Time Magazine once called the 46th Precinct in The Bronx, which covers Fordham, University Heights, Mount Hope, and Mount Morris, “The Most Dangerous Square Mile in America”.
Now, decades later, the area has experienced a dramatic turnaround with crime dropping to historic lows.
This isn’t to say that the 4-6 doesn’t have it’s share of problems and that everything is perfect, that’s far from the truth, but it has come a long way from 1990 when there were 82 murders in this one precinct alone.
In 2018 only 9 murders were recorded. (Side note: That’s still 9 too many and it sounds jaded when we say ONLY but when you take it all into context, it really is something to celebrate that crime has dropped that low. But can we get it to zero please?).
Overall, crime across all major categories have dropped 80.6% between 1990 and 2018.
Each year, The Bronx continues to lose Catholic churches as the Archdiocese of New York continues to consolidate and close parishes to save money and sell of the land to developers.
St Nicholas of Tolentine has been serving the community since 1907.
St Nicholas of Tolentine Elementary School which has been serving the Fordham community for 112 years since 1907 and St Joseph’s School in Tremont which has been opened since 1877 for 142 years will close after the school year ends this coming June.
According to the Archdiocese, these continued closings are to strengthen those that remain open. Those that are being shut down are not financially viable and Cardinal Timothy Dolan went as far as saying that if enrollment were 10% more at these schools they wouldn’t be shutting down.
Cardinal Dolan said in a statement released earlier today, “While we sincerely regret ever having to close any schools, the goal is to strengthen the remaining institutions and preserve Catholic education in New York for years to come.”
It’s truly sad that these schools continue to close especially in lower income neighborhoods where they have been beacons of hope for parents, many immigrants, wishing to send their children to get a better education than they would get in local public schools.
Did you attend these schools? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
We all know there’s a housing crisis in The Bronx. 6,858 evictions occurred in our borough last year displacing tens of thousands of residents.
We hear the horror stories of families being constantly dragged to housing court as they face evictions oftentimes via unscrupulous landlords who are trying to simply move in higher paying tenants.
All that and other factors have placed The Bronx with yet another dismal statistic: The highest rates of eviction in the city with twice the rate of Brooklyn evictions which came in second according to a new interactive map published by the New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Acting Public Advocte’s office.
Via New York City Council
The Bronx is currently experiencing a humanitarian crisis if we can’t keep our residents housed safely without fear of eviction or harassment from greedy landlords who care more about a quick buck than the health and sanity of their residents.
This also doesn’t come as a surprise that our borough has such a high rate, 1 eviction per 79 units since The Bronx has one of the most rent burdened neighborhoods in the city.
This data just simply further illustrates the utter failure that is the affordable housing program, or perhaps things could be far worse without it.
Either way we are failing tens of thousands of people by not providing adequate and truly affordable housing for our residents.
Neighborhoods hardest hit sorted by community boards are as follows:
CB 5 – Fordham, Morris Heights, University Heights, Mount Hope, – 1,801 evictions
CB 4 – Mount Eden, Highbridge, Concourse – 1,753 evictions (tied with CB 7)
CB 7 – Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge Heights, University Heights – 1,753 evictions
CB 10 – Co-op City, Throggs Neck, City Island, Country Club, Pelham Bay – 440 evicitons
However, when looking at actual rates of eviction, community board 6 in The Bronx leads the borough followed by CB5, CB3, CB2, and CB7 in the top 5.
The good news is that eviction rates are continuing to drop which could be the result of New York City’s Right to Counsel Law which began back in 2017 and provides free attorneys to qualifying tenants in 15 zip codes across the city which were deemed highest at-risk for eviction.
The program is supposed to be rolled out by 2022 across the entire city.
Curbed reports;
“The substantial reduction in residential evictions by marshals is a testament to the critical difference that providing counsel makes in protecting tenants from evictions from their homes and neighborhoods,” Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks said in a statement. “As we implement this important first-in-the nation initiative, we will continue leveling the playing field for tenants in need across the five boroughs.”
In the year to date, the city says it has amped up its funding to more than $104 million for tenant access to legal assistance—that’s from $6 million in 2013. Overall, the city has seen a record 37 percent drop in residential evictions since 2013, according to the mayor’s office. But there is still much work to be done, said Johnson.
“The Council took a big step forward in this battle with the Universal Access Law in 2017, but this map shows how much more work we have left to do to help tenants here in the city and on the state level,” Johnson said.
Let’s hope eviction rates continue to drop but we must address our failing affordable housing program and create truly affordable opportunities if we want real results.
Tucked away in the Northeast Bronx is the world’s largest cooperative housing development not just in the country but in the world.
Once these wetlands was home to Freedomland, one of several amusement parks that dotted our borough which eventually gave way in the 1960s to create this 35 building, 15,372 residential unit utopia of sorts.
Occupying 320 acres and just under 1 square mile, Co-op City is also the country’s largest residential development: It is, literally, a city within a city.
Late last year, Co-op City celebrated its 50th anniversary and CityLab took a close look at how it has been a mostly successful affordable housing development what made it work and what could be better.
Westchester Mews, a new affordable housing development that actually has affordable units for local residents is now accepting applications for 174 of its units spread across two buildings.
Located at 2035 Newbold Avenue and 2044 Westchester Avenue, the 10 story development has studio units as low as $462 a month for qualifying residents making 40% of the area median income ranging from $18,172 to $29,240.
Three bedroom units for individuals making 40% of the AMI are renting at an incredibly low $821 month for residents making $31,406 to $48,400.
Anyone who’s searched for an apartment in The Bronx knows that $462 for a studio and $821 for a three bedroom is unheard of so if you qualify, make sure you apply.
As usual, 50% of units are set aside for residents of community board 9, 5% for municipal employees, 5% with mobility issues, and 2% for vision/hearing impaired.
The first new building at Lambert Houses, part of a $600 million redevelopment that will eventually replace and demolish all existing buildings at the troubled complex, is nearing completion and is now accepting applications.
Located at 988 East 180th Street, the new 18 story building will have 163 upon completion but the initial lottery is only for 49 of these units ranging from studios to two bedroom units for residents making 60% and 100% of the “fake” area median income which ranges from $27,978 for a 1 person household for a studio to $104,300 for a four person household for a two bedroom unit.
We say fake because we already know there are issues with the AMI not being true to the local area due to the fact that the other boroughs are lumped in as well as points north of the city.
Lambert Houses Reborn: Rendering of 988 East 180th Street once complete.
The building itself will feature a 24 hour attended lobby as well as laundry and bike storage.
In 2016, it was announced that the 14 building, 731 unit Lambert Houses would be demolished in phases and replaced with 1,665 units of new, affordable housing.
As a new building is constructed, tenants will be moved into the new buildings to allow the other buildings to be demolished.
Some tenants welcome the new and improved buildings but are worried about being displaced and having nowhere to go.
You have until April 2nd to apply (please don’t contact us about these apartments as Welcome2TheBronx is NOT connected with the developer or any developer for that matter).
Head over to NYC’s Housing Connect to apply and click here for details on the application process. You have until April 2nd to apply!
We’re just coming out of the coldest couple of days of the year but Winter’s nowhere near over and lacking heat is not where you want to find yourself.
Real estate database Localize.city has just issued a report of the top ten neighborhoods in the city with the most hazardous heat related violations and six of them (not surprisingly) are located right here in The Bronx.
In response to a legislation introduced by the City Council that would require New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to identify the top 150 non-NYCHA buildings of 3 units or more with the highest rates of hazardous heat violations over the course of four years, Localize did just that.
According to the report, the following Bronx neighborhoods had the highest rates of hazardous heat violations over the past four years:
Van Nest
Wakefield
Williamsbridge
Belmont
Tremont
Hunts Point.
The report also singled out the top three addresses that racked up the most violations and 506 Brook Avenue in Mott Haven, a building with 9 residential units, racked up 18 violations during this time frame.
The analysis only covered neighborhoods where there were more than 1,000 such units so parts of the East Bronx and Riverdale were not included.
Neighborhoods like Riverdale, Woodlawn, Spuyten Duyvil, Morris Park, Castle Hill, and Throggs Neck had some of the lowest rates of such heat related violations in The Bronx.
Localize also provided the following tips:
Understand Your Rights
During heat season — Oct. 1 through May 31 — landlords are required to provide heat from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., ensuring that the inside temperature is 68 degrees everywhere in your apartment if the temperature outside falls below 55 degrees. From 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., the inside temperature must be at least 62 degrees in your apartment regardless of the outside temperature.
How to take action if you have heat or hot water problems
Let your landlord know there’s a problem. If your landlord fails to address the problem and you think your landlord is violating the law, you can file a complaint through 311 either for your apartment or the building. (You can file a building-wide complaint anonymously, but must include the address.)
For the complaint to turn into a violation, here’s what happens next: It triggers a visit from an inspector with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. That inspector must then gain access — typically during the work day, when tenants are not home — and find that the heat is indeed not working.
Several weeks ago Welcome2TheBronx was alerted that plans had been filed for a 10 story building at 425 Westchester Avenue at The Hub in Melrose.
Our first thought was it would be residential considering it’s directly across from La Central which is currently under construction and will bring with it 992 residential units.
425 Westchester Avenue is currently a parking lot across from La Central development which is rapidly rising.
But upon closer inspection of the application with New York City’s Department of Buildings, it was revealed that the proposed 10 story structure would be an educational facility.
Rendering of 425 Westchester Avenue in Melrose at The Hub
This wouldn’t be the first educational tower in Melrose as Boricua College’s main campus on 161st Street rises 14 stories overlooking The Northrose affordable housing development.
Once constructed, 425 Westchester Avenue will add additional retail space on Westchester Avenue and along with retail at La Central will expand the current commercial corridor at The Hub.
Calls to the developer have gone unanswered as to which charter school will be moving in but we do know that there will be retail space on the ground-floor and according to Real Estate NJ, there will also be office spaces for non profit organizations as well as a rooftop playground.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of this year.
We’re back for another look at old photographs of The Bronx. Most of these images are from 100 or more years ago and are from the New-York Historical Society’s Digital Collections.
So much has changed and yet some are still so recognizable if you look hard enough.
It’s always fascinating to think about who lived in these buildings and who are some of the people we see in the photographs.
1157 Fulton Avenue at 167th Street across from the now demolished St Augustine Roman Catholic Church in Morrisania taken August 18, 1915. Notice the now demolished Third Avenue El on the lower left of the photograph/New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection
Today, only one of the buildings at 1157 Fulton Avenue survived and of course, the Third Avenue El has been gone for over 40 years now.2513 Webster Avenue directly south of Fordham Road in an undated photo estimated to have been taken between 1899-1904/ New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection 2513 Webster Avenue today2654 Bainbridge Avenue in Fordham Manor in 1917/ New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection 2654 Bainbridge Avenue today. As you can see all homes are still standing including the garage in the back. Oh and the tree survived too!335 and 337 E 241st Street in Woodlawn taken in 1917/ New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection 335 and 337 E 241st Street today. As you can see they have both been significantly altered as they were expanded outwards towards the front.
Below, parts of Alexander Avenue remain frozen in time while others have changed drastically.
Alexander Avenue in Mott Haven facing south from 138th Street. St Jerome’s Roman Catholic Church on the left/ New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection St Jerome still and its school still stand today but NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses has replaced all the townhomes that once dominated Alexander Avenue.
This strip in Kingsbridge is relatively the same except with the addition of rows of trees now.
Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge looking North from Albany Crescent on June 2, 1916/ New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection Bailey Avenue today mostly unchanged
Almost unbelievable that this is Jerome and Bedford Park Boulevard.
Jerome Avenue and Bedford Park Boulevard, February 4, 1919/ New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection Notice Tracy Towers in the distancePilgrim Congregational Church on the Grand Concourse at E 175th Street in Mount Hope in June 1919/New York Historical Society, William D. Hassler photograph collection Today, the church is slated for demolition to make way for housing. It has sat in disrepair for well over a decade.
That’s it for now. We’ll continue to go through the thousands of images and share a select few here as always.
Since Trump took office in 2017, ICE arrests at courthouses across New York State have increased an alarming 1,700% and The Bronx is the fourth hardest hit according to a new report issued by the Immigrant Defense Project.
Even more disturbing is that these arrests have increased in brutality and not just geographic scope across the state.
Infographic via IDP
IDP reports that, “…tactics employed by ICE agents became more violent and the brutality more commonplace” with horrific accounts of, “… of ICE using violent force to conduct arrests—slamming family members against walls, dragging individuals from cars, and even pulling guns on people leaving court—have become commonplace. Witnesses to ICE arrests have called 911 to report that they were witnessing a kidnapping. ICE has also turned to more aggressive surveillance, trailing attorneys to their offices and eavesdropping on confidential attorney-client conversations. “
The report also revealed that ICE is targeting vulnerable victims of human trafficking and survivors of domestic violence.
Infographic via IDP
According to data presented by the report, in 2016 there were only 11 ICE related arrests at courts in New York State. In 2017 that increased by 1,700% to 172 arrests and continued to grow by 17% in 2018 with 202 arrests by ICE agents at courts.
In The Bronx, there were 26 arrests placing it fourth of 62 counties in NYS.
Regardless of immigration status, human beings deserve better treatment than violent ICE officers dragging them away especially those that are victims of crimes themselves.
After serving our borough for 37 years, Pelham Bay Diner has closed its doors forever.
Citing growing competition with big fast food chains in recent years, the owner has stated he had no choice but to close.
Rumors have been circulating that the property had been sold but a search of public records have revealed no sales of the land or property as of yet.
While the food may not have been the best for some palates, what’s sad about this besides all the workers now having to look for employment is that seniors in the area now have one less place to eat at.
Walk into any diner across The Bronx or the country and the one thing you’ll always see in common: Seniors.
Diners are a part of the local community for seniors, it is a safe space where they can get a meal even if they are lonely. They see the same friendly faces from the waitstaff who know them by name and look after them.
So for me, personally, it’s not so much about another place that is disappearing from my youth in our beloved borough but it is a needed space for one of our must vulnerable populations and that is the elderly.
Personally, I haven’t been at Pelham Bay Diner in a few years but it will be missed as a reliable quick stop along 95.
The following was originally published over at Hidden Waters Blog, a companion blog to the amazing Hidden Waters of NYC book by Sergey Kadinsky, and reprinted with permission.
The green lung at the center of the city’s northern borough is Bronx Park, designed to function as the Bronx’s counterpart to Central Park and Prospect Park. But shortly after its acquisition in 1888, most of this park has been designated for the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden. The Bronx River flows through these institutions, and within their grounds is fed by tributaries that are incorporated into the animal and plant exhibits.
One such example is the Native Plant Garden at NYBG, which in 2013 received a postmodern-style pond. The unnamed brook here is the most visible hidden waterway at NYBG, and the question I’m researching is whether it is fed by springs, wells, or the city water supply.
Where it Flows
On the beautifully rendered map of the NYBG, we see the unnamed tributary brook originating in the Rock Garden, and then continuing through the Native Plant Garden, and past the Wild Wetland Trail and Children’s Adventure Garden. It goes underground beneath the Picnic Pavilions and Crabapple Collection, then reemerges to the surface within Thain Forest and descends down the forested slope into the Bronx River.
Rock Garden
In winter the 2.5-acre Rock Garden is closed to visitors so I’m using a photo from the NYBG collection showing the waterfall at the source of the brook. On my visit to the garden’s library and archive, I could not determine the natural source of this brook. The proximity to its spring is the head of a valley. The Rock Garden was developed here in the 1930s to provide a mountainous setting for alpine flowers from six continents. A waterfall was constructed atop the specifically placed boulders, emptying into a small pond. The water for this cascade flows out of a pipe hidden among the rocks in a matter resembling the streams of Central Park, Prospect Park, and Morningside Park.
The brook’s relationship with the plants is seen in the mountain bog section of the exhibit. Prior to development this was likely a natural wetland with water flowing down the surrounding slopes to feed the brook. Overlooking the Rock Garden on its east is Thain Forest, a 50-acre virgin forest that inspired the location of the NYBG. The garden’s first director, Nathaniel Lord Britton described the woodland as “the most precious natural possession of the city of New York.” Like Parks designer Frederick Law Olmsted, he is a native of Staten Island, the borough with the most natural attractions in NYC.
Native Plant Garden
After the Rock Garden, the brook enters the 3.5-acre Native Plant Garden, where storm water from surrounding paths drains into the constructed pond. In 2009, the Leon Levy Foundation donated $15 million to NYBG to redesign the Native Plant Garden, with architect Sheila Brady of the firm Oehlme, Van Sweden hired for the project.
At the center of this garden is a 230-foot-long water feature comprising of three connected ponds. Storm water captured on-site is filtered by aquatic plants in a miniature version of the city’s Bluebelt program. A promenade constructed of the native hardwood black locust runs along the length of this pond.
Wild Wetland
The Azalea Way separates the Native Plant Garden from the brook’s next downstream feature, the Mitsubishi Wild Wetland Trail. On the road we see a sewer grating above the covered section of the brook. Recall the Japanese automaker’s other philanthropic contribution on the Bronx River, the Mitsubishi Riverwalk at the Bronx Zoo, less than a mile downstream from here.
The wetland trail follows the brook as it widens into a freshwater marsh opposite the Children’s Adventure Garden. Along the path are dozens of explanatory signs describing the flora and fauna of this ecosystem. At the tip of this wetland, the brook disappears underground, flowing below the rolling terrain of the Crabapple Collection and the South Grove of the Azalea Garden.
Below a tree root among small rocks the brook bubbles out of the ground in a naturalistic manner. The appearance of the stream is similar to The Gill in Central Park and the brook flowing through Brooklyn Botanical Garden, both of which feature naturalistic “springs” that spit water from rocks concealing pipes.
NYBG in Historical Maps
With few historical maps of NYBG available online, I went to its archives in the garden’s library. If the Astor Court represents Bronx Zoo’s beaux arts centerpiece, the Mertz Library does the same for NYBG. From a European viewpoint, the building resembles a royal palace surrounded by official gardens but in reality both were publicly operated from the start. Although the U. S. never developed a landed aristocracy, in colonial times a sizable chunk of present-day Bronx was the estates of the Van Cortlandt and Morris families, who held their lands for multiple generations.
The library’s namesake, LuEsther T. Mertz cofounded Publishers Clearing House with her husband Harold. For many years it employed Forgotten-NY founder Kevin Walsh. I love the name LuEsther, it reminds me of LuAnn, LeAnn, and RoAnne. I’ve always wondered about the reasons for these prefixes.
In the 1895 survey of the NYBG property, we see a handful of tributaries feeding into the Bronx River. At number 4 is the unnamed brook originating at the Rock Garden while number 2 shows the brook that feeds into Twin Lakes.
Between numbers 8 and 9 is an unnamed pond that is on the site of today’s Reiss Field. Initially used for ice skating, it was severed from the NYBG in 1937 by the Bronx river Parkway and developed two years later as a baseball field. On top of this map is Mosholu Parkway, an Olmstedian creation built atop another long-forgotten hidden stream.
The 1923 plan for NYBG shows the institution’s borders going as far as Burke Avenue and Bronx Park East, but encroaching urbanization was on its way. The red dotted line is an early proposal for Bronx River Parkway to skirt the garden’s western border. In reality, I highlighted the eventual path of the parkway, which would run on the eastern side of the garden, slicing away much of its land in favor of the road and playgrounds along Bronx Park East. This plan is an update to the original 1896 plan for the NYBG.
North of Allerton
Borrowing a 1921 G. W. Bromley atlas from the NYPL Digital Collections, the highlighted modifications to NYGB are easier to see. Allerton Avenue will become the garden’s northern border in the 1930s, losing the fruticetum, bog garden, arboretum, and Burke Bridge. It’s hard to imagine that as sizable as the garden is today, it used to be much bigger a century ago. Land to the north of Allerton Avenue is public parkland today, designated as the Bronx River Forest, Allerton Ballfields, and French Charley’s Playground.
Within the Bronx River Forest is Burke Bridge, which lines up on the map with Burke Avenue. This bridge used to be part of NYBG’s network of internal roads, which explains for its width.
Today it is part of the Bronx River Greenway, a series of connected paths that follow the river from the city line to its mouth.
Twin Lakes
Another hidden waterway at the NYBG is Twin Lakes. On the map their location resembles that of Cope Lake at Bronx Zoo, which is also near a northern border, next to a staff-only facility, and formerly open to the public. The roundabout in the middle used to be part of NYBG and its used to day as a turnaround for vehicles bound for Allerton Avenue. The restricted facility here is the Pfizer Laboratory, completed in 2006 by the firm Ennead Architects to a tune of $23 million.
The lab comfortably lies astride the southern side of the larger pond, with expansive views of this hidden waterway. Each pond contains a fountain for water circulation, and is a designated DEP Bluebelt wetland, the first one in the Bronx. The road dividing the twin ponds used to run north to Burke Bridge but became a dead-end in the 1930s after the Bronx River Forest was taken away from NYBG. This bridge today serves as a staff parking lot.
But it could have been worse for Twin Lakes. As part of Robert Moses’ ambitious highway agenda, the lakes were also alienated from NYBG in order to build a 1.2-mile connection of Mosholu Parkway and Bronx River Parkway.
On the 1953 NYBG circulation plan, the highlighted highway would have ran atop the smaller twin lake, with a partial trumpet interchange for Southern Boulevard further compromising the garden.
Civic opposition mounted against Moses, who had already reduced NYBG’s footprint with the Bronx River Parkway, and had earlier ran highways through Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay parks. The highlighted extension was never completed. Twin Lakes were returned to the NYBG and vehicles traveling between the Mosholu and Bronx River Parkways must use the one-lane Allerton Avenue connection. Plenty of traffic backups here, but the egret, turtle, and frog habitat was saved.
As mentioned, Twin Lakes used to be a public area. In this 1912 archival photo we see visitors ice skating on the pond, in view of the garden’s palatial library. Winters in New York are not as cold as they used to be and as is the case with the city’s park ponds, the water here does not stay frozen for too long in winter. Much thanks to Samantha the librarian at NYBG for providing me with the maps and reports.
My connection to NYBG is Dante Burgos, a talented comic artist who also tends to the plants here. The man was like my unexpected Latino brother. I lived on Queens Boulevard. He lived on Grand Concourse. Both of our apartments were 1F. I’m not saying that our homes were identical, but the streetscapes were very much alike. For a time, I also sported a mustache and goatee. My wife won’t let me, but Dante still has his. And clearly we both love nature. He’s into plants and I like waterways.
Sergey Kadinsky is the author of Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs (2016, Countryman Press) and the webmaster of Hidden Waters Blog.
He is a licensed tour guide who paid his way through college atop the double-decker Gray Line buses.
Kadinsky is a contributor to Forgotten New York, a local history website. His articles on the city’s history appeared in New York Post, New York Daily News, and Queens Chronicle, among other publications.
Read more fascinating New York City history in Sergey Kadinsky’s book! (click to purchase)
