A new report from the Center for an Urban Future indicates that the artist population in The Bronx has nearly doubled since 2000 from just 1,524 to 2,920 in 2015.
Community Board 10 in the East Bronx, comprising of Throggs Neck, Co-op City, City Island to name a few, saw a 286% increase―by far the largest in The Bronx―from 165 in 2000 to 637 artists in 2015.
Although all talk has been on the South Bronx as being the “hot bed” of artists moving in as developers attempt to use artists as pawns in the gentrification scene, the area only saw a modest increase of 43% from 201 artists in 2000 to 288 in 2015 living in community boards 1 and 2 which cover Mott Haven, Melrose, Port Morris, and Hunts Point.
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Only Community Board 11, encompassing the Bronx neighborhoods of Morris Park, Van Nest, and Pelham Parkway, indicated a decrease in artists with a 10% drop during the same time period.
Overall, this growth in artist population in The Bronx follows the citywide trend which showed a 17.4% increase since 2000.
As prices continue to chase artists away from areas like Manhattan and Brooklyn, we can expect this number to continue to rise in The Bronx for those looking for more affordable housing.
As for any mentions of a “burgeoning” art scene in The Bronx, let’s not forget that artists have always lived here and the artistic community has been very active before the fires, during, and after-we never stopped creating.
You can read the full report here.
