Visiting the Marcus Garvey fire tower

The first time I saw the fire tower at Marcus Garvey Park* was on an urban hike with the Ramblers in 2012. The tower looked very cool, but it was disappointing to see the condition it was in. It was in this sad shape, of course, because New York quite shamefully spends more money on parks, infrastructure, etc. in neighborhoods that are white and/or well off.



However, since then, locals led a charge to get it restored. You can read about it here.

I recently stopped by the park to see it, but the tower itself, while beautifully renovated, was closed to climbers.



The parks department does offer regular visiting hours, though, where a ranger is present and the tower is open. So I took K with me on a visit to the top yesterday.



The above photo is facing towards Queens and Brooklyn. To the northwest, one can see the GW bridge. It's a nice view! They also let you ring the bell. (This might be one reason hours are restricted - otherwise, people could toll the bell any time.)

*This tower is also called the Mount Morris Fire Tower, because that's the name of the neighborhood. However, there is also a former firetower upstate on a hill called Mount Morris. These are two totally separate fire towers with no connection.