My uncle Jim repaired things underwater for the Army when he was overseas during World War Two. When he returned to his native Bronx, the engineer set about to straighten the Bronx River. The waterway weaved a meandering path from Westchester to the East River near Hunts Point in the South Bronx. If it weren't for the zig zagging and the flooding, the river was a perfect route for a modern parkway to be built along side of it. Enter uncle Jim and a team of backhoes and steam shovels to fill in the river's banks and make it go straight. Today most of us don't even know there is actually a river next to the Bronx River Parkway, but now old people can get to the slots at Empire City Casino in Yonkers pretty damn fast.