The Morris Park Race Track Clubhouse as it appeared in 1910. The clubhouse was located on the southside of Van Nest Avenue between Fowler and Bogart Avenues. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Race Track.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1910.
Decades before The Bronx neighborhood of Morris Park came to be, it was home to the 360 acre Morris Park Racecourse which ran from 1889 until 1904 as an important center of American thoroughbred horse racing which was the home of the Belmont Stakes from 1890 until 1904 and even saw the famous Preakness Stakes in 1890.
The 1 1/4 mile track was bounded by what is today Sacket Avenue, Williamsbridge Road, Bronxdale Avenue, and Pelham Parkway and by 1902 attendance was no longer what it once was and a decision was made to shut down the track which saw its last horse race on October 15, 1904.
Soon after that it was used for automobile racing—3 years prior, mass production of affordable automobiles had begun by Oldsmobile in Lansing, Michigan—but even that didn’t last as the owners ran into financial difficulties and the property was taken over by the City of New York.
From 1907 until 1909 the land was leased to the Aeronautic Society of New York and the area was the site of air shows. From horses to airplanes, Morris Park Racetrack had it all.
After a fire destroyed much of the stables and facilities, the 360 acre track was auctioned off to developers and the land was eventually subdivided into what we see today Morris Park.
Morris Park Avenue was laid out along with rail for a trolley and the urban grid began to take over the land.
Today Morris Park is an ethnically diverse neighborhood with a strong Italian history blending with Latinos, Muslims, Bangladeshis, and many other ethnic groups into a beautiful melting pot.
Morris Park Avenue during its construction in 1913 at Bogart Avenue. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Avenue – Bogart Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. Spring 1913
Today:
Workers lay down rail for a trolley line as Morris Park Avenue is constructed at Bronxdale Avenue in 1913. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Avenue – Bronxdale Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. Spring 1913
Today:
Morris Park Avenue at Paulding looking west towards Bronxdale Ave in the distance in 1913. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Avenue – Paulding Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. Spring 1913
Today:
Trolley line and Morris Park Avenue both under construction in 1913 at Williamsbridge Road facing West. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Avenue – Williamsbridge Road” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. Spring 1913
Today:
Morris Park Racetrack just before division and streets were laid out in 1913. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Race Track.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1913.View of Morris Park as the grid is laid out in 1913 from atop the clubhouse facing east. The streets running from left to right across the image are probably Fowler and Bogart Avenues and the vertical streets are possibly Pierce and Sacket Avenues. Note the slight curve on the bottom left of the image which was a remnant of the racetrack. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Race Track.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1913.View of Morris Park as the grid is laid out in 1913 from atop the clubhouse facing east. Notice the bend of the former racetrack still visible. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Morris Park Race Track.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1913.
Area of detail for Riverdale Station Park Extension
Although The Bronx is on the mainland, as a peninsula, we are surrounded by water yet access to our waterfront is limited especially in the West Bronx.
Now a group is pushing for greater access to the Hudson River in Riverdale by expanding a small 600 foot park by 2 miles all the way north through the Westchester County border into the City of Yonkers.
The Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corporation is seeking to use Riverdale Station Park as the spot along the Hudson to expand access.
After years of wrangling with various government agencies and rail lines, the park opened in 2005.
I was pleasantly surprised when the tiny park was opened. For years I would go to the Riverdale Metro North station and walk along the river (not something that’s recommended and also trespassing) and soaked up the beauty of being along the Hudson River with stunning views of the Palisades in New Jersey.
Unlike the noise of traffic along the Hudson in Manhattan, this The Bronx section of the river is relatively quiet with the exception of the roar of Metro North and Amtrak zooming by.
But in between the trains there is a tranquility to be enjoyed.
It isn’t right that so much of our waterfront is cut off from our residents by rail and industry. Our waterfront are a precious resource and The Bronx is lucky to have lots of it—we just need to continue fighting to obtain access which is a given in the other 4 boroughs.
Call me an optimist but one day I forsee our residents to be able to enjoy our waterfront from Riverdale down to Port Morris and wrapping around our beautiful borough.
Maybe KRVC can join hands with South Bronx Unite and their Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan as well as the Harlem River Waterfront Working Group.
Yes, you read that correctly. According to an interview in The New Yorker with Anthony Daniels, the British actor who plays the iconic C-3PO in the Star Wars franchise, was supposed to have a “Bronx” accent as George Lucas had imagined he would.
As Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens officially today, we’d thought we would reshare this article from two years ago when Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened up.
“C-3PO’s lines were muffled by his elaborate headgear on set. So in 1976, Daniels traveled to the U.S. for the first time to rerecord them. “I walked into the sound producer’s stage on Highland,” he remembers, “and the engineer said, ‘Huh, interesting. We spent a couple of months trying to find a voice for your part because George really hates it.’” Lucas had imagined the droid as a used-car dealer from the Bronx. “He’d never thought of him being a British butler. But he had the generosity of spirit to change his mind. Had it not been for that, I wouldn’t have been in Episode V.”
Although it clearly never came to fruition, we did get a bit close with Joan Rivers as Dot Matrix in the Mel Brooks Star Wars spoof, “Spaceballs”
Thanks to The New York Public Library Digital Collections, the public has access to thousands of images of New York City from the 1870’s to the 1970’s. Today we’re sharing some of our favorites of The Bronx where you can see how things have changed—or not.
Third Avenue at 148th Street in The Hub looking north towards Melrose in 1926. Many of the buildings in this image still stand including Immaculate Conception Church (minus its steeple). Long gone is the Third Avenue El which left a gaping transit desert in Morrisania and other points north / Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 3rd Avenue – 148th Street (East)” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926.Beach Avenue looking north at Gleason Avenue in Soundview in 1915. At the end of the street you can see PS 47 which still stands but today would barely be visible from this same vantage point as the 6 train obscures the view. Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Beach Avenue – Gleason Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1915.Arthur Avenue in Belmont between E 186th and E 187th Street (date unknown) Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Arthur Avenue – 186th Street” The New York Public Library Digital Collections.Apartment buildings under construction along Allerton Avenue and White Plains road (you can see a sliver of the 2 line to the left of the image) in 1930. Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: Allerton Avenue – White Plains Road” The New York Public Library Digital Collections.1924 image West 238th Street in Riverdale facing east towards Broadway were you can see the 1 subway line running through mostly empty lands to the west of Broadway. The photographer noted the landfills being prepped for “extensive real estate development”. A lot of this development which occurred throughout The Bronx was in fact due to the expansion of the subway system throughout our borough. Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 238th Street (West) – Spuyten Duyvil Road” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926.E 233rd Street at Katonah Avenue in Woodlawn, 1924 / Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 233rd Street (East) – Katonah Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1924.East 180th Street on Bryant Avenue. The El you see, however, is NOT East 180th Street on Morris Park on the 2/5 train but the old Bronx Park Terminal of the 7th Avenue IRT on Boston Road. In the distance you can see the East 180th Street station which is now the 2/5 line.(1926) Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 180th Street (East) – Bryant Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926.E 178th Street and Hughes Avenue in Tremont (Date Unknown) Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 178th Street (East) – Hughes Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections.The semi-rural neighborhood of Castle Hill at Watson Avenue and what would become the infamous Cross Bronx Expressway. (1926) Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 177th Street (East) – Watson Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926.161st Street looking East towards the Grand Concourse and the Concourse Plaza Hotel / Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 161st Street (East) – River Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926.Also taken in 1926, this image of 149th Street and The Hub in Melrose looking West with Immaculate Conception Church standing as the tallest structure for miles. / Image Credit: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. “Bronx: 149th Street (East) – Bergen Avenue” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1926.
Call them Brujas (Spanish for witches), an all Latina skate crew right here in our borough. But they’re not just women skating in a male-dominated sport but are also socially aware challenging and questioning the world we live in.
For the Brujas girls, their crew is about more than skating: it’s about friendship, and the radical potential of sisterhood to foster real support systems, outside the mainstream social norms. They see the preventative and healing power of friendship as a source of collective empowerment, especially in the context of Western medicine and philosophy, where it’s discouraged to tap into extra-spiritual realms.
“So much of our world is described through patriarchal, rigid, academic, medical ways, and concepts of understanding the world scientifically,” Arianna says. “Traditionally behind those perspectives are just men. In traditional indigenous cultures, which a lot of our cultures are derived from, women were in charge of health and community and motherhood and wellness and food. Not in ways that were demeaning but in ways that were powerful.”
Sam’s Skateboard / PHOTO: COURTESY OF LAUREL GOLIO.
For that reason, female collectives like Brujas create spaces of trust, openness, and agency. “It’s significantly important to me that people feel like they’re an actor in their own health,” Arianna says, referring to physical and mental well-being. “If you can’t trust doctors, at least you can trust your friends … Whether you’re with some dude who was really fucked up to you, or you’re actually chemically imbalanced and need a different kind of support system around you than what our traditional society offers us… That’s definitely part of the fabric of what we do, how we see the world.”
In the words of photographer Laurel Golio, the women of Brujas, an all-Latina skate crew in the Bronx, “are cool as shit.” Golio took the photos in 10 of Twelve, her project about the crew — the 10th in a series of 12 photo projects she produced monthly in 2015 — over an afternoon in the Bronx at 157th and River Avenue, where the Brujas’ skate park is located. The women refer to the park simply as “157.”
“About a year ago, I had read an interview with Arianna [Maya Gil] and Sheyla [Grullón], the founders of Brujas, and thought it would be cool to photograph them,” Golio says of the project’s genesis. “During the course of 12 of Twelve, I thought a lot about subculture(s) and identity and how those ideas intersected with gender and performance. I kept thinking about Brujas because they seemed to touch on a lot of those things, so I reached out to Arianna.”
Photography Stephanie Griffin
Arianna arranged an informal meet-up with Golio and the Brujas at 157 in October, and in the images she produced that day, “I was trying to capture the energy of the crew, the environment, the feel of the park and the surrounding area,” Golio says. “The members spoke to the importance of all-female spaces and how those spaces intersect with race, community, heteronormativity, systems of oppression — they literally covered all these topics within a few hours. Not to fan-girl too hard, but I was really inspired by the crew.”
These women are definitely bad-ass in every sense of the word and make us proud. They are a reflection of what makes Bronxites a strong people.
Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13, 11:00am to 6:00pm
Save your holiday shopping for the Bronx Museum’s Holiday Market Weekend! In collaboration with FromTheBronx.com, The South Bronx Farmer’s Market, THE POINT, and The Bronx Beer Hall, the Bronx Museum welcomes more than 25 local artists, artisans, farmers, bakers, brewers, and more for a holiday market that is not to be missed. Free admission!
Shop for:
– Artist-made gifts and crafts
– Jewelry from local designers
– Artisan cookies, cakes, and sweets
– Bronx-crafted spirits and beer
– Handmade scarfs, ties, and other apparel
Enjoy:
– Photos with Ms. Santa and friends
– Face painting
– Hot cocoa and cider
– Art-making activities
– Musical and dance performances
2015 VENDORS
-Aficionado Arts/THE POINT
-Bear Hand Creations
-Beazer’s Garden
-Bronx Beer Hall
-Bronx Chicks
-Daniel Hauben / Bronx Artist Documentary Project
-Dennis Redmoon Darkeem
-Ellude’s
-FromTheBronx.com
-Humble Trees
-Jaynine Taylor
-Lady K Fever
-Lucia Hernandez
-Morris Perk
-Native Tec
-Niizeki Hiromi
-NYC Taxi Drivers Calendar
-*Paper*Crane*Heart*
-Port Morris Distillery
-Potter’s Jewerly
-Resourceful Design
-South Bronx Farmer’s Market
-Special Mama
-Spizane
-Taylor Made Creations for All Occasions, Inc.
-Uptown Roasters
-White Pine Community Farm
-Youniquely Created, Inc.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12 SCHEDULE
ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE DAY
12pm to 6pm – Ms. Santa and friends join us for photos and holiday face painting
1pm to 6pm – Art-making activities led by a Bronx Museum teaching artist
PERFORMANCES & TOURS
11am – Museum gallery tour with teaching artist
2pm – C. Debra performing holiday poetry
3pm – Friends of Martin Wong exhibition tour with Charlie Ahearn and Jane Dickson
4pm – Flamenco demonstration by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana II in the market space
5pm – Performance by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana II in the Lower Gallery
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13 SCHEDULE
ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT THE DAY
12pm to 6pm – Ms. Santa and friends join us for photos and holiday face painting
1pm to 6pm – Art-making activities led by a Bronx Museum teaching artist
PERFORMANCES & TOURS
11am – Museum gallery tour with teaching artist
1pm – Girls Prep Bronx Elementary School Performance Choir
2pm – Performance by Bharati S. Kemraj
3pm – Girls Prep Bronx Middle School Performance Choir
4pm – Cirque du Monde, Social Circus at THE POINT
5pm – Cirque du Monde, Social Circus at THE POINT
The Bronx Museum is located at 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street.
Kim Watson, of The Bronx, won the right to stay and not be deported / Image Via Kim Watson
These past few years, the transgender community (the oft-overlooked T in LGBTQ) has been getting more and more attention in the spotlight as individuals like Laverne Cox of Orange Is The New Black fame and formerly Bruce Jenner of Olympic medal-winning fame turned Kardashian superstar who transitioned into Caitlyn Jenner earlier this year.
But that is the “glamorous” side of this community.
Kim Watson, a Bronx woman and “unrelenting advocate of the LGBT community in The Bronx,” can stay right here in her home with her family in our borough after being threatened with deportation back to her native Barbados where she feared going back.
“During the past three years, she had been fighting her removal from the United States — and from her husband and daughter.
While tourists view the Caribbean island nation as a breathtaking paradise, Watson saw her homeland, with its anti-gay laws, as perdition for members of the LGBT community and people suffering from HIV.
She and her lawyer had argued that if she were deported, she would have likely faced torture or worse.
“I feel like if America had sent me back, they were signing off on a death sentence,” she said last week.
On that day in court three weeks ago, Watson’s case was finally supposed to go to trial. She had experts on Barbados and other witnesses ready to testify on her behalf.
Just before the trial started in the Manhattan court, the Homeland Security lawyer said he would not challenge Nazrali’s request for a deferral of removal, a rarely granted protective status that allows an undocumented immigrant to remain and work in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice set up regulations in 1999 that protected undocumented immigrants from torture and inhumane treatment in their home countries.”
What’s often overlooked, not talked about, or seen are the daily struggles the trans community faces often dealing with violence and discrimination at such levels that it can become unbearable to the point that the community experiences a suicide attempt rate of 41%.
This is far above the national average of 4.6% and double the gay, lesbian, and bisexual attempt rate at roughly 20%.
For transgender individuals of color the number is increased dramatically from 38% for white transgender individuals to 44% and 45% for Latinos and Blacks (respectively) and for mixed and Native Americans it sky rockets to 54% and 56%.
Let’s not forget all the struggles this segment of the population faces. It’s not just about the glitter and glam we see on TV.
The holidays are upon us and it’s that time of year where people are scratching their heads on what to buy their loved ones. Welcome2TheBronx would like to suggest the following list to consider as gifts for someone you love.
What better way to give someone something than an item from The Bronx or a Bronx based artist?! Please do know that this isn’t a complete list and should you want to be considered for inclusion in this list, feel free to reach out at info@welcome2thebronx.com
“Thank you for helping us to spread awareness about Upcycling, which we see as the art of reusing discarded objects in such a way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original. Each product we offer is made with love and the intention of spreading the awareness of this movement. Your bow tie is like a mini billboard, a vehicle to express yourself any way you like. They are just as unique as you are.
Our Process: We frequent online and local thrift shops for board games, vinyl, books and anything else we think would be a fit for a bow tie. Each one is handmade in our Bronx, NY office. We reuse 90% of all the material we collect and each bow tie is 97% upcycled. We try our best to utilize and reuse as much as we can. All bow ties are mailed out in 100% recycled envelopes and we do not include any invoices as to not waste any paper. We also hand write your name and address while sending you thoughts of gratitude for helping us to get one step closer to our future goals. <3″
Yup, Morris Perk not only is serving up coffee but they also serve up fun art you can let your inner child enjoy in the form of a coloring book (although I’m sure there are plenty of children as well who’d enjoy this book too).
What’s wonderful about this coloring book is that it features BRONX ARTISTS! (ok, so one artist isn’t from The Bronx but it’s the love of coffee and our borough which counts!)
You can customize your package to include color markers, pencils, coffee (yes, coffee!!) and more!
What happens when a tree falls at Wave Hill? Well it’s turned into beautiful art of course! A local artist takes the fallen trees and turns them into beautiful, sculptured bowls that are truly breathtaking and a wonderful tribute which speaks of the cycle of life. Check out the many gifts they have available by heading over there or just clicking on their website above!
The Bronx 200 site is a dynamic, online platform that showcases a curated selection of artwork by two hundred artists identified with The Bronx. Artists were invited to participate by curators and art professionals working in the borough. The curators were asked to recommend artists whose work represents the rich and diverse range of creative production here. The primary goal of The BX200 website is to connect the borough’s artists and art organizations to curators, collectors, art enthusiasts, businesses and other artists worldwide.
The book is “an unprecedented collection of over fifty Bronx memoir fragments, as penned by our very own residents, spanning various generations, continents, languages, cultures and themes.”
Bronx born and raised author, Stephanie Hoina published her first book, Kissing Atticus Primble earlier this year for young adults. “Like any other girl her age, Kathleen was ready for the excitement of a first love. What she wasn’t ready for was Atticus. He had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and the subtle change in their relationship as they started high school caught her off guard.”
Author Martin Kleinman, born and raised in The Bronx, left our borough and returned after over 25 years abroad (I mean in Brooklyn) put together this collection of short stories, some based in The Bronx, others not. Either way it’s a great read and an excellent gift idea to support one of our own at the same time! Home Front, the New York-centric assemblage of fictional tales is an account influenced by our own great metropolis and its denizens. From the Bronx, to Brooklyn, to Manhattan, and bungalow communities of the Catskills, each short story is bright and alive with that real New York flavor that, well, a true New Yorker would instantly recognize and relate to.
Ok so this particular author isn’t FROM The Bronx but he gets points for setting a fun and exciting book in our borough featuring local Mott Haven and Port Morris landmarks as well as heroes which could very well come straight from the neighborhoods! “Even before the apocalypse, nine-year-old Letitia Johnson’s life had never been simple. Shuttled from foster home to foster home in the impoverished neighborhood of Mott Haven, it was all she could do to keep track of her little sister. When the apocalypse came, she tried to keep her sister’s kindergarten safe by locking them all in a tiny school bathroom, hiding while they waited for a rescue that never came. For five days, they hid. They hid while their teachers were being eaten, while their classmates were being killed. They hid while the Bronx was being evacuated. Now, there’s no one left to help them. There’s no place left to hide. It’s just her, one ax, twelve kindergarteners, twelve garden stakes, and a will to live. While the cast of this novel is primarily children, the book is intended for adults and contains material unsuitable for younger readers.”
Writer Jimmy Newell was born and bred in the Bronx during a time of tremendous change and social upheaval but, because of a loving family, life-long friends, and a great community, growing up in the Bronx was grand. His book, ‘A Bronx Boy’s Tale’ ” is the story of a boy growing up in a special place at a very special time. Providing a neighborhood context to historical events, A Bronx Boy’s Tale helps you see America through the eyes of one boy who grew up in a time of tremendous change and strife, but who still had time to live a grand life in the greatest place on Earth. If you grew up in the Bronx, or only wish you had, you should read this book.”
A collection of poetry by Bronxite LIz Dolan and Nominated for The Robert McGovern Prize and a Pushcart Prize Cave Moon Press has just published Liz Dolan’s,[ Dougherty] second poetry collection, A Secret of Long Life. According to Julianna Baggott, author of eighteen books Dolan’s poems are “Haunted and haunting. They thrum and trill with memory, keen with sorrow, and are always brimming with life.” And Fleda Brown, former Delaware poet laureate, says “Dolan is a skilled and deeply thoughtful poet. She knows how to let a family’s history-of Ireland and The Bronx and the Delaware beaches-tell its profound and nuanced truths. Dolan was contacted by publisher Doug Johnson from Cave Moon Press who after he published her work in a Cave Moon Anthology, a literary magazine, asked if she would be able to provide the press with an entire collection of poetry for publication.
Profits from sales will go to The Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome.
Yes, eyewear! We are more than happy to recommend the gift of healthy eyes and great eyewear fashion by our own homegrown Metro Optics! From gift coupons to gift baskets, this is the place to go and celebrate a succesfully home grown business! A true Bronx success story!
We really do up our Gift Baskets… not only will the lucky recipient of this one get a hot pair of Carrera sunglasses, but also an ornament and sweets to boot! Come in to any of our locations and we’ll build you a custom basket sure to please anyone on your list! (P.S. we do contacts and gift certificates too!)
Yes, The Bronx has its own home grown hot sauce (literally)! The Bronx Hot Sauce is made from Serrano peppers grown across our borough in various community gardens. According to their website:
“The Bronx Hot Sauce is a partnership among GrowNYC, Chef King Phojanakong and Small Axe Peppers. This collaboration was forged from the shared belief that the Bronx is a wonderful place capable of producing wonderful things. The sauce embodies the greatness of the borough.
Serrano peppers were chosen because of their suitability to New York City’s climate and soil type. Each of the past two springs, Small Axe donated all of the serrano peppers distributed to the community gardens in the Bronx that GrowNYC supports. In the spring as part of a direct investment in gardens, Small Axe extended to each garden an offer to buy their ripened peppers for a premium price at harvest time in the fall.
This buy-back model not only helps keep production local, it also provides direct support to the community gardens and gardeners. Bronx Green-Up, the community gardening outreach program of The New York Botanical Garden provides horticultural assistance to Bronx gardeners growing serrano peppers for the project as well as helps with collection of the perfectly ripened peppers.
Small Axe will contribute a majority of the profits from hot sauce sales to programs that assist low-income communities in the Bronx and throughout New York City.
Now,
“The Bronx is Burning” has turned from negative to decidedly positive.
Of course, the sauce tastes delicious, as you’d expect from its Bronx roots. We hope you share our belief in the resurgence of the Bronx.
Who doesn’t like homemade fresh pasta for the holidays or in general? Borgatti’s has been a Bronx staple since 1935 offering some of the best and freshest pasta in the region. Don’t believe me? Go there an any given day and you will see people traveling from all over the region just to get some of this good stuff. Borgatti’s even makes gift baskets!
Memberships
Who wouldn’t love a membership to one of our great institutions?
From premium family memberships valued at $189 (which gives 2 adults, their children up to the ages of 18 and a guest) unlimited access to all Bronx Zoo attractions and FREE parking for your visits to the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium. Not to mention you get free access to all 5 WCS parks! This is an excellent value for the family that loves nature and a gift that not only puts a smile on the receiver’s face but also helps save wildlife across the world! Other membership levels are available so make sure to check them out!
One of the most important botanical gardens in the world is located right within our borough and membership is just a click away and offers you unlimited visits during a year. Various levels of memberships are available for purchase so make sure to check out the list.
And we’re back to Wave Hill (we just can’t get enough of this place). You too can give the gift of a Wave Hill membership so that special someone (or you) can enjoy the splendor that is Wave Hill.
Get great membership perks for just $45 at this fine institution which now boasts two locations: One in The South Bronx and one off-broadway! “Following years of enterprising activity on stage and in the community, Pregones Theater and Puerto Rican Traveling Theater recently merged into a single Latino arts organization with performance venues in The Bronx and Manhattan. The transformation builds upon congruence of mission, values, and programs, and sustained engagement of a growing network of diverse artists and audiences throughout and beyond New York City. Moving forward, Pregones/PRTT champions a cultural legacy of broad impact through (1) creation and performance of original musical theater and plays rooted in Puerto Rican/Latino cultures, and (2) presentation of other artists who share our twin commitment to the arts and civic enrichment.”
Ok, so for those who like to imbibe a little, Port Morris Distillery is the perfect gift for the holiday season (drink responsibly folks!) whether it’s the pitorro (Puerto Rican moonshine) añejo or the coquito which is perfect for the holiday season, the lucky recipient will cherish this gift made right here in our beautiful borough.
According to PMD, pitorro is:
“Pitorro, the moonshine of Puerto Rico, has been produced since the 1600’s as its primary ingredient was sugar cane, a main product grown in Puerto Rico at the time. Although considered a rum, it is much stronger than a commercial rum surpassing the common alcohol of 80 or 90 proof. Since the major decline in sugar cane agriculture, Brown sugar & adding fruits to ferment has taken the place of molasses. With many family recipes throughout the Island, fermenting recipes change from family to family, the common practice in the production is ‘curing’ the distilled product by burying jugs of Pitorro in the ground. To give Pitorro distinct caribbean flavor, fruits such as coconut, pineapple, raisins, tamarind among other fruits are placed in the jugs in this process.
Puerto Rican Moonshine is also known by names such as lagrimas del monte (mountain tears), lagrimas de mangle (mangroves tears) and Canita (sugar cane).”
Who would have ever thought that a Spa and wellness center would open up in the Melrose neighborhood of the South Bronx? Not only is the business is by Bronxites but it is now a 5 year success story! Located on 3rd Avenue and 156th Street, the center offers many services such as facials, massages, health coaching, skin care, and even acupuncture! Check out their websiteand see all that they offer.
That’s it for now…keep this list book marked as we will continue to add to it and keep it up to date!
The event is scheduled for Monday, December 21st and kicks off at the Bronx Documentary Center at 4pm (located at 614 Cortlandt Avenue at E 151st Street).
If you’ve never been to a parranda or know what it is, it’s basically Christmas caroling on steroids with traditional Puerto Rican instruments and the crowd grows as it goes from place to place, picking folks up along the way.
For this event, the parranda will make its way through Melrose and stop at several local businesses along the way until they reach the final destination of Rincón Criollo community garden aka Casa de Chema.
So mark your calendars, folks, and get ready for some fun. Oh and did we mention that Morris Perk will be there with warm beverages to keep you toasty for the Winter Solstice march?
Bronxites see it all the time: An ad for the perfect apartment which they can afford but then the line that sinks their hopes—”sorry, no Section 8 or programs.”
Many hard working Bronx residents working low wage jobs, qualify for such lifelines like rental assistance to get them by and even those who are unemployed for health reasons too.
But it is illegal, yes illegal, for a landlord to deny housing to someone based on their legal income which includes section 8 programs and the likes.
As the city presses landlords to take in homeless families, some have decided it’s okay to illegally refuse to rent to tenants who get government aid, the city controller has found.
A disturbing pattern has emerged on Craigslist of landlords openly warning off tenants who get city or federal housing assistance, Controller Scott Stringer said Tuesday.
On Craigslist this week, one ad for a two-bedroom in East Flatbush stated flatly “NO VOUCHERS.” A one-bedroom in Pelham Bay specified “Sorry NO Public Assistance.”
A Coney Island one-bedroom — described as “nice place, nice price” — spelled out “No Section 8 Pls,” referring to federal aid for poor families.
A 2008 city law bars landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their “lawful source of income,” and on Tuesday Stringer demanded that the city’s Commission on Human Rights go after landlords who openly ignore the law.
“These ads say ‘no voucher need apply,’ echoing generations of discrimination against low-income New Yorkers,” Stringer stated.
If you see an ad which is discriminatory in this or any other nature you should take the time to report them.
New Yorkers deserve decent living of they qualify based on their income and according to the law, public assistance programs are considered lawful income.
Have you ever been denied an apartment based on your programs?
Heavenly delight at La Masa: Does this not look amazing? I had 3 empanadas: eggplant, mixed veggies, and broccoli rabe with sausage with a pineapple/passion fruit smoothie to wash it all down.
The Bronx being one of the most ethnically diverse places in New York City means that it’s a recipe for great culinary delights.
At least that’s the way one Bronx chef, Kwame Onwuachi, who’s getting ready to open his own restaurant in Washington, DC sees it.
Saveur, a magazine dedicated to the world of food, writes:
“No—for Onwuachi, who’s about to open The Shaw Bijou in Washington, D.C., “it started in the Bronx with [his] mom.”
That meant a steady diet of West African fufu, Jamaican jerk, and Puerto Rican pernil, everything a Creole-Jamaican-Nigerian family needs for a taste of home, and everything a curious cook, who started peeling shrimp in his mother’s kitchen at the age of eight, needs to kick off a lifelong obsession with global cooking.
Yet in a city that prides itself on eating globally with residents who will gladly travel and queue up for good food, most adventurous diners who live outside the Bronx have never actually set foot in a restaurant there. And that’s a shame. A population that boasts fearlessness regarding, well, everything shouldn’t need Anthony Bourdain to uncover the cooking happening a few subway stops away.
“I think people just write off the Bronx as not a destination,” Onwuachi says, “but I think it’s our job as chefs to educate people about different places that are meaningful.”
If you look at the chicken with mojo sauce on Shaw Bijou’s menu, you don’t have to go far to see where it comes from. Onwuachi’s untraditional mojo may be a fluid gel set over tempura-style fried chicken, but it begins with the Puerto Rican and Dominican diners around Baychester Avenue. His lamb sweetbreads with smoked white sesame and chiles? An homage to the halal cart lamb over rice you’ll find all around the Bronx.”
The Bronx is one of the counties in the country with the highest rates of HIV/AIDS with thousand of lives lost, families destroyed, and history changed forever due to this scourge.
“For HIV-infected homeless individuals in the Bronx, basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter, often supersede considerations regarding routine HIV medical care. Even when basic needs for food and shelter are met for homeless HIV-infected individuals, other factors, such as mental health disorders, drug and alcohol addiction, and lack of insurance, can serve as additional barriers that prevent them from engaging in care for their HIV disease. A majority must overcome not just mental illness but some combination of substance use disorders, criminal justice issues, poverty, unemployment, housing problems, trauma histories, and other complications.
HIV in the Bronx is a disease of poor and traditionally marginalized urban communities, with disproportionate rates of infection in homeless people, injection drug users, and people of color. Lack of information about Antiretro Viral Therapy, lack of access to routine care, and competing life priorities for homeless people are barriers to HIV treatment.
In a city that has a rate of new AIDS diagnoses that is more than three times higher than the national average, the neighborhoods of Highbridge/Morrisania, Hunts Point/Mott Haven and Crotona-Tremont have the 4th, 5th and 6th highest rates in NYC respectively. Highbridge/Morrisania has the 5th highest HIV death rate in the city.
South Bronx residents represent about one in four people with newly diagnosed HIV in NYC, yet they account for more than one in three AIDS deaths, the highest HIV-related death rate in NYC, and is an indication that residents at high risk of HIV infection are learning about and addressing their HIV status too late to maximize the impact of available therapies.”
Now, thanks to the leadership of the New York City Council, there is hope for Bronxites and the rest of New York City in eradicating this virus through funding $6.6 million towards, “pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis programs and efforts to aid people with HIV in staying on anti-HIV drugs so they remain non-infectious.”
Known as PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis is taken by an HIV negative individual who is at high risk of contracting the virus.
The medication is the same line of defense which HIV positive individuals take which had enabled this segment of the population to live out a normal lifespan from what was once a death sentence upon diagnosis.
“This initiative will help continue to provide programs and education to raise awareness of this devastating epidemic,” City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said in a joint November 23 statement with Corey Johnson, the openly gay and HIV-positive Council member who represents Chelsea. “It is critically important that all New Yorkers do their part to fight the spread of HIV/ AIDS. The more we take advantage of these resources, the closer we’ll get to ending the epidemic.”
As we remember those we lost and those living with the virus, let us dare be hopeful that there may be an end in sight to HIV/AIDS during our lifetime.
Let us work towards also ending the stigma and discrimination towards those with HIV/AIDS.
These all become barriers for people to seek testing as well as treatment due to fear of these stigmas.
