. The Van Cortlandt family owned the property until they decided to sell both the house and land to the City of New York in 1886. Ten years later, the house was restored as a museum displaying the culture and lifestyle of 18th-century families.{{Cite web |title=The Historic House Trust of New York City: Van Cortlandt House |url=http://www.historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220173054/http://historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=30 |archive-date=February 20, 2014 }} It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1967 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.[http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=740&ResourceType=Building Van Courland House] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606012806/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=740&ResourceType=Building |date=June 6, 2011 }} National Park Service[http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/NY01.pdf National Historic Landmark Survey, New York] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922201700/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/NY01.pdf |date=September 22, 2013 }}, retrieved June 3, 2007.

Near the museum is a 15-mile marker for the old Albany Post Road, which was relocated to its current position in 1934 after the road was rerouted.{{cite news | title=MILESTONE IS UNVEILED.; Old Albany Post Road Marker Reset at Van Cortlandt Park. |newspaper=The New York Times | date=November 19, 1934 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/11/19/97143664.pdf | access-date=September 16, 2017}} In 1938, officials at San Francisco's Golden Gate International Exposition gave a {{convert|4.5|ft|m|adj=on}} walnut tree to the City of New York, who then planted the tree outside the museum in the place of another tree that had died.{{cite news | title=Walnut Tree Given to City |newspaper=The New York Times| date=February 22, 1938 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/22/98100827.pdf | access-date=September 16, 2017}}

Vault Hill, the family burial ground, still exists. Located {{Convert|169|ft|m}} above sea level, it is northeast of the Parade Ground and west of Tibbetts Brook and the Van Cortlandt Golf Course. There may have been an unmarked graveyard for Native Americans and African slaves, which was likely destroyed when the New York and Putnam Railroad line was built. Another graveyard exists for the Berrian family, who lived nearby during the 18th century and were related by marriage to the Tippetts.{{Cite news|last=Barron|first=James|date=May 28, 2018|title=A Colonial Cemetery in a Park, And a Question: Does the City Own It?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/nyregion/a-colonial-cemetery-in-a-park-and-a-question-does-the-city-own-it.html|access-date=November 25, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}

The Memorial Grove honors Bronxites who served in World War II and the Korean War. It is located by the road to the Van Cortlandt House, close to Broadway."Memorial Grove Tablets (21)", 'items BM, BN, file 1501, Municipal Art Commission.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=107}} Created in 1949, the grove contained a tree and a bronze plaque for each of the 39 soldiers who were memorialized.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=7}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=107}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11639 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Memorial Grove |publisher=NYC Parks |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113044551/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11639 |url-status=live }} By the time the grove was renovated in 2011,{{Cite news |url=http://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/Ground-broken-on-Grove,48392 |title=Ground Broken on Grove |date=April 13, 2011 |newspaper=The Riverdale Press |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113015018/http://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/Ground-broken-on-Grove,48392 |url-status=live }} there were only 18 plaques left. Restoration was completed in 2012.{{Cite news |url=http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Memorial-Grove-opens-in-Van-Cortlandt-Park,50442 |title=Memorial Grove Opens in Van Cortlandt Park |date=June 6, 2012 |newspaper=The Riverdale Press |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113024023/http://riverdalepress.com/stories/Memorial-Grove-opens-in-Van-Cortlandt-Park,50442 |url-status=live }}

Van Cortlandt Park contains Citywide Nursery, one of three greenhouses operated by NYC Parks. It grows about 200,000 plants each year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/nyregion/new-york-today-city-greenhouses.html|title=New York Today: Inside the Greenhouse That Grows the City's Flowers|last=Levine|first=Alexandra S.|date=June 4, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 6, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=September 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906002327/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/nyregion/new-york-today-city-greenhouses.html|url-status=live}}

The Parade Ground is north of the museum, in the western part of the park.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/12424|title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Parade Ground|publisher=NYC Parks|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109184716/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/12424|url-status=live}} When the park was originally built, there was a law dictating that the Parade Ground should be vacated for National Guard use if required.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=27}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oe86AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA2 |page=2 |title=The City Record: Official Journal |year=1889|publisher=City of New York|location=New York |via=Google Books}} The field was originally used by the National Guard for brigade practice, but this use was decommissioned by the 1930s, and the land near Broadway was converted to 17 multipurpose baseball, football or soccer fields and two additional fields solely for cricket.History of Sports – Bronx, Box 3574 WPA Records Survey, New York City Municipal Archives. Today, it contains 10 of the borough's 19 total cricket fields{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/nyregion/cricket-finds-a-home-in-the-bronx.html|title=Cricket Finds a Home in the Bronx|last=Hu|first=Winnie|date=May 5, 2013|website=The New York Times|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116184732/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/nyregion/cricket-finds-a-home-in-the-bronx.html|url-status=live}} and a Gaelic football field. The cricket fields were renovated from 2010 to 2013 for $13 million. During the renovation, the fields were relocated such that they did not overlap with each other or with the soccer and baseball fields. The Parade Ground also has other areas dedicated to various sports, including six baseball fields, four football fields, five soccer fields, and a {{Convert|1.5|mi|adj=on}} course for cross-country running.{{cite web |title=Features |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features.html |publisher=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy |access-date=September 30, 2016 |archive-date=September 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902190827/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features.html |url-status=live }} The Rolling Stones commenced their Licks Tour here in 2002, getting into a blimp from the Parade Ground.{{Cite news|last=Hu|first=Winnie|date=October 24, 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/nyregion/runners-push-to-protect-a-hallowed-and-grueling-cross-country-course.html|title=Fighting for a Hallowed and Grueling Ground|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 13, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108190446/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/nyregion/runners-push-to-protect-a-hallowed-and-grueling-cross-country-course.html|url-status=live}}

The park is home to a free public pool, along with numerous playgrounds for children and areas dedicated for barbecuing.{{Cite web|title=Van Cortlandt Park Cricket Fields|publisher=NYC Parks|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/cricket|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=January 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110015816/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/cricket|url-status=live}} The pool was added in 1970,{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1362}}{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=6}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=10}} though proposals for such a pool date back to 1907.{{Cite news|title=Tokio View of San Francisco Riots.; LOOK FOR NEW OCEAN RECORD May Be Made by New German Liner Cecille – Miniature Speed Tests. NEW PARK SWIMMING POOL. It Will Serve to Wipe Out a Van Cortlandt Park Swamp.|date=May 27, 1907|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/05/27/104985792.pdf|access-date=January 10, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} It was designed by Heery & Heery architects and cost $1.6 million.{{Cite web|title=History of Parks' Swimming Pools|website=NYC Parks|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/pools|access-date=January 10, 2017|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113015103/https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/pools|url-status=live}} The pool contains a {{Convert|17280|gal|adj=on}} wading pool, a diving pool, and a {{Convert|380,000|gal|adj=on}} Olympic-sized pool.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/nyregion/on-schedule-pools-workers-drain-the-last-drops-of-summer.html|title=On Schedule, Pools' Workers Drain the Last Drops of Summer|last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W.|date=September 4, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 10, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601194746/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/nyregion/on-schedule-pools-workers-drain-the-last-drops-of-summer.html|url-status=live}}

The Van Cortlandt Stadium was built by Parks Commissioner Moses and Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia during the Great Depression, and was funded by Works Progress Administration. It is located north of Van Cortlandt Park South near Broadway in the park's southwest corner.WPA-Division of Operations, Project Folders OP 665-97-2-438 WP-18 Parks Bronx, microfilm reel 8431, National Archives The stadium opened on September 22, 1939, to a day of track events and a football game between Manhattan University and Fordham University.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=6}} It had 18 tennis courts, five basketball courts, six handball courts, three baseball fields, three football fields (including one in the stadium itself), three horseshoe pitching fields, a running track, and a bowling green, as well as water fountains and lockers.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=106}} In 1994, Mayor Giuliani funded a $415,000 project for concrete repairs to the stadium,{{cite web |title=Van Cortlandt Park: Van Cortlandt Stadium |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11672 |publisher=New York City Parks Department |access-date=January 6, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171432/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11672 |url-status=live }} and in 1998, the {{convert|0.25|mi|km|adj=on}} running track was rebuilt for nearly a million dollars. Except for 2015 to 2021, the park has been the home of the Manhattan University Jaspers college baseball team.For the Jaspers' relocation in 2015, see: {{cite web|title=Van Cortlandt Park |url=http://www.gojaspers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12500&ATCLID=640201 |website=gojaspers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711104626/http://www.gojaspers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12500&ATCLID=640201|archive-date=July 11, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=November 15, 2009}} For the team's return in 2021, see: {{Cite news|url=http://www.gojaspers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209577623|title=Baseball to Play 2015 Home Games at Dutchess Stadium|newspaper=GoJaspers.com|access-date=January 14, 2017|archive-date=January 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118060745/http://www.gojaspers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209577623|url-status=live}}{{cite web | title=Manhattan College Athletics | website=Manhattan College Athletics | date=June 24, 2020 | url=https://gojaspers.com/news/2021/4/2/baseball-manhattan-splits-doubleheader-at-vcp.aspx | access-date=April 22, 2021 | archive-date=April 22, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422214109/https://gojaspers.com/news/2021/4/2/baseball-manhattan-splits-doubleheader-at-vcp.aspx | url-status=live }}

File:Horseback Riding in Van Cortlandt Park.jpg

Riverdale Stables, located on {{Convert|21|acre|ha}} of the park, offers horseback riding.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/horseback|title=Horseback Riding Trails|publisher=NYC Parks|access-date=January 11, 2017|archive-date=March 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303020536/https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/horseback|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.riverdalestables.com/the-riverdale-stables|title=The Riverdale Stables|website=Riverdale Stables|access-date=January 11, 2017|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113085313/http://www.riverdalestables.com/the-riverdale-stables|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=1227}} In 1934, there were two stables: a larger one east of the Putnam Division near Van Cortlandt Avenue and 242nd Street, and a smaller one to the Van Cortlandt Course clubhouse's east.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=79–80}}

The Indian Field has baseball and softball fields, a sandbox, picnic tables, tennis courts, horseshoes courts, and shuffleboard courts.{{Cite web|title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Indian Field|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11610|access-date=January 10, 2017|publisher=NYC Parks|archive-date=May 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516185042/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/vt_van_cortlandt_park/vt_van_cort_07.html|url-status=live}} The Allen Shandler Recreation Area, renamed from the Holly Park Recreation Area in 1966 after a neighborhood boy who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the 1960s and died at age 15, has baseball fields, benches, picnic tables, barbecue grills, and a comfort station.{{Cite web|title=Van Cortlandt Park Highlights – Allen Shandler Recreation Area|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11413|access-date=January 11, 2017|publisher=NYC Parks|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113090907/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/highlights/11413|url-status=live}} Other activities available at the park include basketball, ice skating, and fishing. The park is also a destination for rock climbing, with 17 recorded bouldering routes across two areas in the park.{{Cite web |title= New York City Bouldering |url=https://www.gunksapps.com/new_york_city_bouldering.html |access-date=March 1, 2025 |website=www.gunksapps.com |language=en-US}}

File:Van Cortlandt Park lake east jeh.jpg is at far left|upright=1.1|alt=View of the lake and golf course]]

The Van Cortlandt Golf Course, which opened on July 6, 1895, with nine holes,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=9}} is located centrally on the park grounds. Within a year, the course became very crowded and disorganized, with crowds behaving poorly. Rules were set in 1896, with golfers paying caddies 15 cents per round or 25 cents per two rounds. Only caddies with badges could be hired, and bicycles, baby strollers, horse-riding, and horse-drawn carriages were banned from the course.{{sfn|Minutes|1898|p=175}}

The course was upgraded to 18 holes in 1899,{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=9}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=27, 32}} and the grounds gained a new clubhouse by 1902.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=27}} The new Van Cortlandt Golf Course was supposed to be "experimental," and if the course was successful, similar courses would be laid around the country.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=73}} Other American cities were interested in building such courses.{{sfn|Annual Report|1899|p=24}} The 1899 Bendelow reconstruction had rebuilt the course so that it now spanned {{convert|120|acre|ha}}, compared to the {{convert|55|acre|ha}} of the previous course. The new course was now {{convert|6,060|yd|m}} long, or about {{convert|3.44|mi|km}}.{{sfn|Annual Report|1899|p=29}} NYC Parks reconfigured the course again the following year so that "congestion would be prevented and accidents avoided." Boulders were relocated, greens were enlarged, and hazards were built in order to space out the holes.{{sfn|Annual Report|1900|p=24}} A clubhouse was added two years later.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=27}} Plans to extend the clubhouse were rejected in 1917.{{sfn|Minutes|1917|p=8}}

On July 13, 1905, Isaac Mackie won an Open Tournament at the Van Cortlandt Park course, shooting 152 and holding off joint second-place finishers Willie Anderson and Bernard Nicholls who finished at 157. It was the first ever professional tournament held on a public golf course in the United States.{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1905-07-14/ed-1/seq-12/#date1=1905&index=0&rows=20&words=Isaac+Mackie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1905&proxtext=Isaac+Mackie&y=11&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|title=Professional Golfers: Caddy Graduate Led a Field of Fifty-Two Players|date=July 14, 1905|newspaper=Evening Star|access-date=August 25, 2015|location=Washington, D.C.|archive-date=November 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110041528/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1905-07-14/ed-1/seq-12/#date1=1905&index=0&rows=20&words=Isaac+Mackie&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1905&proxtext=Isaac+Mackie&y=11&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|url-status=live}}

In 1914, a second golf course, the Mosholu Golf Course, opened adjacent to the existing Van Cortlandt Park course.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=9}} It is located at the southeast end of the park.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mosholugolfcourse.com/|title=Mosholu Golf Course – Bronx, NY|website=www.mosholugolfcourse.com|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109184015/http://www.mosholugolfcourse.com/|url-status=live}} By the 1930s, both courses were being intensively used, with restaurants located near both clubhouses. Around this time, six holes of the Van Cortlandt course were rebuilt as part of the Henry Hudson Parkway's construction. Due to the Major Deegan Expressway's construction in 1949, there were plans to fill in {{Convert|7|acre|ha}} of the nearby marshlands so new holes could be built. A third of the way into the filling-in project, conservationists and residents called for the rest of the marsh to be preserved.{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/01/06/84185395.pdf|title=NATURE CLUBS GIRD FOR SWAMP BATTLE; Council Formed to Stay 'Fill' of Van Cortlandt Park Area for Road and Golf |date=January 6, 1949|page=8|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 20, 2017|url-access=subscription |issn=0362-4331}} Two greens were eventually placed on the filled-in marshland.{{Cite news |title=A Riverdalian's Guide to Golf: Van Cortlandt Course: 'Like Seeing An Old Friend'|date=August 16, 1979 |work=Riverdale Press|page=13 |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201979%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201979%252000670_2.pdf|access-date=June 20, 2018 |via=Fultonhistory.com}}

In 2002, a First Tee course, for young golfers, opened at the Mosholu course.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/sports/golf-youngsters-can-tee-it-up-at-mosholu-in-the-bronx.html|title=GOLF; Youngsters Can Tee It Up At Mosholu in the Bronx|last=Brown|first=Clifton|date=June 6, 2002|website=The New York Times|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116184643/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/sports/golf-youngsters-can-tee-it-up-at-mosholu-in-the-bronx.html|url-status=live}} The Van Cortlandt Golf Course and its attached clubhouse were renovated from 2007 to 2014 for $5 million. Prior to the renovation, there was poor management, dirty grounds, and "a proliferation of prostitutes and drug dealers operating much too close for comfort plagued the grounds."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/nyregion/after-7-year-makeover-bronx-links-of-legend-try-to-reclaim-the-past.html|title=After 7-Year Makeover, Bronx Links of Legend Try to Reclaim the Past|last=Boryga|first=Andrew|date=April 27, 2014|website=The New York Times|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=June 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626033444/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/nyregion/after-7-year-makeover-bronx-links-of-legend-try-to-reclaim-the-past.html|url-status=live}} The renovation overhauled the course with such improvements as seven new greens and a new drainage system. The clubhouse received an infusion of historic golf artifacts from NYC Parks, including "vintage photographs" and an exhibit about the history of the golf ball.

Van Cortlandt Park is a popular site for cross-country running, owing to its miles of cinder trails and hills as well as its steep terrain. One legend has it that a cross-country coach thought that Van Cortlandt Park's tracks were too hard and instead went to the New Jersey Meadowlands to train. Its courses are some of the most utilized cross-country courses in the United States.

File:Van-cortland-park.JPG

Around the Parade Ground, known to runners as "the flats," there is a track that circles for {{convert|1.5|mi|km}}.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/34-fields/58-parade-ground.html|title=Parade Ground|publisher=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=March 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315230429/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/features/34-fields/58-parade-ground.html|url-status=live}} Another {{Convert|1.25|mi|adj=on}} rubber trail and the {{Convert|3.1|mi|adj=on}} cross-country trail supplement each other between 241st Street and the city border.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/runningtracks|title=Van Cortlandt Park Running Tracks|publisher=NYC Parks|access-date=January 11, 2017|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113074931/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/facilities/runningtracks|url-status=live}} Runners on the cross-country course typically run {{Convert|6.2|mi|km}}.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=13}} They start at the Parade Ground and passing through "the cowpath," "the runners' bridge," Cemetery Hill, and "the back hills," using the back hills to turn back at the city border.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=13}} This trail, built in 1913 out of parts of existing trails,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/09/nyregion/neighborhood-report-van-cortlandt-trail-is-back-in-the-running.html|title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: VAN CORTLANDT; Trail Is Back in the Running|last=Stewart|first=Barbara|date=November 9, 1997|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 13, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116180416/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/09/nyregion/neighborhood-report-van-cortlandt-trail-is-back-in-the-running.html|url-status=live}} was renovated in 1997 for $2 million, receiving a new layer of asphalt and stone to cover a tangle of "muddy ruts and jutting roots and rocks" that were breaking runners' ankles. However, by 2013, the trail was starting to show signs of deterioration.

The park is used for the Northeast regional championships of the Foot Locker Cross-Country Championships.{{Cite web|url=http://footlockercc.com/northeast/|title=Foot Locker Cross Country|website=www.footlockercc.com|access-date=January 13, 2017|archive-date=January 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120060646/http://www.footlockercc.com/northeast/|url-status=live}} The cross-country trail is used for the Manhattan College Invitational, one of the largest high school cross-country meets in the nation. In 2006, the USA Cross-Country Championships were held at Van Cortlandt and organized by USATF and New York Road Runners.{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.usatf.org/events/2006/USAXCChampionships/|title=USATF – Events – 2006 USA Cross Country Championships|website=www.usatf.org|access-date=January 13, 2017}} The Manhattan College Invitational is held at the park annually.{{Cite web |title=52nd Annual Manhattan Invitational Race Assignments Released |work=MileSplit New York |url=https://ny.milesplit.com/articles/351923/52nd-annual-manhattan-invitational-race-assignments-released |last1=Brazeil |first1=Kyle }}

The tracks are used not only by local high schools, but also for many college races.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/sports/for-new-york-cross-country-runners-a-century-of-testing-runners-speed-and-spirit.html|title=For New York Cross-Country Runners, A Century-Old Proving Ground In a Bronx Park, A Century of Testing Runners' Speed and Spirit|last=Bloom|first=Marc|date=October 12, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 8, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108190350/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/sports/for-new-york-cross-country-runners-a-century-of-testing-runners-speed-and-spirit.html|url-status=live}} It is the home course for Fordham University; Iona College; New York University; and Manhattan University, located across the street. The college course is {{convert|5|mi|km|spell=in}} long, crossing the Henry Hudson Parkway at one point.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/nyregion/runners-push-to-protect-a-hallowed-and-grueling-cross-country-course.html|title=Fighting for a Hallowed and Grueling Ground|last=Hu|first=Winnie|date=October 24, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 8, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108190446/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/nyregion/runners-push-to-protect-a-hallowed-and-grueling-cross-country-course.html|url-status=live}} This course was renovated in 1997 for almost $1 million. The 1968 and 1969 NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship was hosted by Manhattan University at the park. The events were attended by about 10,000 people, and the championship race was {{convert|6|mi|km}} long. In addition, Van Cortlandt is the venue for the annual IC4A or Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (ICAAAA) cross country championships.

On December 11, 1909, the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders (later of the Canadian Football League), played an exhibition game at Van Cortlandt Park. Sponsored by the New York Herald, the game garnered between 5,000{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=150uAAAAIBAJ&pg=7224%2C2470014|title=Hamilton Vanquished Ottawas in Exhibition Game at New York Saturday|date=December 13, 1909|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen|access-date=October 29, 2020|archive-date=October 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030022632/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=150uAAAAIBAJ&pg=7224%2C2470014|url-status=live}} and 30,000{{cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252014%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Herald%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Herald%25201909%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Herald%25201909%2520-%25206651.pdf|title=Fair Exposition, Says Sporting Writer|date=December 12, 1909|work=New York Herald|access-date=January 8, 2017|via=Fultonhistory.com}} spectators as Hamilton defeated Ottawa, 11–6. The Canadian Football League's influence in the U.S. did not change after the match, and no subsequent exhibition games were played in the city. However, it was notable for being the first elite Canadian football game to be played in the U.S.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUCto5BNvwsC&pg=PA66|title=The Canadian Football League: The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues (Revised Edition): The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues|last=O'Brien|first=S.|year=2005|isbn=978-1-4116-5860-8|page=66|publisher=Lulu.com |access-date=October 23, 2017}}

Before 1992, there was no private maintenance of the park. The earliest efforts for such a thing date to 1983, when an administrator was appointed to oversee both Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay Parks.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/24/nyregion/administrator-is-named-for-2-large-city-parks.html|title=Administrator Is Named for 2 Large City Parks|last=Carmody|first=Deirdre|date=December 24, 1983|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=January 10, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113020832/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/24/nyregion/administrator-is-named-for-2-large-city-parks.html|url-status=live}}

Though NYC Parks owns and operates the park, until 2019 maintenance was handled by two separate nonprofit organizations. Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy, a private nonprofit organization founded in 2009, managed educational and cultural programs, and maintains the recreational areas.{{Cite web |url=http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/history.html?showall=&start=1 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy – History |website=www.vcpark.org |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=March 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315230421/http://www.vcpark.org/the-park/history.html?showall=&start=1 |url-status=live }} The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, an independent nonprofit established in 1992,{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252024%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201978%2FRiverdale%2520NY%2520Press%25201978%252000888.pdf|title=Friends of Van Cortlandt Evaluate Initial Campaign|first=Tom|last=Pedulla|work=Riverdale Press|date=October 12, 1978|page=3|access-date=June 20, 2018|via=Fultonhistory.com}} provided educational programs and assists in the upkeep of the park's natural areas.{{Cite news |url=http://vancortlandt.org/about-friends-van-cortlandt-park/ |title=About-Friends Of Van Cortlandt Park |newspaper=Friends of Van Cortlandt Park |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=December 31, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231183254/http://vancortlandt.org/about-friends-van-cortlandt-park/ |url-status=live }} However, the two organizations have not had the same amount of funding as similar private organizations who manage parks in wealthier areas of the city. In 2013, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park only raised $416,612—as opposed to the Central Park Conservancy, which in 2016 had an $81 million endowment to maintain Central Park, or the Four Freedoms Parks Conservancy, which raised $8 million in 2011 alone for the construction of the Four Freedoms Park.{{Cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2016/05/what-donors-do-for-some-city-parks-047653?scrlybrkr=45f73108# |title=What Donors Do for (Some) City Parks |last=Laskow |first=Sarah |date=June 30, 2014 |newspaper=Politico PRO |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113064225/http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2016/05/what-donors-do-for-some-city-parks-047653?scrlybrkr=45f73108 |url-status=live }} In 2019, it was announced that the two organizations would merge that June. The combined organization, the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, would continue the programming and activities offered by the two organizations.{{Cite web|url=http://riverdalepress.com/stories/pending-parks-merger-prompts-departures,67948|title=Pending Parks Merger Prompts Departures|date=January 27, 2019|website=The Riverdale Press|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518161536/https://riverdalepress.com/stories/pending-parks-merger-prompts-departures,67948|url-status=live}}

{{maplink|frame=yes|coord={{coord|40.892|-73.884}}|frame-height=300|frame-width=300|zoom=13|type=point}}

Early in the park's history, there were calls for a direct route between Woodlawn and Riverdale. Property owners in Woodlawn were calling for such a route by 1893.{{sfn|Minutes|1893|p=128}} A preliminary plan for the road was submitted to NYC Parks in 1894.{{sfn|Minutes|1894|p=318, 357}} The Woodland Path, built in the late 1890s, was linked in 1902 to a new {{convert|2100|ft|m|adj=on}} path on the Van Cortlandt Golf Course's eastern perimeter that stretched east to Jerome Avenue.{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|p=77–78}} Another road was built in 1902, extending {{Convert|5960|ft|m}} north from West Gun Hill Road to the city line on the park's north side (later Mosholu Avenue; now Mosholu Parkway).{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|p=77–78}} It was completed and planted with trees in 1905.{{sfn|Annual Report|1905|p=96}} A third, {{convert|1,800|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}} road linked Jerome Avenue and East 237th Street to give Woodlawn residents direct access to Jerome Avenue Line streetcars.{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|p=77–78}} There were also preparations for a fourth road, which would run north from Mosholu Avenue and then fork into two roads before entering Yonkers.{{sfn|Annual Report|1902b|p=77}} This fourth road, a "driveway" called Rockwood Drive that ran from Mosholu Avenue to the city line at Yonkers, was completed in 1903. An additional spur from Rockwood Drive diverged from the intersection with Mosholu Avenue, terminating at the train station.{{sfn|Annual Report|1903|pp=70–71}} A pedestrian passage from Jerome Avenue to Gun Hill Road, opened in 1905, also allowed more direct access into the park from Jerome Avenue.{{sfn|Annual Report|1905|p=96}} These roads allowed park visitors to access more of the park via automobile, but also had the effect of separating existing amenities, such as the golf course and Parade Ground, from each other.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=92}}

By 1906, increased automotive traffic necessitated the widening of Grand Avenue, which adjoined the golf course.{{sfn|Annual Report|1906|p=93}} A year later in 1907, NYC Parks wanted permission to build a road from the Yonkers shuttle's Caryl Station to Broadway in order to alleviate traffic there.Proposed Improvements For the Year 1907, For Which Bonds Should Be Issued, Departmental Correspondence Received, Parks Department 1907, Papers of George B. McClellan, New York City Municipal Archives. In addition, Rockwood Drive, needed to be rebuilt.{{sfn|Annual Report|1907|p=89}} There was also a third proposal to pave a trail along the Old Croton aqueduct, which had already received a coating of fill from the Jerome Park Reservoir five years beforehand. The New York City Board of Estimate received a proposal to connect Manhattan's Riverside Drive to the park in 1909, providing a direct route to the Upper West Side along what is now the Henry Hudson Parkway."For New Auto Highway", Bronx Home News, September 30, 1909, p. 1 No new roads were built until 1929.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=82}} In the NYC Parks annual report for 1912, it was noted that the park's roads "stood the strain well," but that constant maintenance was needed to keep the roads in good shape.{{sfn|Annual Report|1912b|p=140}}

In 1929, Bronx Borough President Harry Bruckner put forth plans for the Grand Concourse to be extended through the park as part of a proposed parkway system.{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/03/31/95899312.pdf |title=BRUCKNER VISIONS 'FINEST DRIVEWAY'; Landscaping a Major Part of Concourse Extension Plan, He Shows. All Land Is in Park Area. Provide Promenade for Pedestrians |date=March 31, 1929 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 15, 2017 }}{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/03/30/95896992.pdf |title=BRUCKNER DEFENDS CONCOURSE PROJECT; Finds Critics Unduly Alarmed on Proposal for Van Cortlandt Road. |date=March 30, 1929 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 15, 2017 }} The extension would go under Van Cortlandt Avenue, Jerome Avenue, and Gun Hill Road, going around Mosholu Avenue before taking the route of the Old Croton Aqueduct until it reached East 233rd Street. It would then turn northwest along Mosholu Avenue, crossing Tibbetts Brook and the Putnam Division before ending at the Saw Mill River Parkway.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=86}} There was pushback from the New York Park Association, the Regional Plan of New York, environmentalists, city planners, and other figures such as former senator Nathan Straus, Jr. These parties' opinions on the proposed extension ranged from rerouting it elsewhere to canceling it completely."Former Senator Straus Terms Extension of Concourse Through Park 'Ill-Considered'", Bronx Home News, March 17, 1929, p. 4"Civic and Art Bodies Protest Use of Park Land for Concourse Extension", Bronx Home News, March 20, 1929, p. 1 The New York State Legislature passed a law that would allow the Grand Concourse to be extended through the park."Bill Providing Use of Park Land in Plan To Extend Concourse South Wins Official Favor," Bronx Home News, March 8, 1929, p. 1 Following this, there were calls for Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to veto the bill.{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/03/29/95896345.pdf |title=PROTEST EXTENSION OF STREET IN PARK; Organizations Ask Roosevelt to Defer Approval of Bill for Van Cortlandt Roadway. PUBLIC HEARING SOUGHT Regional Plan Says Grand Concourse Project Would Sacrifice 50 Acres—Cost Assailed. |date=March 29, 1929 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 15, 2017 }}{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/03/31/95897905.pdf |title=STRAUS URGES VETO OF CONCOURSE BILL; On Behalf of Park Body, He Tells Governor Project of Bruckner Is 'Invasion.' SUGGESTS ALTERNATE PLAN Link to Jerome Avenue Instead of Road Through Van Cortlandt Park Is Called Cheaper. Favors Jerome Avenue Link. See No Regard for Park. Wants Park Department to Act. STRAUS URGES VETO OF CONCOURSE BILL |date=March 31, 1929 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 15, 2017 }} Roosevelt vetoed the bill on April 17, 1929."Governor Kills Measure for Extension of Concourse Through Van Cortlandt Park", Bronx Home News, April 17, 1929, p. 1 However, there were some influential supporters of the bill, including the Bronx Board of Trade and the Bronx Chamber of Commerce."Governor Kills Measure", Bronx Home News, April 17, 1929, p. 1 In 1931 they managed to get the extension built, albeit with a reduction in width from {{Convert|182|to|80|ft|m}}.Thomas J. Donlan to John P. O'Brien, January 16, 1933, Departmental Correspondence Received, Parks, Bronx, Papers of John P. O'Brien, New York City Municipal Archives.

By 1934, there was a large system of interconnected bridle paths along trails and park roads. One bridle path ran close by to the lake, intersecting with Mosholu Avenue, before looping around the Parade Ground and diverging in the Northwest Woods. The Van Cortlandt Golf Course also had trails, as did the Old Croton Aqueduct and near Jerome Avenue and Holly Lane.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=80}} However, as the primary roads through the park such as Jerome, Grand, and Mosholu Avenues were constantly maintained and upgraded, secondary roads fell into a state of neglect. One such road was Rockwood Drive, which was closed in 1936 and became a bridle path.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|pp=92, 106}}

File:Mosholu Parkway overpass at the Mosholu Parkway interchange, looking northeast. This is the last bridge on the Henry Hudson Parkway and 0.5 mile from its terminus at the Westchester HAER NY-334-94.tif

Highway construction in the mid-1930s further altered the park.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=100}} The first of these proposals was the Grand Concourse Extension, later the Mosholu Parkway Extension, which was already being paved in 1934, when Robert Moses became Parks Commissioner."New Bronx and Westchester Traffic Link", Bronx Home News, January 22, 1934, p. 1.

Moses immediately started planning for the Henry Hudson Parkway, which was originally envisioned as an extension of Riverside Drive.{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=534}} As proposed, the parkway would have only skirted the park's northwest corner in order to connect with the Saw Mill River Parkway in Westchester.{{sfn|Caro|1974|pp=342, 537–538}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=100}} However, due to that plan's high cost, the route was amended{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=100}} and the Henry Hudson Parkway became an extension of the West Side Elevated Highway, cutting straight through the park to intersect with the Saw Mill River Parkway.{{sfn|Caro|1974|pp=543–544}} Unlike the Concourse extension, the Henry Hudson Parkway was minimally opposed by the community, as it was widely seen as an improvement.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|pp=100–101}} Work on the parkway began in 1935."Work on Saw Mill River Parkway Bridge Extension Over Broadway to Begin Monday," Bronx Home News, March 30, 1935, p. 1

Simultaneously, work progressed on the Mosholu Parkway Extension, and Mosholu Avenue within the park was being modified so that it would be bisected by Henry Hudson Parkway. A bridge was constructed over the railroad in 1940, and a road linking the avenue and the new Mosholu Parkway was opened the next year.{{Cite news|title=TRAFFIC LINK FINISHED; Road Connects Mosholu Avenue and Henry Hudson Parkway |date=October 21, 1941|work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/10/21/99321242.pdf|access-date=September 16, 2017}} Mosholu Parkway was then extended to the Henry Hudson Parkway via a partial cloverleaf interchange built near the park's sole freshwater marsh.{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=544}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=101}} When biology teachers who used the marsh for their classes raised concerns about construction, an assistant to Moses said that the marsh would get a landscaping so that it looked like a series of lagoons surrounded by shrubbery.{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=544}}

World War II halted all highway construction. By the time the war ended, Moses had become a Construction Coordinator for the city, and in 1947, proposed the Major Deegan Expressway through the park.{{Cite news |title=HIGHWAY PROPOSED FOR VAN CORTLANDT; Moses Plan for All-Purpose Road Through Park Meets Opposition at Hearing ISAACS LEADS IN FIGHT Councilman Calls Suggested Connection to Major Deegan Expressway 'Scandalous'|date=June 12, 1947|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 16, 2017 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/06/12/119451868.pdf|issn=0362-4331}} Since community leaders had some objections to the proposal, Moses held a public hearing to discuss it.{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/06/27/87545242.pdf|title=HEARING IS URGED ON ROAD IN PARK; Association's Head Is Dubious About a General-Purpose Link in Van Cortlandt REQUEST GOES TO MOSES Cost of Landscaping Is Cited as a Chief Objection to the Proposal|date=June 27, 1947|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 16, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |date=July 1, 1947 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/07/01/88787548.pdf|title=TRUCKWAY IN PARK WILL BE DEBATED; Public Hearing in City Hall Tomorrow Scheduled for Van Cortlandt Project |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 16, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} Opponents of the plan stated that the expressway would carry heavy truck traffic, as opposed to the existing parkways, where trucks were banned.{{Cite news |title=ROADWAY FOR PARK ASSAILED, BACKED; City Planning Board Reserves Decision on All-Purpose Link in Van Cortlandt ACTION LIKELY IN 2 WEEKS Opponents Ask Delay in Choice of Routes – Advocates Deny Trucks Would Be a Peril |date=July 3, 1947|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 16, 2017 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/07/03/87774954.pdf|issn=0362-4331}} In response, Moses promised to place landscaping on the new expressway so it would fit with the park's character. This revised plan garnered the support of three prominent Bronx politicians.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=103}} The expressway itself was widely endorsed, but there were five proposed routings for the highway through Van Cortlandt Park, most of which called for using the old Putnam railroad's right-of-way.{{Cite news|date=July 17, 1947 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/07/17/87548980.pdf|title=CITY PLAN AGENCY BACKS PARK ROAD; Link in Van Cortlandt Area to Westchester Throughway Favored Unanimously DEEMED BEST OF 5 PLANS Favorable Action by Board of Estimate on Proposal Regarded as Certain|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 16, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} The city ultimately selected Moses's plan in 1947.{{Cite news |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/08/29/104332309.pdf|title=Aquarium Razing Stayed for Year As City Waits for U.S. To Rebuild It; Estimate Board Rescinds Its Appropriation of $64,000 Despite Park Association Head's Plea Against 'Phoney' Relic |date= August 29, 1947 |work= The New York Times |access-date= September 16, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=103}} The {{Convert|1|mi|km|adj=on}} link was projected to cost $30 million at the time ({{Inflation|index=US|value=30000000|start_year=1948|r=-6|fmt=eq}}). Environmentalists protested the plan after finding out that this construction would demolish {{Convert|32|acre|ha}} of the marsh. Eventually, all except {{Convert|7|acre|ha}} were preserved, with the remaining 7 acres set aside for the Van Cortlandt golf course (see {{Section link||Golf}}).{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/12/11/86759399.pdf|title=CITY WILDLIFE SAFE IN OLD HOMESTEAD; Shift in Golf Course to Spare Famed Sanctuary at Lake in Van Cortlandt Park 25 ACRES WILL BE INTACT Birds and Animals Have Only to Ignore Express Highway Cutting Through Area|date=December 11, 1948|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 20, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} The Major Deegan Expressway was finally opened through the park in 1955.{{sfn|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986|p=15}} The new expressway ran along the rights-of-way of Grand Avenue and Mosholu Avenue, causing these two roads to be demapped.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=103}}

Since then, there has not been much alteration to the park's roads. {{As of|2014}}, there are five pedestrian crossings over the Major Deegan Expressway, mostly in the northern section. A sixth bridge near 233rd Street was proposed in a 2009 feasibility study, However, in 2014, plans to build the $7.5 million pedestrian bridge were deferred due to a lack of money. The next year, the city announced its intent to begin building the bridge at a cost of $12 million.

File:Van Cortlandt Park equestrian path overpass, with former Putnam Railroad bridge in background, looking west. - Henry Hudson Parkway, Extending 11.2 miles from West 72nd Street to Bronx HAER NY-334-92.tif

The New York City & Northern Railroad (later the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad) was built in 1880, effectively separating the park site into two parts.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2014|p=8}} Its two stops in the Bronx were in the park itself, and at Kingsbridge to the south; after Kingsbridge, the railroad merged with the present-day Hudson Line of the Metro-North Railroad.{{Cite web |url=http://forgotten-ny.com/1999/05/the-ny-central-putnam-branch-in-the-bronx/ |title=THE NY CENTRAL PUTNAM BRANCH in the Bronx – Forgotten New York |website=forgotten-ny.com |date=May 3, 1999 |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=January 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101231848/http://forgotten-ny.com/1999/05/the-ny-central-putnam-branch-in-the-bronx/ |url-status=live }} The line had two tracks between the Hudson Line junction and the Van Cortlandt station, north of which the tracks merged into one.{{sfn|Gallo|Kramer|1981|pp=11–12, 55}} The company foreclosed in 1887, and the line went under the control of the New York and Northern Railroad Company.{{sfn|Gallo|Kramer|1981|pp=13–14}}

Beginning in 1888, another railroad, a {{Convert|2|mi|adj=on}} shuttle service operated by Yonkers Rapid Transit Railway, was built to connect Kingsbridge and Yonkers. It ran off the main New York and Putnam Railroad line immediately north of the Van Cortlandt station.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a|p=46}} There was an additional stop called Mosholu located in the northwest quadrant of the park site at Mosholu Avenue (now Mosholu Parkway). The Mosholu stop was designated as a request stop, wherein trains only stopped upon a passenger's request.{{sfn|Gallo|Kramer|1981|pp=13, 18}}{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|2007|p=33}}{{cite news|last1=Rodriguez|first1=Vicky|url=http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/lehman/depts/depts/langlit/tbj/02marapr/a5.pdf|access-date=January 14, 2017|title=WHAT'S A MOSHOLU? A Winding Stretch in the Bronx Has a Name with Native American Origins|work=The Bronx Journal|date=April 2002|page=A5|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116185305/http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/lehman/depts/depts/langlit/tbj/02marapr/a5.pdf|url-status=live}} A railroad crossing next to the Putnam Division's Van Cortlandt Station was replaced with an underground pedestrian passageway in 1904 to allow safe pedestrian travel in the park.{{sfn|Annual Report|1904|p=105}}

By 1942, the railroad was already seeing signs of decreased ridership: there were 600 daily riders on the Yonkers branch, down from 2,000 daily riders sixteen years prior. The Interstate Commerce Commission gave New York Central Railroad permission to abandon the branch on November 12, 1942.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=98}}{{sfn|Gallo|Kramer|1981|pp=29, 34}} Subsequently, riders filed a lawsuit to keep the line open, and the federal lawsuit was heard by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who ruled in favor of the railroad on June 21, 1943.{{caselaw source|case=PUBLIC SERVICE COM'N OF NEW YORK V. UNITED STATES, (S.D.N.Y. 1944) |justia=http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/56/351/1441140/}} Nine days later, the railroad abandoned the line. By December 1944, the rails were being removed.{{sfn|Gallo|Kramer|1981|p=51}} The main line also saw fewer riders as the years passed, and on March B, 1958, with daily ridership numbering between 400 and 500 commuters, the New York State Public Service Commission gave its approval for the railroad to stop passenger service on the line. The last day of service was June 1, 1958, and the station was abandoned, the line now only being used for freight.{{sfn|Gallo|Kramer|1981|pp=34, 36}} Conrail continued to operate the line for freight use, though by 1979 trains only ran twice a day, and hikers often utilized the underused train tracks.{{sfn|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b|p=114}}

File:Van Cortland Park-242nd Street station Track 1.jpg station]]

There are two nearby New York City Subway stations.{{NYCS const|map}} The eastern side of the park is served by Woodlawn ({{NYCS trains|Jerome}}), and the western side by 242nd Street ({{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh north}}).{{Cite NYCS map|neighborhood|Riverdale}} The 242nd Street station was part of the first subway line of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company,{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=515}} running along the current IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to City Hall{{cite book|title=Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917|date=1918|publisher=Law Printing|location=New York, N.Y.|last1=Walker|first1=James Blaine |url=https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrapid00walkgoog|access-date=November 6, 2016|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrapid00walkgoog/page/n202 162]–191}}{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/27/101400669.pdf|title=SUBWAY OPENING TO-DAY WITH SIMPLE CEREMONY; Exercises at One o'Clock; Public to Be Admitted at Seven. JOHN HAY MAY BE PRESENT Expected to Represent the Federal Government – President Roosevelt Sends Letter of Regret.|date=October 27, 1904|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 28, 2017|archive-date=August 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830224050/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/27/101400669.pdf|url-status=live}} and later South Ferry.{{cite news|title=Open Clark Street Line — New Route Doubles Subway Service Between the Two Boroughs|date=April 16, 1919|page=18|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/04/16/118144723.pdf|access-date=November 6, 2016|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217121449/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/04/16/118144723.pdf|url-status=live}} The station, serving as the line's northern terminal, opened in 1908.{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/08/02/106774632.pdf|title=Our First Subway Completed At Last — Opening of the Van Cortlandt Extension Finishes System Begun in 1900 — The Job Cost $60,000,000 — A Twenty-Mile Ride from Brooklyn to 242d Street for a Nickel Is Possible Now|date=August 2, 1908|page=10|access-date=November 6, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=April 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413004911/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/08/02/106774632.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Annual Report. 1908/09-1919/20. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112111474968;view=1up;seq=9 |via=HathiTrust|publisher=Interborough Rapid Transit Company|access-date=September 6, 2016}} The Woodlawn station was built later as part of the IRT Jerome Avenue Line, opening in April 1918 as the line's northern terminus.{{Cite web|title=Jerome Av. Line Ordered Opened.|work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/04/13/103192881.pdf|access-date=June 5, 2016}}

Bus service is provided by New York City Bus's Bx9, Bx10, Bx16, and Bx34 local routes and its BxM3 and BxM4 express routes. Bee-Line Bus System's 1, 2, 3, 4, 20, and 21 routes also provide service to Westchester.{{Cite NYC bus map|Bx}}

Van Cortlandt Park appears in the Nero Wolfe detective stories by Rex Stout. It is where the bodies of several murder victims are found – Joan Wellman in Murder by the Book (1951){{Cite book |title=Murder by the Book: A Nero Wolfe Story |last=Stout |first=Rex |chapter=2 |quote="She was run over by a car in Van Cortlandt Park 17 days ago, Friday evening, February 2nd." |date=1951 |publisher=Viking Press |isbn=9780140038064 |location=New York |oclc=976690185}} and Simon Jacobs in Plot It Yourself (1959).{{Cite book |title=Plot It Yourself; A Nero Wolfe Novel. |last=Stout |first=Rex |date=1959 |publisher=Viking Press |location=New York |chapter=8 |oclc=1389319 |quote="The body was found at two o'clock behind a bush in Van Courtlandt Park. It had been dragged across the grass from the road, so it had been probably taken there in a car."}} The park is also where the climactic scene of the 1944 novella Booby Trap takes place. The guilty Congressman Shattuck kills himself with a hand grenade after Nero Wolfe convinces him there is no chance of escaping justice.{{Cite book |title=Booby Trap |date=1944 |last=Stout |first=Rex |chapter=7 |quote='To Van Cortlandt Park,' Wolfe directed me from the rear seat.}}

In Sol Yurick's 1965 novel The Warriors, the meeting between New York street gangs called by Ismael Rivera, leader of the Delancey Thrones, takes place in Van Cortlandt Park.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I_MfLllXLmIC |title=The Warriors |last=Yurick |first=Sol |date=December 1, 2007 |publisher=Grove/Atlantic, Inc. |isbn=978-1-55584-889-7 |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417184928/https://books.google.com/books?id=I_MfLllXLmIC |url-status=live }} In the 1979 film adaptation of Yurick's novel, one of the gangs is called "The Van Cortlandt Rangers."{{Cite web |url=http://warriorsmovie.co.uk/gangs |title=The Warriors Gangs |date=February 17, 2015 |publisher=The Warriors Movie Site |access-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112012431/http://warriorsmovie.co.uk/gangs |url-status=live }}

The park is also the place of many happy memories of Horse Badorties, protagonist of William Kotzwinkle's 1974 book The Fan Man.{{Cite book |title=The Fan Man |last=Kotzwinkle |first=William |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd |isbn=978-0-14-015332-3}} In Philip Kaufman's 1979 film The Wanderers, a football game between The Wanderers and rivals the Del Bombers occurs at Van Cortlandt Park. However, none of the scenes were filmed in the Bronx.{{Cite web |url=http://www.scoutingny.com/the-new-york-city-filming-locations-of-the-warriors-ny-youve-changed/ |title=The New York City Filming Locations of The Warriors – Part 1 |date=May 20, 2013 |publisher=Scouting NY |access-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-date=December 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206221951/http://www.scoutingny.com/the-new-york-city-filming-locations-of-the-warriors-ny-youve-changed/ |url-status=live }} Van Cortlandt Park was referenced in José Rivera's play Marisol as a place where neo-Nazis burn homeless people alive in the apocalyptic world of the play.{{cite book |first=José |last=Rivera |title=Marisol |url=https://archive.org/details/marisol00rive |url-access=registration |year=1994 |publisher=Dramatists Play Service |isbn=978-0-8222-1374-1}}

{{clear}}

• List of NCAA Division I baseball venues
• Delaware Tribe of Indians

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4490annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1899.pdf |title=1899 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=December 31, 1899 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 11, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1899}} |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211051610/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4490annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1899.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4028annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_engineering_bureau_1900.pdf |title=1900 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1900 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1900}} |archive-date=February 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201234132/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4028annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_engineering_bureau_1900.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4071annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1901.pdf |title=1901 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1901 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1901}} |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118052848/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4071annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1901.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4299annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1902_part2.pdf |title=1902 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report (Part 2) |date=1902 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1902b}} |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116155658/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4299annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1902_part2.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4080annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1903.pdf |title=1903 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1903 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1903}} |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116155136/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4080annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1903.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4012annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1904.pdf |title=1904 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1904 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1904}} |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203013854/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4012annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1904.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4010annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1905.pdf |title=1905 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1905 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1905}} |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211045417/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4010annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1905.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4101annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1906.pdf |title=1906 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=December 31, 1906 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 11, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1906}} |archive-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211051419/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4101annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1906.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4491annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1907.pdf |title=1907 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=December 31, 1907 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 11, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1907}} |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116165515/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4491annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1907.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4076annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1909.pdf |title=1909 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1909 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1909}} |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116155236/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4076annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1909.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4027annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1911.pdf |title=1911 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |date=1911 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1911}} |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116154146/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4027annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1911.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4311annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1912_part2.pdf |title=1912 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report (Part 2) |date=1912 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 15, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1912b}} |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116170510/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4311annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1912_part2.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4310annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1914_part3.pdf |title=1914 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report (Part 3) |year=1914 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 11, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1914c}} |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113142101/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4310annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1914_part3.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79Q2AQAAMAAJ |title=1916 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report |publisher=New York City Parks Department |access-date=January 14, 2017 |date=1916 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1916}} |archive-date=February 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214215357/https://books.google.com/books?id=79Q2AQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners of the NYC Dept of Public Parks – Minutes and Documents: May 4, 1892 – April 26, 1893 |date=April 30, 1894 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201893_2.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Minutes|1893}} |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203172407/https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201893_2.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners of the NYC Dept of Public Parks – Minutes and Documents: May 1, 1893 – April 25, 1894 |date=April 30, 1894 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201894.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Minutes|1894}} |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203172420/https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201894.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners of the NYC Dept of Public Parks – Minutes and Documents: May 3, 1897 – April 28, 1898 |date=April 28, 1898 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201898.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Minutes|1898}} |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203172527/https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201898.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners of the NYC Dept of Public Parks – Minutes: January 4, 1917 – December 27, 1917 |date=December 27, 1917 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/49/Park%20Board%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20-%20December%2031%201917.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Minutes|1917}} |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203172938/https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/49/Park%20Board%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20-%20December%2031%201917.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite Power Broker}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wg1IAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR10 |title=Van Cortlandt Mansion: Erected 1748, Now in the Custody of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York |last=Ferris |first=Morris Patterson |year=1897 |publisher=De Vinne Press }}
• {{cite book |last1=Gallo |first1=Daniel |last2=Kramer |first2=Frederick |year=1981 |title=The Putnam division: New York Central's bygone route through Westchester County |edition=1st |publisher=Quadrant Press |location=New York, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-915276-29-5}}
• {{cite book|title=The Bronx|last=Gonzalez|first=Evelyn|date=2004|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50835-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVM4AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|access-date=January 8, 2017}}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/3945annual_report_bronx_dept_parks_1921.pdf |title=1921 Bronx Borough Parks Department Annual Report |last=Hennessy |first=Joseph P. |date=1921 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 11, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1921}} |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113142146/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/3945annual_report_bronx_dept_parks_1921.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/3958annual_report_bronx_dept_parks_1922.pdf |title=1922 Bronx Borough Parks Department Annual Report |last=Hennessy |first=Joseph P. |date=1922 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=January 11, 2017 |ref={{harvid|Annual Report|1922}} |archive-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221202530/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/3958annual_report_bronx_dept_parks_1922.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{cite enc-nyc2}}
• {{cite web |title=Native Americans |last=O'Hea Anderson |first=Marianne |date=June 1996 |publisher=Administrator's Office, Van Cortlandt & Pelham Bay Parks, City of New York Parks & Recreation |url=http://pelhambaypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Native-Americans.pdf |access-date=June 7, 2018 |archive-date=September 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902191217/http://pelhambaypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Native-Americans.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |title=Van Cortlandt Park, Borough of the Bronx: Restoration Master Plan, Part 1 |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/98_A.pdf |publisher=New York City Parks Department, Storch Associates |access-date=January 8, 2017 |date=1986 |ref={{harvid|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986a}} |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227051239/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/98_A.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{cite web |title=Van Cortlandt Park, Borough of the Bronx: Restoration Master Plan, Part 2 |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/98_B.pdf |publisher=New York City Parks Department, Storch Associates |access-date=January 8, 2017 |date=1986 |ref={{harvid|New York City Parks Department|Storch Associates|1986b}} |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227103233/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/98_B.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://vancortlandt.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Van_Cortlandt_Park_History.pdf |title=Van Cortlandt Park History |date=June 1986 |publisher=the Administrator's Office Van Cortlandt & Pelham Bay Parks, City of New York Parks & Recreation |access-date=January 9, 2017 |ref={{harvid|NYC Parks Administrator's Office|1986}} |archive-date=January 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104021258/http://vancortlandt.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Van_Cortlandt_Park_History.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/nycparksplanning/docs/vcp_master_plan_july17__2014 |title=Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan 2030 |date=July 15, 2014 |publisher=New York City Parks Department |access-date=January 6, 2017 |ref={{harvid|New York City Parks Department|2014}} |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107171238/https://issuu.com/nycparksplanning/docs/vcp_master_plan_july17__2014 |url-status=live }}
• {{cite web |title=Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground; Phase 1A Archaeological Investigation; Borough of the Bronx, New York |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1029.pdf |publisher=New York City Parks Department |access-date=January 14, 2017 |date=November 2007 |ref={{harvid|New York City Parks Department|2007}} |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227091229/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/1029.pdf |url-status=live }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://vancortlandt.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/VanCortlandtReport12-1-09.pdf |title=Van Cortlandt Park Woodland Trail Master Plan Prepared for The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park |date=December 2009 |publisher=New York-New Jersey Trail Conference |access-date=January 10, 2017 |ref={{harvid|New York-New Jersey Trail Conference|2009}} |archive-date=August 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826162834/http://vancortlandt.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/VanCortlandtReport12-1-09.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/history-Van-Cortlandt-Park/dp/B0007BZJDA |title=A history of Van Cortlandt Park |last=Ultan |first=Lloyd |publisher=Storch Associates |year=1983 |location=New York |access-date=January 9, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110160921/https://www.amazon.com/history-Van-Cortlandt-Park/dp/B0007BZJDA |url-status=live }}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{official website}}
• [http://vancortlandtparkalliance.org/ Van Cortlandt Park Alliance]
• [https://vancortlandt.org/friends/ Friends of Van Cortlandt Park]
• [http://www.vcpark.org/home Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy]

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Category:Nature centers in New York City

Category:Norwood, Bronx

Category:Parks in the Bronx

Category:Riverdale, Bronx

Category:Rugby union stadiums in New York City

Category:Soccer venues in New York City

Category:Softball venues in New York City

Category:Swimming venues in New York City

Category:Tennis venues in New York City

Category:Urban public parks

Category:Van Cortlandt family