What to Do In The Bronx According to Locals

Earlier this year, The New York Times declared the South Bronx as “One of 52 Places in The World to Visit” in a horrible blurb that spoke nothing of the true culture and beauty of our neighborhoods and instead focused on new businesses that were barely a year open and with no real roots to our borough.

Of course we rectified it with our own guide and the New York Times did a follow up as well and now Condé Nast  did the right thing: They actually spoke to Bronx residents who KNOW THE BRONX.

When we were contacted to be interviewed we knew right away that we needed more than just our voice but that of other Bronxites so we’re excited to read everyone’s take on what to see.

Billie Cohen writes:

A tour of New York City’s northernmost borough.

Bronx locals will tell you that their borough is many things: the birthplace of hip-hop, a living gallery of street art, a global food crawl of family-run restaurants, a destination for world-class attractions including the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Bronx Zoo.

But recently, as the South Bronx has appeared in the press as an emerging neighborhood, few of these attributes have been mentioned—instead, the write-ups have largely heralded new development projects and controversial retail-and-dining complexes that have sparked backlash from residents about the neighborhood’s gentrification.

With this in mind, we talked to four South Bronx advocates with deep neighborhood roots and cultural connections, to find out, in their own words, what they want us to see when we visit their home—whether we’re traveling from another part of New York City or another part of the world.

Read the full story: What to do in The Bronx According to Locals