Tourism In Your Own Hometown

The Little Red Lighthouse

I’ve often felt like a tourist in my own hometown.

Now, thanks to a project I’ve been working on for the past few months, I feel as if I’ve finally hit my stride in exploring previously unknown (to me) parts of New York. (The project is under wraps for now.)

Most recently, while out for a jaunt in parts of northern Manhattan so seemingly remote as to feel like somewhere Upstate, I visited Jeffrey’s Hook Light. The 40-foot structure, upon which the book “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” was based, is the southernmost lighthouse on the Hudson River and the only one in Manhattan. It’s located in Fort Washington Park, at the foot of the George Washington Bridge.

The lighthouse was a good 20-minute walk from the nearest subway station via pedestrian overpass across the Henry Hudson Parkway and the railroad tracks. It doesn’t appear you can get there other than on foot or by bike as you make your way along the excursion path that follows the Hudson. I couldn’t help but marvel at the little gem Manhattan had to offer my occasionally too-cool-to-care attitude toward the city, glad that I had been compelled to visit and photograph this icon of children’s literature in (practically) my own backyard.

It’s nice to know that no matter where you go, chances are there’s always something new to discover.