No asphalt jungle: Bronx Zoo is shady oasis for animals, visitors amid N.Y. hustle and bustle

NEW YORK — One of the best-kept secrets in New York City is the delightful Bronx Zoo, located on Fordham Road at the Bronx River Parkway in the Bronx. The Bronx sits at the northernmost tip of the city — the only borough attached to the North American mainland. Getting there seems challenging to the uninitiated — but you can catch the bus at the corner of Madison Avenue and 54th Street and be there in about 30 minutes.

I learned about the bus from the Marriott Hotel concierge. She also gave me good directions, told me the cost — but did not tell me that the $5 had to be paid to the driver in quarters. On the way to the zoo the driver would not accept my $5 bill — but he had mercy on me and let me ride even though I had no quarters. Then he warned me to get quarters from the zoo before I got on the return bus.

I was unable to get quarters anywhere in the zoo — so I walked for a mile outside the zoo to a gas station with a food mart — and they gave me quarters for a $5 bill. (I advise getting a pouch of quarters before you leave your hotel.)

Because the Bronx has a reputation as a dangerous place where you could be mugged or stranded, zoo personnel encourage visitors to arrange for transportation with a car service. The only trouble is that a car service is very expensive — $107 one way — and not something the average tourist is likely to try.

(The Bronx is named for Swedish commercial sea captain Jonas Bronck, who was a pioneer settler in 1639.)

In a vast, forested space of 265 acres, where over 4,000 animals wander, the Bronx Zoo is considered the largest metropolitan zoo in America — and one of the best zoos in the world.

Operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society, it opened in 1899 — when there were still lots of trees left — with 843 animals. One of the first animals acquired was the American bison. Once numbering 50 million in North America, the numbers had been decimated — but by 1907 the Bronx Zoo was sending bison to several other American refuges — and the bison population rebounded.

The snow leopard was another early occupant as the zoo became the first to exhibit them anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. Today, the leopards are no longer endangered.

By the 1940s, the Bronx Zoo became the first zoo to phase out cages and exhibit animals in naturalistic habitats.

In 2006, the zoo served 1.9 million visitors from around the world. New York is hot and humid in the summer, but the trees provide coveted shady spots, making it easier to walk from one end to the other. I visited in June — but September or October would be better times to go.

(Next time, I want all eight of my grandkids to be with me, too!)