Little Red Lighthouse at Sunset, Then Mofongo in Washington Heights
The red tower under the bridge is the one from the 1942 picture book, and it is still standing because children wrote in when the Coast Guard tried to auction it off. Watch the sun drop behind the cliffs on the far bank, then climb east for plantain and pork.
Little Red Lighthouse to St Nicholas Avenue
🌇 Down the Footbridge to the Lighthouse
The footbridge at West 182nd Street crosses the Henry Hudson Parkway and lands you on the greenway, the bridge overhead and the river a few steps west. Turn south and the tower comes up in under ten minutes, red against gray steel, on the point of land that holds the bridge pier. It was built at Sandy Hook, moved here in 1921, and switched off in 1948. The park is posted open 6 AM to 1 AM, but the path goes black after dark, so bring a phone light.
🍲 Climb East for Mofongo
Retrace the footbridge and head east, twenty to twenty-five minutes uphill through the 180s to St Nicholas Avenue. La Casa Del Mofongo is a big room with a long bar, live music some nights, and hours that run to midnight Monday to Wednesday and to two or four in the morning later in the week. Order the mofongo with chicharrón, the plate the kitchen is named for, and sit down by eight with children. After nine the room gets louder and hookah smoke drifts across the bar.
🧭 Run It as One Evening
Take the A to 181 Street, walk west and follow the footbridge down. Around the winter solstice the sun is gone by 4:40 PM and the afterglow holds another half hour. Near the summer solstice there is still light at 8:30 PM, so check sunset for your date and be at the rail half an hour before sunset. The whole evening is a walk, with no ticket and no car. The climb east is twenty to twenty-five minutes uphill on sidewalk, in the dark, so wear shoes you can walk in.
