Tomorrow, Saturday October 31st from 3pm-5pm, come to The Bronx Documentary Center for your FREE Halloween Portrait! The Free Holiday Portrait Series is one of the many ways the BDC gives back to the community by providing professional portraits for our residents (proof of Bronx residency is required!)
A big shout out to Fujifilm for their continued support of the Bronx Documentary Center who donated the supplies for this event!
This event is ONLY open to Bronx residents so once again, please bring your ID with you!
We love The Bronx, the much maligned borough of New York City.
I dare even say that Bronx pride surpasses that of other boroughs.
We have so much to be proud of throughout our history giving birth to so many movers and shakers, artists, music genres, and that’s not even touching upon our beautiful, natural resources.
From the largest parks in New York City, to the only fresh water river in this vast metropolis, to the world renowned New York Botanical Garden and The Bronx Zoo, the latter two of which are, without a doubt global leaders in their respective fields.
But what does The Bronx mean to you? What makes it beautiful for you?
We are at a major crossroads in our history. From half a century of decline and neglect, WE, rebuilt this borough from the devastation of planned shrinkage and disinvestment when no one would lend us a hand—or a dime.
It was the people of The Bronx who turned our borough into the success story that so many want a piece of despite the long way we have to go to cure all which ails us.
We’re still on the bottom of the list with poverty, health, and education which is ironic considering the health industry is our largest employer and we are the borough of universities.
We are turning to you in weaving this narrative about us BY us and we want to hear from you why The Bronx is Beautiful. Whether through photography, poetry, or simply your own words, show us!
Send us an email to submissions @welcome2thebronx with the subject heading ‘The Bronx is Beautiful Because’ and we’ll share it here to showcase what it all means to us.
One of two pedestrian bridges to be constructed to complete The Bronx Greenway
Thanks to US Senators from New York, Schumer and Gillibrand, and Congressman Serrano, The Bronx River Greenway will receive $10 million from the US Department of Transportation to complete the missing links in our borough and create a contiguous connection from Hunts Point straight through the Kensico Reservoir in Westchester County along the river’s 23 mile course.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with the aforementioned elected officials, announced today that the $10 million will be matched by the city and various other agencies to complete two pedestrian and bicycle bridges, 3/4 of a mile of a pathway to connect Concrete and Starlight Parks, “…and complete 1.8 miles of contiguous off-street trail from Bruckner Boulevard and E. 177th Street, providing easy access to the full Bronx River Greenway system.”
Area of detail whwre the bridges will be constructed
Once all of this is complete, the 8 Mile stretch of The Bronx River Greenway in our borough will be connected creating safe, pedestrian, and bicycling links across numerous Bronx neighborhoods and straight up into Westchester County for a beautiful and picturesque journey along the 23 miles of our magnificent river.
The 23 mile course of the Bronx River Greenway from the source up north at the Kensico Reservoir in Westchester to the mouth in Hunts Point.
For decades, the Bronx River was an environmental eyesore but in recent years it has seen a resurgence of wildlife including the first beavers in NYC in over 200 years and a recent installation of a fish ladder to allow several species of fish the ability to return to their spawning grounds.
The beautiful Bronx River House will be the gem along the 23 mile journey as well as the home for The Bronx River Alliance when completed over the next few months.
These oysters actually help speed up the cleaning of the waters of our river.
In the press release issued today, Congressman Serrano said, “As a longtime champion of efforts to green the South Bronx and restore the Bronx River, I am thrilled to see this project take another important step. These two pedestrian/bicycle bridges and a nearly a mile-long pedestrian trail will close an gap in the Bronx River Greenway and will help connect thousands of South Bronx residents to the Bronx River Greenway. With these new bridges and trails, local residents will have a more direct access to the beautiful green open spaces of the Bronx, as well as other recreational areas and facilities, educational resources, and employment centers –helping Bronxites enjoy a better quality of life. It will also help spur local economic development by helping attract visitors and tourists to the Bronx. I thank the U.S. Department of Transportation for heeding our call to fund this important project and for allocating such a generous amount of financial resources in TIGER grants,”. (Read the full press release here.)
Where the Bronx River begins: Kensico Reservoir in Westchester County
Thanks to The Bronx River Alliance and NYC Parks for submitting this successful proposal in getting us the necessary funding to complete a decades long dream!
It’s only fitting that the greenest borough in New York City is also home not just to 3 of the largest parks, including Pelham Bay Park the largest of them all but also the only borough with an annual parks conference.
Fierce environmentalism is not something you generally think about when The Bronx comes into conversation but that’s one of the many hats we wear as a borough.
For these amazing Bronxites to continue doing the amazing work they do on keeping tabs on all our green spaces from the tiniest to the largest, it’s important that we come together and support The Bronx Coalition of Parks and Green Spaces at tomorrow night’s fundraiser.
Wednesday, October 28th, folks are gathering at the Bronx Beer Hall from 6pm to 8pm in support of this organization.
Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door and will not only grant you access to the event but also provide you with one free beer, tasty finger food and a souvenir pint glass (limited to the first 120 guests so get your tickets now!) and good old fashioned networking and laughs with awesome people.
The proceeds from the event will go towards Bronx Parks Speak Up conference at Lehman College scheduled tentatively for February 27, 2016.
To get your tickets, head over to their website or purchase then at the door but remember, you save $5 bucks in advance purchase (which can go towards another beer!).
The Bronx Beer Hall is located at 2344 Arthur Avenue in the very heart of Little Italy
Writers Barcelona bombed a 5 train up in Baychester in The Bronx sometime last winter. They recently posted the images to their page on Facebook
This recent rash of graffiti train bombs aren’t confined to The Bronx.
Also within the past few weeks a 7 train ran with graffiti all the way to the last stop. How it remained in service or how it was tagged without the MTA noticing is all but a mystery except to the graff artist.
The big question at the end of the day is this: Would you rather see elaborate graffiti art on the trains or crappy advertisements shoved down our throats?
We’re not condoning defacing property, just posing a question.
Oftentimes we’ve heard from folks who’d rather see some beautiful graffiti vs those ads.
Image courtesy of Angel Lopez a local resident and activist.
Developers Somerset Partners and the Chetrit Group who are planning as many as six 25 story residential market rate towers (of which 3 have already been filed with the Department of Buildings for construction) has put up a new billboard proclaiming the area of Port Morris as the ‘Piano District’.
The billboard is prominently aimed at Manhattan and drivers who are heading home to the posh suburbs of Westchester County and Connecticut as they head on home, easily viewing the sign.
Screenshot of the group's website pianodistrict.com
The billboard promises, luxury waterfront living, world-class dining, fashion, art, and architecture in a neighborhood where the majority are living well below the poverty line and are fighting for their very lives as they suffer health disparities disproportionately more than others across the city.
Welcome to the tale of Two Bronxs thanks in part to greedy developers and a borough president who has been pushing the rebranding of our borough as if his life and career depends on it (the later which is the reality).
As our communities battle the highest rates of asthma in the country, HIV, heart disease, diabetes, poor access to green space, lack of quality education, poor environment, unemployment, insufficient youth programs, here we have these developers essentially laughing in our faces and pushing luxury living that will be surrounded by poverty and people living in cramped and poor conditions in public housing.
It’s an insult to those who stayed and rebuilt this neighborhood and our borough only to have developers come and bring in residents because it’s “ok now”.
We deserve so much better than what is being planned for the waterfront and sure developers can do whatever they want but they need to take a long hard look at Melrose and organizations like Nos Quedamos who halted such endeavors of creating luxury living and displacing residents.
Developers such as WHEDco who actually take the time and years to work with the existing community to design and develop properties that the community truly wants and needs.
Thanks to all the sellouts in our borough particularly the king of them all or rather the jester—Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr for leading the rebranding parade.
How dare these developers not only push something into the community that us generally not wanted but how dare they try and change our names.
This is not the way to be good neighbors and it’s a hell of a lousy start.
Development isn’t bad but when a community is left out completely, it becomes something that separates our space into an us and them situation rather than creating a unified community.
I’m all for mixed income neighborhoods as long as displacement doesn’t occur and as long as developers and new residents respect the existing culture and people who live there.
Clearly these folks are not thinking along those lines.
Clearly this was a strategic move after they purchased, along with Somerset, almost $60 million in properties adjacent to each other just recently so clearly the selling off of this building has infused the company with capital to develop the waterfront.
The party is already being dubbed as a super exclusive, star-studded event and is using artists and art to basically pimp out the neighborhood.
The Observer writes about the event and says:
“Real estate mogul Keith Rubenstein, art dealer Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and young art star Lucien Smith are teaming up to throw a party called The Macabre Suite, and in an unlikely venue—the Bronx. The assemblage of art loving celebrities in the gentrification-phobic borough is set for a waterfront former piano factory owned by Mr. Rubenstein’s Somerset Partners (in partnership with the Chetrit Group).
The show, which is being billed as an “epic party,” will reflect on the “universality of death.” There will be interdisciplinary artworks and performances on view, and tons of celebrities, artists and society folk in attendance, we’re sure.
In fact, some major names will be lending their name to the affair, including all-star NY Knicks baller Carmelo Anthony, Hilton heir Nicky Hilton Rothschild, actor and awesome nose-owner Adrien Brody, 50 Shades of Grey actress Dakota Jackson and designer Cynthia Rowley.”
This invite-only event is basically mocking Bronx residents especially those in the South Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, and the Concourse which are already experiencing signs of gentrification with developers snatching up properties at speculative prices.
This is an area that residents have loved for decades and took pride in helping it make a comeback but to hold such exclusive events in the most sensitive of areas facing gentrification is in poor taste.
For 3 months, the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse was filled with thousands of visitors of which most were from the immediate community including children who kept coming back for all the programing held almost every single day the exhibition was open.
Roughly half the artists were from The Bronx and the vast majority of events and programs were curated and led by Bronxites.
In stark contrast, The Macabre Suite is clearly not being led by Bronxites and further shows that these developers do not care about The Bronx.
I was let’s face it, they’re even pushing for a rebranding of the area as ‘The Piano District‘ which would celebrate Port Morris’s history in America as the center of piano manufacturing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Why is there such a need to rebrand our neighborhoods when Port Morris, Mott Haven, Melrose, and the collective areas that make up the South Bronx each represent a unique piece that makes the whole of Bronx history that more special?
Yes, The Bronx is gentrification phobic for a reason. We have seen the destruction of working class neighborhoods across our city and we will fight before we let that happen to our rich neighborhoods, history, and sweep away the residents who stayed behind and revitalized our beautiful Bronx.
Sold again, the fat of the Whitestone Cinemas property remains a mystery. Image via Real Estate Weekly
Whitestone Cinemas, where countless Bronx residents both former and current have tons of fond memories at the old drive-in and movie multiplex, has sold again, this time to mega developer Extell—for $41 million.
Extell is the developer for the towering One57 high-rise that has changed the skyline of midtown and also sold the most expensive apartment in New York City history at a whopping $100.5 million at the uber luxury building.
One can only imagine what they have planned for this area of The Bronx considering their track record of luxury development.
The Whitestone property sold back in 2012 to the Lightstone Group for $30 million which had plans to convert the mega site (which measures almost a million square feet) into what would have been the city’s first outlet mall.
But those plans never came to fruition and perhaps much to many local residents delight due to the traffic nightmares many locals predicted would happen since the area is poorly accessible by other than buses and vehicles.
The new owner has not released plans as to what they will do with the property but we’ll wait and see what they will unleash along this corner of the East Bronx at the edge of Throggs Neck.
The property sits at the crossroads of major expressways like the Cross Bronx, The Hutchinson River Parkway, Bruckner Boulevard, and the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges.
This may just be a new era in development in the East Bronx but what will that mean and entail? Will they address the critical shortage of housing for low and middle income residents or will they just skip over the neediest class and hate straight for luxury residential along the Hutchinson River?
Maybe they’ll stick with commercial and retail?
At this point, until they speak up, it’s all speculation but we’d like to hear from you what you think the site should be.
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02.
A French Huguenot family, the Lorillards, settled in the area which is now known as Allerton as well as parts of the New York Botanical Garden back in the late 1700s. The family became extremely successful in the tobacco industry and their company would eventually give rise to Lorillard Inc, which makes Newport, Kent, and other cigarettes.
By 1840 they had built what is now known as The Snuff Mill at NYBG, which according to the New York Times, “…tobacco was ground into smokeless, powdery form called snuff, which could be flavored and inhaled.”
The Snuff Mill along The Bronx River at The New York Botanical Garden was built by the tobacco family The Lorillards.
Fast forward to 1917 with The Bronx as an official county for only 3 years but a part of NYC for 22 years, the descendants of the original Lorillards decided to sell of parts of their estate and carved them up into lots which would give way to the many homes and buildings which eventually gave way to the Allerton neighborhood of our borough just East of Bronx Park and up to as far as parts of Williamsbridge to the edge of Gun Hill Road.
It was no coincidence that the 2 subway line along White Plains Road had already begun operation in March of 1917—just 3 months prior to the auction of these lots—making this area that was once rural in nature, prime real estate at bargain prices.
The original name of the neighborhood, Bronxdale or Laconia (depending where in the area you were) never really stuck and for as long as many could remember, it was simply referred to as Allerton.
It wasn’t until 2014 that eventually the area OFFICIALLY became known as Allerton when efforts by local residents to push for this official recognition from the city came to fruition.
The street and neighborhood got its name from Daniel Allerton, a 19th century settler of the area.
What are your memories past or present of the neighborhood?
Check out the slideshow below of the auction papers, notices and lots!
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
Advertisement of the Lorillard Estate Auction/Image Courtesy: Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. “Trustees’ Sale with the consent of the Supreme Court of New York. Estate of Lorillard Spencer for the Benefit of the Heirs and the New York Public Library. 1445 Lots at Absolute Auction on White Plains Rd., Boston Rd, Pelham Parkway, Williamsbridge Rd, Allerton Ave, Burke Ave, and Adjacent Avenues & streets, Bronx Borough New York City” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1917-06-02. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/ff631220-69cb-0131-3cab-58d385a7bbd0
NationSwell, a digital media company which promotes intrepid individuals towards the betterment of our country, has selected our very own urban farmer Karen Young-Washington as a candidate for the 2015 NationSwell Allstar $10,000 award to further her projects—and she needs your help by VOTING for her which you can do daily!
Karen is the real deal, folks. When she speaks, people listen. She not only thirsts for knowledge but readily imparts the wisdom which she has accumulated over the years to inspire the next and future generations.
It’s people like Karen Young-Washington that we must and NEED to celebrate for these are the real success stories coming out from our borough. It’s not all about celebrities who leave but it’s about those who plant roots to make and build a difference.
Chris Peak at NationSwell writes of Karen:
“The first plant that changed my life was a tomato,” says Karen Washington, a black urban farmer in the Bronx. “It was the one fruit that I used to hate.” But after watching one that she’d grown shift in hue from green to yellow to red and taking a bite of it, she was instantly hooked. “When I tasted that tomato, when it was red and it was ripe, and I picked it off the vine, [it]…changed my world because I never tasted anything so good, so sweet. I wanted to grow everything.”
For a quarter century, all manner of trees and flowers, fruits and vegetables, have thrived across abandoned lots in the Bronx because of Washington. Deemed “the queen of urban farming,” she’s an African-American woman who’s dedicated her life to greening New York City’s poorest borough. Since 1985, Washington has assisted dozens of neighborhoods build their own community gardens, taught workshops on farming and promoted racial diversity in agriculture.” —Read more about this wonderful Bronxite and vote for her at ‘See the Seeds of Change Grown by One Bronx Woman‘
Back on a cold Saturday evening in January of 2013, thousands of people returned home to the South Bronx at the Bronx Documentary Center for Seis del Sur‘s first exhibition, ‘Dispatches From Home by Six Nuyorican Photographers which took us through an emotional photographic and multimedia journey into our darkest past—yet vibrant and full of life.
This Friday, October 23rd at NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, the collective returns with their third exhibition which not only brings back the original from 2013 but combines it with more contemporary work focusing on barrios throughout ‘Latino America’.
Seis del Sur is comprised of six Nuyorican photographers from the South Bronx—Joe Conzo Jr, Ricky Flores, Ángel Franco, David Gonzalez, Edwin Pagán, and Francisco Molina Reyes II—all who ended up together as a collective almost as if by destiny.
They spent years documenting the South Bronx often taking images of the same scenes but it wasn’t until decades and a new century later that they eventually all met each other and eventually decided that it seemed fate had pushed them together to put on an exhibition of their work.
For six weeks during the winter of 2013, the Bronx Documentary Center was packed, standing room only, for all the events and screenings which surrounded the exhibition.
Emotions ran the gamut from tears of joy to that of sorrow for days and people gone.
It was a reunion of the Class of the South Bronx as well for so many people were reunited after years not seeing each other including the photographers with some of their subjects.
This Friday will be no exception as Seis del Sur will bridge the past with the present and takes us on yet another unforgettable journey through time.
NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center is located at 53 Washington Square South and is easily accessible by, you got it, the 6 train to Astor Place and other lines as well.
The exhibition has already been extended through March 2016—before even opening!
Ok so who in The Bronx is NOT a Star Wars fan and remembers back in 1977 when one of the best stories ever told in cinematic history was released?
I’m a huge Star Wars buff and know that there are countless others out there, especially here in The Bronx from the original generation of lovers to new generation of fans alike.
Well the 3rd and most emotional of all the trailers thusfar is out and even a quick peek of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia!
