The Bronx is beautiful.
From Country Club to the Grand Concourse and Soundview to Riverdale, our borough is truly a diverse gem in landscape, architecture, geography, and its people.
Take a walk with us through The Bronx via some of our images we’ve captured over the years and of course, feel free to share this post with your loved ones.
Without them, Parkchester isn’t, well Parkchester.
Now, several of the iconic terracotta statues that adorn the exterior of the buildings, greeting visitors and residents alike are going missing and in some cases, visibly destroyed.
One of the firemen above Hugh Grant Circle, easily visible from the 6 train station, has been taken down as Parkchester Condominiums performs facade work and no mention has been made whether or not it will be going back up.
Welcome2TheBronx has reached out to their offices on Monday when we visited Parkchester to investigate but no statement has been received as of yet.
One of the charms of Parkchester are the over 500 terracotta statues and plaques that you’ll find above entrances or on building corners and like the fireman, high atop the buildings up in the sky as if guarding or watching over the planned community.
Everywhere you turn you run into one of these magnificent pieces and I recall vividly as a child how much I loved them then as I do now.
According to Sharon Pandolfo-Perez, who runs The Parkchester Project documenting the statues, the disappearances of these statues has been going on for at least a year to her knowledge.
She estimates that about 10 of these statues have been taken down and never replaced although we were not able to verify this.
This is what happens when we don’t pressure the city to landmark our treasures. Once they’re gone, they are gone forever.
Construction began in 1939 and by 1942, what would become the world’s largest condominium development, was complete.
At first, it was a restricted community designated for “whites only” and it wasn’t until 1968 that people of color were allowed to rent in the complex.
Now it’s a diverse community of almost 30,000 residents from all walks of life.
For almost 80 years the statues have been watching over Parkchester and now it may be too late to bring back the ones that have gone missing.
Needless to say, this wouldn’t happen in Manhattan or Brooklyn…
If you have any images of statues that have been taken down, please send them to the Parkchester Project at info@2pinc.com or contact @theparkchesterproject on instagram.
The developer rush to the South Bronx continues as a warehouse was recently purchased in the Lower Concourse Rezoning area of Mott Haven for $16.8 million—more than double its previous sales price of $7,750,000 just two years ago.
According to the Commercial Observer either party declined to comment on the off-market transaction but the previous owner had plans to develop the property into a 14-story 168,000 square foot residential property.
288 Walton Avenue is located just a block from the Harlem River Waterfront and is just a couple of blocks away from the newly opened Joinery Condominiums and a luxury hotel going up on Park Avenue.
If construction actually begins, this will be the eighth development to rise in the Lower Concourse area since the rezoning was approved in 2009.
8 studios and 57 two bedroom apartments in a 126 unit development are up for grabs in the Mount Eden section of The Bronx.
50% of the above units at 111 E 172nd Street will be set aside for qualifying residents of Bronx Community Board 4.
Studio units are renting at $864 a month for single family households making $31,509 to $43,860 per year.
Two bedroom units are renting well below market-rate at $1,122 for 2-4 family households making $44,458-$62,580.
To apply, head over to NYC Housing Connect and enter the lottery.
The remainder of the 61 units are for families that are formerly homeless or families with special needs.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
The cleansing of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning Area has begun as the first set of auto-related businesses are set to be demolished and replaced by a 15 story development which will be the tallest building in Mount Eden once completed.
It’s happening much faster than anticipated by many but those of us who warned the city saw the writing on the wall.
Now YIMBY has exclusively revealed the new renderings of the building which will rise at 1331 Jerome Avenue which, once completed, will rise 159 feet with 255 residential units.
145 of the units appear to be set aside for homeless or formerly homeless families with the remainder of the 110 units most likely as affordable housing.
The 221,060 square foot development will also have 128 spaces for bicycle parking.
1331 Jerome Avenue sits just a couple of blocks away from an already over-burdened 4 train at 170th Street.
Many warned the city that these businesses would be wiped out and here we are as the first set face the wrecking ball to make way for “progress”.
But what is progress when our infrastructure can’t handle our current population? How are we supposed to accommodate thousands more?
Three blocks south from this site another proposed development is slated to rise with not one but two 17-story towers across the street from each other on River Avenue. This development was the first announced in the Jerome Avenue Rezoning Area.
Plans for that development were revealed just a little over a month after the rezoning was approved and demonstrated just how hungry and ready developers were to raze and change the face of the neighborhood.
Many will argue that this isn’t gentrification because they’re bringing in “affordable” housing and housing for the homeless but the fact is that it all begins somewhere and this is just the beginning.
Displacement of longtime businesses, regardless of how “undesirable” you may find them, is still displacement.
In an area mostly dominated by 1-4 family homes at the last stop (or the first stop, depending on your perspective) of the 2 line a development has been proposed that is rather out of character for the neighborhood.
YIMBY reports that the proposed development located at 700 E 241st Street, adjacent directly next to the 241st Street Station on the 2 line, will include 416 residential units, ground floor commercial retail space, and community facilities.
The building will be over 400,000 square feet and 9 stories tall if approved and due to the fact that the lots would have to be rezoned, 255 of the units would have to be permanently affordable, however, the remainder is proposed to be market-rate.
Parking is also included in the proposal for approximately 100 vehicles.
The site is also located just 7 blocks away from the Wakefield Metro North Station.
No completion date is set as the site would require zoning approvals first which can take a considerable length of time.
If approved, this would dramatically change the character of the neighborhood and in particular, the intersection of White Plains Road and 241st Street.
DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx is known for having produced such notable alumni like Stan Lee, Burt Lancaster, Richard Avedon and many others.
Now the famed Bronx high school is being recognized for something else: Growing fresh produce.
And we’re not talking small potatoes either. According to PIX11 News, these students are producing 25,000 feeding 2,200 students each day.
All of this is being done out of a 1,300 square foot space.
Watch the fascinating segment below:
The following is an Op-Ed by Rev. Rubén Austria in response to last week’s ‘Creating a More Just New York City‘ by Stanley Richards who made the case for building a new jail in Mott Haven neighborhood of The Bronx.
The Right Way to Close Rikers
When Mayor De Blasio first announced in March of 2017 that he would commit to a plan to Riker’s Island, I was overjoyed. I was on the steps of City Hall in April of 2016 for the launch of the #CloseRikers campaign as a coalition of community groups announced its intention to relentlessly pressure New York City to close the infamous jail complex, appropriately dubbed “torture island” by people who have been detained there.
When the campaign launched, few people thought that closing Rikers was realistic. The Mayor had dismissed the idea as a “noble concept” that was impractical, unfeasible and too expensive.
A year of intense pressure from grassroots activists forced the Mayor and his administration to grapple with the horror that is Rikers Island. An Independent Commission of criminal justice experts convened by New York State’s Chief Judge concluded that closing Rikers was indeed feasible, and laid out a number of common sense reforms to bring the already declining jail population low enough to meet this goal.
Yet my joy turned to dismay in February 2018 when the Mayor announced via press release that the plan to close Rikers Island would necessitate building a brand new jail at 320 Concord Avenue in the South Bronx. There was an immediate uproar in my neighborhood in response to the announcement.
Why, we wondered, was the Bronx the only borough where a new jail would be built? Why had city officials never even bothered to talk to the local community, especially the residents of the Diego Beekman houses who had spent the last two years developing a plan for community development on the same plot of land where the new jail was proposed? Most of all, why was the city continuing to spend millions of dollars in a failing model of incarceration when our neighborhood desperately needed investments in the types of positive supports – education, affordable housing, living wage jobs – that keep people out of the criminal justice system?
For the residents of the South Bronx, opposition to the new jail went far beyond the standard “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) response. Many people who spoke out against new jail construction were formerly incarcerated or had loved ones detained at Rikers. They wanted to see Rikers closed and wanted their incarcerated loved ones closer to home. The opposition was not a rejection of people in the criminal justice system, but rather a reaction to a longstanding pattern of top-down city planning efforts imposed on a community with little respect for its residents. From the creation of the Cross Bronx Expressway that ripped neighborhoods apart, to the siting of waste transfer stations and truck intensive industries that poison our air, to the recent Jerome Avenue rezoning, the people of the South Bronx have constantly had to fight against decisions made on our behalf by people who don’t live here. The offense to our community was not just the building of a jail, but another decision made for our neighborhood without ever consulting the people it would impact.
Over the last few months, I have had many conversations with brilliant and dedicated criminal justice reformers both inside and outside the system who are supporting the city’s plan to Close Rikers. They have helped me see that the plan has strengths. Shrinking the jail population from 9,000 to 5,000 and replacing the ten facilities on Rikers Island with four borough-based jails is progress. Renovating the existing borough-based houses of detention in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan shows a commitment not to increase the city’s jail footprint, and the multitude of proposed reforms are all smart ways to make the criminal justice system fairer, smaller and more efficient. There are efforts underway to engage neighborhood residents in redesigning jails to facilitate rehabilitation and community reintegration.
These are all noble and well-intentioned goals and represent the best efforts of the the system to reform itself. Yet they are not enough.
I cannot support the city’s plan to build a new jail in the South Bronx. It’s not because I don’t want a jail in my backyard. I live, work, and worship alongside the same people who cycle through the city’s jails. It’s not just because the plan is being imposed on us from above, although I still resent the assumption that outside experts know best what the community need. It’s not because I do not like the technical plan, because it’s one of the most thoughtful, practical and realistic plans I’ve seen to shrink the criminal justice system.
The reason I oppose the plan is because it falls so far short of the mark when it comes to reimagining true human justice.
The plan to close Rikers focuses almost exclusively on technical reforms within the criminal justice system and still relies on the basic premise that we have to put people in cages for the foreseeable future. Absent from the plan are strategies to equip communities to develop entirely different ways to respond to crime, violence and disorder that do not depend on our criminal justice system, which has never been rehabilitative and often does more harm than the crimes it punishes.
Where are the commitments to bring to scale proven restorative justice approaches that equip community members to hold people who have caused harm accountable in ways that heal and transform? Where are the investments to provide young adults in high-poverty neighborhoods with real economic opportunities that are more attractive than street crime? Where are the resources to expand the work of “Credible Messengers,” formerly incarcerated mentors whose interventions with young adults have achieved reductions in recidivism far beyond what was ever thought possible? Where are the strategies to make justice the responsibility of the whole community, and not merely the prerogative of a legal system that has yet to prove that it can administer justice fairly?
Having worked for nearly two decades to develop community-driven alternatives to incarceration, often in partnership with criminal and juvenile justice agencies, I am enough of a realist to know that we cannot decarcerate overnight, and that the long march towards justice will require incremental reforms that get us progressively closer to the day where we don’t put people in cages.
Across the nation, community movements are achieving success in demanding that old, dilapidated, abusive, expensive facilities be shut down. Yet the system’s knee-jerk response is to rebuild shiny, newer facilities that may be comparatively kinder and gentler, but still depend on incarceration as a form of social control. The fight against the plague of prisons feels like a game of whack-a-mole. As soon as shut one facility down, a brand new one pops up, and the cycle of incarceration continues.
If the city projects that it will take ten years to close Rikers (a timeline many advocates contest), then instead of rushing to build new jails, could we use that time to engage in the deeper, broader and more transformative work of resourcing communities to reimagine what justice looks like? If we’ve reduced the jail population from more than 21,000 in the 1991 to under 9,000 today – all with continued declines in violence and crime – why do we think that 5,000 is the best we can do? Perhaps the system can only imagine reforming itself enough to get to that number, but what community solutions might be resourced and brought to scale that could bring the jail population to 4,000, or 3,000, or 2,000 or less?
What if we created neighborhood-based accountability groups that could respond to 90 percent of the incidents currently handled by the criminal justice system? Groups like Common Justice in Brooklyn are bringing restorative justice solutions even to serious and violent crimes with phenomenal results. What if we invested in groups like the Bronx Cooperative Development Institute to provide people with the economic power to live crime-free lives? What if we brought initiatives like the Bed Stuy Human Justice Initiative that is transforming the relationship between police and community members through pre-booking arrest diversion to every police precinct? What if we brought approaches like our South Bronx Community Connections initiative that has proven successful in keeping juveniles out of the justice system to bear on the young adult population? What if instead of building a 1,500 bed city-run jail in the Bronx, we invested in scaling models like Abraham House, a 10-bed faith and community run residential home in Mott Haven?
These ideas may currently sound like an impractical, unrealistic “noble concept” but so was the very thought of closing Rikers just two years ago.
The plan to close Rikers is a good starting point for a much deeper exploration of what justice in our city should look like. But the only way forward is a community-led effort that reimagines not only criminal justice but true human justice. Until that happens, our communities must reject any plan that depends on recreating the same failing jail system that has never, ever worked for us.
Rev. Rubén Austria is the Founder & Executive Director of Community Connections for Youth, a Bronx-based non-profit organization whose mission is to empower grassroots faith & neighborhood organizations to develop community-driven alternatives to incarceration for youth, and a resident of the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx.
The following is an op-ed by Stanley Richards
In order to close the infamous Rikers Island jail complex, New York City is seeking to cut its jail population in half and build a smaller system of facilities in the boroughs, so that detained people are held closer to the courts and to their families and support networks.
In Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, the new facilities are located on, or near, existing jails.
In the Bronx, however, the current city jail is a boat docked near Hunts Point, which will be closed as part of the plan to shut down Rikers.
Instead, the proposed facility in the Bronx is on the site of an NYPD tow pound in Mott Haven.
I am a lifelong Bronx resident. I am also someone who was jailed on Rikers and who has devoted my life, since returning from prison, to helping people who have been incarcerated get back on their feet.
I believe that closing the nine jails on Rikers and moving to smaller borough-based facilities – including in the Bronx – is a critical step towards a better justice system.
In 2016, I was asked to serve on an independent commission to study New York City’s justice system. We concluded that the jail population could be safely reduced to 5,000, a number that would permit the closure of Rikers. Our recommendation was adopted by the city – and over the past year, the number of people in jail has declined by approximately 1,000 people.
We also concluded that the Rikers jails, which are poorly designed and deteriorating, should be replaced with smaller, modern facilities in each borough that are more accessible to family members who seek to visit their loved ones. Study after study demonstrates that visitation improves behavior inside jails and leads to better outcomes when a detained person returns to society.
I also know this from personal experience. I spent two years detained on Rikers Island – and my father came to visit me once. He spent an entire day traveling from Soundview for a one-hour visit. Afterwards, I asked him not to come back. He was not the one charged with a crime, yet he had to endure hours of travel just to show me he loved me. Expressing love and support for a detained family member should not be so hard, especially when it has such a positive impact.
It is also important that jails be located near the courthouses. More than 75 percent of detained people are awaiting trial, meaning they haven’t been convicted of a crime and must travel the long distance from Rikers to borough courthouses for court appointments, a process that is expensive, inefficient, often brutal, and can cause case delays. While the Mott Haven site is not adjacent to the courthouse, it is much closer than Rikers.
Closing Rikers also provides a chance to reimagine what a jail can be. While better design won’t prevent all incidents of violence, it can help make jails safer – both for detained people and the corrections officers – and provide dedicated space to help people prepare to re-enter society.
At the Fortune Society, where I work, we serve 7,000 people annually, most of whom have come through Rikers multiple times. I know firsthand the importance of starting to work with people on reentry plans when they first enter the justice system to provide a foundation for lasting engagement. A new system can afford the opportunity to shift from the current approach of “Care, Custody, and Control” to “Care, Engagement, and Community Reentry.”
Just as jails can be better designed on the inside, they can also be designed to fit within the surrounding neighborhood. In the plans released last week, the City set aside one-third of the tow pound plot for community uses, which could include affordable housing units, ground floor retail space, or other aspects of the development plan put forth by local residents.
It is understandable that those who live nearby are concerned about the impact that a jail will have, but borough jails haven’t harmed other areas of our city. When the jail in downtown Brooklyn reopened in 2012, the surrounding community was also concerned – but property values have risen and crime has fallen. Similarly, the jail in downtown Manhattan shares a plot with senior housing, a medical center, and restaurants and other shops.
There is no question that the administration should have done a better job as it rolled out its plan to close Rikers, particularly by involving Bronx officials and community members at the outset. Moving forward, all stakeholders have to be at the table. But we must remember what we are trying to accomplish – ending mass incarceration that disproportionately impacts minorities. We must not let perfect be the enemy of good.
At the end of the day, one new facility in the Bronx will help end the ongoing misery at Rikers and provide a better environment for detained people, their families, and correction staff.
Stanley Richards, Executive Vice President at The Fortune Society, Inc., member of the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, and member of the Justice Implementation Task Force.
Disclaimer:
Comments, views, and opinions are that solely of the author and should never be misconstrued as that of Welcome2TheBronx or any other authors of this site. Welcome2TheBronx only edits articles submitted by readers for grammar and spelling leaving fact checking up to the author.
Welcome2TheBronx encourages reader submissions for consideration for publication on our site. It is our mission to be able to provide a platform where Bronx residents can have their voices broadcasted to a wider audience.
To submit an article, email us at submissions@welcome2thebronx.com
They say things come full circle and I’m The Bronx, the LGBTQ community is a testament to that.
After years of searching and false starts, The Bronx will finally have an LGBTQ center to call its own.
The Bronx LGBTQ Center is coming back home to its original location at 448-452 E 149th Street in Melrose partially occupying the original Bronx Community Pride Center and the former home of Bronx FlexSpace.
Since 2012 with the demise of the former Bronx Community Pride Center, which collapsed after executive director Lisa Winters was found guilty of stealing over $400,000 in funds, the LGBTQ community in our borough has not had a true place to call its own.
Destination Tomorrow, a trans led organization, who’s leadership has roots in the former BCPC, is now recognized as the official LGBTQ organization in The Bronx.
This couldn’t have been done without the tireless efforts of the LGBTQ community and without the support of our local elected officials like Councilman Rafael Salamanca Jr who provided funding for the center.
“Destination Tomorrow is a leader in New York City’s LGBTQ community, providing integral services and resources to the South Bronx,” said Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. to Welcome2TheBronx.
“Empowering and funding local LGBTQ organizations is key in ensuring that the LGBTQ community in the Bronx can seek high quality services in their own borough. I’m proud to see this much-deserved organization receive funds to continue their great work in my community and The Bronx.” added Salamanca Jr.
Mr. Coleman, the Executive Director of Destination Tomorrow stated “Bronx Pride is back and better than ever. This new center will be instrumental in connecting the Bronx LGBTQ community to the vast resources available in the borough”.
Welcome back home!
Since it was announced in 2013, the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory into the world’s largest ice center has been plagued with false starts.
But after all these years it may actually be close to happening.
Crain’s is reporting that Citibank is close to financing the first phase of the estimated $350 million project that would convert the landmark armory into a massive ice center with 9 ice rinks, food, beverage and retail spaces, and even community spaces.
If approved, construction is reported to begin in the middle of 2019 and would include the first five rinks as part of that phase.
Crain’s writes:
Kevin Parker, a former Deutsche Bank executive, who along with former New York Rangers star Mark Messier envisioned redeveloping the cavernous 5-acre armory into a skating center with nine rinks, athletic facilities and stadium seating for 5,000, told Crain’s that Citibank was close to awarding the group a construction loan. A spokeswoman for the Empire State Development Corp. also said that the group was in advanced conversations with Citibank for the financing.
“Citibank is committed to doing the first phase of the project,” Parker said. “And they’ve indicated a strong desire to finance the second phase. But we’re going one step at a time.”
A spokesman for Citibank declined to comment.
Parker said the first of the planned two-phase conversion would involve the installation of five of the nine rinks. He said the development group would close on the construction loan in the coming weeks and work would begin in the middle of next year.
We still think that 9 ice skating rinks in The Bronx is overkill and we strongly question who will this exactly benefit as our borough doesn’t really have a strong history and connection with ice skating or hockey for that matter.
It’s pretty obvious that this will be for Westchester and other residents more so than it will be for actual Bronxites.
But of course our elected officials will tell us, “but we’re getting JOBS!” so it must be good no?
At any rate, we’re not holding our breath until shovel actually hits the ground with this one.
This morning we saw the launch of NYC Ferry at Soundview giving thousands of commuters a new option for getting to their destinations.
Later in the afternoon Citi Bike held their official launch party as their new dockless bikes hit the streets of Fordham and surrounding neighborhoods joining JUMP Bikes, another dockless system which launched in the area last month.
After a few remarks at Fordham Plaza, we took to the streets with residents trying out the new bikes as we made our way to Tuff City for the launch party.
We had a dope escort blasting some great tunes with a disco ball in tow!
Citi Bike (as well as JUMP) is testing their new dockless bikes where you can just leave them (or pick them up) anywhere in the pilot area which is completely different to the existing network of designated areas with docking stations.
If you already have a Citi Bike membership then you’re all set and ready to go as these bikes are part of the same network (although you still can’t take them out of the test area and drop them off in say Manhattan. Well you can but you will be charged any penalties which may apply).
If you don’t then fret not just head over to their website and sign up.
Pricing is pretty affordable across all income ranges as NYCHA and residents on public assistance qualify for a heavily discounted $5/month membership vs the regular membership of $169/per year.
Don’t forget to read the full special op-ed offering more details on what Citi Bike in The Bronx means to you for more information on the program.
Since 2009, Welcome2TheBronx has been a popular online platform dedicated to highlighting the vibrant culture, history, and ongoing developments within New York City’s northernmost borough. Founded by life-long resident and community advocate Ed García Conde, the site features local news, personal stories, and in-depth coverage of issues such as gentrification, community empowerment, art, and real estate. Through its engaging content and active social media presence, Welcome2TheBronx has become a trusted resource for residents and visitors alike, shining a spotlight on the unique identity and rich heritage of the Bronx.
More from W2TBX
Contact Us
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv
