The Bronx is the northernmost of the five
boroughsNew York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It is also known as
Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of
New York StateNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to be incorporated. Located north of
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and
QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, and south of
Westchester CountyWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, the Bronx is the only borough that is located primarily on the
mainlandMainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
(a very small portion of Manhattan, the
Marble HillMarble Hill is the neighborhood which makes up the northernmost part of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Although it is politically part of Manhattan and New York County, because of the re-routing of the Harlem River, it is located on the North American mainland contiguous...
neighborhood, is physically located on the mainland, due to the rerouting of the Harlem River in 1897). The Bronx's population is 1,400,761 according to the 2010 United States Census. The borough has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km²), making it the fourth-largest in land area of the five boroughs, the fourth most populated, and the third-highest in
density of populationPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
.
The Bronx is divided by the
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
into a hillier section in the west, closer to Manhattan, and the flatter
East BronxThe East Bronx is that part of the New York City borough of the Bronx which lies east of the Bronx River; this roughly corresponds to the eastern half of the borough...
, closer to
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. The
West BronxThe West Bronx is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The neighborhood lies west of the Bronx River and roughly corresponds to the western half of the borough....
was annexed to New York City (then largely confined to Manhattan) in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. The Bronx first assumed a distinct legal identity when it became a borough of
Greater New YorkThe City of Greater New York was a term commonly used originally to refer to the expanded city created on January 1, 1898 by the incorporation into the city of Richmond County, Kings County, Queens County, and the eastern part of what is now called The Bronx...
in 1898. Bronx County, with the same boundaries as the borough, was separated from New York County (afterwards coextensive with the Borough of Manhattan) as of January 1, 1914. Although the Bronx is the third-most-densely-populated county in the U.S., about a quarter of its area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery,
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
,
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...
, the
New York Botanical Garden- See also :* Education in New York City* List of botanical gardens in the United States* List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City- External links :* official website** blog*...
and the
Bronx ZooThe Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
in the borough's north and center, on land deliberately reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed northwards and eastwards from Manhattan with the building of roads, bridges and railways.
The
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
was named for
Jonas BronckJonas Bronck was a Danish immigrant to the Dutch colony of New Netherland after whom the Bronx River, Bronx county, and the New York City borough of The Bronx are named. He married his Dutch wife, Teuntje Joriaens, on July 6, 1638, in the Nieuwe Kerk , Amsterdam.-Bronck's Land:Jonas Bronck’s...
, an early settler from
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
whose land bordered the river on the east. The borough of the Bronx was named for the river that was "Bronck's River". The indigenous
LenapeThe Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(Delaware)
American IndiansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
were progressively displaced after 1643 by settlers from the Netherlands and Great Britain. The Bronx received many Irish, German, Jewish and Italian immigrants as its once-rural population exploded between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. They were succeeded after 1945 by African Americans and
Hispanic AmericansHispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
from the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
basin — especially Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, but also from Jamaica. In recent years, this cultural mix has made the Bronx a wellspring of both Latin music and
hip hopHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
The Bronx contains one of the five poorest Congressional Districts in the U.S.,
the 16thNew York's 16th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in the Bronx. The district includes the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, East Tremont, Fordham, Hunts Point, Melrose, Highbridge, Morrisania, Mott Haven and University Heights. ...
, but its wide variety of neighborhoods also includes the affluent
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
and
Country ClubCountry Club is a neighborhood located in the East Bronx in New York City. It shares the 10465 ZIP code with Throggs Neck, although it is part of Pelham Bay. The neighborhood's boundaries are Pelham Bay Park to the north, Eastchester Bay to the east, Layton Avenue to the south, and the New England...
. The Bronx, particularly the
South BronxThe South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
, saw a sharp decline in population, livable housing, and the quality of life in the late 1960s and the 1970s, culminating in a wave of
arsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, but has shown some signs of revival in recent years.
History
For generations a rural area of small farms supplying the city markets, the Bronx grew into a railroad suburb in the late 19th century. Faster transportation allowed for rapid population growth in the late 19th century, involving the move from horse-drawn street cars to elevated railways to the subway system, which linked to Manhattan in 1904. The great majority lived in rented apartments. The demographic history of the Bronx in the 20th century may be divided into four periods: a boom during 1900–29, with a population growth by a factor of six from 200,000 in 1900 to 1.3 million in 1930. The
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and war years saw a slowing of growth. The 1950s were hard times, as the Bronx decayed 1950–79 from a predominantly middle-class to a predominantly lower-class area with high rates of crime and poverty. Finally the Bronx has enjoyed economic and demographic stabilization since 1980.
The South Bronx was for many years a manufacturing center, and in the early part of the 20th Century was noted as a center of piano manufacturing. In 1919, the Bronx was the site of 63 piano factories employing more than 5,000 workers.
At the end of World War I, the Bronx hosted the rather small 1918 World's Fair at 177th Street and DeVoe Avenue.
The Bronx underwent rapid growth after World War I. Extensions of the
New York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
contributed to the increase in population as thousands of immigrants flooded The Bronx, resulting in a major boom in residential construction. Among these groups, many Irish Americans, Italian Americans and especially Jewish Americans settled here. In addition,
FrenchFrench Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
,
GermanGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
, and
PolishA Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
immigrants moved into the borough. The
JewishJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
population also increased notably during this time. In 1937, according to Jewish organizations, 592,185 Jews lived in The
Bronx (43.9% of the borough's population), while only 45,000 Jews lived in the borough in 2002. Many
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s still stand in the Bronx, but most have been converted to other uses.
name="Remembrance">
Remembrance of Synagogues Past: The Lost Civilization of the Jewish South Bronx, by Seymour J. Perlin, Ed.D. (retrieved on August 10, 2008), citing population estimates in "The Jewish Community Study of New York: 2002", UJA [United Jewish Appeal] Federation of New York,
June 2004, and his own survey of synagogue sites.
In
ProhibitionProhibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
days (1920–33),
bootleggersRum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
and gangs were active in the Bronx.
IrishIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
,
ItalianAn Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
and
PolishA Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
gangs smuggled in most of the illegal whiskey.
After the 1930s, Irish Americans started moving further north, and German Americans followed suit in the 1940s, as did many Italian Americans in the 1950s and Jews in the 1960s. As the older generation retired, many moved to
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The migration has left an
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and
HispanicHispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
(mostly
Puerto RicanStateside Puerto Ricans are American citizens of Puerto Rican origin, including those who migrated from Puerto Rico to the United States and those who were born outside of Puerto Rico in the United States...
and
DominicanA Dominican American is any American who has origins in the Dominican Republic.Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 19th century, and New York City has had a Dominican community since the 1930s...
) population, along with some Caucasian communities in the far southeastern and northwestern parts of the county.
In the 1970s, the Bronx became identified with a high rate of poverty and unemployment, which was mainly a persistent problem in the South Bronx. Some property owners committed arson on their own properties for insurance claims as it was more lucrative to get insurance money than to refurbish or sell a building in a severely distressed area. These Bronx fires and urban decay would paint a face of New York City in the 1970s as a down-and-out city in a state of decline. Indeed, out of 289 census tracts in the Bronx borough, seven different tracts lost more than 97% of their buildings to fire and abandonment between 1970 and 1980; while another 44 different tracts had more than 50% of their buildings meet the same fate. However, starting in the 1990s, many burned-out and run-down tenements were replaced by single- and multifamily housing.
By 2000, the Bronx had a population of about 1.2 million, and its bridges, highways, and railroads were more heavily traveled than those of any other part of the United States.
Fighting decline
Starting in the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, the Bronx went into an era of sharp decline in the residents'
quality of lifeThe term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
. Historians and social scientists have put forward many factors. They include the theory (elaborated in
Robert CaroRobert Allan Caro is an American journalist and author known for his celebrated biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson...
's biography
The Power BrokerThe Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1974 biography of Robert Moses, "New York City's Master Builder", by Robert Caro...
) that
Robert MosesRobert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
'
Cross-Bronx ExpresswayThe Cross Bronx Expressway is a major expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It carries traffic on Interstate 95 through the city, and serves as a portion of Interstate 295 toward Long Island; a portion is also designated U.S...
destroyed existing residential neighborhoods. Another factor in the Bronx's decline may have been the development of high-rise housing projects. Yet another may have been a reduction in the real-estate listings and property-related financial services (such as mortgages or insurance policies) offered in some areas of the Bronx — a process known as
redliningRedlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a...
. Others have suggested a "
planned shrinkagePlanned shrinkage is a public policy, practiced most notably in the 1970s in New York City, of withdrawing essential city services from neighborhoods suffering from urban decay, crime, and poverty so that neighborhoods may be claimed by outside interests for new development...
" of municipal services, such as fire-fighting. There was also much debate as to whether
rent controlRent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
laws had made it less profitable (or more costly) for landlords to maintain existing buildings with their existing tenants than to abandon or destroy those buildings.
In the 1970s, the Bronx was plagued by a wave of arson. The burning of buildings was mostly in the
South BronxThe South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
and in
West FarmsWest Farms is a residential neighborhood in a west central part of The Bronx, New York City, also known as the northeast corner of the South Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6...
. The most common explanation of what occurred was that landlords decided to burn their low property-value buildings and take the insurance money as profit. After the fiery destruction of many buildings in the borough, the arsons slowed by the turn of the decade, but the after-effects were still felt into the 1990s.
Since the mid-1980s, some residential development has occurred in the Bronx, stimulated by the city's "Ten-Year Housing Plan" and community members working to rebuild the social, economic and environmental infrastructure by creating
affordable housingAffordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
. Groups affiliated with churches in the South Bronx erected the Nehemiah Homes with about 1,000 units. The grass roots organization Nos Quedamos' endeavor known as Melrose Commons began to rebuild areas in the South Bronx. The ripple effects have been felt borough-wide. The
IRT White Plains Road LineThe White Plains Road Line is a rapid transit line of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, serving the central Bronx. It is mostly elevated, and served both subway and elevated trains until 1952...
began to show an increase in riders. Chains such as
MarshallsMarshalls, Inc., is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 750 conventional stores, as well as larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls expanded into Canada in March 2011...
, Staples, and
TargetTarget Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
have opened stores in the Bronx.
More bank branches have opened in the Bronx as a whole (rising from 106 in 1997 to 149 in 2007), although not primarily in poor or minority neighborhoods, while the Bronx still has fewer branches per person than other boroughs.
Although not actually a city, in 1997, the Bronx was designated an
All America City by the
National Civic LeagueThe National Civic League is an American non-profit organization that advocates for transparency, effectiveness, and openness in local government...
, signifying its comeback from the decline of the 1970s. In 2006,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that "construction cranes have become the borough's new visual metaphor, replacing the window decals of the 1980s in which pictures of potted plants and drawn curtains were placed in the windows of abandoned buildings." The borough has experienced substantial new building construction since 2002. Between 2002 and June 2007, 33,687 new units of housing were built or were under way and $4.8 billion has been invested in new housing. In the first six months of 2007 alone total investment in new residential development was $965 million and 5,187 residential units were scheduled to be completed. Much of the new development is springing up in formerly vacant lots across the South Bronx.
Adjacent counties
- Westchester County
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
– north
- Queens County, New York (Queens)
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
– south
- New York County, New York (Manhattan)
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
– southwest
- Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
– west
Location and physical features
The Bronx is almost entirely situated on the North American mainland. The
Hudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
separates the Bronx on the west from
AlpineAlpine is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located northwest of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 1,849....
,
TenaflyTenafly is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 14,488. Tenafly is an affluent suburb of New York City....
and Englewood Cliffs in
Bergen County, New JerseyBergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
; the
Harlem RiverThe Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
separates it from the island of
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
to the southwest; the
East RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
separates it from
QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
to the southeast; and, to the east,
Long Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
separates it from
Nassau CountyNassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
in western Long Island. Directly north of the Bronx are (from west to east) the adjoining
Westchester CountyWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
communities of Yonkers,
Mount VernonMount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
, Pelham Manor and New Rochelle.
- (There is also a short southern land boundary with Marble Hill
Marble Hill is the neighborhood which makes up the northernmost part of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Although it is politically part of Manhattan and New York County, because of the re-routing of the Harlem River, it is located on the North American mainland contiguous...
in the Borough of Manhattan, over the filled-in former course of the Spuyten Duyvil CreekSpuyten Duyvil Creek is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.Spuyten...
. Marble Hill's postal ZIP codeZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
, telephonic Area Code and fire service, however, are shared with the Bronx and not Manhattan.)
The
New York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
maintains a
Map Rectifier facility that reconciles old maps of the Bronx (and elsewhere) with current
cartographyCartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
.
http://maps.nypl.org/warper/mapscans?field=title&query=bronx&show_warped=0
The
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
flows south from Westchester County through the borough, emptying into the East River; it is the only entirely
freshwaterFresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
river in New York City. A smaller river, the Hutchinson River (named after the religious leader
Anne HutchinsonAnne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...
, killed along its banks in 1641), passes through the East Bronx and empties into
Eastchester BayEastchester Bay is a protected body of water between City Island and the mainland Bronx, New York. Technically, it is a sound, not a bay, since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. The northern end connects via a narrow channel to Pelham Bay...
.
The Bronx also includes several small islands in the
East RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
and
Long Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, such as City Island and Hart Island. Although it is part of the Bronx,
Rikers IslandRikers Island is New York City's main jail complex, as well as the name of the island on which it sits, in the East River between Queens and the mainland Bronx, adjacent to the runways of LaGuardia Airport. The island itself is part of the borough of the Bronx, though it is included as part of...
in the East River, home to the large jail complex for the entire City, can be reached only by water, by air, or—since 1966—over the Francis Buono Bridge from Queens.
The Bronx's highest elevation 280 feet (85 m), is in the northwest corner, west of
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
and in the Chapel Farm area near the
Riverdale Country SchoolRiverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City. One of the most competitive private schools in the nation, it is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York.-History:Founded in 1907 by Dr...
. The opposite (southeastern) side of the Bronx has four large low peninsulas or "necks" of low-lying land that jut into the waters of the East River and were once
saltmarshA salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
: Hunt's Point, Clason's Point, Screvin's Neck and Throg's Neck. Further up the coastline,
Rodman's NeckRodman's Neck refers to a peninsula of land in the Bronx, New York jutting out into Long Island Sound.The southern third of the 'neck' is used as a firing range by the New York Police Department; the remaining wooded section is part of Pelham Bay Park...
lies between
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...
in the northeast and City Island.
† (New York City's last
freshwater marshA freshwater marsh is a marsh that contains fresh water. They are usually found near the mouths of rivers and are present in areas with low drainage. The Florida Everglades, the largest freshwater marsh in the United States, are an example of this type of marsh....
was in Van Cortlandt Park until displaced in the 1930s by the junction of the
MosholuThe Mosholu Parkway is a hybrid freeway-standard parkway and grade-level roadway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, constructed from 1935 to 1937 as part of the roadway network created under Robert Moses...
and
Henry Hudson ParkwayThe Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...
s.)
Almost 27%,15.4 square miles (40 km²) of the Bronx's total area is water, and the irregular shoreline extends for 75 square miles (194 km²).
Parks and open space
Although, in 2006, it was the third most densely populated county in the United States (after
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and
BrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
), about one-fifth of the Bronx's area, and one-quarter of its land area, is given over to park land: about 7000 acres (28.3 km²).
Woodlawn Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in New York City, sits on the western bank of the
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
near Yonkers. It opened in 1863, at a time when the Bronx was still considered a rural area.
The northern side of the borough includes the largest park in New York City -
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...
, which includes
Orchard BeachOrchard Beach is a public beach in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The beach is part of Pelham Bay Park and is situated on the western end of Long Island Sound...
- and the fourth largest,
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
, which is west of Woodlawn Cemetery and borders Yonkers.
Nearer the borough's center, and along the
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
, is
Bronx ParkBronx Park, laid out along the Bronx River in the Bronx, New York, is the home of the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Bicycle paths go northwest, north and east, along Mosholu Parkway, Bronx River Parkway and Pelham Parkway respectively...
. Its northern end houses the New York Botanical Gardens, which preserve the last patch of the original
hemlockThe word hemlock may refer to:*Hemlock, several poisonous plants in the Apiaceae family :**Hemlock , two species, one formerly used as a method of execution**Water Hemlock...
forest that once covered the entire city, and its southern end the
Bronx ZooThe Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
, the largest urban zoological gardens in the U.S.
Farther south is
Crotona ParkCrotona Park is a public park in the Bronx, New York City, United States. It covers or one-fifth of a square mile , including a 3.3 acre lake, the Bronx's largest swimming pool, and 28 species of trees...
, home to a 3.3 acres (1.3 ha) lake, 28 species of trees and a large swimming pool. The land for these parks, and many others, was bought by New York City in 1888, while land was still open and inexpensive, in anticipation of future needs and future pressures for development.
Some of the acquired land was set aside for the
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
and
Pelham ParkwayThe Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, with two main roadways , and two service roads. Like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the...
, the first of a series of
boulevardA Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
s and
parkwayThe term parkway has several distinct principal meanings and numerous synonyms around the world, for either a type of landscaped area or a type of road.Type of landscaped area:...
s (
thoroughfareA thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...
s lined with trees, vegetation and greenery). Later projects included the
Bronx River ParkwayThe Bronx River Parkway is a long parkway in downstate New York. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue near Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx neighborhood of Soundview...
, which developed a road while restoring the riverbank and reducing pollution,
Mosholu ParkwayThe Mosholu Parkway is a hybrid freeway-standard parkway and grade-level roadway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, constructed from 1935 to 1937 as part of the roadway network created under Robert Moses...
and the
Henry Hudson ParkwayThe Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...
.
Just south of
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
is the
Jerome Park ReservoirThe Jerome Park Reservoir is located in Jerome Park, a neighborhood in the North Bronx, New York City. It was built in 1906 to serve the Croton Aqueduct as part of the New York City water supply system....
, surrounded by 2 miles (3 km) of stone walls and bordering several small parks in the
Bedford ParkBedford Park is a residential neighborhood in the northwest Bronx between the New York Botanical Garden and Lehman College. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Mosholu Parkway to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, East 198th Street to the south, and Jerome Avenue...
neighborhood. The
reservoirA reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
was built in the 1890s on the site of the former
Jerome Park RacetrackJerome Park Racetrack was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility.-History:It opened in 1866 in the northwest part of Fordham, Westchester County , New York....
.
In 2006, a five-year, $220-million program of capital improvements and natural restoration in 70 Bronx parks was begun (financed by water and sewer revenues) as part of an agreement that allowed a water filtration plant under Van Cortlandt Park's
golf courseA golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
. One major focus is on opening more of the
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
's banks and restoring them to a natural state.
Wave HillWave Hill is a 28 acre estate, consisting of public gardens and a cultural center, in the Hudson Hill section of the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It is situated on the slopes overlooking the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades. Listed on the National Register of...
, the former estate of George W. Perkins — known for a historic house, gardens, changing site-specific art installations and concerts — overlooks the
New Jersey PalisadesThe Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson Palisades are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in northeastern New Jersey and southern New York in the United States. The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City approximately 20 mi to near...
from a promontory on the
HudsonThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
in
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
.
Neighborhoods and commercial districts
The number, locations and boundaries of the Bronx's neighborhoods (many of them sitting on the sites of 19th-century villages) have become unclear with time and successive waves of newcomers. In 2006, Manny Fernandez of
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote,
"According to a Department of City PlanningThe Department of City Planning is a governmental agency of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning...
map of the city's neighborhoods, the Bronx has 49. The map publisher Hagstrom identifies 69. The borough president, Adolfo Carrión Jr.Adolfo Carrión, Jr. is a Democratic politician of Puerto Rican descent from City Island, located in New York City, New York. He has served for six and a half years as the 12th Borough President of the Bronx, the Chief Executive of the Borough...
, says 61. The Mayor's Community Assistance Unit, in a listing of the borough's community boardsBronx Community Boards comprise twelve local units in the borough of The Bronx, which, like those in the other boroughs, play a role in the government of New York City.* Bronx Community Board 1* Bronx Community Board 2* Bronx Community Board 3...
, names 68. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, lists 44."
Notable Bronx neighborhoods include the
South BronxThe South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
, Little Italy on Arthur Avenue in the
BelmontBelmont is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the west Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Fordham Road to the north, Bronx Park to the east, East 183rd Street to the south, and the Third...
section, and
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
.
East Bronx
(
Bronx Community BoardBronx Community Boards comprise twelve local units in the borough of The Bronx, which, like those in the other boroughs, play a role in the government of New York City.* Bronx Community Board 1* Bronx Community Board 2* Bronx Community Board 3...
s 9
[south central], 10
[east], 11
[east central] and 12
[north central] )
East of the
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
, the borough is relatively flat, and includes four large low peninsulas, or 'necks,' of low-lying land which jut into the waters of the East River and were once saltmarsh: Hunts Point, Clason's Point, Screvin's Neck (Castle Hill Point) and
Throgs NeckThroggs Neck is a narrow spit of land in the southeastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It demarcates the passage between the East River , and Long Island Sound...
. The East Bronx has older tenement buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multifamily homes, as well as smaller and larger single family homes. It includes New York City's largest park:
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...
along the
WestchesterWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
-Bronx border.
Neighborhoods include: Clason's Point,
Harding ParkHarding Park is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the south central Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 9. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Lacombe Avenue to the north, Pugsley's Creek to the...
,
SoundviewSoundview is primarily a residential neighborhood geographically located in the South Central section of the Borough of The Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 9...
,
Castle HillCastle Hill is primarily a residential neighborhood geographically located in the South Central section of the borough of The Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 9...
,
ParkchesterParkchester is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the south central Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 9...
(under Board 9Bronx Community Board 9 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Castle Hill, Parkchester, Soundview, Bruckner, Harding Park, Bronx River, Clason Point and Unionport...
),
Throgs NeckThroggs Neck is a narrow spit of land in the southeastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It demarcates the passage between the East River , and Long Island Sound...
,
Country ClubCountry Club is a neighborhood located in the East Bronx in New York City. It shares the 10465 ZIP code with Throggs Neck, although it is part of Pelham Bay. The neighborhood's boundaries are Pelham Bay Park to the north, Eastchester Bay to the east, Layton Avenue to the south, and the New England...
,
City IslandCity Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...
,
Pelham BayPelham Bay is a small bay, between City Island and Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York.Technically, it is a sound, not a bay, since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. It connects to Eastchester Bay at the south, and opens onto Long Island Sound and City Island Harbor at the...
, Co-op City
(Board 10Bronx Community Board 10 is a local government unit of the New York City borough of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of City Island, Co-op City, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck and Westchester Square...
), Westchester Square, Van Nest,
Pelham ParkwayPelham Parkway is primarily a residential neighborhood geographically located in the center of the Bronx borough of New York City in the United States. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 11. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Pelham Parkway to the...
,
Morris ParkMorris Park is a neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City . The neighborhood is part of Community Board 11 in the East Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Pelham Parkway to the north, the Amtrak Northeast Corridor tracks to the east and south, and...
(Board 11Bronx Community Board 11 is a local government unit of the City of New York , which encompasses the neighborhoods of Allerton, Bronx Park East, Indian Village, Morris Park, Olinville, Pelham Gardens, Pelham Parkway, Van Nest and Westchester Heights in the borough of the Bronx...
),
WilliamsbridgeWilliamsbridge is a working class neighborhood geographically located in the northeast Bronx borough of New York City in the United States. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 12. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 222nd Street to the north, Boston...
,
EastchesterEastchester is a working class neighborhood in the northeast Bronx borough of New York City in the United States. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 12...
,
BaychesterBaychester is a working class neighborhood geographically located in the northeast Bronx borough of New York City in the United States. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 12. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 222nd Street to the north, the New...
,
EdenwaldEdenwald located in the northeast section of The Bronx, a borough of New York City, is the area north of Baychester, south of Wakefield, east of Bronxwood, and west of Boston Post Road and "the valley", a sub-neighborhood of Eastchester...
and
WakefieldWakefield is a working-class section of the northern borough of the Bronx in New York City, bounded by the New York city line with Westchester County or 243rd street to the north,and 222nd Street to the south, and the Bronx River, Bronx River Parkway and Metro-North Railroad tracks to the west...
(Board 12Bronx Community Board 12 is a local government unit of the New York City borough of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of Edenwald, Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn, Fish Bay, Eastchester, Olinville and Baychester....
).
City Island and Hart Island
(
Bronx Community Board 10Bronx Community Board 10 is a local government unit of the New York City borough of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of City Island, Co-op City, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck and Westchester Square...
)
City IslandCity Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...
is located east of
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...
in
Long Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, and is known for its seafood restaurants and waterfront private homes. City Island's single shopping street, City Island Avenue, is reminiscent of a small New England town. It is connected to
Rodman's NeckRodman's Neck refers to a peninsula of land in the Bronx, New York jutting out into Long Island Sound.The southern third of the 'neck' is used as a firing range by the New York Police Department; the remaining wooded section is part of Pelham Bay Park...
on the mainland by the
City Island BridgeThe City Island Bridge is a bridge in the New York City borough of the Bronx, connecting City Island and Rodman's Neck on the mainland. It is of stone and steel construction, and spans 950 ft . Construction was begun in 1899 and completed in 1901, at a cost of $200,000...
.
East of City Island is
Hart IslandHart Island, sometimes referred to as Hart's Island, is a small island in New York City at the western end of Long Island Sound. It is approximately a mile long and one quarter of a mile wide and is located to the northeast of City Island in the Pelham Islands group...
which is uninhabited and not open to the public. It once served as a prison and now houses New York City's
Potter's FieldA potter's field was an American term for a place for the burial of unknown or indigent people. The expression derives from the Bible, referring to a field used for the extraction of potter's clay, which was useless for agriculture but could be used as a burial site.-Origin:The term comes from...
or pauper's graveyard for unclaimed bodies.
West Bronx
(
Bronx Community BoardBronx Community Boards comprise twelve local units in the borough of The Bronx, which, like those in the other boroughs, play a role in the government of New York City.* Bronx Community Board 1* Bronx Community Board 2* Bronx Community Board 3...
s 1 to 8, progressing roughly from south to northwest)
The western parts of the Bronx are hillier and are dominated by a series of parallel ridges, running south to north. The West Bronx has older apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, multifamily homes in its lower income areas as well as larger single family homes in more affluent areas such as
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
and
FieldstonFieldston is a section of the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York City. It is bounded by Manhattan College Parkway to the south, Henry Hudson Parkway to the west, 250th Street to the north and Broadway to the east....
. It includes New York City's fourth largest park:
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
along the Westchester-Bronx border. The
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
, a wide boulevard, runs through it, north to south.
Northwestern Bronx
(
Bronx Community BoardBronx Community Boards comprise twelve local units in the borough of The Bronx, which, like those in the other boroughs, play a role in the government of New York City.* Bronx Community Board 1* Bronx Community Board 2* Bronx Community Board 3...
s 7
[between the BronxThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
and Harlem RiverThe Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
s] and 8
[facing the Hudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
] — plus part of Board 12)
Neighborhoods include: Fordham-Bedford,
Bedford ParkBedford Park is a residential neighborhood in the northwest Bronx between the New York Botanical Garden and Lehman College. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Mosholu Parkway to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, East 198th Street to the south, and Jerome Avenue...
,
NorwoodNorwood is a working class residential neighborhood in the northwest Bronx, New York City. As of the census of 2000, the seven census tracts that make up the neighborhood have a population of 40,748...
, Kingsbridge Heights
(Board 7Bronx Community Board 7 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, and University Heights...
),
KingsbridgeKingsbridge is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 8. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Goulden Avenue to the east, West 225th Street to the south, and Irwin...
,
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
(Board 8Bronx Community Board 8 is a local representative government unit of New York City. This area of , encompasses the neighborhoods of Fieldston, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Marble Hill is in Manhattan or New York County, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil and Van Cortlandt Village...
), and Woodlawn
(Board 12Bronx Community Board 12 is a local government unit of the New York City borough of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of Edenwald, Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn, Fish Bay, Eastchester, Olinville and Baychester....
).
(
Marble Hill, ManhattanMarble Hill is the neighborhood which makes up the northernmost part of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Although it is politically part of Manhattan and New York County, because of the re-routing of the Harlem River, it is located on the North American mainland contiguous...
is now connected by land to the Bronx rather than Manhattan and is served by
Bronx Community Board 8Bronx Community Board 8 is a local representative government unit of New York City. This area of , encompasses the neighborhoods of Fieldston, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Marble Hill is in Manhattan or New York County, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil and Van Cortlandt Village...
.)
South Bronx
(
Bronx Community BoardBronx Community Boards comprise twelve local units in the borough of The Bronx, which, like those in the other boroughs, play a role in the government of New York City.* Bronx Community Board 1* Bronx Community Board 2* Bronx Community Board 3...
s 1 to 6 plus part of Board 7 ——
progressing northwards, Boards 2, 3 and 6 border the Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
from its mouth to Bronx ParkBronx Park, laid out along the Bronx River in the Bronx, New York, is the home of the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Bicycle paths go northwest, north and east, along Mosholu Parkway, Bronx River Parkway and Pelham Parkway respectively...
, while 1, 4, 5 and 7 face Manhattan across the Harlem RiverThe Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
)
Like other neighborhoods in New York City, the South Bronx has no official boundaries. The name has been used to represent poverty in the Bronx and applied to progressively more northern places so that by the 2000s
Fordham RoadFordham Road is a major street in The Bronx borough of New York City. It runs east-west from the Harlem River to Bronx Park.This street runs through the neighborhood of University Heights, divides Fordham from Fordham-Bedford and finally runs along the northern border of Belmont...
was often used as a northern limit. The
Bronx RiverThe Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
more consistently forms an eastern boundary. The South Bronx has many high-density apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multi-unit homes. The South Bronx is home to the
Bronx County CourthouseThe Bronx County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located in the Bronx in New York City. It was designed in 1931 and built between 1931 and 1934. It is a nine story limestone building on a rusticated granite base in the Classical Revival style. It has four identical sides, an interior...
, Borough Hall, and other government buildings, as well as
Yankee StadiumYankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
. The Cross Bronx Expressway bisects it, east to west. The South Bronx has some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, as well as very high crime areas.
Neighborhoods include:
The HubThe Hub is the retail heart of the South Bronx, located where four roads converge: East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily located inside the neighborhood of Melrose but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven. The Hub has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx."...
(a retail district at Third Avenue and East 149th Street),
Port MorrisPort Morris is a neighborhood in the southwest Bronx, New York City. It is a heavily industrial neighborhood. Its boundaries are the Major Deegan Expressway and Bruckner Expressway to the north, East 149th Street to the east, the East River to the southeast, the Bronx Kill south, and the Harlem...
, Mott Haven
(Board 1Bronx Community Board 1 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris in the borough of the Bronx...
),
MelroseMelrose is primarily a residential neighborhood geographically located in the SouthWestern section of the borough of The Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 1. Its boundaries, starting from the North and moving clockwise are: East 161st Street to the North,...
(Board 1Bronx Community Board 1 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris in the borough of the Bronx...
& Board 3Bronx Community Board 3 is a local government unit in the New York City borough, of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of Crotona Park East, Claremont, Concourse Village, Melrose, and Morrisania...
), Morrisania,
East MorrisaniaCrotona Park East, also known as Crotona , is a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the southwest Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 3...
[also known as Crotona Park East]
(Board 3Bronx Community Board 3 is a local government unit in the New York City borough, of the Bronx, encompassing the neighborhoods of Crotona Park East, Claremont, Concourse Village, Melrose, and Morrisania...
),
Hunts PointHunts Point is a low-income neighborhood located on a peninsula in the South Bronx in New York City. It is the location of one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 2. Its boundaries are the Bruckner Expressway to the west and...
,
LongwoodLongwood is a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the southwest Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 2. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 167th Street to the north, the Bronx River & the Bruckner...
(Board 2Bronx Community Board 2 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Hunts Point and Longwood in the borough of the Bronx...
),
HighbridgeHighbridge is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the Southwestern section of The Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 4. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Jerome Avenue to...
, Concourse
(Board 4Bronx Community Board 4 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Highbridge and Concourse. It is delimited by Webster Avenue and Park Avenue to the east, Washington Bridge and the Cross Bronx Expressway to the north, the Harlem River to the west, and...
),
West FarmsWest Farms is a residential neighborhood in a west central part of The Bronx, New York City, also known as the northeast corner of the South Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6...
,
BelmontBelmont is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the west Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Fordham Road to the north, Bronx Park to the east, East 183rd Street to the south, and the Third...
,
East TremontEast Tremont is a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the west Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 183rd Street to the north, Crotona Avenue to the east, the...
(Board 6Bronx Community Board 6 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Bathgate, Belmont, East Tremont, and West Farms...
),
TremontTremont is a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the west Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East 183rd Street to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, the...
,
Morris HeightsMorris Heights is a low income residential neighborhood located in the west Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: West Burnside Avenue to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the...
(Board 5Bronx Community Board 5 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Fordham, Morris Heights, Mount Hope, and University Heights...
),
University HeightsUniversity Heights is a residential neighborhood of the West Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5 and Bronx Community Board 7. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: West 190th Street to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, West...
, and
FordhamFordham is a neighborhood of New York City, United States, located in the West Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. It is bordered by Fordham Road to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, East 183rd Street to the south, and Jerome Avenue to the west...
(Board 5Bronx Community Board 5 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Fordham, Morris Heights, Mount Hope, and University Heights...
& Board 7Bronx Community Board 7 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, and University Heights...
).
Shopping districts
Prominent shopping areas in the Bronx include
Fordham RoadFordham Road is a major street in The Bronx borough of New York City. It runs east-west from the Harlem River to Bronx Park.This street runs through the neighborhood of University Heights, divides Fordham from Fordham-Bedford and finally runs along the northern border of Belmont...
,
Bay PlazaBay Plaza Shopping Center is a shopping center adjacent to Co-op City, in the Bronx, New York. In addition to various department stores and shops, such as JCPenney, Staples Inc., Kmart and Old Navy, it has a multiplex movie theater, several restaurants, a fitness club, and some office space...
(in Co-op City),
The HubThe Hub is the retail heart of the South Bronx, located where four roads converge: East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily located inside the neighborhood of Melrose but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven. The Hub has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx."...
,
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
/
KingsbridgeKingsbridge is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 8. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Goulden Avenue to the east, West 225th Street to the south, and Irwin...
Shopping center and Bruckner Boulevard. Shops are also concentrated on streets aligned underneath elevated railroad lines, including Westchester Avenue, White Plains Road,
Jerome AvenueJerome Avenue is one of the longest thoroughfares in the New York City borough of the Bronx, New York, United States. The road is 5.6 miles long and stretches from Highbridge general area to Woodlawn. Both of these termini are with the Major Deegan Expressway which runs parallel to the west. Most...
, Southern Boulevard and
BroadwayBroadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
. The
Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal MarketThe Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market is a shopping center in The Bronx, New York. The center encompasses less than one million square feet of retail space, built on a site that formerly held the Bronx Terminal Market, a wholesale fruit and vegetable market as well as the former Bronx House...
contains several big-box stores, which opened in 2009 south of Yankee Stadium.
The Bronx Hub
The Hub–Third Avenue Business Improvement District (B.I.D.) is the retail heart of the
South BronxThe South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
, located where four roads converge: East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily located inside the neighborhood of
MelroseMelrose is primarily a residential neighborhood geographically located in the SouthWestern section of the borough of The Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 1. Its boundaries, starting from the North and moving clockwise are: East 161st Street to the North,...
but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven.
The HubThe Hub is the retail heart of the South Bronx, located where four roads converge: East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily located inside the neighborhood of Melrose but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven. The Hub has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx."...
has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx." It is the site of both maximum traffic and architectural density. In configuration, it resembles a miniature
Times SquareTimes Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, a spatial "bow-tie" created by the geometry of the street. The area is part of
Bronx Community Board 1Bronx Community Board 1 is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris in the borough of the Bronx...
.
Transportation
Roads and streets
The Bronx street grid is irregular. Like the northernmost part of
upper ManhattanUpper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary may be defined anywhere between 59th Street and 155th Street. Between these two extremes lies the most common definitions of Upper Manhattan as Manhattan above 96th Street...
, the
West BronxThe West Bronx is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The neighborhood lies west of the Bronx River and roughly corresponds to the western half of the borough....
's hilly terrain leaves a relatively free-style street grid. Much of the West Bronx's street numbering carries over from upper Manhattan, but does not match it exactly; East 132nd Street is the lowest numbered street in the Bronx. This dates from the mid-19th century when the southwestern area of
Westchester CountyWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
west of the Bronx River, was incorporated into New York City and known as the Northside.
The
East BronxThe East Bronx is that part of the New York City borough of the Bronx which lies east of the Bronx River; this roughly corresponds to the eastern half of the borough...
is considerably flatter, and the street layout tends to be more regular. Only the
WakefieldWakefield is a working-class section of the northern borough of the Bronx in New York City, bounded by the New York city line with Westchester County or 243rd street to the north,and 222nd Street to the south, and the Bronx River, Bronx River Parkway and Metro-North Railroad tracks to the west...
neighborhood picks up the street numbering, albeit at a disalignment due to Tremont Avenue's layout. At the same diagonal latitude, West 262nd Street in Riverdale matches East 237th Street in Wakefield.
Three major north-south thoroughfares run between Manhattan and the Bronx: Third Avenue,
Park AvenuePark Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
, and
BroadwayBroadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
. Other major north-south roads include the
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
,
Jerome AvenueJerome Avenue is one of the longest thoroughfares in the New York City borough of the Bronx, New York, United States. The road is 5.6 miles long and stretches from Highbridge general area to Woodlawn. Both of these termini are with the Major Deegan Expressway which runs parallel to the west. Most...
, Sedgwick Avenue,
Webster AvenueWebster Avenue is one of the longest thoroughfares in the Bronx. It stretches for 5.8 miles from Melrose to Woodlawn . The road starts at an intersection with Melrose Avenue, East 165th Street, Brook Avenue and Park Avenue in Melrose, ending at Nereid Avenue and East 240th Street in the town of...
, and
White Plains RoadWhite Plains Road is a major thoroughfare which runs the length of the Bronx, New York, from Castle Hill and Clason Point in the south to Wakefield in the north, where it crosses the city line and becomes West 1st Street of Mount Vernon, New York. The Bronx River Parkway lies to its west and...
. Major east-west thoroughfares include
Mosholu ParkwayThe Mosholu Parkway is a hybrid freeway-standard parkway and grade-level roadway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, constructed from 1935 to 1937 as part of the roadway network created under Robert Moses...
, Gun Hill Road,
Fordham RoadFordham Road is a major street in The Bronx borough of New York City. It runs east-west from the Harlem River to Bronx Park.This street runs through the neighborhood of University Heights, divides Fordham from Fordham-Bedford and finally runs along the northern border of Belmont...
,
Pelham ParkwayThe Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, with two main roadways , and two service roads. Like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the...
, and Tremont Avenue.
Most east-west streets are prefixed with either
East or
West, to indicate on which side of Jerome Avenue they lie (continuing the similar system in Manhattan, which uses
Fifth AvenueFifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among...
as the dividing line).
The historic
Boston Post RoadThe Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States.The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York...
, part of the long pre-revolutionary road connecting
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
with other northeastern cities, runs east-west in some places, and sometimes northeast-southwest.
MosholuThe Mosholu Parkway is a hybrid freeway-standard parkway and grade-level roadway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, constructed from 1935 to 1937 as part of the roadway network created under Robert Moses...
and
Pelham ParkwayThe Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, with two main roadways , and two service roads. Like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the...
s, with
Bronx ParkBronx Park, laid out along the Bronx River in the Bronx, New York, is the home of the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Bicycle paths go northwest, north and east, along Mosholu Parkway, Bronx River Parkway and Pelham Parkway respectively...
between them,
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
to the west and
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park, located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of The Bronx and extending partially into Westchester County, is at the largest public park in New York City. The section of the park within New York City's borders is more than three times the size of Manhattan's...
to the east, are also linked by
bridle pathA bridle path is a thoroughfare originally made for horses, but which these days serves a wide range of interests, including hikers, walkers and cyclists as well as equestrians. The laws relating to permissions vary from country to country...
s.
Approximately 61.6% of all Bronx households do not have access to a car. Citywide, the percentage of autoless households is 55%.
Highways
Several major limited access highways traverse the Bronx. These include:
- the Bronx River Parkway
The Bronx River Parkway is a long parkway in downstate New York. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Avenue near Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx neighborhood of Soundview...
- the Bruckner Expressway
The Bruckner Expressway is a freeway in The Bronx. It carries Interstate 278 and Interstate 95 from the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to the south end of the New England Thruway at the Pelham Parkway interchange....
(I-278Interstate 278 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York, United States. The road runs from U.S. Route 1/9 in Linden, New Jersey to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York City borough of the Bronx...
/I-95Interstate 95 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Canada – United States border near Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of New York, I-95 extends from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to the Connecticut state line at Port Chester...
)
- the Cross-Bronx Expressway
The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It carries traffic on Interstate 95 through the city, and serves as a portion of Interstate 295 toward Long Island; a portion is also designated U.S...
(I-95Interstate 95 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Canada – United States border near Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of New York, I-95 extends from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to the Connecticut state line at Port Chester...
/I-295Interstate 295 is a connector route within New York City. Measuring 9.10 miles in length, I-295 travels from the Bruckner Interchange, a junction with I-95/I-278/I-678 in The Bronx, across the toll Throgs Neck Bridge to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens...
)
- the New England Thruway
The New England Thruway is a portion of the U.S. Interstate highway system and of the New York State Thruway, within and operated by the New York State Thruway Authority, linking New York City with New England, specifically with southwestern Connecticut...
(I-95Interstate 95 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Canada – United States border near Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of New York, I-95 extends from the George Washington Bridge in New York City to the Connecticut state line at Port Chester...
)
- the Henry Hudson Parkway
The Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...
(NY-9ANew York State Route 9A is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City, New York, United States. Its southern terminus is at the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it intersects with both Interstate 478 and FDR Drive. The northern terminus of...
)
- the Hutchinson River Parkway
The Hutchinson River Parkway is a north–south parkway in southern New York, United States. It extends for from the massive Bruckner Interchange in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx to the New York – Connecticut state line at Rye Brook...
- the Major Deegan Expressway (New York Thruway) (I-87)
Bridges and tunnels
Many bridges and tunnels connect the Bronx to Manhattan and
QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
(3). These include, from west to east:
To Manhattan: the
Spuyten Duyvil BridgeThe Spuyten Duyvil Bridge is a swing bridge that carries Amtrak's Empire Corridor line across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, in New York City. The bridge is located at the northern tip of Manhattan where the Spuyten Duyvil Creek meets the Hudson River, approximately to...
, the
Henry Hudson BridgeThe Henry Hudson Bridge is a steel arch toll bridge in New York City across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. It connects the Spuyten Duyvil section of The Bronx with the northern end of Manhattan to the south. On the Manhattan side, it touches Inwood Hill Park. The bridge was designed by David B. Steinman...
, the
Broadway Bridge, the
University Heights Bridge, the
Washington BridgeThe Washington Bridge carries six lanes of traffic over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, connecting 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan to University Avenue in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx...
, the
Alexander Hamilton BridgeThe Alexander Hamilton Bridge carries eight lanes of traffic over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, connecting the Trans-Manhattan Expressway in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and the Cross-Bronx Expressway, as part of Interstate 95...
, the
High BridgeThe High Bridge is a steel arch bridge, with a height of almost 140 feet over the Harlem River, connecting the New York City boroughs of The Bronx and Manhattan...
, the Concourse Tunnel, the
Macombs Dam BridgeMacombs Dam Bridge is a swing bridge that spans the Harlem River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx near Yankee Stadium. It is the third-oldest bridge in New York City and was designated an official landmark in January 1992...
, the
145th Street BridgeThe 145th Street Bridge, located in New York City, USA, is a four-lane swing bridge that crosses the Harlem River, connecting 145th Street and Lenox Avenue in Manhattan with East 149th Street and River Avenue in the Bronx. It once carried northbound New York State Route 22 and New York State Route...
, the
149th Street TunnelThe 149th Street Tunnel carries the train of the New York City Subway under the Harlem River between the boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx. It runs directly beneath the 145th Street Bridge...
, the
Madison Avenue BridgeThe Madison Avenue Bridge crosses the Harlem River connecting Madison Avenue in Manhattan with East 138th Street in the Bronx in New York City. The bridge is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation. It was designed by Alfred P...
, the Park Avenue Bridge, the
Lexington Avenue TunnelThe Lexington Avenue Tunnel carries the 4, 5, 6 and <6> trains of the New York City Subway under the Harlem River between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City. The tunnel carries the IRT Lexington Avenue Line from Manhattan to the northern terminus in the Bronx at the...
, the
Third Avenue Bridge (southbound traffic only), and the
Willis Avenue BridgeThe Willis Avenue Bridge is a swing bridge that carries road traffic northbound over the Harlem River between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, United States. It connects First Avenue in Manhattan with Willis Avenue in the Bronx...
(northbound traffic only).
To Manhattan or Queens: the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (which opened as the Triborough Bridge).
To Queens: the
Bronx Whitestone BridgeThe Bronx–Whitestone Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City that crosses the East River and connects the boroughs of Queens on Long Island and The Bronx via Interstate 678...
and the
Throgs Neck BridgeThe Throgs Neck Bridge is a suspension bridge opened on January 11, 1961, which carries Interstate 295 over the East River where it meets the Long Island Sound. The bridge connects the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx with the Bay Terrace section of Queens...
.
Mass transit
The Bronx is served by six lines of the
New York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
with
70 stations in the Bronx:
- IND Concourse Line
The Concourse Line is an IND subway branch line of the New York City Subway system. It runs from Norwood – 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx to 145th Street in Harlem, Manhattan. It is the only "B" Division and only fully underground line in the Bronx....
( trains)
- IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line ( train)
- IRT Dyre Avenue Line
The IRT Dyre Avenue Line is a New York City Subway rapid transit line as part of the A Division . It is a branch of the IRT White Plains Road Line serving passengers in the northeastern section of the Bronx...
( train)
- IRT Jerome Avenue Line
The IRT Jerome Avenue Line, also unofficially known as IRT Woodlawn Line, is a New York City Subway Line along Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. It was opened on June 2, 1917 as a shuttle service between Kingsbridge Road and 149th Street. This was in advance of through service to the IRT Lexington Avenue...
( train)
- IRT Pelham Line
The IRT Pelham Line is a rapid transit line on the New York City Subway, served by the 6 and <6> trains. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts expansion and opened in 1919. It is both elevated and underground, with Whitlock Avenue being the first elevated station...
( trains)
- IRT White Plains Road Line
The White Plains Road Line is a rapid transit line of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, serving the central Bronx. It is mostly elevated, and served both subway and elevated trains until 1952...
( trains)
Two
Metro-North RailroadThe Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
commuter rail lines (the Harlem Line and the
Hudson LineMetro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany...
) serve 11 stations in the Bronx. (
Marble HillThe Marble Hill Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City via the Hudson Line and is one of four express stations on that line south of Croton–Harmon seeing most trains minus peak hour trains to/from Poughkeepsie...
, between the
Spuyten DuyvilThe Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of the Bronx, New York via the Hudson Line. Trains leave for New York City every 25 to 35 minutes on weekdays...
and
University HeightsThe University Heights Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of the University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City, via the Hudson Line. Trains leave for Manhattan every 25 to 35 minutes on weekdays...
stations, is actually in the only part of Manhattan connected to the mainland.) In addition, trains serving the New Haven Line stop at
Fordham RoadThe Fordham Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx, New York via the Harlem Line and New Haven Line. It is the only Harlem Line stop in the Bronx that is an express station. It is 8.9 miles from Grand Central Terminal...
.
Postal service
The
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates post offices in the Bronx. The Bronx General Post Office is located at 558 Grand Concourse.
Race, ethnicity, language, and immigration
According to the 2010 Census, 10.9% of the population was non-Hispanic White, 30.1% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 3.4% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.6% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 1.2% of two or more races (non-Hispanic). 53.5% of Bronx's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race)
The U.S. Census considers the Bronx to be the most diverse area in the country. There is an 89.7 percent chance that any two residents, chosen at random, would be of different race or ethnicity.
The Bronx is the only New York City borough with a
HispanicHispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
majority, many of whom are Puerto Ricans and
DominicanA Dominican American is any American who has origins in the Dominican Republic.Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 19th century, and New York City has had a Dominican community since the 1930s...
s. In 2000, The Bronx had some of the nation's highest percentages of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans with 24.0% and 10.0%, respectively.
According to the 2009 American Community Survey, White Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin represented over one-fifth (22.9%) of The Bronx's population. However, non-Hispanic whites formed under one-eighth (12.1%) of the population. Out of all five boroughs, The Bronx has the lowest number and percentage of white residents. 320,640 whites called the Bronx home, of which 168,570 were non-Hispanic whites. The majority of the non-Hispanic European American population is of Italian and Irish descent. People of Italian descent numbered over 55,000 individuals and made up 3.9% of the population. People of Irish descent numbered over 43,500 individuals and made up 3.1% of the population. German Americans and Polish Americans made up 1.4% and 0.8% of the population respectively.
At the 2009 American Community Survey, Black Americans made the second largest group in the Bronx after Hispanics and Latinos. Blacks of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin represented over one-third (35.4%) of the Bronx's population. Blacks of non-Hispanic origin made up 30.8% of the population. Over 495,200 blacks resided in the borough, of which 430,600 were non-Hispanic blacks. Over 61,000 people identified themselves as "Sub-Saharan African" in the survey, making up 4.4% of the population.
Native Americans are a very small minority in the borough. Only some 5,560 individuals (out of the borough's 1.4 million people) are Native American, which is equal to just 0.4% of the population. In addition, roughly 2,500 people are Native Americans of non-Hispanic origin.
Asian Americans are a small but sizable minority in the borough. Roughly 49,600 Asians make up 3.6% of the population. Roughly 13,600 Indians call The Bronx home, along with 9,800 Chinese, 6,540 Filipinos, 2,260 Vietnamese, 2,010 Koreans, and 1,100 Japanese.
Multiracial Americans are also a sizable minority in the Bronx. People of multiracial heritage number over 41,800 individuals and represent 3.0% of the population. People of mixed Caucasian and African American heritage number over 6,850 members and form 0.5% of the population. People of mixed Caucasian and Native American heritage number over 2,450 members and form 0.2% of the population. People of mixed Caucasian and Asian heritage number over 880 members and form 0.1% of the population. People of mixed African American and Native American heritage number over 1,220 members and form 0.1% of the population.
In 2009, Hispanic and Latino Americans represented 52.0% of the Bronx's population. Puerto Ricans represented 23.2% of the borough's population. Over 72,500 Mexicans lived in the Bronx, and they formed 5.2% of the population. Cubans numbered over 9,640 members and formed 0.7% of the population. In addition, over 319,000 people were of various Hispanic and Latino groups, such as Dominican, Salvadoran, and so on. These groups collectively represented 22.9% of the population. At the 2010 Census, 53.5% of Bronx's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race).
Approximately 44.3% of the population over the age of 5 speak only English at home, which is roughly 570,000 people. The majority (55.7%) of the population speak non-English languages at home. Over 580,600 people (45.2% of the population) speak Spanish at home.
According to the 2005–2007 American Community Survey Estimates, the borough's population was 23.0% White (13.0% non-Hispanic White alone), 34.5% Black or African American (30.6% non-Hispanic
Black or African American alone), 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 40.4% from some other race and 2.4% from two or more races. 50.7% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino of any race (23.3% of Bronx's population were Puerto Ricans).
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=05000US36005&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_DP3YR5&-context=adp&-ds_name=&-tree_id=3307&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=
31.7% of the population were foreign born and another 8.9% were born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parents. 55.6% spoke a language other than English at home and 16.4% had a Bachelor's degree or higher.
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=05000US36005&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_DP3YR2&-context=adp&-ds_name=&-tree_id=3307&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format=
The Census of 1930 counted only 1.0% (12,930) of the Bronx's population as Negro (while making no distinct counts of Hispanic or Spanish-surname residents).
Immigrants from Ghana have clustered along the
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
.
Based on sample data from the 2000 census, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 47.3% of the population five and older spoke only English at home, while 43.7% spoke Spanish at home, either exclusively or along with English. Other languages or groups of languages spoken at home by more than 0.25% of the population of the Bronx include Italian (1.36%), Kru,
IgboIgbo , or Igbo proper, is a native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group primarily located in southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 20 million speakers that are mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is a national language of Nigeria. It is written in the Latin...
, or
YorubaYorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
[West Africa] (0.72%) and French (0.54%).
| Bronx residents born abroad or overseas, 1930 and 2000 |
| 1930 United States Census |
2000 United States Census |
| Total population of the Bronx |
1,265,258 |
|
Total population of the Bronx |
1,332,650 |
|
| |
|
|
All born abroad or overseas ‡ |
524,410 |
39.4% |
| |
|
|
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
|
126,649 |
9.5% |
| Foreign-born Whites |
477,342 |
37.7% |
All foreign-born |
385,827 |
29.0% |
White persons born in RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
|
135,210 |
10.7% |
Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
|
124,032 |
9.3% |
White persons born in ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
|
67,732 |
5.4% |
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
|
51,120 |
3.8% |
White persons born in PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
|
55,969 |
4.4% |
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
|
20,962 |
1.6% |
White persons born in GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
|
43,349 |
3.4% |
GuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
|
14,868 |
1.1% |
| White persons born in the Irish Free State † |
34,538 |
2.7% |
EcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
|
14,800 |
1.1% |
| Other foreign birthplaces of Whites |
140,544 |
11.1% |
Other foreign birthplaces |
160,045 |
12.0% |
† the 26 counties now within the Republic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
|
‡ beyond the 50 states & District of Columbia |
Population and housing
At the 2010 Census, there were, 1,385,108 people living in Bronx, a 3.9% increase since 2000.
As of the
United States CensusThe United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
of 2000, there were 1,332,650 people, 463,212 households, and 314,984 families residing in the borough. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 31,709.3 inhabitants per square mile (12,242.2/km²). There were 490,659 housing units at an average density of 11,674.8 per square mile (4,507.4/km²). There were 463,212 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.4% were married couples living together, 30.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.37.
The age distribution of the population in the Bronx was as follows: 29.8% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 87.0 males.
Individual and household income
The 1999 median income for a household in the borough was $27,611, and the median income for a family was $30,682. Males had a median income of $31,178 versus $29,429 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the borough was $13,959. About 28.0% of families and 30.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.5% of those under age 18 and 21.3% of those age 65 or over.
Local government
Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, the Bronx has been governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a
mayor-council systemThe mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
. The centralized New York City government is responsible for all municipal functions.
The office of
Borough PresidentBorough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...
was created in the consolidation of 1898 with powers mostly derived from having a vote on the
New York City Board of EstimateThe New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City, responsible for budget and land-use decisions. Under the charter of the newly amalgamated City of Greater New York the Board of Estimate and Apportionment was composed of eight ex officio members: the Mayor of New York...
. The 1989
Board of Estimate of City of New York v. MorrisBoard of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, 489 U.S. 688 , was a case argued before the United States Supreme Court regarding the structure of the New York City Board of Estimate....
case declared the Board unconstitutional, and since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the
City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
, the New York state government, and corporations.
On February 18, 2009, U.S. President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
appointed the former Bronx
Borough PresidentBorough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...
, Adolfo Carrión, Jr., to the position of Director of the
White House Office of Urban Affairs PolicyThe White House Office of Urban Affairs is an office within the White House Office, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.-History:...
.
On April 21, 2009, a special election was held to choose Carrión's successor. Democratic
New York State AssemblyThe New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
member
Rubén Díaz, Jr.Rubén Díaz Jr. is the current President of the Borough of the Bronx in New York City. Borough President Díaz was elected in April 2009 and previously served in the New York State Assembly.-Early Life:...
, running on the "Bronx Unity" ticket, won this election with 29,420 votes (86%) against 4,646 votes (14%) for the Republican Anthony Ribustello ("People First") and 11 votes for
write-in candidateA write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
s. On May 1, 2009, Assemblyman Diaz was sworn in as the 13th Borough President of the Bronx (For his predecessors, see the List of Bronx Borough Presidents.)
Every currently-elected public official in the Bronx has first won the Democratic nomination (whether or not also nominated by other parties). Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. Controversial political issues in the Bronx include environmental issues, the cost of housing, and the alienation of parkland for new
Yankee StadiumYankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
.
Since its separation from New York County on January 1, 1914, the Bronx, has had, like each of the other 61 counties of New York State, its own directly-elected
District AttorneyIn many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
, the county's chief public prosecutor. Robert T. Johnson, a Democrat, has been the District Attorney of Bronx County since 1989. He was the first African-American District Attorney in New York State.
Eight membersThe list of New York City Council members below is current as of the 2006-2010 term. Eight new members joined the city council in the 2005 election. For notable past members of the Council, see :Category:New York City Council members.-Membership:...
of the
New York City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
represent districts wholly within the Bronx, while a ninth represents a
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
district (8) that also includes a small area of the Bronx. (All of them were Democrats in 2008.) One of those members,
Joel RiveraJoel Rivera is the Majority Leader of the New York City Council. Elected in a special election in 2001 at 22 years of age, Rivera was the youngest person ever elected to the New York City Council in its history.-Early life and education:...
(District 15), has been the Council's
Majority LeaderIn U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
since 2002.
The Bronx also has 12 Community Boards, appointed bodies that field complaints and advise on land use and municipal facilities and services for local residents, businesses and institutions. (They are listed at
Bronx Community BoardBronx Community Boards comprise twelve local units in the borough of The Bronx, which, like those in the other boroughs, play a role in the government of New York City.* Bronx Community Board 1* Bronx Community Board 2* Bronx Community Board 3...
s).
Legislative and Congressional representatives
In 2008, three Democrats represented almost all of the Bronx in the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
- José M. Serrano
José Marco Serrano, son of the long-time US Representative by the same name, is a member of the New York State Senate, representing Mott Haven, Melrose, Highbridge, Morris Heights, Spanish Harlem, Yorkville and Roosevelt Island. He is the son of U.S. Congressman José Serrano.A lifelong South Bronx...
(first elected in March 1990) represents New York's 16th congressional districtNew York's 16th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in the Bronx. The district includes the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, East Tremont, Fordham, Hunts Point, Melrose, Highbridge, Morrisania, Mott Haven and University Heights. ...
, which covers much of the South Bronx. It was, in 2000, the poorest of the nation's 435 districts (42.8% below the poverty line); it was also the most Hispanic of New York state's 29 congressional districts (62.8%) and the youngest (34.5% under 18 years old; 6.7% over 65).
- Eliot Engel
Eliot Lance Engel is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously represented the 19th District from 1989 to 1993...
(first elected in 1988) represents the 17th DistrictNew York's 17th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in Southern New York. It encompasses portions of the Bronx, Westchester County, and Rockland County...
which includes parts of the northwest Bronx as well as parts of WestchesterWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
and RocklandRockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
counties.
- Joseph Crowley
Joseph Crowley is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. He is the Chairman of the New Democrat Coalition and the Queens County Democratic Party. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
(first elected in 1998) represents the 7th DistrictNew York's Seventh Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. It consists of parts of Northern Queens and Eastern portions of the Bronx. The Queens portion includes the neighborhoods of College Point, East Elmhurst, Jackson...
which spans the East Bronx and includes Co-op City, City IslandCity Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...
, Pelham BayPelham Bay is a small bay, between City Island and Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York.Technically, it is a sound, not a bay, since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. It connects to Eastchester Bay at the south, and opens onto Long Island Sound and City Island Harbor at the...
, Morris ParkMorris Park is a neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City . The neighborhood is part of Community Board 11 in the East Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Pelham Parkway to the north, the Amtrak Northeast Corridor tracks to the east and south, and...
, Pelham ParkwayThe Bronx and Pelham Parkway is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Despite the parkway moniker, Pelham Parkway is a local street, with two main roadways , and two service roads. Like other parkways in New York City, commercial traffic is disallowed, and is redirected to the...
, Parkchester, Castle HillCastle Hill is primarily a residential neighborhood geographically located in the South Central section of the borough of The Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 9...
and Throgs NeckThroggs Neck is a narrow spit of land in the southeastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It demarcates the passage between the East River , and Long Island Sound...
, as well as parts of northwest QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
.
- (Riker's Island, the city's main jail complex, is included in the 15th District
New York's 15th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in New York City. It is composed of Upper Manhattan, Rikers Island and a largely non-residential section of northwestern Queens on the shore of the East River mostly occupied...
, which covers Upper ManhattanUpper Manhattan denotes the more northerly region of the New York City Borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary may be defined anywhere between 59th Street and 155th Street. Between these two extremes lies the most common definitions of Upper Manhattan as Manhattan above 96th Street...
and utilities facilities in Astoria, QueensAstoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
. It is represented by Charles B. RangelCharles Bernard "Charlie" Rangel is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the third-longest currently serving member of the House of Representatives. As its most senior member, he is also the Dean of New York's congressional delegation...
, first elected in 1970. In 2006, the Congressional election returns in this district included no votes from the Bronx or Queens.)
All of these Representatives won over 75% of their districts' respective votes in both 2004 and 2006.
National JournalNational Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...
's neutral rating system placed all of their voting records in 2005 and 2006 somewhere between very liberal and extremely liberal.
11 out of 150 members of the
New York State AssemblyThe New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
(the lower house of the state legislature) represent districts wholly within the Bronx. Six
State SenatorsThe New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
out of 62 represent Bronx districts, half of them wholly within the County, and half straddling other counties. All these legislators are Democrats who won between 65% and 100% of their districts' vote in 2006.
Votes for other offices
In the
2004 presidential electionThe United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, Senator John F. Kerry (
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
/
Working FamiliesThe Working Families Party is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. There are "sister" parties to the New York WFP in Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Oregon, but there is as yet no national WFP...
) received 81.8% of the vote in the Bronx while President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
(
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
/
ConservativeThe Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party active in the state of New York. It is not part of any nationwide party, nor is it affiliated with the American Conservative Party, which it predates by over 40 years....
) received 16.3%.
A year later, the Democratic former Bronx
Borough PresidentBorough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...
Fernando FerrerFernando James "Freddy" Ferrer was the Borough President of The Bronx from 1987 to 2001, and was a candidate for Mayor of New York in 2001 and the Democratic Party nominee for Mayor in 2005.- Background :...
won 59.8% of the borough's vote against 38.8% for Mayor
Michael BloombergMichael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
(Republican/
IndependenceThe Independence Party is an affiliate in the U.S. state of New York of the Independence Party of America. The party was founded in 1991 by Dr. Gordon Black, Tom Golisano, and Laureen Oliver from Rochester, New York, and acquired ballot status in 1994...
) who carried every other borough in his winning campaign for re-election. In 2009, the Bronx voted slightly more strongly against the successful re-election of Mayor Bloomberg, who received 37% of the Bronx vote (as an independent supported by the Republican and Independence Parties) against 61.2% for
New York City ComptrollerThe Office of Comptroller of New York City is the chief fiscal officer and chief auditing officer of the city. The comptroller is elected, citywide, to a four-year term and can hold office for three consecutive terms. The current comptroller is Democrat John Liu, formerly a member of the New York...
Bill ThompsonWilliam Colridge Thompson, Jr. , known as Bill or Billy, was the 42nd Comptroller of New York City. Sworn into office on January 1, 2002, he was reelected to serve a second term that began on January 1, 2006. He left office on December 31, 2009, having been succeeded by John Liu...
(Democratic and Working Families).
In 2006, successfully-reelected Senator Hillary Clinton (Democratic, Working Families & Independence) won 89.5% of the Bronx's vote against 9.6% for Yonkers ex-Mayor
John SpencerJohn Spencer is the former Mayor of Yonkers, New York . He was the 2006 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from New York and lost to incumbent Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.-Early life, military service and education:...
(Republican and
ConservativeThe Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party active in the state of New York. It is not part of any nationwide party, nor is it affiliated with the American Conservative Party, which it predates by over 40 years....
), while
Eliot SpitzerEliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
(Democratic, Working Families & Independence) received 88.8% of the Borough's vote in
winning the GovernorshipThe New York gubernatorial election of 2006 was a race for the governorship of this U.S. state. Eliot Spitzer was elected on November 7, 2006, succeeding Governor George Pataki, the three-term incumbent, who did not run for a fourth term....
against
John FasoJohn Faso was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York in 2006, and was defeated by Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer in the largest defeat for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state's history. This followed his loss to Alan Hevesi four years earlier in his run for State Comptroller...
(Republican & Conservative), who received 9.7% of the Bronx's vote.
In the Presidential primary elections of February 5, 2008, Sen. Clinton won 61.2% of the Bronx's 148,636 Democratic votes against 37.8% for
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and 1.0% for the other four candidates combined. At the same time,
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
won 54.4% of the borough's 5,643 Republican votes,
Mitt RomneyWillard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
20.8%,
Mike HuckabeeMichael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
8.2%,
Ron PaulRonald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
7.4%,
Rudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
5.6%, and the other three candidates 3.6% between them.
In the Presidential general election of November 4, 2008, Sen. Obama won 87.8% of the Bronx's vote (338,261) on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines of the ballot, Sen. McCain won 10.8% (41,683) on the Republican, Independence and Conservative Party lines, and other candidates won 1.3% (1,342) between them. The Democratic candidate's percentage of the Presidential vote increased by 6% from 2004, while the Republican presidential candidate's percentage declined by 5.5%.
After becoming a separate county in 1914, the Bronx has supported only two Republican Presidential candidates. It voted heavily for the winning Republican
Warren G. HardingWarren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
in 1920, but much more narrowly on a split vote for his victorious Republican successor
Calvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
in 1924 (Coolidge 79,562;
John W. DavisJohn William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...
, Dem., 72,834;
Robert La FolletteRobert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
, 62,202 equally divided between the
ProgressiveThe Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name resembles the 1912 Progressive Party, which...
and
SocialistThe Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
lines).
Since then, the Bronx has always supported the Democratic Party's nominee for President, starting with a vote of 2–1 for the unsuccessful
Al SmithAlfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
in 1928, followed by four 2-1 votes for the successful
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. (Both had been Governors of New York, but the Bronx voted against two former Republican Governors who ran for President:
Charles Evans HughesCharles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
in 1916 and Thomas E. Dewey in 1944 and 1948.)
The Bronx has often shown striking differences from other boroughs in elections for Mayor. The only Republican to carry the Bronx since 1914 was Fiorello La Guardia in 1933, 1937 and 1941 (and in the latter two elections, only because his 30–32% vote on the
American Labor PartyThe American Labor Party was a political party in the United States established in 1936 which was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party who had established themselves as the Social Democratic...
line was added to 22–23% as a Republican). The Bronx was thus the only borough not carried by the successful Republican re-election campaigns of Mayors Rudolph Giuliani in 1997 and
Michael BloombergMichael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
in 2005. The anti-war
SocialistThe Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
campaign of
Morris HillquitMorris Hillquit was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side during the early 20th century.-Early years:...
in the
1917 mayoral electionThe 1917 Election for Mayor of the City of New York replaced sitting Mayor John P. Mitchel, a reform Democrat running on the Fusion Party ticket, with John F. Hylan, the regular Democrat supported by Tammany Hall and William Randolph Hearst....
won over 31% of the Bronx's vote, putting him second and well ahead of the 20% won by the incumbent pro-war Fusion Mayor John P. Mitchel, who outpolled Hillquit city-wide by 23.2% to 21.7%.
Education
Education in the Bronx is provided by a large number of public and private institutions, many of which draw students who live beyond the Bronx. The
New York City Department of EducationThe New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
manages public noncharter schools in the borough. In 2000, public schools enrolled nearly 280,000 of the Bronx's residents over 3 years old (out of 333,100 enrolled in all pre-college schools). There are also several public charter schools. Private schools range from élite
independent schoolAn independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
s to religiously-affiliated schools run by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New YorkThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York covers New York, Bronx, and Richmond counties in New York City , as well as Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties in New York state. There are 480 parishes...
and Jewish organizations.
Educational attainment: In 2000, according to the U.S. Census, out of the nearly 800,000 people in the Bronx who were then at least 25 years old, 62.3% had graduated from high school and 14.6% held a bachelor's or higher college degree. These percentages were lower than those for New York's other boroughs, which ranged from 68.8% (Brooklyn) to 82.6% (Staten Island) for high school graduates over 24, and from 21.8% (Brooklyn) to 49.4% (Manhattan) for college graduates. (The respective state and national percentages were
[NY] 79.1% & 27.4% and
[US] 80.4% & 24.4%.)
High schools
In the 2000 Census, 79,240 of the nearly 95,000 Bronx residents enrolled in high school attended public schools.
Many public high schools are located in the borough including the élite
Bronx High School of ScienceThe Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
,
DeWitt Clinton High SchoolDeWitt Clinton High School is an American high school located in the Bronx, New York City, New York.-History:Clinton opened in 1897 at 60 West 13th Street at the northern end of Greenwich Village under the name of Boys High School, although this Boys High School was not related to the one in Brooklyn...
, High School for Violin and Dance, Bronx Leadership Academy 2, Bronx International High School, the School for Excellence, the Morris Academy for Collaborative Study, Wings Academy for young adults, Validus Preparatory Academy, Bronx Expeditionary Learning High School,
Herbert H. Lehman High SchoolHerbert H. Lehman High School is a public high school at 3000 East Tremont Avenue, in the Bronx, New York City, U.S.A. The school is named after former New York State Governor Herbert Henry Lehman...
and
High School of American StudiesRanked 19th best in country by .The school is administered by the New York City Department of Education. It receives supplementary funding from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History....
. The Bronx is also home to three of New York City's most prestigious private, secular schools:
FieldstonThe Ethical Culture Fieldston School, known as "Fieldston", is a private "independent" school in New York City and a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. It has about 1600 students and a staff of 400 people , led by Dr. Damian J...
,
Horace MannHorace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...
, and
Riverdale Country SchoolRiverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City. One of the most competitive private schools in the nation, it is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York.-History:Founded in 1907 by Dr...
.
High schools linked to the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
include: Saint Raymond's Academy for Girls,
All Hallows High SchoolAll Hallows High School is a Catholic boys' high school in The Bronx, New York, United States. Located near Yankee Stadium, at 111 East 164th Street, the school has an enrollment of approximately 650 boys, 98% of whom are men of color. Despite sitting in the poorest Congressional district in the...
,
Fordham Preparatory SchoolFordham Preparatory School is a private Jesuit all-boys high school located in the Bronx, New York City, with an enrollment of approximately 950 students. It is located on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University....
,
Monsignor Scanlan High SchoolMonsignor Scanlan High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.-Background:...
,
St. Raymond High School for BoysSt. Raymond High School for Boys is a parochial high school affiliated with the New York, U.S.A. Archdiocesan Association of Catholic Schools. It is accredited by the Board of Regents of the State of New York, the Middle States Association and the Brothers of the Christian Schools...
,
Cardinal Hayes High SchoolCardinal Hayes High School is a Catholic high school for boys in the Bronx, New York City. The school serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It is a member of the CHSAA.- History :...
,
Cardinal Spellman High SchoolCardinal Spellman High School is a Catholic diocesan high school located in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is named after Cardinal Francis Spellman, the sixth archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York....
,
The Academy of Mount Saint UrsulaThe Academy of Mount St. Ursula is a girls’ Catholic college preparatory school, established in 1855 in the East Morrisania section of the Bronx, New York. Since 1892, the school has been located at Bedford Park Boulevard and Bainbridge Avenue, two blocks east of the Grand Concourse, in the Bronx,...
,
Aquinas High SchoolAquinas High School is an all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school in The Bronx, New York. It is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.- Background :...
,
Preston High SchoolPreston High School is a Roman Catholic high school for girls in the neighborhood of Throggs Neck in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Preston is chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and...
,
St. Catharine AcademySt. Catharine High School is an all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school in the Bronx, New York. It is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.The Sisters of Mercy, founded by Mother Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, opened an Academy in the Washington Heights section...
,
Mount Saint Michael AcademyMount Saint Michael Academy, also known as The Mount, is an all-boys Roman Catholic High School in the northeast part of the Bronx, New York, on the Mount Vernon city line, . The 22-acre campus is a non-boarding college preparatory school for some 1,100 boys grades 6 through 12...
, and
St. Barnabas High SchoolSt. Barnabas High School is an all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school located in the Woodlawn section of the The Bronx, New York. It is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.-History:...
.
The
SAR AcademySalanter Akiba Riverdale Academy is a coeducational, private Modern Orthodox Jewish day school. The school is located in the Riverdale section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is well known for having no walls dividing the classrooms, which is part of the school's philosophy of...
and
SAR High SchoolSalanter Akiba Riverdale High School is a Modern Orthodox Yeshiva day school in Riverdale, New York City. It was founded in 2003. The school is affiliated with SAR Academy, which is also in Riverdale, Bronx, New York City and a little over fifty percent of the over 400 students attending SAR High...
are Modern Orthodox Jewish
YeshivaYeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
coeducational day schools in
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
, with roots in Manhattan's
Lower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
.
In the 1990s, New York City began closing the large, public high schools in the Bronx and replacing them with small high schools. Among the reasons cited for the changes were poor graduation rates and concerns about safety. Schools that have been closed or reduced in size include John F. Kennedy,
James MonroeFor schools with a similar name, see James Monroe High School.James Monroe High School was a comprehensive high school located at 1300 Boynton Avenue and E 172nd Street in the Soundview section of the Bronx....
,
TaftWilliam Howard Taft High School was a high school in Southwest section of the Bronx, New York City.The school was operated by the New York City Department of Education....
,
Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt High School is a public high school located in The Bronx, New York City, United States. It was first organized November 14, 1918. When Theodore Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, the Board of Education decided to give the school his name...
,
Adlai StevensonAdlai E. Stevenson High School was a New York City public high school located at 1980 Lafayette Avenue, in the Soundview section of the Bronx....
, Evander Childs,
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus High School is a public secondary school located in the Pelham Parkway, northeast section of the Bronx, New York. It is within walking distance from the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden....
,
MorrisMorris High School was a high school in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It was built in 1897. It was the first high school built in the Bronx...
,
WaltonWalton High School was a secondary school located in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx borough in New York.Walton's colors were sky blue and white. Its motto Semper Fidelis means "always faithful". The school seal is an open book supported by the torch of learning, and the school crest...
, and South Bronx High Schools. More recently the City has started phasing out large middle schools, also replacing them with smaller schools.
Institutions of higher education
In 2000, 49,442 (57.5%) of the 86,014 Bronx residents seeking college, graduate or professional degrees attended public institutions.
Several colleges and universities are located in the Bronx.
Fordham UniversityFordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, was founded as St. John's College in 1841 by the Diocese of New York as the first Catholic institution of higher education in the northeast. It is now officially an independent institution, but strongly embraces its Jesuit heritage. The 85 acres (343,983.1 m²) Bronx campus, known as Rose Hill, is the main campus of the university, and is among the largest within the city (other Fordham campuses are located in Manhattan and Westchester County).
Three campuses of the
City University of New YorkThe City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
are in the Bronx:
Hostos Community CollegeEugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York is a community college in the City University of New York system located in the South Bronx, New York City...
,
Bronx Community CollegeThe Bronx Community College of The City University of New York is a community college in the City University of New York system located in the University Heights neighborhood of The Bronx.- History :...
(occupying the former
University HeightsUniversity Heights is a residential neighborhood of the West Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5 and Bronx Community Board 7. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are: West 190th Street to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, West...
Campus of
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
) and Herbert H.
Lehman CollegeLehman College is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, USA. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within the City University in 1968. The college is named after Herbert Lehman, a former New York governor,...
(formerly the uptown campus of
Hunter CollegeHunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
), which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
The
College of Mount Saint VincentFor the university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, see Mount Saint Vincent University The College of Mount Saint Vincent is a Catholic liberal arts college located in the northeast corner of the Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York, adjacent to the Yonkers border. It is the northernmost location in...
is a Catholic liberal arts college in
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
under the direction of the
Sisters of Charity of New YorkThe Sisters of Charity of New York is a religious congregation of women in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicated in particular to the service of the poor.-History:...
. Founded in 1847 as a school for girls, the academy became a degree-granting college in 1911 and began admitting men in 1974. The school serves 1,600 students. Its campus is also home to the
Academy for Jewish ReligionSince its founding in 1956 as a rabbinical school, The Academy for Jewish Religion has been at the forefront of pluralistic rabbinic and cantorial training...
, a transdenominational rabbinical and cantorial school.
Manhattan CollegeManhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City, United States. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers...
is a Catholic college in
RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
which offers undergraduate programs in the arts, business, education, engineering, and science. It also offers graduate programs in education and engineering.
Albert Einstein College of MedicineAlbert Einstein College of Medicine is a graduate school of Yeshiva University. It is a not-for-profit, private, nonsectarian medical school located on the Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus in the Morris Park neighborhood of the borough of the Bronx of New York City...
, part of
Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, is in
Morris ParkMorris Park is a neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City . The neighborhood is part of Community Board 11 in the East Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Pelham Parkway to the north, the Amtrak Northeast Corridor tracks to the east and south, and...
.
Two colleges based in Westchester County have Bronx campuses. The Catholic and nearly-all-female
College of New RochelleThe College of New Rochelle is a private Catholic college with its main campus located in New Rochelle, New York. The College of St. Angela was founded by the Order of the Ursulines as the first Catholic women's college in New York state in 1904, a time when women were generally excluded from...
maintains satellite campuses at Co-op City and in
The HubThe Hub is the retail heart of the South Bronx, located where four roads converge: East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily located inside the neighborhood of Melrose but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven. The Hub has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx."...
. The coeducational and non-sectarian
Mercy CollegeMercy College is a private, non-profit liberal arts college with its main campus in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and satellite locations throughout southeastern New York, including the Bronx, Manhattan, White Plains and Yorktown...
in
Dobbs FerryDobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 at the 2010 census.The Village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a part of, the town of Greenburgh...
, founded by the Catholic
Sisters of MercyThe Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
in 1950, has a campus near Westchester Square.
By contrast, the private, proprietary
Monroe CollegeMonroe College is a proprietary college with campuses in the Bronx and New Rochelle in the U.S. state of New York and in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia. The college is named after James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. Mildred King founded the "Monroe School of Business" in...
, focused on preparation for business and the professions, started in the Bronx in 1933 but now has a campus in
New RochelleNew Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
(Westchester County) as well the Bronx's
FordhamFordham is a neighborhood of New York City, United States, located in the West Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. It is bordered by Fordham Road to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, East 183rd Street to the south, and Jerome Avenue to the west...
neighborhood.
The
State University of New York Maritime CollegeSUNY Maritime College is a maritime college located in the Bronx, New York City in historic Fort Schuyler on the Throggs Neck peninsula where the East River meets Long Island Sound...
in Fort Schuyler (Throggs Neck)—at the far southeastern tip of the Bronx—is the national leader in maritime education and houses the Maritime Industry Museum. (Directly across
Long Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
is
Kings PointKings Point is a village and a part of Great Neck in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 5,005.The Village of Kings Point is in the Town of North Hempstead...
, Long Island, home of the
United States Merchant Marine AcademyThe United States Merchant Marine Academy is one of the five United States Service academies...
and the American Merchant Marine Museum.)
Cultural life and institutions
Author
Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
spent the last years of his life (1846 to 1849) in the Bronx at Poe Cottage, now located at
KingsbridgeKingsbridge is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 8. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Goulden Avenue to the east, West 225th Street to the south, and Irwin...
Road and the
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
. A small wooden farmhouse built about 1812, the cottage once commanded unobstructed vistas over the rolling Bronx hills to the shores of
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
The Bronx's evolution from a hot bed of
Latin jazzLatin jazz is the general term given to jazz with Latin American rhythms.The three main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazilian, Cuban and Puerto Rican:# Brazilian Latin Jazz includes bossa nova...
to an incubator of
hip hopHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
was the subject of an award-winning documentary, produced by
City LoreCity Lore: the New York Center for Urban Culture was founded in 1986 - the first organization in the United States devoted expressly to the "documentation, preservation, and presentation of urban folk culture." Their mission is to produce programs and publications that convey the richness of New...
and broadcast on
PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
in 2006,
"From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale". Hip Hop first emerged in the South Bronx in the early 1970s.
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
has identified 1520 Sedgwick Avenue "an otherwise unremarkable high-rise just north of the Cross Bronx Expressway and hard along the
Major Deegan ExpresswayThe Major Deegan Expressway is a north–south expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx...
" as a starting point, where
DJ Kool HercClive Campbell , also known as Kool Herc, DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Herc, is a Jamaican-born DJ who is credited with originating hip hop music, in The Bronx, New York City...
presided over parties in the community room.
On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc was a
Dee Jayis a character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He is a Jamaican kickboxer who also works as a recording artist and breakdancer...
and Emcee at a party in the
recreation roomA recreation room is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual use. The term is common in the United States and Canada, but is less common in the United Kingdom where the preferred term is games room...
of 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in the Bronx adjacent to the Cross-Bronx Expressway. While it was not the actual "Birthplace of Hip Hop" – the
genreGenre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
developed slowly in several places in the 1970s – it was verified to be the place where
one of the pivotal and formative events occurred. Specifically, DJ Kool Herc:
Beginning with the advent of beat match DJ'ing, in which Bronx DJs (
Disc JockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s) including
Grandmaster FlashJoseph Saddler better known as King Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop musician and DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing....
,
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...
and
DJ Kool HercClive Campbell , also known as Kool Herc, DJ Kool Herc and Kool DJ Herc, is a Jamaican-born DJ who is credited with originating hip hop music, in The Bronx, New York City...
extended the breaks of
funkFunk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
records, a major new musical genre emerged that sought to isolate the percussion breaks of hit funk,
discoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
and
soulSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
songs. As hip hop's popularity grew, performers began speaking ("
rappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
") in sync with the beats, and became known as MCs or emcees. The Herculoids, made up of Herc,
Coke La RockCoke La Rock is an old school New York City rapper who is often credited as being the first MC in the history of hip-hop.In November, 2010, Coke La Rock was inducted into the High Times Counterculture Hall of Fame at the annual ceremonies at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam...
, and DJ Clark Kent, were the earliest to gain major fame. The Bronx is referred to in hip-hop slang as "The Boogie Down Bronx", or just "The Boogie Down". This was hip-hop pioneer
KRS-OneLawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
's inspiration for his thought provoking group BDP, or
Boogie Down ProductionsBoogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
, which included DJ
Scott La RockScott "La Rock" Sterling was the original DJ of the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions.-BDP:Sterling, a social worker, met rapper KRS-One in 1986 at the Franklin Men's Shelter in the Bronx where KRS lived. The pair, together with DJ D-Nice, formed Boogie Down Productions...
. Newer hip hop artists from the Bronx include Lord Toriq and Peter Gunz,
Camp LoCamp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede , both of Muslim upbringing.-Career:...
,
Swizz BeatzKasseem Dean , better known by his stage name, Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper and painter. At the age of 17, he gained attention in the hip-hop world through his friendship with rapper DMX. Grady Spivey and rapper Cassidy helped launch his label Full Surface Records...
,
Drag-OnMel Jason Smalls , better known as Drag-On, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York City.Drag-On was originally signed to Interscope Records under the Ruff Ryders Entertainment imprint, where he released his successful debut album, Opposite of H2O, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200...
,
Fat JoeJoseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
,
Terror SquadTerror Squad is an American hip hop collective that was first established in 1998. Based in The Bronx borough of New York City, the members of Terror Squad collectively debuted on a song in member Fat Joe's album Don Cartagena...
and Corey Gunz.
Hush Hip Hop ToursHush Hip Hop Tours is a niche sightseeing tour of New York City that shows its customers some important locations in the history of Hip hop and the evolution of mainstream rap music. Tours take passengers on a journey around the lesser known landmarks of New York City...
has established a sightseeing tour of the Bronx showcasing the locations that helped shape hip hop culture and has the pioneers of hip hop as tour guides. The recent recognition of the Bronx as an important center of African-American culture, led Fordham University to establish the ongoing
"Bronx African-American History Project (BAAHP)".
The Bronx is the home of the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, one of the leading baseball franchises. The original
Yankee StadiumYankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
opened in 1923 on 161st Street and River Avenue, a year that saw the Yankeees bring home their first of 27 World Series Championships. With the famous facade, the short right field porch and Monument Park, Yankee Stadium has been home to many of baseball's greatest players including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez. The Stadium was the scene Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech in 1939, Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Roger Maris' record breaking 61st home run in 1961, and Reggie Jackson's 3 home runs to clinch Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. The original Yankee Stadium closed in 2008 to make way for a new Yankee Stadium in which the team started play in 2009; it's north-northeast of the 1923 Yankee Stadium, on the former site of Macombs Dam Park.
The Bronx is home to several
Off-Off-BroadwayOff-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
theaters, many staging new works by immigrant playwrights from Latin America and Africa. The
Pregones Theater, which produces Latin American work, opened a new 130-seat theater in 2005 on Walton Avenue in the South Bronx. Some artists from elsewhere in New York City have begun to converge on the area, and housing prices have nearly quadrupled in the area since 2002. However rising prices directly correlate to a housing shortage across the city and the entire metro area.
The
Bronx Museum of the ArtsThe Bronx Museum of the Arts is a cultural institution located in the New York City borough of The Bronx. The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th century works created by American artists, and it has hosted exhibitions of art and design from Latin America, Africa and Asia...
, founded in 1971, exhibits 20th century and contemporary art through its central museum space and 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) of galleries. Many of its exhibitions are on themes of special interest to the Bronx. Its permanent collection features more than 800 works of art, primarily by artists from Africa, Asia and Latin America, including paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, and mixed media. The museum was temporarily closed in 2006 while it underwent a major expansion designed by the architectural firm
ArquitectonicaArquitectonica is an international architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and urban planning corporation headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States in the Coconut Grove neighborhood, with offices in ten other cities throughout the world...
.
The Bronx has also become home to a peculiar poetic tribute, in the form of the
Heinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
Memorial, better known as the
LoreleiThe Lorelei is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, Germany, which soars some 120 metres above the waterline. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat...
Fountain from
one of Heine's best-known works (1838). After Heine's German birthplace of
DüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
had rejected, allegedly for anti-Semitic motives, a centennial monument to the radical German-Jewish poet (1797–1856), his incensed German-American admirers, including
Carl SchurzCarl Christian Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.His wife,...
, started a movement to place one instead in
Midtown ManhattanMidtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. However, this intention was thwarted by a combination of ethnic antagonism, aesthetic controversy and political struggles over the institutional control of public art. In 1899, the memorial, by the Berlin sculptor
Ernst Gustav HerterErnst Gustav Herter was a famous German sculptor. He worked in Berlin. He specialised in creating statues of mythological figures. Among his most famous works is Sterbender Achilles translated as Dying Achilles, created in Berlin in 1884...
(1846–1917), finally came to rest, although subject to repeated vandalism, in the Bronx, at 164th Street and the
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
, or
Joyce KilmerAlfred Joyce Kilmer was an American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his religious faith, Kilmer is remembered most for a short poem entitled "Trees" , which was published in...
Park near today's Yankee Stadium. (In 1999, it was moved to 161st Street and the Concourse.) In 2007, Christopher Gray of
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described it as "a writhing composition in white Tyrolean marble depicting Lorelei, the mythical German figure, surrounded by mermaids, dolphins and seashells."
One national landmark in the Bronx is the
Hall of Fame for Great AmericansThe Hall of Fame for Great Americans is the original hall of fame in the United States. "Fame" here means "renown"...
, overlooking the
Harlem RiverThe Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
and designed by the renowned architect
Stanford WhiteStanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
. The never–landmarked Yankee Stadium, the "House that
RuthGeorge Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
Built" and home to the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
since 1923, has been replaced with a similar-looking ballpark just across 161st Street.
The
peninsulaA peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
r borough's maritime heritage is acknowledged in several ways.
The City Island Historical Society and Nautical Museum occupies a former public school designed by the New York City school system's turn-of-the-last-century master architect C. B. J. Snyder. The state's Maritime College in
Fort SchuylerFort Schuyler is a preserved 19th century fortification in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It houses a museum, the Stephen B. Luce Library, and the Marine Transportation Department and Administrative offices of the State University of New York Maritime College. It is considered one of the...
(on the southeastern shore) houses the Maritime Industry Museum. In addition, the Harlem River is reemerging as
"Scullers' Row"Sculling generally refers to a method of using oars to propel watercraft in which the oar or oars touch the water on both the port and starboard sides of the craft, or over the stern...
http://www.harlemrivercommunityrowing.org/ due in large part to the efforts of the Bronx River Restoration Project
http://www.bronxriver.org/puma/images/usersubmitted/greenway_plan/, a joint public-private endeavor of the city's parks department.
CanoeingCanoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
and
kayakingKayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
on the borough's namesake river have been promoted by the
Bronx River Alliance. The river is also straddled by the New York Botanical Gardens, its neighbor, the
Bronx ZooThe Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
, and a little further south, on the west shore,
Bronx River Art Center.
The press and broadcasting
Newspapers
The Bronx has several local newspapers, including
The Bronx NewsThe Bronx News is a weekly newspaper that covers the entire Bronx. Founded in 1975, the Bronx News is known for its headlines and reporting. News stories range from crime, sports, entertainment and politics. The front page appears in color, but photos inside the newspaper appear in black and...
http://www.bxnews.net,
Parkchester News,
City News,
The RiverdaleRiverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
Press,
Riverdale ReviewThe Riverdale Review is a weekly newspaper serving the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City. It is published by the Metro North Media Group, which also publishes the weekly Bronx Press-Review....
,
The Bronx Times Reporter,
Inner City PressInner City Press is a non-profit public interest organization best known for its investigations of the banking industry's treatment of low-income communities of color, at first within the United States and more recently around the world.-History:...
http://www.innercitypress.org/aboutus.html (which now has more of a focus on national issues) and
Co-Op City Times. Four non-profit news outlets,
NorwoodNorwood is a working class residential neighborhood in the northwest Bronx, New York City. As of the census of 2000, the seven census tracts that make up the neighborhood have a population of 40,748...
News,
Mount Hope Monitor,
Mott Haven HeraldThe Mott Haven Herald is a monthly newspaper that covers the Mott Haven, Port Morris, and Melrose sections of the Bronx. Founded in the spring of 2009, the Herald's news stories range from crime, arts, entertainment, and politics to the activities of local people and institutions...
and
The Hunts PointHunts Point is a low-income neighborhood located on a peninsula in the South Bronx in New York City. It is the location of one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 2. Its boundaries are the Bruckner Expressway to the west and...
Express serve the borough's poorer communities. The editor and co-publisher of
The Riverdale Press, Bernard Stein, won the
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for editorial writing for his editorials about Bronx and New York City issues in 1998. (Stein graduated from the
Bronx High School of ScienceThe Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
in 1959.)
The Bronx once had its own daily newspaper,
The Bronx Home News, which started publishing on January 20, 1907 and merged into the
New York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
in 1948. It became a special section of the Post, sold only in the Bronx, and eventually disappeared from view.
Radio and television
One of New York City's major non-commercial radio broadcasters is
WFUVWFUV, 90.7 FM in New York City, is Fordham University's 50,000-watt, non-commercial radio station, with studios on campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. First broadcast in 1947, WFUV has an airstaff which includes such New York radio veterans as Pete Fornatale , Dennis...
, an National Public Radio–affiliated 50,000-watt station broadcasting from
Fordham UniversityFordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The radio station's antenna is atop an apartment building owned by
Montefiore Medical CenterMontefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx, New York, is the University Hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The hospital, named for Moses Montefiore, is one of the 50 largest employers in New York State . In 2011, Montefiore Medical Center was ranked as #6 of the 180 New York City...
.
The City of New York has an official television station run by the
NYC Media GroupNYC Media is the radio, television, and online media network of the City of New York. It oversees four public television channels, two public radio services, and an Internet video on demand service....
and broadcasting from
Bronx Community CollegeThe Bronx Community College of The City University of New York is a community college in the City University of New York system located in the University Heights neighborhood of The Bronx.- History :...
, and Cablevision operates
News 12 The BronxNews 12 Networks comprises seven regional cable news television channels in the New York metropolitan area. The channels offer local news 24-hours a day and reach approximately 3.8 million television households in the tri-state area...
, both of which feature programming based in the Bronx. Co-op City was the first area in the Bronx, and the first in New York beyond
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, to have its own
cable televisionCable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
provider. The local
Public-access televisionPublic-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
station
BronxNetBronxNet is a Public, educational, and government access cable tv network in The Bronx, New York, airing on multiple Cablevision and Verizon FiOS channels. BronxNet is located on the campus of Lehman College....
provides Government-access television (GATV) public affairs programming in addition to programming produced by Bronx residents.
On screen (film and television)
Middle 20th century movies set in the Bronx portrayed densely-settled, working-class, urban culture. Hollywood films such as
From This Day Forward (1946), set in
HighbridgeHighbridge is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the Southwestern section of The Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 4. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Jerome Avenue to...
, occasionally delved into Bronx life.
Paddy ChayefskySidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....
's Academy Award-winning
MartyMarty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...
was the most notable examination of working class Bronx life was also explored by Chayefsky in his 1956 film
The Catered AffairThe Catered Affair , also known as Wedding Party, is a family drama film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Sam Zimbalist from a screenplay by Gore Vidal, based on a television play by Paddy Chayefsky...
, and in the 1993
Robert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
/
Chazz PalminteriCalogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
film,
A Bronx TaleA Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
,
Spike LeeShelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's 1999 movie
Summer of SamSummer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama based around the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.-Plot:Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City in the summer of 1977, a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer...
, centered in an Italian-American Bronx community, 1994's
I Like It Like That that takes place in the predominately
Puerto RicanA Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
neighborhood of the South Bronx, and
Doughboys, the story of two Italian-American brothers in danger of losing their bakery thanks to one brother's gambling debts.
The Bronx's gritty urban life had worked its way into the movies even earlier, with depictions of the "Bronx cheer", a loud flatulent-like sound of disapproval, allegedly first made by
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
fans. The sound can be heard, for example, when
Spike JonesMel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
sings "Der Fuehrer's Face" (from the 1942 Disney animated film of the same name), repeatedly lambasting
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
with: "We'll Heil! (Bronx cheer) Heil! (Bronx cheer) Right in Der Fuehrer's Face!"
Other movies have also used the term
Bronx for comic effect, such as "Bronx", the character on the
DisneyThe Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
animated series
GargoylesGargoyles is an American animated series created by Greg Weisman. It was produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and aired from October 24, 1994 to February 15, 1997. Gargoyles is known for its dark tone, complex story arcs and melodrama...
.
Starting in the 1970s, the Bronx often symbolized violence, decay, and urban ruin. The wave of arson in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s inspired the observation that "The Bronx is burning": in 1974 it was the title of both a New York Times
editorialAn opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
and a
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
. The line entered the pop-consciousness with Game Two of the
1977 World Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1977 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe Dodgers drew first blood off Don Gullett in the first when Davey Lopes walked and scored on a Bill Russell triple. Ron Cey made it 2–0 on a sacrifice fly...
, when a fire broke out near Yankee Stadium as the team was playing the
Los Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
. Numerous fires had previously broken out in the Bronx prior to this fire. As the fire was captured on live television, announcer
Howard CosellHoward William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
stated, "There it is, ladies and gentlemen: the Bronx is burning". Historians of New York City frequently point to Cosell's remark as an acknowledgement of both the city and the borough's decline. A new feature-length documentary film by Edwin Pagan called
Bronx Burning is in production in 2006, chronicling what led up to the numerous arson-for-insurance fraud fires of the 1970s in the borough.
Bronx gang lifeIn the 1950s and 60s the youth gangs in the Bronx, New York, emerged with a particular notoriety.-History:Gangs of the Bronx included*the Fordham Baldies*the Ducky Boys Gang aka the Ducky Gang*the Fordham Flames...
was depicted in the 1974 novel
The Wanderers by Bronx native
Richard PriceRichard Price was a British moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of the...
and the
1979 movie of the same nameThe Wanderers is a 1979 greaser film based on the novel by Richard Price .-Overview:...
. They are set in the heart of the Bronx, showing apartment life and the then-landmark Krums ice cream parlor. In the 1979 film
The Warriors, the eponymous gang go to a meeting in
Van Cortlandt ParkVan Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
in the Bronx, and have to fight their way out of the borough and get back to
Coney IslandConey Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
in
BrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. The 2005 video game adaptation features levels called Pelham, Tremont, and "Gunhill" (a play off the name Gun Hill Road).
This theme lends itself to the title of
The Bronx Is BurningThe Bronx Is Burning is a television drama that debuted on ESPN on July 9, 2007, after the 2007 MLB Home Run Derby. It is an eight-episode mini-series adapted from Jonathan Mahler's best-selling book, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning...
, an eight-part
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
TV mini-series (2007) about the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
' drive to winning baseball's
1977 World Series-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1977 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New YorkThe Dodgers drew first blood off Don Gullett in the first when Davey Lopes walked and scored on a Bill Russell triple. Ron Cey made it 2–0 on a sacrifice fly...
. The TV series emphasizes the boisterous nature of the team, led by manager
Billy MartinAlfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times...
, catcher
Thurman MunsonThurman Lee Munson was an American Major League Baseball catcher. He played his entire 11-year career for the New York Yankees...
and outfielder
Reggie JacksonReginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
, as well as the malaise of the Bronx and New York City in general during that time, such as the blackout, the city's serious financial woes and near bankruptcy, the arson for insurance payments, and the election of
Ed KochEdward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
as mayor.
The 1981 film
Fort Apache, The BronxFort Apache, The Bronx is a 1981 crime drama film made by Producers Circle, Time-Life Television Productions Inc., and distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. It was directed by Daniel Petrie and produced by Martin Richards, Thomas Fiorello, with David Susskind as executive producer...
is another film that used the Bronx's gritty image for its storyline. The movie's title is from the nickname for the 41st Police Precinct in the South Bronx which was nicknamed "Fort Apache". Also from 1981 is the horror film
WolfenWolfen is the title of a 1981 horror film starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos based on Whitley Strieber's 1978 novel The Wolfen...
making use of the rubble of the Bronx as a home for werewolf type creatures.
Knights of the South BronxKnights of the South Bronx is a 2005 TV film about a teacher who helps students at a tough inner-city school to succeed by teaching them to play chess.-Plot summary:...
, a true story of a teacher who worked with disadvantaged children, is another film also set in the Bronx released in 2005.
The Bronx was the setting for the 1983 film
Fuga dal Bronx, also known as
Bronx Warriors 2 and
Escape 2000, an Italian B-movie best known for its appearance on the television series Mystery Science Theatre 3000. The plot revolves around a sinister construction corporation's plans to depopulate, destroy and redevelop the Bronx, and a band of rebels who are out to expose the corporation's murderous ways and save their homes. The film is memorable for its almost incessant use of the phrase, "Leave the Bronx!" Many of the movie's scenes were filmed in
QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, substituting as the Bronx.
Bronx born and reared
Nancy SavocaNancy Savoca is an American film screenwriter, director, and producer. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, she is the daughter of Sicilian and Argentine immigrants Calogero Savoca and Maria Elvira Savoca...
's 1989 comedy
True LoveTrue Love is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Nancy Savoca. An unflinching look at the realities of love and marriage which offers no "happily ever after" ending, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival.-Cast:...
, explores two Italian-American Bronx sweethearts in the days before their wedding. The film, which debuted
Annabella SciorraAnnabella Sciorra is an American film, television, and stage actress. Sciorra received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film True Love, and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever...
and
Ron EldardRonald Jason "Ron" Eldard is an American actor.-Early life:Eldard, the second youngest of seven children , was born on Long Island, New York. Eldard's mother died in a car accident when he was a child, and Eldard and his siblings were sent to live with various family members...
as the betrothed couple, won the Grand Jury Prize at that year's
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
.
The
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television sitcom
BeckerBecker is an American television sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2004 on CBS. Set in the New York City borough of The Bronx, the show starred Ted Danson as John Becker, a misanthropic doctor who operates a small practice and is constantly annoyed by his patients, co-workers, friends, and practically...
, 1998–2004, was more ambiguous. The show starred
Ted DansonEdward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He also plays a recurring role on Larry David's HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close...
as Dr. John Becker, a doctor who operated a small practice and was constantly annoyed by his patients, co-workers, friends, and practically everything and everybody else in his world. It showed his everyday life as a doctor working in a small clinic in the Bronx.
Penny MarshallPenny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
's 1990 film
AwakeningsAwakenings is a 1990 American drama film based on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir Awakenings. It tells the true story of British neurologist Oliver Sacks, fictionalized as American Malcolm Sayer and portrayed by Robin Williams who, in 1969, discovers beneficial effects of the then-new drug L-Dopa...
, which was nominated for several
OscarsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, is based on neurologist
Oliver SacksOliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
'
1973 accountAwakenings is a 1973 non-fiction book by Oliver Sacks. It recounts the life histories of those who had been victims of the 1920s encephalitis lethargica epidemic. Sacks chronicles his efforts in the late 1960s to help these patients at the Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx, New York. The...
of his psychiatric patients at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx who were paralyzed by a form of
encephalitisEncephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis with meningitis is known as meningoencephalitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and fatigue...
but briefly responded to the drug L-dopa.
Robin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
played the physician;
Robert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
was one of the patients who emerged from a
catatonicCatatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
(frozen) state. The home of Williams' character was shot not far from Sacks' actual
City IslandCity Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...
residence. A 1973
Yorkshire Television documentary and "A Kind of Alaska", a 1985 play by
Harold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, were also based on Sacks' book.
Gus Van SantGus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
's 2000
Finding ForresterEnglishFinding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. A black American teenager, Jamal Wallace , is invited into a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester , through whom he refines his...
was quickly billed "
Good Will HuntingGood Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
in the Hood."
Sean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
is in the title role of a reclusive old man who 50 years earlier wrote a single novel that garnered the
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
. He meets 16 year old Jamal – actor Rob Brown – a gifted, Bronx reared basketball player and aspiring writer, and becomes his mentor. The movie includes stock footage of Bronx housing projects from 1990, as well as some other scenes shot in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
In literature
The Bronx has been featured significantly in fiction literature. All of the characters in
Herman WoukHerman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.-Biography:...
's
City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie BookbinderCity Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder is a 1948 novel by Herman Wouk first published by Simon and Schuster. The second novel written by Wouk, City Boy was largely ignored by the reading public until the success of The Caine Mutiny resurrected interest in Wouk's writing...
(1948) live in the Bronx, and about half of the action is set there. Kate Simon's
Bronx Primitive: Portraits of a Childhood is directly autobiographical, a warm account of a Polish-Jewish girl in an immigrant family growing up before World War II, and living near Arthur Avenue and Tremont Avenue. In Jacob M. Appel's short story, "The Grand Concourse" (2007), a woman who grew up the in the iconic
Lewis MorrisLewis Morris was an American landowner and developer from Morrisania, New York. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress for New York....
Building returns to the Morrisania neighborhood with her adult daughter. Similarly, in
Avery CormanAvery Corman is an American novelist.He is the author of the novel Kramer vs. Kramer which created a sea change in attitudes toward child custody with the public and in the courts in the United States and internationally. Robert Benton wrote the screenplay and directed the movie of the same name...
's book
The Old Neighborhood (1980), an upper-middle class white protagonist returns to his birth neighborhood (
Fordham RoadFordham Road is a major street in The Bronx borough of New York City. It runs east-west from the Harlem River to Bronx Park.This street runs through the neighborhood of University Heights, divides Fordham from Fordham-Bedford and finally runs along the northern border of Belmont...
and the
Grand ConcourseThe Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
), and learns that even though the folks are poor, Hispanic and African-American, they are good people.
By contrast,
Tom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's
Bonfire of the VanitiesThe Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City and centers on four main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish assistant district attorney Larry Kramer, British expatriate...
(1987) portrays a wealthy, white protagonist, Sherman McCoy, getting lost off the
Major Deegan ExpresswayThe Major Deegan Expressway is a north–south expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx...
in the
South BronxThe South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
and having an altercation with locals. A substantial piece of the last part of the book is set in the resulting riotous trial at the Bronx County Court House. However, times change, and in 2007, the
New York Times reported that "the Bronx neighborhoods near the site of Sherman's accident are now dotted with townhouses and apartments." In the same article, the Reverend
Al SharptonAlfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
(whose fictional analogue in the novel is "Reverend Bacon") asserts that "twenty years later, the cynicism of
The Bonfire of the Vanities is as out of style as
Tom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's wardrobe."
Don DeLilloDon DeLillo is an American author, playwright, and occasional essayist whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries...
's
UnderworldUnderworld is a postmodern novel published in 1997 by Don DeLillo. It was nominated for the National Book Award, was a best-seller, and is one of DeLillo's better-known novels....
(1997) is also set in the Bronx and offers a perspective on the decline of the area from the 1950s onwards.
John Patrick ShanleyJohn Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He also contributed articles on the performing arts to The New York Times among other publications.-Life and career:...
's "
Savage in LimboSavage In Limbo is a 1984 play by American playwright John Patrick Shanley. The play follows the tragicomic lives of a group of losers who frequent a seedy Bronx bar....
" is set in a 1980s Bronx bar called 'Scales' where the frustrated characters feel they are unable to move.
In poetry, the Bronx has been immortalized by one of the world's shortest
coupletA couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
s:
- The Bronx
- No Thonx
- Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
, The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, 1931
Nash repented 33 years after his calumny, penning in 1964 the following prose poem to the Dean of
Bronx Community CollegeThe Bronx Community College of The City University of New York is a community college in the City University of New York system located in the University Heights neighborhood of The Bronx.- History :...
:
- I can't seem to escape
- the sins of my smart-alec youth;
- Here are my amends.
- I wrote those lines, "The Bronx?
- No thonx";
- I shudder to confess them.
- Now I'm an older, wiser man
- I cry, "The Bronx? God
- bless them!"
In song
Passing through: The theme song to the 1960s U.S. television comedy series
Car 54, Where Are You?Car 54, Where Are You? is an American sitcom that ran on NBC from 1961 to 1963. Episodes had various directors, the most recognized being Al De Caprio. Stanley Prager and Nat Hiken also directed several episodes. Most of its filming was on location in The Bronx, and at Biograph...
begins "There's a holdup in the Bronx." And the song "
New York, New York"New York, New York" is a song from the 1944 musical On the Town and the 1949 MGM musical film of the same name. The music was written by Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The best known line of this song is, "New York, New York, a helluva town...
" (by
Betty ComdenBetty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and
Adolph GreenAdolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
from the 1940s musical comedy and
filmOn the Town is a 1949 musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944, although many changes in script and score were made from the original stage...
, "On the Town") explains that "The Bronx is up and
the BatteryBattery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
's down." Another song, "
Manhattan"Manhattan" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. It has been performed by Lee Wiley, Oscar Peterson, Blossom Dearie, Tony Martin, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, among many others....
" (by
Richard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and
Lorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
for the 1925 musical "Garrick Gaieties"), declares "We'll have Manhattan,/The Bronx and Staten/Island too./It's lovely going through/the zoo."
Bronx Local: While hundreds of songs about New York City, Manhattan and Brooklyn can be found in Wikipedia's
List of songs about New York City and also in Marc Ferris's 5-page, 15-column list of "Songs and Compositions Inspired by New York City" in
The Encyclopedia of New York CityThe Encyclopedia of New York City is a comprehensive reference book on New York City. Historian and Columbia University professor Kenneth T...
(1995), only a handful refer to the Bronx.
Ferris's extensive but selective 1995 list mentions only four songs referring specifically to the Bronx:
- "On the Banks of the Bronx" (1919), William LeBaron, Victor Jacobi
Victor Jacobi, Jakobi Viktor was a Hungarian operetta composer.He studied at Zeneakadémia in Budapest at the same time as the noted Hungarian composers Imre Kálmán and Albert Szirmai...
- "Bronx Express" (1922), Creamer and Layton
- "The Tremont Avenue Cruisewear Fashion Show" (1973), Jerry Livingston
Jerry Livingston was an American songwriter, and dance orchestra pianist.-Biography:...
, Mark David
- "I Love the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
" (1987), Paula Lindstrom
But
Wikipedia's own list also currently mentions:
- "Alfie From The Bronx" by The Toy Dolls
The Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. Departing from the angry lyrics and music often associated with punk rock, The Toy Dolls worked within the aesthetics of punk to express a sense of fun, with songs such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfriend's Dad's a Vicar" and...
- "Back To The Bronx" by 2 Live Crew
2 Live Crew was a hip hop group from Miami, Florida. They caused considerable controversy with the sexual themes in their work, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty As They Wanna Be.- Early career :...
- "Boogie Down Bronx" by JVC Force
- "Bronx" by Kurtis Blow
Kurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...
- "The Bronx" by Regina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor is a Russian American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered in New York City's East Village.-Early life:...
- "Bronx Backyard" by The Johnny Seven Band
- "The Bronx Is Beautiful" by Robert Klein
Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine...
- "Bronx Keeps Creating It" by Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
- "Bronx Tale" by Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
- "Bronx War Stories
The Swarm is a 1998 album by the Wu-Tang Killa Bees which is made up of various artists affiliated with or part of the Wu-Tang Clan.- Track listing :- Personnel :* Sherin Baday – Production Coordination, Art Direction* J. Brand – Producer...
" by A.I.G.
- "Cousin in The Bronx" by Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
- "Cross Bronx Expressway" by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz
Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz were an American rap duo consisting of Sean "Lord Tariq" Hamilton and Peter "Peter Gunz" Pankey. They are best known for their song "Deja Vu " which went to #9 on the U.S...
- "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" by Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz
- "Ha Ya Doin? Yankees" – The Haya Doin'? Boys
Haya Doin? was a series of unofficial New York Yankees sports anthems produced and voiced by Carmine Famiglietti and Joseph Summa from 1999 - 2001...
- "Here Come the Yankees
Here Come the Yankees is the official theme song of the New York Yankees baseball team.It has been the official team anthem since 1967, when it was composed by Bob Bundin and Lou Stallman. Bundin and Stallman were associated at the time with Columbia Records, whose then-owner, the media...
", by Bob Bundin and Lou Stallman
- "Jenny From The Block
"Jenny from the Block" is a song by American singer Jennifer Lopez, featuring American rappers Styles P and Jadakiss. Written by Lopez, Troy Oliver, Mr. Deyo, Samuel Barnes, and Jean-Claude Olivier and produced by Cory Rooney, Oliver, and Poke & Tone, it was released to radio in late September 2002...
" by Jennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
featuring Styles PDavid Styles better known by his stage name, Styles P, is an American rapper, author, and entrepreneur. He is prominently known as a member of Hip Hop group The LOX and is also a part of the Ruff Ryders hip-hop group, and in addition has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo...
& JadakissJason Phillips , better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.-Early life:By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle...
- "On The Streets Of The Bronx" by The Moonglows
The Moonglows were an American R&B and doo-wop group based in Cleveland, Ohio.-Early years:Originally formed in their native Louisville, Kentucky as the Crazy Sounds, the group moved to Cleveland, where disc jockey Alan Freed renamed them 'the Moonglows'...
- "Our Lady of the Bronx" by Black 47
Black 47 are a New York City based celtic rock band with Irish Republican sympathies, whose music also shows influence from reggae, hip hop, folk and jazz...
- "Rockin' the Bronx" by Black 47
Black 47 are a New York City based celtic rock band with Irish Republican sympathies, whose music also shows influence from reggae, hip hop, folk and jazz...
- "South Bronx" by Boogie Down Productions
Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
See also
- Bronx gangs (1950s-1960s)
In the 1950s and 60s the youth gangs in the Bronx, New York, emerged with a particular notoriety.-History:Gangs of the Bronx included*the Fordham Baldies*the Ducky Boys Gang aka the Ducky Gang*the Fordham Flames...
- Bronx cheer (gesture)
- Bronx Bombers
- Joseph P. Day, early land auctioneer
- List of people from the Bronx
- List of counties in New York
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Bronx County, New York
Further reading
- Barrows, Edward, and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (1999)
- Baver, Sherrie L. "Development of New York's Puerto Rican Community", Bronx County Historical Society Journal 1988 25(1): 1–9
- Briggs, Xavier de Souza, Anita Miller and John Shapiro. 1996. "CCRP in the South Bronx." Planners' Casebook, Winter.
- de Kadt, Maarten. The Bronx River: An Environmental and Social History. The History Press (2011)
- DiBrino, Nicholas. The History of the Morris Park Racecourse and the Morris Family (1977)
- Federal Writers' Project. New York City Guide: A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond (1939) online edition
- Gonzalez, Evelyn. The Bronx. (Columbia University Press, 2004. 263 ISBN 0–231-12114-8), scholarly history focused on the slums of the South Bronx online edition
- Goodman, Sam. "The Golden Ghetto: The Grand Concourse in the Twentieth Century", Bronx County Historical Society Journal 2004 41(1): 4–18 and 2005 42(2): 80–99
- Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City
The Encyclopedia of New York City is a comprehensive reference book on New York City. Historian and Columbia University professor Kenneth T...
, (Yale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
and The New-York Historical SocietyThe New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library located in New York City at the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West in Manhattan. Founded in 1804 as New York's first museum, the New-York Historical Society presents exhibitions, public programs and research that...
, (1995) ISBN 0-300-05536-6), has entries, maps, illustrations, statistics and bibliographic references on almost all of the significant topics in this article, from the entire borough to individual neighborhoods, people, events and artistic works.
- Jonnes, Jull. South Bronx Rising: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of an American City (2002) online edition
- McNamara, John History In Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names (1993) ISBN 0941980162
- McNamara, John McNamara's Old Bronx (1989) ISBN 0941980251
- Olmsted, Robert A. "A History of Transportation in the Bronx", Bronx County Historical Society Journal 1989 26(2): 68–91
- Olmsted, Robert A. "Transportation Made the Bronx", Bronx County Historical Society Journal 1998 35(2): 166–180
- Rodríguez, Clara E. Puerto Ricans: Born in the U.S.A (1991) online edition
- Samtur, Stephen M. and Martin A. Jackson. The Bronx: Lost, Found, and Remembered, 1935–1975 (1999) online review, nostalgia
- Twomey, Bill and Casey, Thomas Images of America Series: Northwest Bronx (2011)
- Twomey, Bill and McNamara, John. Throggs Neck Memories (1993)
- Twomey, Bill and McNamara, John. Images of America Series: Throggs Neck-Pelham Bay (1998)
- Twomey, Bill and Moussot, Peter. Throggs Neck (1983), pictorial
- Twomey, Bill. Images of America Series: East Bronx (1999)
- Twomey, Bill. Images of America Series: South Bronx (2002)
- Twomey, Bill. The Bronx in Bits and Pieces (2007)
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Northern Borough: A History Of The Bronx (2009), popular general history
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the frontier era: from the beginning to 1696 (1994)
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Beautiful Bronx (1920–1950) (1979), heavily illustrated
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Birth of the Bronx, 1609–1900 (2000), popular
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the Innocent years, 1890–1925 (1985), popular
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday, "The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday 1935–1965 (1992), heavily illustrated popular history
General links
Places in the Bronx
Bronx history
- East Bronx History Forum
- Museum of Bronx History
- The Bronx County Historical Society
- The Bronx: A Swedish Connection
- Report of the Bronx Parkway Commission, December 31, 1918, retrieved on July 24, 2008
- Remembrance of Synagogues Past: The Lost Civilization of the Jewish South Bronx by Seymour Perlin, retrieved on August 10, 2008
- Forgotten New York: Relics of a Rich History in the Everyday Life of New York City
- Bronx Nostalgia, photos, narratives, personal accounts, school alumni, videos
The Bronx today