The following is a Welcome2TheBronx reader submitted article by Jonathan Keller.
The Bronx is in the midst of a rebirth. Crime is down, demand around the metropolitan area for housing is up, and the old narrative of the Bronx is crumbling, revealing what many of us already know: the Bronx is beautiful and a great place to live and work.
Here’s a little history lesson from the New York Times. Many of us assume that Marble Hill is part of the Bronx because it is physically connected to our borough but that wasn’t always the case — and it still is Manhattan. Legally, anyway. Read about when a former Bronx Borough President invaded Manhattan.
New York State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli released a report today which tells us what we already knew in the Bronx: That there is an affordable housing crisis in our borough.
According to the report, “Incomes and housing costs vary regionally statewide and are generally higher in the New York City metropolitan area, although housing affordability is a statewide challenge. Bronx County, for example, had the highest proportion of renters with housing costs of 30 percent or more of income in 2012, at nearly 58 percent.”
It’s no secret that Bronxites are struggling to make ends meet and even though the Bronx saw some of the highest numbers of new construction affordable housing units in the city, rising rents and stagnant income are keeping many of our residents in a perpetual cycle of poverty.
From the Times Ledger:
By Alex Robinson
The Sunrise Co-op signed a lease Friday on a 84,000-square-foot space in Hunts Point, at 1080 Leggett Ave.
Many of the group’s members have been without properties to conduct their business since the end of January when they accepted deals worth six months’ rent from the city to vacate their businesses. Some accepted payments worth 12 months’ rent to leave the Iron Triangle by the end of November.
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I gave up coffee years ago due to hypertension issues but after reading this article and watching the video, it makes me want to jump on the 5 train and head to Morris Park to see what all the fuss is about.
From the New York Times:
You can travel to La Casa del Caffe, on Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx, and try to coax Anna Agovino into spilling some of the secrets behind making a perfect cup of coffee. She will shoot you that Fellini-worthy smile of hers, and she’ll be patient with your questions. For a minute or two.
In a few years, the historic High Bridge, New York City’s oldest bridge, will have a massive next door neighbor which will block its view that many Bronx residents in the neighborhood…
From the Wall Street Journal:
By Tanyanika Samuels
At 2 a.m. Thursday, a weary Aaron Lazansky-Olivas spray-painted pastel yellows and greens onto wooden panels that would become an art installation at the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx.
February 23, 2014, two classrooms on opposite sides of the globe were connected for an exciting first step into an on-going international poetry exchange project. The Japanese-Bronx Poetry Exchange is the first program of its kind, bridging the cultural divide between students in the Bronx and Japan through the use of poetry and video conferencing.
The Bronx Documentary Center, in the short time that it’s been in existence, has become one of the most important cultural institutions of not just the South Bronx but the entire borough.
In just over two years, the BDC has had 5 major exhibitions not only bringing the world to the Bronx but the Bronx to the world. There have been over 80 screenings followed by in depth panel discussions providing an unparalleled educational experience.
Now the Bronx Documentary Center needs you as they launch their Kickstarter campaign to fund a year’s worth of programming.
An article in Takepart.com has singled out the Bronx and the Bronx River Alliance, giving us global recognition on our conversation efforts, particularly in relation to reintroducing wildlife into the Bronx ecosystem.
We are also the ONLY American city on the list!
This week, Mayor De Blasio’s ambitious plan to reduce pedestrian fatalities, Vision Zero, began in the Bronx with Operation Move Along on 138th Street (between Third and Jackson Avenues) by cracking down on double parking. Officers from the 40th precinct slapped educational flyers on double parked cars but on March 16th they will begin issuing summonses for illegally parked vehicles.
The East 138th Street corridor is one of the South Bronx’s busiest roads with trucks and traffic already roaring across it to get from one end of the borough to the other.
Last year the Bronx Museum of the Arts raised $1 million to acquire new art and this year at their annual Spring Gala & Auction they broke a record, grossing over $650,000 at the event.
In recent years the Bronx Museum of the Arts has become more aggressive in bringing the arts to the community and also bringing the Bronx art scene to the world.
