Arthur Avenue at 186th Street / NYPL Digital Collections
Throughout the history of The Bronx there have been many immigrant groups that make up the beautiful tapestry of our diverse borough.
Italians are no exception with over a century of history in The Bronx that has left an undeniable presence that’s more than just Little Italy and Arthur Avenue in Belmont but in every facet of daily life from politics to entertainment to the arts and science.
The immigrant experience for Italians wasn’t an easy one even in The Bronx with many facing discrimination for simply being different. (sounds familiar? Check out this thoughtful piece on Italian Americans: When We Were The Muslims)
Now, Dr Kathleen LaPenta, PhD of Fordham University is seeking to document the history of Italians in The Bronx as part of the overall Bronx African American History Project.
Known as The Bronx Italian-American History Initiative, the goal is to compile interviews of Italian Americans that lived or currently live in our borough which will provide a wealth of untold stories to add to our historical collective.
Fordham News reports:
“According to Kathleen LaPenta, Ph.D., director of the new initiative and an lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, the BIAHI seeks to honor the cultural diversity of the Bronx— which was also home to a significant number of Irish, Latinos, Jews, and blacks during the mid-20th century.
“While [it will] very much celebrate the rich Italian-American heritage in the Bronx, it is also about putting that heritage in contact with the heritage of others who were living in the Bronx at the same time, as well as calling to mind the notion that we are all in some way very transitory,” she said.
Gabelli School senior Bentley Brown, a research assistant on the BAAHP and BIAHI teams, said the new initiative is a microcosm of immigrant contributions to American society.
“We’re helping to build a narrative that includes everybody,” said Brown. “Everybody has had a part. Everybody has had a hand in building this country, and the Bronx happens to be a great example of the necessity of multiculturalism in building a country like ours.””
Italian woman as she arrives at Ellis Island in the first part of the 20th century/from New York Public Library Flickr Album: Ellis Island.
“LaPenta said the BIAHI has become imperative, especially since Italian-American neighborhoods that were first established in the 1920s have been declining over the years.
According to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006-2010 American Community Survey, there are approximately 57,527 Italian Americans living in Bronx County. In 2000, there were about 69,289 Italian Americans in the borough, bureau records show.
“We’re open to whoever wants to be interviewed and has an experience to share,” said LaPenta. “But the urgency of the project is for those people who are elderly, who might not have their stories to offer [because]they are getting up there in age.”
One of the goals of the BIAHI is to bring to light lost narratives from Italian-American immigrants, some of whom were marginalized, when they emigrated to Bronx neighborhoods such as Pelham Bay, Morris Park, Williamsbridge, City Island, Castle Hill, Melrose, and Belmont (“Little Italy”) decades ago.
“What we want to do is try to recapture what was there 50 years ago,” said Naison.”
There is so much we can learn from these histories and untold stories and we only hope that the program continues to expand to capture the voices of everyone.
Connecting with the past gives us a better understanding of our present and guides us towards out future.
For those interested in participating, please contact Dr Kathleen LaPenta Long at klapentalong@fordham.edu
As the city braces for a potentially deadly blizzard, the MTA will be shutting down all bus service and subway service on above ground routes effective 4AM.
For The Bronx that means basically all lines except the B and D which is fully underground in our borough, the 6 line from Hunts Point straight to Brooklyn Bridge, and the 2,4, and 5 lines at 3rd Ave and 149th Street, 149th Street and Grand Concourse, and 138th and Grand Concourse.
If you don’t have to go anywhere, stay indoors, don’t drive, and don’t bother taking mass transit if you’re not one of the lucky few near an operational station.
The second half of Baz Luhrman and Netflix’s The Get Down finally got a release date and we’ll be able to follow up with the gang and see what’s happened since the first half began streaming last August.
Personally, I can’t wait for April 7th to get here so I can binge on the episodes.
The first half didn’t disappoint (at least for me) and magically transported me to my childhood of the late 70s so yes, I’m ready for more! It’s historical fiction so clearly it’s not meant to be a verbatim word for word documentary of what happened to those years so make sure you take off your biased glasses before you watch!
The city has issued a Request For Expression of Interest (RFEI) for a $200,000 public art commission for The Bronx’s new 40th Precinct scheduled to be completed by 2020.
Those interested in applying should do so no later than March 31st. Also, The Bronx Culture Collective will be holding an orientation session this Tuesday, March 14th @ 6pm (see above flier for details).
To RSVP for the orientation session, please email epagan@nosquedamos.org
About the commission:
Open Call: NYC Percent for Art for NYPD 40th Precinct Community Room
Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI)
Permanent Public Art Commission
Budget: $200,000
Deadline: 3/31/17
Open to All Professional Artists
PUBLIC ART COMMISSION
The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) Percent for Art Program, in conjunction with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) is issuing this Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) to engage an artist or artist team (Artist) to create a permanent public artwork for the community room of the new 40th Police Precinct Station House at East 149th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue in the Bronx.
Commissioned by the New York City Percent for Art program, the selected artist will create a permanent artwork within the interior of the new 40th Precinct Station House’s community room. The project team is seeking proposals that include a creative process of social engagement that activates the community room and results in a permanent artwork.
Artists are encouraged to consider some or all of the following goals for the 40th Precinct community room public art project:
Supports NYPD goals for community engagement
Responds to the unique character and history of the South Bronx
Invites social interaction and shared experience
Distinguishes the community room as a special space within the building
Resonates with people of diverse backgrounds, both police and civilian
Is durable and requires little or no maintenance
PROJECTBACKGROUND
The new 40th Precinct Station House is a ground-up 43,000 SF facility designed by Bjarke Ingels Group Architects (BIG) and will replace an existing station house currently located at 138th St and Alexander Ave. Located in the southern part of the Melrose neighborhood in the South Bronx, the new 40th Precinct Station House will serve the complex programmatic requirements of the NYPD.
The community room is a dedicated space for community use, an innovative component of the new 40th Precinct Station House and is the first of its kind to be included in a NYPD capital project. The “community room” space is designed to be flexible and multi-purpose, with information kiosks and an area for classes or civic gatherings. The goals for this new space are to provide a useful resource to the local community, create opportunities for police and community members to engage in a new way, connect the new station house to neighborhood, and support community policing initiatives.
The surrounding neighborhood is primarily residential. The population is majority Hispanic and many residents are low-income, with roughly 20% of the population at or below the poverty line. East 149th Street, where the building entrance is located, is a major thoroughfare, connecting the 40th Precinct with the nearby Hub area and a large swath of retail.
The site is bounded by E. 149th Street to the south, St. Anns Avenue to the east, and Westchester Avenue to the north. An unused railroad right of way borders a majority of the site with the Horizon Juvenile Center and an auto supply store to the west. A de-mapped portion of 150th Street divides two paved parking lots, with the north side of the street defined by a concrete wall overlooking the railroad cut.
SUBMISSIONANDSELECTIONPROCESS
This competition is organized in two phases.
Phase One is a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) in which artists may respond with samples of past work and supplementary materials. The City, in partnership with a committee of local arts and design professionals, will select atleast 3 artists as finalists to proceed to Phase Two of the selection process.
During Phase Two, the Department of Cultural Affairs will organize a design charrette or interview with each finalist and a group of project stakeholders. The artist selected to receive the commission will be chosen from among the Phase Two finalists and will have a total budget of $200,000 to realize a public art project at the 40th Precinct in partnership with the City of New York. Each finalist that participates in Phase Two, but is not selected for the commission, will receive a $500 honorarium.
REQUESTFOREXPRESSIONOFINTEREST
This RFEI is open to all professional artists or artist teams. Preferred artist qualifications include:
Experience producing site-specific, socially-engaged, and/or public artworks
Ability to successfully work with diverse communities and stakeholders in a creative process
Demonstrated knowledge of the project area and local community
Availability to complete the project within the given schedule
APPLICATIONINSTRUCTIONS
All artists interested in being considered must apply through the online program at:
Submissions will only be accepted using this online application program. Submissions must be completed by midnight on March31,2017.
Interested artists must submit the following application materials online as described below:
1. Statement of Interest (500 words max)
Provide a narrative description of how your art practice and process of collaboration can be translated to this project and how you might approach this project.
2. Artist’s Statement (250 words max)
Provide a narrative description of your work past work and current practice, including reference to submitted work samples, as relevant.
3. Resume or CV
Provide a current resume or CV, highlighting artistic excellence, any teaching experience, community engagement work, and/or experience working with multiple stakeholders.
4. References
Provide the name, phone number and email addresses of two (2) professional references that have experience working with you as a partner or client on a creative project. Please indicate your relationship to each reference.
5. Work Samples
Provide up to 10 digital images of recent works and/or up to 3 links to video or audio with maximum lengths of 5 minutes. For literary projects, submit samples no longer than 5-10 pages of scripts, poetry, prose or other relevant materials.
6. Work Sample List
Provide a list of submitted work, including title, date, materials and dimensions, locations, and/or running times. Include 1-2 sentence descriptions as needed.
PROJECTSCHEDULE
All Artists submitting to this open call must be available during 2017 to attend meetings in New
York City with the project team, as necessary.
Date Project Milestone
FEB 2017 RFEI Released
MARCH 31, 2017 RFEI Submission deadline
APRIL 2017 Notification of Finalists
MAY 2017 Finalist Interviews
JUNE – SEPT 2017 Conceptual Design Development
SEPT 2017 Bronx Community Board 1 Presentation
OCT 2017 PDC Conceptual Design Review
2018 PDC Preliminary Design Review
2019 Fabrication of Artwork
2020 Installation of Artwork
PROJECT BUDGET AND CONTRACT
The project budget is not to exceed two-hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) and must include all project costs, including but not limited to the following: artist’s fees, design services, community engagement, site preparation, engineering, fabrication, travel, transportation of the work to the site, insurance, permits, installation, documentation of the artwork, and contingency.
The selected artist will enter into a design-build contract with Bjarke Ingels Group Architects and will receive payments from the art allocation as outlined in the contract, and in compliance with New York City procurement and payment requirements.
QUESTIONS
Please direct all inquiries regarding this open call to percent@culture.nyc.gov
Coming soon, over 1,200 luxury gentrification units in The South Bronx
This past week has been a flurry of bitter news for The Bronx. First we find out that of over 30 counties in the tri-state region, 71% of The Bronx is at risk for displacement.
Shortly thereafter came the news that although rents went down 9.1% across NYC, they actually surged in The South Bronx with the area showing the largest increase in rents for 1 bedroom apartments in all of New York City.
Then this week came the renderings of Somerset’s and Chetrit’s 1,000 plus unit gentrification towers on our waterfront at the foot of the Third Avenue Bridge.
But what does it all mean?
Simply put, we’re fucked for a lack of a better word because really there isn’t any other way to describe what’s to come.
The Bronx and on particular, the South Bronx, had always been a haven for immigrant working class communities. Communities made up of a mixture of the working poor struggling to get by and just survive and eventually move on up the socio-economic ladder.
Faces, accents, religious beliefs, languages, country, continent of origin had always changed but there was always one constant: the working class COULD survive here.
And now that’s changing.
Lovers and champions of gentrification always love to harp on the fact that neighborhoods always change and while this is true, it was the fact that here there was still a place affordable enough for the poor.
But stagnant wages and rising rent and cost of living has erased a lot of those securities.
Already, The Bronx is the most rent burdened borough with 55% of households paying well over 30% of their incomes towards rent.
Speaking of rents, affordable housing was supposed to help us and indeed they have rents that are sometimes half to two thirds of what many are paying but because of the way the qualifying area median income is set, the families that need the relief don’t qualify.
Average 1 bedroom rents are already at $1400 in Melrose, Mott Haven, Port Morris and Hunts Point…how are families supposed to afford that when most barely make $20k a year?
And now with these towers on their way, ultra luxury towers in the land of the poorest congressional district in the United States, luxury towers going up 2 blocks and conveniently on the other side of the highway from public housing where the poorest of the poor live, things will only get worse.
They already creating an isolated community of the haves versus the majority who are the have nots.
Landlords are already pressuring tenants to move out of their rent stabilized apartments offering them a few thousand dollars to relocate elsewhere so that the landlords can then legally raise the rents.
Small businesses are also falling prey to gentrification as lease renewals of 10 years are no longer being offered. Instead maybe 5 years but many 2 and 3 year leases are being offered as landlords back on new commercial tenants who can pay twice or more the old rents.
So you see, as the South Bronx continues to change so does the rest of The Bronx and on paper it may look like for the better but in reality we’re simply losing our soul as the one last true borough of NYC.
Sure we’ll continue to fight, I mean that’s what kept us alive all these decades fending for ourselves when the government, banks, landlords all gave up on us hoping we’d kill ourselves off but we showed them.
Not only did we survive but we rebuilt ourselves back from the rubble.
Perhaps too good, though, and maybe, just maybe, we’re simply the victims of our own success.
PORT MORRIS—Renderings for three-25 story residential towers planned for 101 Lincoln Avenue directly across from Mott Haven Bar and Grill and at the foot of the Third Avenue Bridge have been revealed.
826 market rate apartments will be spread across the 3 towers along the waterfront joining the other 3 at 2401 Third Avenue which already have been approved.
Preliminary renderings for approved towers at 2401 Third Avenue. The new renderings for 101 are directly across the Third Avenue Bridge at 101 Lincoln.
While many hail these developments as progress and a sign of acceptance of a long neglected borough, it only increases concern for the over 300,000 households RPA’s report indicated that are at risk of displacement.
Wednesday, March 8th, 7PM-9:30PM at The Bronx Documentary Center:
How To Survive A Plague is the story of two coalitions— ACT UP New Yorkand TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.
Book signing of David Frances’ How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS will follow the screening.
ABOUT DAVID FRANCE
David France is an American investigative reporter, non-fiction author and filmmaker. He is a contributing editor for New York magazine, former Newsweek senior editor and published in magazines such as The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and GQ.
Recently Zumper.com reached out to us with data showing how rents for 1 bedroom apartments had dropped 9.1% across NYC typically hot neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, LIC, Hell’s Kitchen, and the West Village.
But that isn’t the case for South Bronx neighborhoods of Hunts Point, Melrose, Mott Haven which saw over 11% increase in similar 1 bedroom listings with Hunts Point leading at 15%.
Of the top 5 neighborhoods in NYC where rents went up according to data provided by Zumper, 4 were in the South Bronx. (A total of 5 made the list).
As more and more people are priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn, thanks to gentrification, The Bronx is becoming an option to those displaced seeking relief from excessive rents elsewhere.
Several years ago, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr said that there was no gentrification going on in The Bronx but with each passing month, we’re seeing more and more indicators manifesting in our neighborhoods.
25 years ago I predicted that the South Bronx would eventually become a target for gentrification and developers due to its proximity to Manhattan and its employment centers and commuted roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
Sadly, it is a prediction I hoped would never come true but here we are now at the front lines.
Of 31 counties across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in the New York region, a report issued by the Regional Plan Association places the Bronx at the top of the list indicating that 71‰ of The Bronx is at risk of displacement of which 44% are currently located in areas shifting towards a higher housing market. The Bronx was also listed as having highest rate of rent burdened households at a whopping 56% across all income categories and is defined as households paying more than 30% of income on rent.
The 355,420 Bronx households at risk do not include residents Section-8 housing or public housing in NYCHA.
The report, titled ‘Pushed Out: Housing Displacement in an Unaffordable Region‘ which sought to find where gentrification is likely to happen, looked at various issues like economic vulnerability of residents, characteristics of neighborhoods which make them attractive to higher income individuals—such as walkability to employment, good transportation networks—and increasing real estate prices of properties over $500,000 and rental properties over $2,000.
Areas in gray are at little to no risk of displacement, light yellow at risk of displacement, and dark yellow areas are at risk of displacement due to significant increase of property values over $500,000 and rents over $2,000/ Pushed Out | Regional Plan Association
Several key findings from the report are:
Low and moderate-income residents are being replaced by wealthier populations in walkable neighborhoods with good access to jobs
Despite this shift, most low and moderate-income residents still live in these walkable, job-accessible neighborhoods
These residents are mostly people of color
Many of these walkable, accessible neighborhoods are seeing a shift to more expensive housing
Displacement risk a problem throughout the region, not just in New York City
The issue of race is at the forefront as New York ranks as one of the most economically and racially segregated areas in the United States.
In the region, only 19% of white residents are at risk of displacement versus 81% of residents of color (28% Black, 41% Latino, 10% Asian, 2% other) showing just how centuries of systemic racism and oppressive policies in America has created conditions still impacting people of color today in 2017.
“Taken together, the results indicate that non-white residents are significantly more likely to reside in the areas deemed at risk than white residents. This is unsurprising.Segregation by race and income is not an accident; racism and bias stemming from the country’s long legacy of discrimination has persistent effects still felt across the United States. For instance, a typical white household has 16 times more wealth than a typical black one, and a black young man is more likely to go to prison than attend college or serve in the military.
Segregation also persists spatially. When compared with other large metropolitan areas, New York ranks highest in income inequality and continues to rank as one of the most racially and ethnically segregated regions in the United States.
The concentration of communities of color in the central, walkable areas is a direct result of the redlining and housing discrimination of the past, when suburban living was considered more desirable. Now that walkable areas closer to the urban core have become increasingly more valued,we have a unique chance to rectify these past injustices by ensuring that current residents can continue to call these areas home.”
The crisis of gentrification in The Bronx has never seemed harsher. We’ve known that it is already taking a foothold in our borough especially in vulnerable communities of the South Bronx and this report further solidifies what we know and are experiencing.
Forging ahead, the report recommends several strategies that can be implemented to minimize displacement:
Limit evictions through access to legal counsel for low income residents
Prevent sudden, sharp rent increases and keep homes safe and healthy
Low-Income Housing Subsidy
Use vacant government-owned landto create permanently affordable housing
Incorporate Displacement Risk into Decision Making
We know the issues, the dangers, and even possible solutions, the question now is, how do we begin implementing them?
Last year, 24 year old law student, Imelme Umana, took an internship at The Bronx Defenders, a non-profit organization of public defenders fighting for the rights of Bronxites.
But little did she know that she would eventually become the president of the Harvard Law Review—a title once held by former President Barack Obama, who in 1990 became the first black president of the prestigious journal which boasts the largest circulation for a legal journal in the world.
Born in Pennsylvania to Nigerian immigrants, her story is that of America, a nation of immigrants struggling to define and carve out their place in our country.
Unlike the vast majority of graduates of the nation’s top law schools, Ms. Umana says she has no interest in joining a high-paying corporate firm. Her dream for now is to become a public defender, a goal she set after an eye-opening internship last summer in the public defender’s office in the Bronx. She plans to work this summer with the public defender in Washington.
She may not be from The Bronx but it was here where Umana decided to become a public defender thanks to her internship at The Bronx Defenders.
Last year, 24 year old law student, Imelme Umana, took an internship at The Bronx Defenders, a non-profit organization of public defenders fighting for the rights of Bronxites.
But little did she know that she would eventually become the president of the Harvard Law Review—a title once held by former President Barack Obama, who in 1990 became the first black president of the prestigious journal which boasts the largest circulation for a legal journal in the world.
Born in Pennsylvania to Nigerian immigrants, her story is that of America, a nation of immigrants struggling to define and carve out their place in our country.
Unlike the vast majority of graduates of the nation’s top law schools, Ms. Umana says she has no interest in joining a high-paying corporate firm. Her dream for now is to become a public defender, a goal she set after an eye-opening internship last summer in the public defender’s office in the Bronx. She plans to work this summer with the public defender in Washington.
She may not be from The Bronx but it was here where Umana decided to become a public defender thanks to her internship at The Bronx Defenders.
REGISTRATION IS A MUST DUE TO LIMITED SPACE! You can register by going here or calling 718-993-3512
Since it’s inception 4 years ago, The Bronx Gentrification Conference hosted by The Bronx Documentary Center has grown larger each year.
This Sunday, at the 4th such annual event, it will be held at Immaculate Conception School in Melrose just down the block from the BDC with opportunity to attend various workshops that cover the breadth of gentrification issues.
4th Annual Gentrification Conference
by Bronx Documentary Center
Free
REGISTER
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DATE AND TIME
Sun, March 5, 2017
1:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST
Location
LOCATION
Immaculate Conception School (ICS)
378 E 151st Street
Bronx, NY 10455
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Event description
DESCRIPTION
Practical Information, Concrete Steps
Join us for the BDC’s 4th Annual Bronx Gentrification Conference bringing together community residents with leading experts in zoning, tenants’ rights, investigative practices and much more.
Sunday March 5th, 1-6PM
Immaculate Conception School, 378 East 151st Street, Bronx, NY
Bronx residents and workers only. Limited workshop seating is available–you must pre-register.
This year’s conference will focus on a series of workshops that will provide residents an understanding of gentrification in the Bronx and the organizing tools to push back and/or mitigate the effects. Each workshop will take place in three 30-minutes sessions, giving participants the opportunity to attend in three workshops during the conference.
Information is Power
We will have workshops in:
Creating Diversity in City Planning
Landlord Harassment Tactics/Tenant Defenses
Creating Land banks and Land Trusts
Understanding the Zoning Process
Urban Renewal, Redlining, Rezoning and Race
Investigating Development
Gentrification and Health Equity: Strategies for Community Wellness
Home Ownership: How to Prepare
Activist Oral Histories
Artists Against Gentrification: Examining Strategies
