On January 1st, 1898, after years of planning and razor-thin election results, the five boroughs we know today as The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, were consolidated into one city to create the New York City we know today 125 years later.
The great consolidation united two of the largest cities in the country—Brooklyn and New York City—thus making it the largest city in the country as well as, at the time of consolidation, the second largest city in the world.
An 1839 map of the areas and towns that would eventually become the five boroughs of New York City
Dozens of once independent towns and villages that made up those areas were now united as one mega-city and linking together many people from all walks of life in the new metropolis truly making it the melting pot we know today.
But it’s a little-known fact that our beautiful borough of The Bronx was already a part of New York City.
In 1874, the lands west of the Bronx River were annexed to New York County aka NYC.
Prior to this annexation, these lands were part of Westchester County and included the towns of Morrisania, Kingsbridge, and West Farms. Within these towns were the villages of Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Fordham, and many others.
A map of Westchester County before The Bronx was annexed by New York City, first with the West Bronx in 1874 and then the East Bronx in 1895.
Then in 1895, a full three years before Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island were annexed to create New York City as we know it today, the lands to the east of the Bronx River were annexed.
The town of Westchester had voted against being annexed but was dragged along to create The Bronx as we know it today, along with parts of the towns of Eastchester and Pelham.
But still The Bronx, which was known as the annexed district, was tied to Manhattan and was part of New York County until it became the 62nd county of New York State and the 5th and official county of New York City in 1914.
Many firsts came from our Bronx as well as many great historical figures from all walks of life and professions but this one comes with major bragging rights: The Bronx—NYC’s FIRST borough.
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On Tuesday morning, at the 161st Street and River Avenue Station on the 4, B, and D line in The Bronx, Bronxite Sasha Salazar became the 1 billionth subway rider for 2022.
Salazar said of the historic moment, “Every New Yorker uses the subway every day and I know that we appreciate the MTA, all the workers that work for the MTA especially.”
The last time the Metropolitan Transit Authority registered over 1 billion subway riders in a calendar year was right before the pandemic in 2019 when 1,697,787,002 straphangers braved the country’s largest subway system.
But in 2020 with New York City under the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns with the majority of the workforce working from home, ridership plummeted to just 639,541,029 rides.
And the following year in 2021, subway ridership numbers were not much better with only a modest increase to 759,976,721 rides.
While yesterday’s milestone was momentous and indicates a somewhat return to normalcy in a COVID-19 world, it’s still a far cry from a full recovery as daily subway ridership continues to average about 60 percent.
Workers are returning back to their offices in Manhattan but with hybrid working schedules now more the norm than not, it’s still a long way until we get to those pre-pandemic levels if ever.
Speaking of milestones, another major milestone reached this year is the number of OMNY taps, the replacement to the metrocard, that were made this year which reached 425 million across the system.
Metrocards will be phased out by 2024 and the OMNY fare-payment tap system will be the only way to be able to access NYC’s buses and subways.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “In 2022, customers have voted with their MetroCard swipes and OMNY taps, and hundreds of millions have returned to the subway. Hitting this milestone, one billion subway riders in 2022, demonstrates again how essential mass transit is to New York City’s economy and continued recovery from the pandemic.”
Now if only the MTA could get its act together and clean up the subway system and make it safer for everyone to ride. Despite claims of crime dropping across NYC, including the subway system, commuters still feel a bit leery from riding the subways.
Mariah Carey in front of the Bronx Garabedian Christmas House in the ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ music video/screen shot via VEVO
Every year, as soon as Halloween is over and the calendar changes from October 31st to November 1st, Mariah Carey comes out of hibernation and haunts the airwaves with her iconic and ever-present holiday hit, ‘All I want for Christmas is You’.
No matter where you go, what store you enter, what channel you switch you, you’ll inevitably hear the song.
The Garabedian Bronx Christmas House has been an iconic if not legendary stop during the holidays
In fact, the song is SO iconic that Mariah Carey reportedly rakes in $2.5 million, including from royalties, and, according to Forbes, has probably raked in $72 million as of last year since the song was first released in 1994.
But did you know that part of the music video for the hit song was recorded outside the famous Bronx Garabedian Christmas House?
Even Marilyn Monroe makes an appearance at The Bronx Christmas House
Yup, you read that correctly!
For almost 50 years, the Bronx Christmas House was a must see during the Christmas season tour of holiday lights but in recent years, the lights have gone out at the beloved home which was adorned with hundreds of mannequins
However, due to recent health issues as a result of a car accident and the COVID-19 pandemic, the house has not been lit but in a recent phone call with Mr Garabedian, he assured Welcome2TheBronx that the lights will return next year but that, “…we still have to get through some surgeries first as a result of the car accident.”
Breakfast at Tiffany’s anyone? Visiting a house is a total experience with its campy vibe.
At least, for now, we can still see the glory that is the Bronx Garabedian Christmas House in Mariah’s video as well as in our hearts and memories.
In the meantime, as we told Mr Garabedian, have a speedy recovery and although we all LOVE the holiday lights at his house, his health and that of his family are far more important to us.
Millions of Bronxites will soon be able to enjoy a restored Orchard Beach Pavilion/Via Marvel Architects
After decades of neglect, the landmarked Orchard Beach Pavilion will be restored to its former glory with an $87 million renovation which was launched with a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.
While the majority of the pavilion, including the bathhouse, has been off-limits to the public for over a decade, the beach still receives an impressive 1.6 million visitors annually as locals flock to sunbathe on what is affectionately known as the Bronx Riviera.
Rendering of what the restored Orchard Beach Pavilion will look like once complete/via Marvel Architects.
Plans for the restoration have been in the making for decades, however, it wasn’t until last year when New York City Landmark Preservation Committee voted to approve the project.
The planned renovations and restorations to the site, led by Marvel Architects, will focus on repairing its unique bright blue tiles and terrazzo floor sand the reconstruction of the bathhouse and its upper and lower floors loggias and cafeteria. The project will also include the restoration of the site’s original clocks and lighting, and the historic compass on the upper floor of the pavilion will be restored. These efforts will aim to return the space to its former grandeur when it first opened to the public in 1937.
Part of the restoration will be to focus on activating concession stands/Via Marvel Architects
One of the goals for the renovation is to create spaces for both commercial and community use, including the restoration of the cafeteria and spaces to be operated by concessionaires.
The former cafeteria space will also be restored/via Marvel ArchitectsThe former cafeteria as it exists today which was divided into various storefronts/via Marvel Architects
Orchard Beach was one of Robert Moses’ most ambitious projects, built in 1936 and expanded in the 1940s with an extension of the beach northward as the old LeRoy Bay was filled in with sand from the Rockaways, Sandy Hook, and Northport. This creation of 115 acres of new land was the largest Works Progress Administration project in New York City during this time.
The cafeteria during its glory years/via NYC Dept of RecordsA rendering of the cafeteria restored to its prime/Via Marvel Architects
Since then, the beach has become an integral part of the lives of those who call The Bronx home and is a special place that residents flock to, no matter the season.
Now, with the restoration of the 140,000 square foot pavilion finally in progress and making it fully ADA compliant, it will indeed be a treasure accessible to all Bronxites for decades to come that residents deserve.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority, the agency that runs the New York City bus and subway system, is considering a fare hike that would start in the middle of 2023 and push fares to $2.90 per ride and to $3.02 per ride by 2025 in order to close an ever-increasing budget gap.
While the agency hasn’t voted on any plan and any plan pushed forward would require a public hearing period before the board actually votes on it, a fare hike is almost certain as the base fare of $2.75 per ride hasn’t changed since 2015.
According to the MTA, the fare hikes are needed in order to raise revenues that have been lost due to historic low ridership as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of last week’s work week, daily ridership on subways was averaged just 63.4% of the pre-pandemic daily averages.
A Manhattan-bound 4 train enters the 149th Street and Grand Concourse station in The Bronx
With many workers continuing to work remotely, New York City’s subway system is a literal ghost of its former self but in a borough of essential workers, like in The Bronx, many didn’t have the choice and luxury to stay and work from home during the height of the pandemic. In fact, some of the highest ridership on the subway system came from The Bronx during that period and the borough continues to have some of the highest ridership numbers in the city as a result of its high numbers of essential workforce.
And while a hike may seem necessary, as usual, it will come at the cost of the most vulnerable and in New York City, that, unfortunately means residents in The Bronx who have the highest poverty rate not just in the city but in the state.
The MTA must have its funding increased by Governor Kathy Hochul as well as the federal government in order to avoid such an increase.
In a time of rampant inflation, this is the last thing that Bronx residents need to worry about.
After decades of promises and false starts, ground has finally broken on the transformative Metro North Penn Station access in The Bronx today.
The ceremonial groundbreaking event was held at the site of the future Parkchester/Van Nest Metro North stop—one of four to be constructed in the East Bronx—that will bring direct rail service to Manhattan’s Penn Station as well as points north to Westchester and Connecticut in the estimated $3.18 billion project.
Local elected officials, including Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Congressman Ritchie Torres, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, join Governor Hochul in Parkchester for the ceremonial groundbreaking/via Governor’s Office
“We are bringing modern, safe, and reliable public transportation to East Bronx communities and with it, more economic opportunity for New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said in a statement.
“In partnership with Senator Schumer, Representatives Torres, Ocasio-Cortez, and Bowman, and Amtrak, Penn Station Access will not only drastically reduce commute times, but it will also help connect hundreds of thousands of residents and boost local economies. I’m thankful for MTA’s partnership to get this project off the ground, and I look forward to seeing the completed project to help ensure all New Yorkers have access to the modern public transportation that they deserve.” added governor Hochul.
The future stations, which will be located in Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester/Van Nest, and Hunts Point, will provide 500,000 residents with not only a new way of commuting into Manhattan, but will also drastically reduce commute times by almost an hour each way thus providing an increased quality of life for so many Bronx residents.
Rendering of the Morris Park Station/via MTA
For too long, these communities have been considered transit deserts due to the fact that many residents need to travel by at least one bus just to simply connect to a subway line.
Representative Ritchie Torres said, “For too long the Bronx has been neglected when it comes to public transportation. The Penn Access metro expansion project is a step forward in ensuring that the Bronx has adequate Metro access. This expansion not only cuts down on travel time, improves regional connectivity, and it provides for local economic benefits. The Bronx is thriving and not just surviving, and this project is a critical step in ensuring the growth of our community.”
Today’s groundbreaking comes on the heels of New York City Mayor Eric Adam’s announcement yesterday of his ambitious housing plan where he called to relax rules for developers that would speed up construction by up to 50% in order to address the housing crisis facing the city. Adams also called for the construction of 500,000 new homes in 10 years including 6,000 new residential units around the four new East Bronx Metro North Stations to be built by 2027.
The Hell’s Gate Line, as it’s being called, will branch off from the New Haven Metro North Line which currently runs from Connecticut through east Westchester County/Via NYC.gov
While this is a momentous time in history for Bronx residents in terms of quality of life issues surrounding transportation, in order for this project to reach its full potential impact, the MTA must make fares for intra-city commute the same as the subway.
If a resident is traveling into Penn Station or say from Co-op City to Hunts Point or any of the other stations within The Bronx, the fare shouldn’t cost more than the bus or subway.
Elected officials must push the governor and MTA to reconsider how they price rides within the city in order to truly make this an equitable project that benefits everyone and not just a select few who can afford it.
As New Yorkers, we’ve always known that living in New York City was expensive compared to other cities worldwide.
Many often believed it to be the most expensive in the world. Still, it wasn’t until a report released in recent days by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that declared New York City to, in fact, be the most expensive city on the planet.
It’s official: New York City is the most expensive city in the world.
Bumped up from number six just a year ago by the EIU, New York City ties in first place with Singapore for the not-so-pleasant recognition as such.
The methodology utilized in the report to come up with the rankings is pretty straightforward. It surveys more than 400 individual prices of over 200 essential products and services, including utility bills, food, rent, drinks, cost of commuting via public transportation, taxis, gas prices, recreational costs, and other essential expenses and compares then across 172 different cities across the globe.
Soaring inflation has increased these prices in the past year by an average of 8.1%, according to the report, which accounts for how New York City was propelled to the number one spot for the first time in the report’s 30-year history. The EIU reports that this is the fastest rate it has increased for at least 20 years and attributes the increase to the war in Ukraine and China’s continuing restrictions and lockdowns due to COVID-19.
The report also cites a strengthened US dollar this year as one of the other factors that has pushed New York City.
And in The Bronx, residents are all too familiar with these increased prices. Grocery budgets buy less than they did a year ago, let alone two.
Hundreds of Bronx residents line up in the rain at a food pantry, often standing for hours just to get a hold of basic food staples.
Nowhere else in New York City has felt inflation the way Bronxites do, given the unfortunate fact that the borough has the lowest median household income, which was $43,540 in 2019 and, according to a report by the NYU Furman Center, was 40% lower than the citywide median of $72,930 and is coupled with the highest poverty rate in the city which is 26.4% versus the citywide rate of 16%.
Local Bronx residents continue to flock to food pantry lines to supplement what they can no longer afford at the cash register.
Rents continue to rise, and according to Zumper, an online real estate listing website, rental prices in The Bronx have increased by 15% compared to last year, with the average one bedroom listing rent at $2,000 a month.
Most of the rent increase in average asking rents can be attributed to the influx of luxury apartments in the South Bronx neighborhoods of Port Morris and Mott Haven, where the average asking rent listed on StreetEasy is $2,785 for one-bedroom apartments.
The following is the full list of the top ten most expensive cities in the world:
A lottery has launched for affordable apartments in a newly constructed development in the South Bronx.
Located at 341 E 162nd Street in the Melrose neighborhood of The Bronx, the development was constructed on a lot that had sat vacant for decades and owned by NYCHA.
Melrose North Apartments
60 percent of the 171 units are set aside for set aside for formerly unhoused individuals or families with special needs that have been referred by city agencies and the remaining 40 percent of the units are the ones that are available via the affordable housing lottery system on Housing Connect.
Rents start as low as $919 a month for a one bedroom unit and $1,094 a month for a two bedroom apartment. There are also several units available with rents as low as $0 a month depending on your household income, however, no details have been provided as to how exactly qualify for these.
Melrose North Apartments, as the development is known, doesn’t have many amenities to write about other than the basic shared laundry room, community room, and outdoor space as well as a bike storage room which has become pretty standard in developments in recent years.
The development is also served by several bus lines and sits directly adjacent to the Melrose Metro North station which can easily take residents to, say Fordham, in just 6 minutes.
Breakdown, rents and income requirements for units are as follows:
50%
$919 a month for 1 bedroom units for households making $34,689-$60,050
$1,094 a month for 2 bedroom units for households making $41,966-$72,050
70%
$1,345 a month for 1 bedroom units for households making $49,475-$84,070
$1,606 a month for 2 bedroom units for households making $59,520-$100,870
$1,844 a month for 3 bedroom units for households making $68,778-$115,850
80%
$1,559 a month for 1 bedroom units for households making $56,812-$96,080
$1,862 a month for 2 bedroom units for households making $68,298-$115,280
$2,140 a month for 3 bedroom units for households making $78,926-$132,400
There are also 8 units set aside for households with no minimum income requirements but making no greater than 50% of the Area Median Income and those breakdowns are as follows:
50%
$0 a month for 2 bedroom units for households making $0-72,050
$0 a month for 3 bedroom units for households making $0-$82,750
Melrose North Apartments
Please note, for each unit, there are other requirements such as number of people per household and further income requirements based on household size so refer to the Housing Connect website for further details.
How to Apply
For those interested in applying, you have until December 27, 2022 and you can do so online or you can request an application by mail by sending a self-addressed envelope to:
To request an application by mail, send a self-addressed envelope to:
P.O. Box 3004 2024 Jerome Avenue Bronx, NY 10453
Remember, you can only apply ONCE and you may not apply both online and by mail. Applying more than once can and will disqualify you according to the lottery rules.
25% of units are set aside for NYCHA residents, 5% of units are set aside for individuals with mobility issues and 2% for those with vision and/or hearing impairments. 50% preference for residents of Community Board 4 (to see which community board you live in, click here), and 5% for New York City employees.
Also, please note: We are NOT connected with this or any other real estate developments and cannot assist you in obtaining an apartment so please do not contact us regarding these units.
Every once in a while, we’ll take a look at current real estate listings in The Bronx for available properties for sale just to see what’s going on in the borough and each time we do, we’ll spot something that catches our eye.
This time around, 4715 Independence Avenue in Riverdale just took the cake at not only currently being the most expensive single family home on the market in The Bronx but actually having some sort of historical claim.
4715 Independence Avenue, aka Alderbook Mansion, is up for sale for just $5,495,000/Image via Corcoran Group
Known as Alderbook Mansion (yes, the home has a name, how chic, no?), 4715 Independence Avenue is currently listed for sale for a mere $5,495,000 by the Corcoran Group and according to public records, it’s a huge 7,324 square foot home on over half an acre of land.
Such oversized lots for single family homes are extremely rare and are only found in a handful of neighborhoods within New York City like Riverdale and Fieldston in The Bronx, Todt Hill on Staten Island, and Jamaica Estates in Queens to name some of the very few.
Alderbook Mansion’s foyer/Via Corcoran Group
According to the listing, the mansion was constructed around 1858 (New York City public records reports the year as 1859) when Riverdale and the rest of The Bronx were still part of Westchester County and it is the only one of Park Riverdale’s original villas to still remain as a single family home, or as in this case, a mansion.
While the home is nearly 200 years old, it was extensively renovated throughout back in 2009.
Alderbook Mansion features 8 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, and 8 fireplaces and sits right across from one of The Bronx’s best gems, Wave Hill.
So if you have a few extra millions of dollars around doing nothing in your bank account and are looking for a mansion, look no further than The Bronx where you can have the best of both worlds.
Check out that breakfast nook in the kitchen/Via Corcoran Group
If not, check out the gallery below or scroll back up and take a video tour of the most expensive home for sale in The Bronx or just go to the listing and check out more details.
This story is part of MISSING THEM, THE CITY’s COVID-19 memorial and journalism project. MISSING THEM wants to understand the pandemic’s collective impact on New Yorkers. Did you experience long-term health problems after getting sick with COVID? Share your experience with us here. We’d also like to hear from those of you who are caring for people with long COVID including family members, caregivers and medical professionals.
By Sarah Luft of The City
Latinos across the entire city and residents of The Bronx reported long COVID symptoms at disproportionately high rates last year, according to new data from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene obtained by THE CITY.
In The Bronx — which has the highest COVID death rate in New York City — 28% of adults who had COVID said they had lingering symptoms, the highest percentage in the city. In Manhattan, 20% of adults who had COVID said they had lingering symptoms, the lowest percentage in the five boroughs.
Of Latino adults in New York City, 30% who had COVID reported at least one long COVID symptom, compared to 23% of all white adults who had COVID.
Corona, Queens residents wait on a blocks-long line to collect food from a church during coronavirus outbreak, April 27, 2020 | Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
This data comes from the DOHMH’s 2021 New York City Community Health Survey, which has yet to be released.
The survey randomly selected around 10,000 adults in New York City and asked if they had experienced any long-lasting health effects following a COVID infection such as cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, brain fog, headaches, joint pain, gastrointestinal upset, blood clots and depression. This marked the first time the department had asked these questions in its annual community health survey.
Dr. Celia Quinn, the health department’s deputy commissioner for disease control, testified at a City Council hearing last month that the 2021 health survey suggests that “up to 30% of New York adults who have had COVID-19 may experience some form of long COVID.”
Women were 1.4 times more likely to report symptoms than men.
“This represents a major public health burden and threat,” said Dr. Denis Nash, an epidemiologist and the executive director of CUNY’s Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health. “Once someone recovers from the acute phase of their COVID infection, it doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily going to be back to normal in a short period of time. Many, many people are struggling.”
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Eu6xz/3/
The survey, which relies on New Yorkers to self-report symptoms, may not capture the full picture. “We could potentially underestimate the burden of long COVID in some communities,” Nash said. “Those with better access to care might be more likely to endorse the link [to COVID].”
The high rates of long COVID in The Bronx confirm that “a lot of the risk factors for long COVID overlap with COVID, and they also overlap with socioeconomic disadvantage,” he added.
City to Track Long COVID
Since COVID-19 is a new virus, studies like this one “are important to expand our understanding of its impacts,” Quinn said in an email through a health department spokesperson. The city health department is working to establish a system to monitor the prevalence and severity of long COVID among New Yorkers over time, the spokesperson added.
Scientists can’t yet say conclusively what’s driving disparities in long COVID rates, though experts point to a few possible causes. Black, Latino and low-income New Yorkers are more likely to have Type 2 diabetes and HIV — conditions that research shows increasethe likelihood of developing long COVID.
Women are more likely to experience autoimmune diseases, and scientists have observed a correlation between some of these conditions and long COVID. Women also tend to take on a higher share of household labor, which can inhibit adequate rest. Lack of rest, especially early on during illness, has been shown to exacerbate long COVID.
Transgender, bisexual and disabled people are also reporting higher rates of the condition, according to national data.
“Infectious diseases can be markers of inequity, marginalization, and discrimination,” said JD Davids, a New Yorker and longtime HIV and AIDS activist who co-founded The Network for Long COVID Justice. “I think it’s imperative that we look specifically in New York City to see what’s happening.”
Little Relief, Few Answers
Katrina Corbell, 44, caught COVID-19 in March 2020 as the city was shutting down. Each time she thought she might be on the mend, her shortness of breath, migraines, sinus pain and diarrhea returned in full force.
Corbell wears an N95 mask after getting food at a Manhattan soup kitchen, Nov. 22, 2022. | Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY
“I just kept getting worse and worse,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even stay awake.”
In the months that followed, Corbell, who lives in The Bronx, found little relief. She developed a racing heart rate and dizziness, while old health challenges reemerged. Corbell has a history of epilepsy. She had been without seizures for two years; suddenly, they were back.
Like many people with long COVID, Corbell found few answers from her doctors. Some were supportive, some dismissive — and all were puzzled. After almost three months of escalating symptoms, her primary-care physician identified high levels of D-dimer protein in her blood, which can indicate blood clotting. Her doctor urged her to stay calm, pack a bag, put out food for her cat and go to the ER.
There, she was treated for a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when blood clots block blood flow in an artery in the lung. Just a week prior, her pulmonologist had dismissed Corbell’s COVID concerns and failed to detect the clots.
Like Corbell, people with long COVID can experience a range of symptoms and related conditions. Both blood clots and neurological conditions like seizures are associated with long COVID. It’s estimated that half of people with long COVID meet the diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex and debilitating condition.
New Yorkers can be screened for long COVID at two dozen private and public clinics across the city, including three city-run COVID-19 Centers of Excellence in The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. To date, the centers have had more than 20,000 visits, according to testimony by NYC Test and Treat Executive Director Ted Long at the Council hearing last month.
The city also offers AfterCare, a phone line and webpage that directs New Yorkers with long COVID to local clinics and an online support group.
Searching for More Support
Yet health advocates say these services don’t go far enough. They point to a dearth of doctors who know how to identify and treat long COVID, as well as barriers patients face such as high costs and denied insurance claims.
At a City Council hearing in October, Mount Sinai’s director of rehabilitation, David Putrino, urged city leaders to develop policies to “guide and enforce standards of necessary care” for New Yorkers with long COVID.
AfterCare directs residents to Body Politic, a patient-led, largely volunteer-run support group.
“It’s like one of the city’s main forms of places where people get support, information, connection,” said Davids, of the Network for Long Covid Justice. On Nov. 1 the Body Politic team announced that the 13,000-person community, which houses a NYC-focused Slack channel, is at risk of dissolving in early 2023 without additional funding.
Advocates like Davids are also calling for city leaders to create a robust long COVID support system modeled after the city’s own HIV/AIDS Administration where those living with long COVID can be paired with a case worker to get help accessing benefits, housing and medical care.
Unable to Work
Corbell had two jobs lined up in the spring of 2020: one with the U.S. Census Bureau and another with the New York City Board of Elections. Both positions were put on hold with the arrival of the pandemic. That June, Corbell got a call to start working as the city reopened. But she was too unwell to accept either position. “I had turned them both down because I literally couldn’t get out of bed,” she said.
Across the U.S., around 3.5 to 4.5 million people are currently out of work due to long COVID, according to a recent data analysis by the Brookings Institution. Research published in The Lancet shows around 20% of people with long COVID are unable to work, and almost half coped by reducing working hours.
With no income, Corbell relied on unemployment benefits and federal stimulus funds to get by. “A nonprofit was able to provide me a gift card,” she said. “And that’s how I was able to buy my cat food.” After the benefits dried up, Corbell said she lived on $183 a month in cash assistance from the Human Resources Administration for more than a year. Then, in December 2021, Corbell’s application for Supplemental Security Income was granted.
Now, she is finishing up a New York Peer Specialist certification with the Academy of Peer Services to help New Yorkers struggling with mental health and substance use. And Corbell is back to regularly volunteering with her church. Yet she’s not fully recovered.
After a three-month-long wait, Corbell was admitted into NYU’s Post-COVID Care Program, and still attends regular appointments with neurology and pulmonology specialists. While some of the worst symptoms are gone, her stamina is limited.
“I still can’t do like the uphill, upstairs, upwards. And I remember before March of 2020, I could still handle, like, four flights of stairs.”
For the past two years, MISSING THEM has been documenting stories of New Yorkers who died of COVID. Now, the team is turning to understand the pandemic’s collective and ongoing impact on the city. If you’re a New Yorker with long COVID, we’d like to hear from you. What are your biggest challenges and unanswered questions? What advice do you have for fellow New Yorkers with long COVID? Let us know here.
MISSING THEM is supported in part by the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia Journalism School.
THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.
You better think twice before your impatience pushes you to drive down a bus lane or, worse yet, double park on one and creating a traffic jam.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) announced last week that it has activated its automated bus lane enforcement cameras for the first time in The Bronx. They are now on the Bx12 and the Bx41 routes and will activate it in the coming days along the Bx19.
This is part of a program that was announced last month that added the cameras to 300 buses across the city to deter motorists from blocking bus lanes and improve service and commute times along these routes which are notoriously some of the slowest in the borough.
Fordham Road, one of the busiest roads in the city may soon actually get some relief as bus lane enforcement cameras are activated in hopes of clearing the bus lane.
Violators will be issued a warning for 60 days from the first offense by the New York City Department of Transportation in accordance with state laws in order to make motorists aware about the program before they actually receive a fine.
But after that grace period ends, any offending motorist will receive a $50 fine for the first violation. If a motorist repeats the offense within a 12-month period, the fines will increase as follows per incident:
• $100 for a second offense • $150 for a third offense • $200 for a fourth offense • $250 for a fifth violation and each subsequent offense thereafter within a 12-month period
Bx19, one of the slowest buses in The Bronx and New York City moving across 149th Street.
What many drivers do not realize is that driving and double parking on bus lanes not only create traffic jams because buses then have to weave in and out of traffic because the lanes are blocked, but it also prevents emergency vehicles from getting to where they need to get to.
We have recorded these instances many times along the Bx19 route on 149th Street at The Hub, where you can sometimes find the entire lane blocked by double-parked vehicles from Melrose Avenue to Courtlandt Avenue on any given day.
“For many of our residents, public transportation is an essential means to getting to their destination,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “With this initiative, MTA is prioritizing safety, accessibility, and speed. In choosing the Bx12 and Bx40 routes, the MTA is demonstrating its commitment to seeing these and other issues raised by our commuters addressed,” added Gibson.
“Fordham Road is one of the most highly-trafficked areas in NYC, and we must ensure residents have access to reliable public transportation,” said Council Member Oswald Feliz.
Feliz added, “For too long, buses, including the 12-bus, have moved unacceptably slow because bus lanes have been often blocked by private cars – delaying thousands of students and workers who rely on public transportation.” I’m thankful that the MTA is taking steps to improve bus speeds, by creating a system that enforces rules related to bus lanes. At the same time, given that the goal of the program is to prevent motorists from entering bus lanes, I’m thankful that the first offense will serve as a warning, rather than a fine, so that motorists can be aware of the program.”
Council Member Pierina Sanchez of The Bronx, who’s an ardent supporter of safer streets and transportation equity said, “Improving the bus network must remain a priority for the MTA, particularly for our seniors and students who rely on a functional and timely system every day.”
“With MTA’s bus-mounted cameras, improving bus speeds along the Bx12 will be that much easier. Drivers who repeatedly block bus lanes must make way for the 7 million riders who rely on the Bx12 to get to school, work, medical appointments and more each year. From Inwood to the East Bronx, through my district, ABLE cameras will clear bus lanes so MTA buses can efficiently connect our neighborhoods across the boroughs,” added Sanchez.
Given that enforcement and education on such violations in The Bronx have been relatively non-existent, this perhaps will help motorists realize that they are breaking the law and will be fined if caught doing so, and perhaps we’ll have less traffic and safer streets along these critical routes.
One of the most iconic singers and recognizable voices of the late 20th century, Irene Cara, is dead at 63.
Born Irene Cara Escalera, on March 18, 1959, in The Bronx to a Puerto Rican father and a Cuban-American mother, she was taking piano lessons by age five after learning to play the instrument by ear.
Before she was even a teenager, Cara was already performing on New York City’s local Spanish-language television. By age 12 she had already appeared on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.
It wasn’t until 1980, at the age of 21, that Cara was catapulted into stardom starring as Coco Hernandez in the hit movie Fame, about a group of city kids auditioning to attend New York City’s High School for Performing Arts, of which she also sang the hit, titular song, “Fame.”
But that wasn’t the only song she sang that was nominated for an Oscar that year. Irene Cara was one of the rare artists who had not one but two songs from the same movie that were nominated in the same category from the same film, the second being the chart-topping “Out Here on My Own.”
Then, in 1983, she sang the titular song for another movie—Flashdance—for which she won the Oscar that year, and in 1984, she garnered both a Grammy and a Golden Globe for the same song.
Despite this being the peak of her career, Cara remained an iconic musical legend from the 80s until the end. Her voice and songs were timeless, constantly playing on the radio waves.
At the time of this writing, her cause of death remains unknown, and a message on her website today stated that the family requests privacy during this difficult time.
Rest in Peace to one of The Bronx’s very own legends, Irene Cara.
