Our friends over at Brick Underground have put together a look at living on The Bronx’s Grand Concourse from the perspective of residents both lifetime and more recent transplants and co-op owners and renters.
Featured are two people we know, Samuel M. Goodman and Ariela Heilman as well as a few other locals who give insight into the food scene, crime, parks, and other issues surrounding daily existence on our Grand Boulevard.
We really appreciate that Sam points out that although there’s a Starbucks, you can still get coffee for under a dollar in many places (seriously, who needs Starbucks?).
While some talk about the great apartments and value you get if you’re looking to move here, one resident simply said, “…if you’re thinking of moving here, run the other way!”
Personally, we don’t share that sentiment (unless you’re a gentrifier then please do run the other way).
What would you tell people about the Grand Concourse and living here?
Some of our favorite things about the area is that in many ways it’s a living, breathing museum of art deco architecture featuring the largest collection of such buildings in the world.
Perhaps what we hate the most is how the Yankees dominate the area and pretty much put it on lockdown when there’s a game as if we didn’t live here. Parking? Forget about it.
Here’s a fun event for you where you can enjoy the beauty of the Bronx River in its full glory on Saturday August 11th!
The Bronx River Alliance writes:
Join the first ever Bronx River: Run Pedal Paddle organized by the Bronx River Alliance & Bronx Sole!
Gather a team of 4 friends for this team relay event. There will be 10 teams that consist of 4 people. Each team will have 1 runner, 1 biker and 2 paddlers. The running leg is approximately 2.6 miles. The biking leg is approximately 3.6 miles and the paddling leg is approximately 1 mile long. Each team will have 1 slap wrist band that they will pass to their teammate at the end of their leg.
Bikers MUST bring their own bikes and helmets. BIKES & HELMETS WILL NOT BE PROVIDED. Bikers will start at Bronx Park near Arnow Ave. and end in Starlight Park.
Some canoeing experience is REQUIRED. All paddlers must show up ON TIME to the meeting point at Starlight Park as we will provide a paddling and canoe safety demonstration. Canoes and life vest will be provided. Canoers will begin in Starlight Park and end at Hunts Point Riverside Park.
The 17-year-old eventually learned to call out the moves to dancers, a signature of both square and round dancing.
He’ll even be calling some dances with his grandfather at the convention in London this week.
“I enjoy being up on that stage and just watching everybody have a good time,” Welner said. “You get to see new people every day. I enjoy seeing a smile on the people’s faces when I entertain.”
If a Puerto Rican man from The Bronx can become the king of Ukrainian folk dance then surely a Bronx kid can compete in square dancing, no?
This is one of those stories that might seem far-fetched yet if you’re from The Bronx and especially from Riverdale then you probably know about the ugly Soviet-built Russian diplomat building at 355 W 255th Street and the decades old rumors that surround it.
Now local Bronxites have told the New York Post that they are surrounded by spies and feel like big brother is watching them.
And it doesn’t help that in 2015 a local Riverdale resident just blocks away from the Russian Diplomatic Compound was arrested for trying to recruit everyday Americans to conduct espionage for Russia.
Builders and all construction materials were imported from Russia so as to minimize the risk that American intelligence could plant listening devices or sabotage the construction, the resident told The Post.
Although it’s a mystery what goes on at the giant complex — a place many local residents refer to simply as “the compound” — most assume that many of their Russian neighbors are spies.
Many believe Riverdale has long been an epicenter of Russian intrigue and espionage. Soviet defector Arkady Shevchenko, a former advisor to the Soviet foreign ministry who lived in the building before he defected to the United States in 1978, noted in his book “Breaking with Moscow” that “the apartment building in Riverdale and the mission . . . bristled with antennas for listening to American conversations.”
Neighbors are not surprised, and some expressed anger, that the residents of the compound never bothered to reach out to them or invite them in for a tour.
“The only people who have ever been allowed in there were the police, fire department and the garbage collectors,” said Beth Zakar, a jewelry designer who lives across the street from the Russian Diplomatic Compound. “But there are spies everywhere here.”
What do you think? Do you think there are Russian spies lurking in The Bronx?
Florinne Ambramowitz and her cousin Ronnie Connors who both grew up in The Bronx but never knew each other were reunited in our borough after their late uncle’s lost Purple Heart was returned.
Their uncle Rubin Keltch was killed in the navy during WWII.
The cousins never met due to their fathers having been estranged but 70 years after their uncle posthumously received a Purple Heart they feel complete now.
One of the beauties of The Bronx is that we’re home not just to Little Italy but New York City’s REAL Little Italy on Arthur Avenue in Belmont.
It is where people from all over the metropolitan area come to shop when they want the freshest and best in Italian food products.
Beatrice Tosti, a native of Italy and owner of Il Posto Accanto in the East Village takes CBS News’ Elle McLogan on a tour through Arthur Avenue and shows her how to shop like an Italian.
Since 1980, The Bronx’s population has grown by 36% to just below the historic high set in 1970 regaining the population lost during decades of disinvestment during the burning years.
This growth has been fueled by immigrants who have more than doubled in our borough since 1980 helping create one of the most diverse counties in the country.
Immigrants are also half the workforce here as well as representing 60% of entrepreneurs who identify as self-employed.
According to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, “…The Bronx is setting records for population, business, and job growth.” during a press release highlighting a lot of important statistical data on our once forgotten borough.
Between 2007 and 2017 The Bronx added 40,900 jobs making it the ONLY New York City borough which didn’t lose jobs.
Some highlights from the report include:
The Bronx is home to NYC’s largest Dominican population with almost 220,000 residents
Residents have some of the highest rates of asthma for Medicaid recipients in the state
Health care is the largest employer in The Bronx, accounting for 27 percent (65,800 jobs) of all private sector jobs. The sector added more jobs (11,300) than any other sector between 2007 and 2017.
The leisure and hospitality sector had the fastest growth since 2007, increasing by 54 percent and adding 7,500 jobs (mostly in restaurants).
Three-quarters of all immigrants in The Bronx are from Latin America, with more than half coming from the Dominican Republic (219,700). The Bronx is home to nearly half of all Dominican immigrants in New York City.
The Bronx has the lowest median age (33.6) of the five boroughs. Children under the age of 18 made up one-quarter of the population, a larger share than any other borough.
The share of residents (age 25 and older) with at least a high school diploma rose from 69 percent in 2010 to 72 percent in 2016, but remained below the citywide share of 82 percent. While the share of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher rose by 1.5 percentage points since 2010 to 18 percent, it was less than half the citywide share (37 percent).
Reported crime declined by 75 percent between 1990 and 2017, with an 89 percent reduction in the number of reported murders. Nonetheless, the crime rate exceeds the citywide average and there was an increase in the number of murders during the first half of 2018.
In 2018, The Bronx was named the least healthy county in New York for the ninth consecutive year. Despite some improvement, it ranked at the bottom for quality of life and health factors, including smoking and obesity.
The report also highlights that despite such major gains, The Bronx still has a long way to go.
We are still have the lowest median income in NYC and the highest percentage of peopleliving in poverty.
Despite the economic gains we still have the highest unemployment rate in the city as well.
“The Bronx has made great progress and has come a long way,” DiNapoli said. “It has set employment records for ten consecutive years. However, too many residents remain in poverty, unemployment is particularly high among the borough’s youth, and affordable housing is a big concern. I hope this report provides the borough’s elected officials, business community and social service providers with helpful information as they work to continue The Bronx’s revival.”
A lot of this growth is a testament to the people of the Bronx and their resiliency.
At the height of its popularity, NYC had up to 20 factories manufacturing acrylic furniture.
Now, only one remains and it’s right here in the West Farms area of The Bronx.
Plexi-Craft manufactures furniture pieces costing thousands of dollars mostly for a high end market.
The New York Times has a fascinating story on how The Bronx became the last outpost of this industry.
They write:
Undeterred, Mr. Kretschman completed his purchase of the company in June 2016. The first order of business was to find Plexi-Craft a new home. The company had been bought out of its lease in Long Island City, which housed both the showroom and the factory.
Mr. Kretschman selected theNew York Design Centerat 32nd Street and Lexington for the showroom. For the factory, he signed a 10-year lease on an 8,500-square-foot space in the Bronx’s economically challenged West Farms area. It was affordable, convenient for employees and visiting designers, and it was close to public transportation and highways.
Perhaps most important, Mr. Kretschman said, “I wanted to be able to continue to say ‘Made in New York City.’”
Plexi-Craft is tucked among a sanitation cleaning station and a high-rise housing complex that’s under construction. It currently employs 18 people, including Phillip Sookhai, the shop manager. Mr. Sookhai started as a machinist 24 years ago. He said that while quality and efficiency have improved over the years, the manufacturing process has changed little, and that makes all the difference in the final product.
The endeavor is the brainchild of Angel Hernandez of The Bronx County Historical Society.
Mayaguez Shoe Store, one of the earliest latino owned businesses in The Bronx. Photo courtesy of The Bronx County Historical Society
Through oral histories that will be recorded and transcribed, the BLHP will be able to provide an unprecedented look into the Latino community in The Bronx that will be accessible by all.
The project will focus on four major themes: identity, politics, sports, and community organizing.
The Bronx Latino History Project highlights Latinos who lived or contributed to The Bronx throughout its history. Latinos are among the largest and fastest growing ethnic groups in the borough since the mid-20th century. According to the U.S. census survey from 2006-2008, of the entire nation’s counties with a population of 500,000, The Bronx comes in fourth as a county whose businesses are predominantly owned by Latinos. Although Puerto Ricans were the first major Latinos to settle in the borough, today The Bronx is home to Latinos from all over Central and South America and the Caribbean. The Society’s education department is in the process of increasing the BCHS’s collections to reflect The Bronx’s current population diversity. With the assistance of community organizations and certain devoted individuals, the BCHS will continue to fulfill its mission to preserve and share information that highlights major turning points in Bronx history.
The Bronx has been a home in the New World for many people of various backgrounds and ethnicities dating back to 1639 with the arrival of its first European settler, Jonas Bronck. Bronck’s ship anchored off the southern shores of what is now 132nd Street, just east of Lincoln Avenue. On his farm, there were indentured servants from Germany, Denmark, and Jonas himself was a Swede, sailing under the auspices of the Dutch West India Company. This early episode in Bronx History serves as a precursor to the borough’s significantly diverse population today.
At the beginning of the 20th century, The Bronx had become an urban epicenter with new affordable housing and a reliable public transit system. Various immigrant groups migrated from the overcrowded slums of lower Manhattan into The Bronx, seeking an opportunity to live and prosper in a rapidly evolving borough. Although The Society currently has an impressive archive collection of the people of The Bronx from the frontier era up until the first half of the 20th century, there is a wealth of new information to be collected on the Latino population in The Bronx today. The purpose of this project is to address and highlight the numerous achievements and contributions Latinos have given to The Bronx. A person of Latino descent may come from any of the various cultures found in Latin America and it is this explosion of culture that makes The Bronx an exceptional place.
If interested in being a part of this important project, just make sure to stay tuned as we will let you know exactly how you can become a part of this and history.
Known to most as Mos Def, Yasiin Bey, the actor and rapper, is opening an art gallery in the South Bronx according to ArtNet News.
But flags are raised as it seems perhaps this is yet another big name looking to cash in on The Bronx name, its connection to the arts and not to mention our borough being the place where Hip Hop was born.
The first exhibition is slated to take place on mid August and will feature the works of Jonathan Mannion, a photographer who documented hip hop artists in the 90s.
Hip-hop star Mos Def and advertising executive Free Richardson are opening a gallery in the South Bronx next month called The Compound. The space, located in the neighborhood real-estate developers are rebranding the “Piano District,” will host an eclectic visual arts, performance, design, and film program that aims to bridge hip-hop and fine art.
“The gallery will serve as a space for all mediums of art,” Yasiin Bey, which is the legal name of retired rapper Mos Def, told artnet News. “Free will run day-to-day operations alongside staff and I will bring in curatorial and special projects.”
Richardson and Bey chose the Bronx partly for its deep links to early hip-hop culture. The first show, in mid August, will be an exhibition of work by Jonathan Mannion, who has been photographing rap legends such as Jay-Z, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, and Nas since the 1990s.
An exact location has yet to be released.
Read the full story at ArtNet.
A few years ago the US Census called The Bronx the most diverse county in the United States where if you take two people at random, there’s an over 80% chance they each speak a language other than English.
At St Lucy’s Church in Allerton this certainly seems to be the case as they offer mass in Albanian, English, Spanish, Creole, and Italian.
I remember attending Our Lady of Pity in Melrose in the 80s and we had mass in three languages and I thought that was a lot but St Lucy’s is simply fascinating and a testament to the great diversity of our borough and how people coexist.
St. Lucy’s parish in the Bronx offers Mass in five languages. That’s correct, five: Albanian, Creole, English, Italian and Spanish. Albanian since 2009, Creole since 2015, Spanish since the 1980s, and English and Italian since the parish was established in 1927.
“We serve them in their native language, so that they can worship God in the language they understand best,” Father Nikolin Pergjini, the pastor, said last week about how he reaches parishioners of his multicultural parish.
“This is most important during the homily. Many of them speak limited English.”
Father Pergjini, who was born and raised in Albania, added, “This is about attending Mass in the language that you speak at home. It is important because they listen to the message of God in the mother tongue, and it’s crucial for the homily, so that we can feed their minds and souls.
“And they are grateful, very thankful. They feel blessed, and we are blessed to have them here.”
The pastor said the priests who serve at St. Lucy’s are fluent in the language in which they celebrate Mass.
“We’ve had no complaints,” he noted, adding that parishioners are able to understand the clergymen’s words, even when the priests are speaking in a language that is not their first.
Which languages are spoken in your house of worship?
