Cortlandt Cemetery

I thought I’d recount some of it for this entry.The story of Van Cortlandt Park begins in 1699, when future NYC mayor Jacobus Van Cortlandt bought a large tract of the Frederick Philipse holdings in the northern Bronx. New York City obtained the land in 1888 and committed much of it to parkland.Van Cortlandt Park is marked by rocky outcroppings made mostly of gneiss, a metamorphic rock with a distinctive banded texture. Streaks of mica can be found in the rocks, as well as quartz. Van Cortlandt Park's Northwest Forest contains the park's older-growth trees, featuring hickories, beech, cherry birch, sweetgum, red maple, and of course, the incredibly tall and straight tulip trees. Fauna fans won't be disappointed either as owls, bats, chipmunks, woodchucks, large gypsy moths, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, and coyotes can all be found here.Buffalo (properly called bison, though I’ve never known why) were overhunted in western states in the frontier era, putting them in danger of extinction, Dr. William Hornaday of the Bronx Zoo acquired a few buffalo and bred them on the zoo grounds. By 1907, the Bronx herd outstripped the Zoo’s resources, so a few bulls and cows were transferred to Van Cortlandt Park, where they grazed the lawn. Later that year, they were sent to Oklahoma, where some of the buffalo are still descended from the Bronx specimens.The northern end of the #1 train is on an elevated rail above Broadway, the very same Broadway that originated at Bowling Green downtown and, as NYS Route 9, continues north to Route 11, a short distance from the Canadian border. This is one of my favorite stations in the city because it resembles a small-town rail station, with a crosstimbered station canopy. An elevated walkway takes passengers over Broadway and leaves them on the park side.Taking a park path east, you encounter a muddy trail that goes under a railroad overpass (I will get back to that later). If you follow the park roadway to the left, you encounter the Van Cortlandt Park Lakehouse,... (Splice Today)

She was 23. A recent graduate of the University of Connecticut, she was in Panama on an internship program. Erica had gone to Palenque to further explore Panama with a couple of her colleagues. While sitting at the shore, a wave came by and pulled her and some of her friends into the ocean. Though they were able to retrieve her body from the ocean and transport her to the nearest clinic, she was pronounced dead at 3 pm. She was born in Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow on Nov. 2, 1993 to Rosa Jarama and Marcelo Illescas. She is survived by both her parents and three brothers, Marcelo Jr., 32, John, 29, and Christian, 18, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins. As a lifelong Croton resident, Erica graduated from Croton-Harmon High School, Class of 2011. At UConn, she received her Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering in May 2017. Upon graduating, Erica had gone to Panama to work in a medical research facility, where she excelled in being the only one in her group to reproduce cells with a 100 percent survival rate. Erica had also been admitted to the Master’s degree program at the University of Connecticut, where she planned to attend in January 2018 following the completion of her internship in Panama. Her passing comes at a great loss to her family, friends, and community. Those closest to her will find comfort in remembering her witty sense of humor, patience and compassion. She never hesitated to lend a helping hand, and often put the needs of others before her own. For many of those who knew her, she was seen as the voice of reason, the one who’d give you an honest opinion and a hug when you needed it. Erica was strong willed and determined to make the most out of life through her education and hard work. She leaves behind a great void in all the lives she impacted and will be dearly missed. Her family will receive vistors Monday, Aug. 21 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Nardone Funeral Home at 414 Washington St., Peekskill, NY. Mass of Christia... (Putnam Daily Voice)