A Bronx Rite of Passage: Jump 110 Feet Into The Harlem River | Pound Ridge Real Estate

C-Rock is a new documentary about a pastime that, for kids in the northwest Bronx, is “like a bar mitzvah.” Except that it entails jumping dozens of feet off of rocky cliffs into the Harlem River, where that waterway meets Spuyten Duyvil Creek. (It got its name because Columbia University athletes painted a big C on the rock face.) Fellow teens and Circle Line patrons bear witness to these daring dives, while older men—always men—reminisce about their plunges, which are virtually synonymous with adolescence. Director Jordan Roth spoke to Curbed about discovering the tradition, embedding himself with its practitioners, and what it was like to take the leap himself. Also, read on to find out how you can see the whole documentary.

Curbed NY: How did you first find out about this practice, both past and present?
Roth: The summer before we shot, I read a fantastic piece in the Times by Sam Dolnick about the tradition. I thought there must already be a doc about it because it immediately struck me as so cinematic. I researched more and was captivated by the whole thing.

It’s summertime fun, but people do get hurt >>

CNY: Explain the “levels” of cliff-jumping, to those who don’t know—the names of the different ledges, and all the rest.

Roth: There are jumping spots of varying heights along the cliff going from 25 feet up to about 110. The spots have names that are taken pretty seriously—some of them passed down from older generations. Also, some of the names are kinda dirty. Balls is at about 35 feet. (Editor’s note: you learn from the film that at that height, jumpers have to cover their, well, you know.)

CNY: What were a few of the most bizarre things you learned as you started to follow and interview the cliff-jumpers? Basically some highlights—bad, good, wild, whatever—of the production process.

Roth: What’s probably most surprising for people first learning about all this is that it is actually a tradition and that it does go back generations. But what I discovered while interviewing and following the guys was that everyone knows each other. I tapped into a network people of different ages and they all seemed connected by this place. That was amazing to me.

[Photo via Flickr/jag9889.]

There were so many highlights while shooting and discovering C-Rock. There were philosophies and strategies to jumping. There were anecdotes from earlier in the summer or from 40 years ago. Like, one kid in the late 60s landed badly and got a bruise all along the side of his body. He told his parents he was smacked with a broomstick. I heard a lot about the quality of the river water. It’s thankfully not bad now, but it was. Kids tried to avoid the “shit line” on the surface of the water.

There were also so many funny moments for us while shooting. The kids yelled ridiculous and terrible things to get each other to jump. Just them lounging on the rock, reminiscing, could also be hilarious. The rock face is sort of a summer afternoon home for them. Some guys leave shoes there, tucked away, because they prefer to jump in shoes. They’re like the Lost Boys, but with trash talk.