Inside the rotunda at the entrance into the Old Bronx Courthouse / Photo by Tod Seelie/Gothamist
Tonight is the night we’ve been waiting for! From 6PM – 9PM The Old Bronx Courthouse will finally open to the public for the next three months for No Longer Empty’s ‘When You Cut Into The Present The Future Leaks Out’ featuring the works of 27 artists scattered throughout 3 levels of this gorgeous landmark building.
Below is what the Gothamist wrote and make sure you click on the link to get a sneak peak on what is in store for you tonight from 6pm – 9pm!!
Photo by Tod Seelie/Gothamist
On Thursday night, the old Bronx Borough Courthouse will open its decrepit doors to one and all. The city sealed the doors in 1977, though it was saved from demolition because of its landmark status. No Longer Empty (NLE) has briefly taken control of the keys and is hosting an art show in its remains—the organizers noted that the building still has a “stunning structure, though the interior, which was seriously looted before the building was boarded up, is little more than a shell.”
From their announcement:
“The Old Bronx Borough Courthouse is taken as both site and theme: a time capsule, witness, and symbol existing within a plurality of narratives about its future role in the neighborhood. The exhibition will occupy three floors and include the works of 26 artists and site-specific works commissioned by NLE. To activate the empty space and directly involve the community members, NLE will host public programs and activities.”
Approximately 20 events will take place, including an urban gardening workshop, walking tours, and a fashion show.
Photo by Tod Seelie/Gothamist
The opening, and the exhibition (which runs through July 19th) is free and open to the public. You can get all of the details on their website. We got a sneak peek inside before the opening this Thursday—click through for a look.
The Bronx Borough Courthouse is located at East 161st Street, between 3rd and Brook Avenues.
2610 Third Avenue, which sold in 2014 for $1.1 million now sits vacant and is rumored to be slated for market-rate condos according to a local area developer.
DNAinfo published a piece yesterday that pretty much hyped up the area’s prospects of pending gentrification much to our chagrin.
Unlike a recent piece on Melrose which focuses on revitalization, this piece is more on the pro-gentrification side which will cause much displacement of long time residents.
Right now, rents are so high in the area that those living in rent stabilized unit wouldn’t be able to afford moving in at this point in time.
Here’s an excerpt of the article and make sure you head on over to read the rest:
“With artsy additions like Mix Coffehaus, the neighborhood is inching toward becoming a hipster hub. For years, real estate forecasters have been dubbing the South Bronx waterfront as the next “it” neighborhood, predicting it would bloom like Long Island City, thanks to its proximity to Manhattan and its industrial buildings that could be ideal for loft living.
While those visions never panned out, now, all bets are back on as investors and developers are swooping in and snatching up properties in the South Bronx as the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts have become increasing unaffordable, real estate experts say.
Still, Colon didn’t exactly find landlords welcoming her concept with open arms.
“It’s been more of a challenge to find the ‘right’ space and also convincing some landlords that a coffee shop would better suit the neighborhood over a, say, cab service,” she said.
“It’s awesome to be like one of the first to serve a great product in the neighborhood and have the neighborhood excited for it,” said Medina, who believes the South Bronx’s transformation will follow Williamsburg’s footsteps. “We want to be in the forefront of being in this area in the beginning.”
Melrose and The Hub, the heart of the neighborhood’s commercial district.
amNewYork published an article yesterday talking about Melrose as the epicenter of the South Bronx’s revitalization: Something we know very well since we are based in the neighborhood and Welcome2TheBronx started out as Welcome2Melrose, documenting the area for over 6 years now.
The article says:
Melrose, a collection of small blocks with big character, lies sandwiched between the busiest thoroughfares of the South Bronx.
A steady surge in real estate development, population growth and civic investment in local infrastructure is giving the South Bronx a face-lift, and neighborhoods like Melrose are poised for a continued revitalization as interest in the area continues to grow.
“Melrose is kind of the epicenter,” said Michael Brady, director of special projects at SoBRO, an organization founded in 1972 to reverse the flight of jobs from the South Bronx at the time.
“It is the epicenter of both transportation and also retail in the South Bronx,” Brady continued, referring to the bustling business district on Third Avenue known as “the Hub.”
Situated at the southeast corner of Melrose, where Third Avenue, East 149th Street and Melrose Avenue converge, the Hub is lined with a variety of retail stores, eateries and entertainment options.
It attracts more than 200,000 people every day and is the second busiest place in New York, after Times Square, according to the city. The buzz around the Hub has also caught the attention of real estate developers and business owners in other boroughs.
The piece just touches upon a tiny fraction of what we have to offer and pretty much focuses on the hip hop scene but we already know we’re a culturally rich borough filled with major art institutions, parks, restaurants, and amazing mom and pop shops.
Check out the article below and don’t forget to visit Metro!
At least three days a week, Grandmaster Caz boards a small bus packed full of foreigners and introduced them to the sights and sounds of the Bronx.
Especially the sounds. Caz, while taking his group through the historic corners of the borough, raps to a captive audience along the way, many of them decked out in New York t-shirts and Yankee snapbacks.
Caz, a Bronx native, recording artist and old-school MC in his own right, has been a hip-hop ambassador for the last 13 years as a guide withHush Hip Hop Tours. Caz introduces tourists, from New York and beyond, to a borough that lacks the Empire State building and Statue of Liberty, but is a holy grail for hip-hop enthusiasts.
“The whole point of this tour was to help increase tourism in the Bronx,” Caz said. “Every place in New York showcases something, Broadway celebrates dance and plays. The Bronx is the birthplace of hip-hop, and the world has to know, and New York has to advertise it.”
Tourism in the Bronx is up 14 percent, according to Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company. Last year, 56.4 million people visited New York City, and the city is on track to see 67 million visitors by 2021. The Bronx Tourism Council put out their first visitor’s guide to the borough in 2015, and NYC & Company is forming a tourism committee to help Bronx businesses and attractions promote themselves to the tourists.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re now headed to the birthplace of hip-hop, 1520 Sedgwick Ave. But we can’t go like this, it’s way too quiet on this bus right now? Are you ready to turn it up? Tell the sound man to turn it up,” Caz tells the enthusiastic riders before his rendition of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message.”
The passengers say “ho” to his “hey” on the way to the apartment building that overlooks the Major Deegan Expressway in the west Bronx, where DJ Kool Herc, who is credited with starting the genre, he held the world’s first hip-hop party in August 1973.
In between Caz’s renditions of old school standards, as well as his own verses, the bus swings by murals, including one on the Grand Concourse outside the Andrew Freedman home, and to Caz’s Bronx walk of fame spot.
The tour ends in Harlem with a trip to Big L’s memorial mural at the corner of Malcolm X Boulevard and West 140th Street before a soul food buffet lunch at Manna’s.
“I’ve been listening to hip hop music since I was 6 years old. I’m 33 now, and I’ve always wanted to come to New York, and of course I had to do a hip-hop tour,” said Ryan Langbien, who was visiting for the first time from Sydney, Australia. “It was awesome, being right there where Big L’s mural is.”
“We probably wouldn’t have come here unless we went on the tour. We probably wouldn’t have taken the train up,” said Gwen Jones-Libens, who was visiting from Great Britain.
“Hip hop is one of the most universal things going on on the planet right now, one of the most positive, and I think its appeal remains intact,” Caz said. “I think people are at a different time in hip-hop when they want to learn about where it comes from, and that’s basically what we do.”
Bronx Fashion Week 2015 is already shaping up to be an amazing experience at the Old Bronx Courthouse which will be surrounded by the art of 27 artists from The Bronx and around the world for No Longer Empty’s exhibition on 3 levels of this landmark building.
We also have confirmed MAJOR celebrities as well as movers and shakers in the Fashion Industry that will be attending this event so it’s one that you don’t want to miss.
Oh and did we say that we have a huge announcement that will be made at the event that will be a game changer for The Bronx!?
Join us for the affordable price of $24.50 plus handling fee for an event that generally costs 4x the amount for Manhattan venues and experience a high fashion show in an industrial chic space that has been closed off to the public for almost 40 years.
To take advantage of this special offer you must act within the next 48 hours and use the special promotional code MOM (all caps please). This offer is only applicable to general admission and not available for VIP ticket sales. If you are interested in VIP tickets we HIGHLY recommend you purchasing them ASAP as only a few of those limited tickets are available.
SoBro has just announced a visioning session to gather community input on what residents want to see on our waterfront along the Special Harlem River Waterfront. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5th at Mott Haven Bar and Grill from 6:30PM – 8:30PM so mark your calendars and get ready to make your voices heard.
With all the development that is being announced for the area, including the potential 6, 25 story market rate towers at the foot of the Third Avenue Bridge, this is a chance to bring the community together to discuss what our needs, as residents who have lived here a long time or a lifetime.
Let’s see if our voices will truly be heard.
Dinner and childcare will be provided and a community update and a review of all plans as to date will be updated.
BronxNet, the borough’s cable access television station available on Optimum/Cablevision as well as Verizon’s FIOS service and has been operating since July 1, 1993 from Lehman College, is opening up a roughly 10,000 square foot facility in Melrose at La Central which is scheduled to break ground towards the end of the year.
The cable access station is home to such staples such as BronxTalk, hosted by Gary Axelbank which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year as well as Rhina Valentin’s Open Friday.
Now according to Michael Max Knobbe, Executive Director the organization, they will be opening up in the heart of the South Bronx in The Hub shopping district of Melrose once the development is completed. The additional 10,000 square feet will essentially double their current footprint in The Bronx and will be similar in size to their operations at Lehman College.
BronxNet’s space will be located in building B which is slated for the first phase of the two phase construction of the mega-development La Central and sits along Westchester Avenue between Brook and Bergen Avenues.
La Central’s massive 992, 5 building development will span 3 blocks on one of the largest remaining tracts of empty land in The South Bronx. A 50,000 sq ft YMCA will also be a part of this mega development.
“We are currently in the development stages of the project so as more details are finalized we will announce them,” Michael Max Knobbe told Welcome2TheBronx.
This is really exciting news for the neighborhood because of the host of services and the huge asset that BronxNet is for The Bronx. It is an organization that according to their website:
“…provides local television by the people of the Bronx, for the people of the Bronx. Our channels feature BronxNet produced shows, as well as those created by community access producers. BronxNet has a commitment to: training Bronx residents in television production, providing hands-on internships and solid media career preparation for high school and college students, and producing programs in the interest of Bronx residents and not-for-profit organizations.”
BronxNet also has a training program, “Training for Bronx Residents” in which, “BronxNet provides television production training for individuals and organizations that want to utilize the station’s equipment and facilities to produce programs to air on a BronxNet channel. Training is available four times a year, to Bronx residents, representatives of Bronx organizations and students who attend college in the Bronx. Production trainers are individuals with years of experience in the production business.”
Having been on the sets of BronxNet’s studios at Lehman College for BronxTalk and Open Friday, I have been able to witness first hand our youth learning the tools of the trade for the broadcasting industry so this is a major win not just for Melrose and The South Bronx but the entire borough due to its easy access location at 3rd Avenue/149th street on the 2/5 trains as well as the numerous buses which serve the area.
As for La Central, some updated information is as follows via Hudson Companies, Inc’s website:
Phase I will be comprised of Buildings A, B and D, which will contain 215, 281 and 160 apartments, respectively. The 12-story Building A will contain the YMCA, 16,100 square feet of retail space, and a GrowNYC urban rooftop demonstration farm. At 13 stories, Building B will contain 28,800 square feet of retail space and approximately 10,000 square feet of studio and classroom space for BronxNet. Building D will be comprised of 160 supportive units, many of which will be set aside for older adults living with HIV/AIDS and single veterans with mental illnesses. Phase I is slated to begin construction in late 2015, with final completion in early 2018.
Phase II, to be comprised of Buildings C and E, will contain an additional 336 apartments. Community uses will include spaces for non-profits including Music Has No Enemies, Phyl’s Academy Day Care, and the Bronx Astronomy Tower and Educational Center. Buildings C and E will be eight and 25 stories, respectively.
Apartments ranging in size from studios to four-bedrooms will be available by lottery to households earning between 30 and 100 percent of the NYC area median income. Individuals and households from Community District 1 will be given preference for 50 percent of these units. All apartments will have access to almost 2 acres of private and public open space, including large, landscaped courtyards, secure playgrounds, and various roof decks.
Hudson and its partners are committed to sustainable and resilient building. The project will include over 600,000 watts of solar panels to power co-generation, providing up to a 50 percent savings on energy and reducing reliance on the area’s electric grid. Additionally, low-flow fixtures and water-efficient appliances will outfit every apartment, cutting water consumption by as much as 45 percent. Finally, landscaped common areas will provide tenants access to quality outdoor space, and the new YMCA will provide tenants with easy access to health and wellness.
What do you think about BronxNet’s expansion into The South Bronx?
On the heels of the many articles on The Bronx, with the majority being pro gentrification/developer focused pieces, here comes a refreshing article over at 6sqft that talks about how The Bronx is doing things differently and working to curb gentrification.
It’s not everyday that we get an article acknowledging that we are, in fact, waging a war against the powers that be that want gentrification. There are many that do not understand the implications of gentrification and think that it can mean something good or be something different.
The point is that then it isn’t gentrification because simply put, by definition and among the plethora of what goes on with it, gentrification causes displacement so if it is a good thing then displacement won’t happen and then we return to the beginning of this statement: Then it isn’t gentrification.
Our Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr just doesn’t seem to get it, however. The article quotes him as saying, “We don’t subscribe to the notion that gentrification has to be forcing out a community and bringing in a different community to the borough.”
Basically he’s saying that he doesn’t subscribe to the notion that the color black is, well, black.
6sqft author Emily Nonko writes:
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning.” The infamous phrase, uttered in a 1977 broadcast of a Bronx fire, has stuck in the mind of many New Yorkers even today. Indeed, the Bronx saw a sharp decline in population and quality of life in the late 1960s and 1970s, which culminated in a wave of arson. By the early 1980s, the South Bronx was considered one of the most blighted neighborhoods in the country, with a 60 percent decline in population and 40 percent decline of housing units.
Although revitalization picked up by the 90s, the Bronx never quite took off like its outer-borough counterparts Brooklyn and Queens. While media hype, quickly rising prices and a rush of development has come to characterize those two boroughs, the Bronx has flourished more quietly. The borough, nevertheless, has become home to growth and development distinct from the rest of New York City. Innovative affordable housing, adaptive reuse projects, green development and strong community involvement are redefining the area.
The article then closes out by saying:
“The Bronx is not a borough to be ignored. And as the pressure for affordable housing development in New York heats up, it will be impossible not to pay attention. These unique, affordable developments, alongside adaptive reuse that includes new community amenities and facilities, are making for an exciting future. The burning of the Bronx is a long-distant memory—the innovative building of the borough is what distinguishes it today.”
Tonight, April 20th at 7:30PM join us at The Bronx Documentary Center to celebrate the life of Tim Hetherington, who helped found the BDC. Tim tragically passed away 4 years ago today in Libya while on assignment.
From The BDC:
Come celebrate the life and work of photojournalist Tim Hetherington on the anniversary of his death in Libya in 2011. The BDC and RISC Trainingwill screen the award-winning film, “WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? ” to be followed by a Q&A with director Sebastian Junger and BDC director Mike Kamber, both close friends of Mr. Hetherington. Tim helped create the BDC; his life is a daily inspiration to us.
Suggested donation: Bronx Residents $6, General $12, 18 & Under Free
The BDC is located at 614 Courtlandt Avenue at 151st Street in Melrose.
Readers’ response has been so tremendous that we’re asking YOU to tell us in your own words what The Bronx means to you.
You can do this via poetry, writing, or video, and submit to us at submissions@welcome2thebronx.com so we can show the world that we know who we are and don’t need others to define it for us.
Join the BxArts Factory tomorrow at the Gun Hill Brewing Co for their first fundraiser “12×12” featuring artists’ works from all over the world and of course The Bronx which will be on sale for all you are lovers!
From our friends at BxArts Factory:
12″X12″ Fundraising Exhibit
APRIL 18, 2015 – From 5 to 10 pm
Location: Gun Hill Brewing Company 3227 Laconia Ave, Bronx, NY 10469
BxArts Factory is pleased to announce their first international small format fundraising exhibit 12”X12”. The event will take place at the Gun Hill Brewing Company on Saturday, April 18th from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
12”X12” is a compilation of artworks created by renowned and up and coming international and local artists and in multiple mediums. We have over 150 pieces from artists in Mexico, Indonesia, Germany, Spain, and, of course, local Bronx and NYC artists!
If you don’t own a piece of artwork or if you are a collector, this is an amazing opportunity to buy some art. You’ll also be contributing to the fund to renovate our, soon to be, space near The Hub in The Bronx! It is a win-win situation!
The BxArts Factory’s new space will be an incubator for Bronx artists to grow, collaborate and create. We will be a multipurpose space that will include: an art research center, resident artists’ studios, performance space, classrooms and gallery space. The BxArts Factory endeavors to become a preeminent Arts institution in The Bronx, dedicated to the promotion and use of the Arts as a vital tool to inspire artists and communities within the borough to contribute to the social and economic development of The Bronx. Help us reach our goal!
The evening will be filled with music, art, and a great vibe! Entertainment will be provided by local Bronx talents Elena Rosa Music, 2 in the Afternoon and Eve’s Fault, among other surprise performances. Additionally, guests will be able to enjoy live art by local artists, a selfie station, and many other fun surprises! We will also have local food truck Antojitos Mexicanos joining the festivities just outside the brewery!
For more information please follow us on our various social media outlets or visit our website (links below):
Screenshot from New York Magazine’s tweet of the article.
Ben Wallace-Wells, a writer for New York Magazine wrote a piece called, ‘What is The Bronx, Anyway?’ in which the native Bronxite seems to think we, as a borough lack an identity or have some sort of identity crisis.
He couldn’t be so completely wrong.
Wallace-Wells talks about that we’re lagging so far behind the other boroughs in terms of identity but what he misses is that THAT is our identity. Simply put, The Bronx is our identity, it is our way of life, it is our rich history that is often misrepresented in the mainstream media, including in this article by Ben Wallace Wells.
He states:
“The Bronx, Anthony Bourdain said this fall on an episode of Parts Unknown devoted to the borough, “is a big blank space in a lot of people’s minds. Including me and I live, what, ten minutes away.” Bourdain was on to something. An abiding elusiveness has seemed to grip the borough ever since the great crime reductions made the place safe: What is the Bronx, anyway? Everyone can agree that the general situation north of the Harlem River has improved since the Dinkins administration, that the Bronx is no longer simply a hellhole, but the hellhole has been replaced by a semiotic emptiness. The cradle of hip-hop, yes, but that was an awfully long time ago; an immigrant place, sure, but much less so than Queens. I’m from the place, and so I have a churlish, tribal defensiveness about it, but I’ve also come to suspect that one reason the Bronx lags so far behind in the identity sweepstakes is that the borough still hasn’t really figured out what it is.” via What Is the Bronx, Anyway? — NYMag.
Here we have, yet again, someone trying to force an identity upon us, much like our misguided Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr with his “New Bronx” mantra and desperate attempt to rebrand a borough that doesn’t need rebranding—it’s the people of the world both within our borough and outside that need to come to recognize the great things we have going for us and that we don’t need a Brooklyn-like identity.
He speaks that we’re much less of an in immigrant place but doesn’t talk about the richness and diversity of our borough and how the immigrant populations have changed throughout the centuries in our borough which has added to the very cultural fabric and wonderful tapestry that is The Bronx; how our people have been movers and shakers in the world and continue to be so.
We have an identity, we know who we are and that is what matters. Frankly, I don’t understand this urge, this need for outside validation and acceptance.
Wallace-Wells further states:
“Of all the places in Manhattan’s general orbit, the Bronx is (and this is its enduring strangeness) both the poorest and the least alienated. That every other place is more distinguishable is true in part because every other place has taken greater pains to contrast itself with Manhattan. Brooklyn, after the accelerating differences of the past decade, now stands in contrast to Manhattan in virtually every way: As a more Bohemian place, a poorer place, a more communal place, and a more ideological place. Queens, with its density of upwardly mobile newcomers and its agglomeration of little lawns, casts a longing eye eastward, toward the Island. Oppositional, conservative Staten Island is atavistic — an idea of what the outer boroughs might have been if the last two decades had never happened.”
Where is this guy living? The Bronx isn’t distinguishable? This piece wouldn’t surprise me as much if it were written a journalist in the Midwest or outside of this country but this is coming from a native son of The Bronx.
