History of the Bronx
Encyclopedia
The history of the Bronx
, a borough of New York City
, started with Dutch settlers in 1639. The Bronx was originally part of Westchester County
, but it was ceded to New York County
in fragments before it became Bronx County.
band of Lenape
(the Delawares to Europeans), while other Native Americans
knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River.
Jonas Bronck
(ca. 1600–1649), a Swedish sea-captain working for the Dutch, entering New Netherland
in 1639, became the first recorded European settler in the area. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company
on the neck of the mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem
(on Manhattan island), and bought additional tracts from the local tribes. He eventually accumulated 500 acres (about 2 square km, or 3/4 of a square mile) between the Harlem River
and the Aquahung, which became known as Bronck's River, or The Bronx
. Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Bronck's Land. The American poet William Bronk
is a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Bronck's son or younger brother.
The Bronx is referred to, both legally, and colloquially, with a definite article
, as The Bronx. (The County of Bronx, unlike the coextensive Borough of the Bronx, does not place the immediately before Bronx in formal references, nor does the United States Postal Service
in its database of Bronx addresses.) The name for this region, apparently after the Bronx River
, first appeared in the Annexed District of the Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County
and was continued in the Borough of the Bronx, which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1898. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. Another explanation for the use of the definite article in the borough's name is that the original form of the name was a possessive or collective one referring to the family, as in visiting The Broncks, The Bronck's or The Broncks.
and New York (Manhattan
). Control over the bridges across the Harlem River plagued the period of British colonial rule. Kingsbridge
, built in 1693 where Broadway
reached the Spuyten Duyvil Creek
, was a possession of the lords of Philipse Manor
. The tolls they charged were resented by Bronx farmers with crops and cattle to sell in New York. It was the angry farmers who built a "free bridge" across the Harlem River which led to the abandonment of tolls altogether.
The territory now contained within Bronx County was originally part of Westchester County
, one of the 12 original counties of the English Province of New York
. The present Bronx County was contained in the town of Westchester and parts of the towns of Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town, West Farms, was created by division of Westchester; in turn, in 1855, the town of Morrisania
was created from West Farms. In 1873, the town of Kingsbridge
(roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale
, and Woodlawn
) was established within the former borders of Yonkers
.
Among famous settlers in the Bronx in the 19th and early 20th centuries were the author Willa Cather
, the tobacco merchant Pierre Lorillard, and the inventor Jordan L. Mott
, who established Mott Haven to house the workers at his iron works.
The consolidation of the Bronx into New York City proceeded in two stages. In 1873, the state legislature annexed Kingsbridge, West Farms and Morrisania to New York, effective in 1874; the three towns were abolished in the process. In 1895, three years before New York's consolidation with Brooklyn
, Queens
and Staten Island
, the whole of the territory east of the Bronx River, including the Town of Westchester (which had voted in 1894 against consolidation) and portions of Eastchester
and Pelham
, were annexed to the city. City Island
, a nautical community, voted to join the city in 1896.
On January 1, 1898, the consolidated City of New York
was born, including the Bronx as one of the five distinct Boroughs
. (At the same time the Bronx's territory moved from Westchester County into New York County, which already contained Manhattan and the rest of pre-1874 New York City.)
On April 19, 1912, those parts of New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County in the past decades were newly constituted as Bronx County, the 62nd and last county to be created by the state, effective in 1914. Bronx County's courts opened for business on January 2, 1914 (the same day that John P. Mitchel started work as Mayor of New York City
).
The South Bronx was for many years a manufacturing center, and in the early part of the 20th Century was noted as a center of piano
manufacturing. In 1919, the Bronx was the site of 63 piano factories employing more than 5,000 workers.
, the Bronx hosted the rather small 1918 World's Fair at 177th Street and DeVoe Avenue.
The Bronx underwent rapid growth after World War I. Extensions of the New York City Subway
contributed to the increase in population as thousands of immigrants flooded the Bronx, resulting in a major boom in residential construction. Among these groups, many Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and especially Jewish-Americans settled here. In addition, French
, German
, and Polish
immigrants moved into the borough. The Jewish
population also increased notably during this time. In 1937, according to Jewish organizations, 592,185 Jews lived in the Bronx (43.9% of the borough's population), while in 2002, only about 45,000 did. Many synagogue
s still stand in the Bronx, but most have been converted to other uses.
In Prohibition
days (1920–33), bootleggers
and gangs ran rampant in the Bronx. Irish
, Italian
and Polish
immigrants smuggled in most of the illegal whiskey. By 1926, the Bronx was noted for its high crime rate and its many speakeasies
.
By the 1920s the Fordham Road-Grand Concourse intersection was a great commercial nexus and a center of tree-lined avenues, with luxurious homes and apartment buildings designed in the latest Art Deco and modernist styles. Outstanding public attractions were the Bronx Zoo
, one of the largest zoos in the world; the park-like New York Botanical Garden
; the prestigious Bronx High School of Science
; and Yankee Stadium
, built in 1923, which gave way to a new stadium in 2009.
After the 1930s, the Irish immigrant population in the Bronx decreased. The German population followed suit in the 1940s, as did many Italians in the 1950s and Jews in the 1960s. As the generation of the 1930s retired, many moved to southeastern Florida
, west of Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach
. The migration has left a Hispanic
(mostly Puerto Rican
and Dominican
) and African-American population, along with some non-Hispanic white areas in the far southeastern and northwestern parts of the county.
During the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, the Bronx went into an era of sharp decline in the residents' quality of life
. Historians and social scientists have put forward many factors. They include the theory (elaborated in Robert Caro
's biography The Power Broker
) that Robert Moses
' Cross-Bronx Expressway
destroyed existing residential neighborhoods. Another (unintended) factor in the Bronx's decline may have been the development of high-rise housing projects. Yet another may have been a reduction in the real-estate listings and property-related financial services (such as mortgages or insurance policies) offered in some areas of the Bronx — a process known as redlining
. Others have suggested a "planned shrinkage
" of municipal services, such as fire-fighting. There was also much debate as to whether rent control
laws had made it less profitable (or more costly) for landlords to maintain existing buildings with their existing tenants than to abandon or destroy those buildings.
In the 1970s, the Bronx was plagued by a wave of arson
. The burning of buildings was mostly in the South Bronx
, concentrated especially along Westchester Avenue and in West Farms
. The most common explanation of what occurred was that landlords decided to burn their buildings and take the insurance money as profit. Competing explanations blamed the insurance companies since their non-renewals of policies might have encouraged the landlords or the residents themselves. After the destruction of many buildings in the South Bronx, the arsons slowed significantly in the later part of the decade, but the aftereffects were still felt into the early 1990s.
Since the mid-1980s, significant residential development has occurred, stimulated by the city's "Ten-Year Housing Plan" and community members working to rebuild the social, economic and environmental infrastructure by creating affordable housing
. Groups affiliated with South Bronx churches erected the Nehemiah Homes with about 1,000 units. The grass roots organization Nos Quedamos' endeavor known as Melrose Commons began to rebuild the South Bronx. The ripple effects have been felt borough-wide. As a result of the growing population, the IRT White Plains Road Line
has had an increase in riders. Chains such as Marshalls
, Staples and Target
have opened stores in the Bronx.
More bank branches have opened in the Bronx as a whole (rising from 106 in 1997 to 149 in 2007), although not primarily in poor or minority neighborhoods, while the Bronx still has fewer branches per person than wealthier boroughs.
In 1997, the Bronx was designated an All America City by the National Civic League
, signifying its comeback from the decline of the 1970s. In 2006, The New York Times
reported that "construction cranes have become the borough's new visual metaphor, replacing the window decals of the 1980s in which pictures of potted plants and drawn curtains were placed in the windows of abandoned buildings." The borough has experienced substantial new building construction since 2002. Between 2002 and June 2007, 33,687 new units of housing were built or were under way and $4.8 billion has been invested in new housing. In the first six months of 2007 alone total investment in new residential development was $965 million and 5,187 residential units were scheduled to be completed. Much of the new development is springing up in formerly vacant lots across the South Bronx.
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, a borough of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, started with Dutch settlers in 1639. The Bronx was originally part of Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, but it was ceded to New York County
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in fragments before it became Bronx County.
Origins and name of The Bronx
The Bronx was called Rananchqua by the native SiwanoySiwanoy
The Native American Siwanoy or Sinanoy were a band of Algonquian-speaking people, the Wappinger, in what is now the New York City area. By the mid-17th century, when their territory became hotly contested between Dutch and English colonial interests, the Siwanoy were settled along the East River...
band of Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(the Delawares to Europeans), while other Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River.
Jonas Bronck
Jonas Bronck
Jonas Bronck was a Danish immigrant to the Dutch colony of New Netherland after whom the Bronx River, Bronx county, and the New York City borough of The Bronx are named. He married his Dutch wife, Teuntje Joriaens, on July 6, 1638, in the Nieuwe Kerk , Amsterdam.-Bronck's Land:Jonas Bronck’s...
(ca. 1600–1649), a Swedish sea-captain working for the Dutch, entering New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
in 1639, became the first recorded European settler in the area. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
on the neck of the mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
(on Manhattan island), and bought additional tracts from the local tribes. He eventually accumulated 500 acres (about 2 square km, or 3/4 of a square mile) between the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
and the Aquahung, which became known as Bronck's River, or The Bronx
Bronx River
The Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
. Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Bronck's Land. The American poet William Bronk
William Bronk
William Bronk was an American poet. He won the National Book Award in 1982.-Life and work:William Bronk was born in a house on Lower Main Street in Fort Edward, New York. He had an older brother Sherman who died young and two older sisters, Jane and Betty...
is a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Bronck's son or younger brother.
The Bronx is referred to, both legally, and colloquially, with a definite article
Article (grammar)
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and some...
, as The Bronx. (The County of Bronx, unlike the coextensive Borough of the Bronx, does not place the immediately before Bronx in formal references, nor does the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
in its database of Bronx addresses.) The name for this region, apparently after the Bronx River
Bronx River
The Bronx River, approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States. It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. The Bronx River is the only fresh water river in New York City....
, first appeared in the Annexed District of the Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
and was continued in the Borough of the Bronx, which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1898. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. Another explanation for the use of the definite article in the borough's name is that the original form of the name was a possessive or collective one referring to the family, as in visiting The Broncks, The Bronck's or The Broncks.
Before 1914
The development of the Bronx is directly connected to its strategic location between New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and New York (Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
). Control over the bridges across the Harlem River plagued the period of British colonial rule. Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge, Bronx
Kingsbridge is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 8. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Goulden Avenue to the east, West 225th Street to the south, and Irwin...
, built in 1693 where Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
reached the Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.Spuyten...
, was a possession of the lords of Philipse Manor
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is a historic house museum located in Yonkers, New York. It is Westchester County’s oldest standing building, and is currently owned and operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.It is located at Warburton Avenue...
. The tolls they charged were resented by Bronx farmers with crops and cattle to sell in New York. It was the angry farmers who built a "free bridge" across the Harlem River which led to the abandonment of tolls altogether.
The territory now contained within Bronx County was originally part of Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, one of the 12 original counties of the English Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
. The present Bronx County was contained in the town of Westchester and parts of the towns of Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town, West Farms, was created by division of Westchester; in turn, in 1855, the town of Morrisania
Morrisania, Bronx
Morrisania is the historical name for the South Bronx and derives from the powerful and aristocratic Morris family, who at one time owned all of the Manor of Morrisania. Today the name is most commonly associated with the village of Morrisania, which is only a small corner of the original...
was created from West Farms. In 1873, the town of Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge, Bronx
Kingsbridge is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 8. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Goulden Avenue to the east, West 225th Street to the south, and Irwin...
(roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale
Riverdale, Bronx
Riverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
, and Woodlawn
Woodlawn, Bronx
Woodlawn is a neighborhood at the very north end of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Unlike some neighborhoods in New York City, its boundaries are fairly well-defined, as it is bounded by McLean Avenue to the north, which is approximately the New York City / Westchester County line, the...
) was established within the former borders of Yonkers
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
.
Among famous settlers in the Bronx in the 19th and early 20th centuries were the author Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
, the tobacco merchant Pierre Lorillard, and the inventor Jordan L. Mott
Jordan L. Mott
Jordan Lawrence Mott was an American inventor and industrialist. He established the J. L. Mott Iron Works in New York.His father was Jacob Mott, an alderman of New York in 1804-1810 and at one time acting mayor of the city, after whom Mott Street was named. Jacob's wife was related to James...
, who established Mott Haven to house the workers at his iron works.
The consolidation of the Bronx into New York City proceeded in two stages. In 1873, the state legislature annexed Kingsbridge, West Farms and Morrisania to New York, effective in 1874; the three towns were abolished in the process. In 1895, three years before New York's consolidation with Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, the whole of the territory east of the Bronx River, including the Town of Westchester (which had voted in 1894 against consolidation) and portions of Eastchester
Eastchester (town), New York
Eastchester is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 32,363 at the 2010 census. The town includes the villages of Bronxville and Tuckahoe.The Town of Eastchester is in the south part of the county.- History :...
and Pelham
Pelham (town), New York
Pelham is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 12,396. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages and became known as "the Pelhams"...
, were annexed to the city. City Island
City Island, Bronx
City Island is a small island approximately 1.5 mi long by .5 mi wide. At one time attached to the town of Pelham, Westchester County, it is now part of the New York City borough of the Bronx. As of the 2000 census the island had a population of 4,520. Its land area is 1.023 km²...
, a nautical community, voted to join the city in 1896.
On January 1, 1898, the consolidated City of New York
City of Greater New York
The City of Greater New York was a term commonly used originally to refer to the expanded city created on January 1, 1898 by the incorporation into the city of Richmond County, Kings County, Queens County, and the eastern part of what is now called The Bronx...
was born, including the Bronx as one of the five distinct Boroughs
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
. (At the same time the Bronx's territory moved from Westchester County into New York County, which already contained Manhattan and the rest of pre-1874 New York City.)
On April 19, 1912, those parts of New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County in the past decades were newly constituted as Bronx County, the 62nd and last county to be created by the state, effective in 1914. Bronx County's courts opened for business on January 2, 1914 (the same day that John P. Mitchel started work as Mayor of New York City
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
).
The South Bronx was for many years a manufacturing center, and in the early part of the 20th Century was noted as a center of piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
manufacturing. In 1919, the Bronx was the site of 63 piano factories employing more than 5,000 workers.
Since 1914
At the end of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Bronx hosted the rather small 1918 World's Fair at 177th Street and DeVoe Avenue.
The Bronx underwent rapid growth after World War I. Extensions of the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
contributed to the increase in population as thousands of immigrants flooded the Bronx, resulting in a major boom in residential construction. Among these groups, many Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and especially Jewish-Americans settled here. In addition, French
French American
French Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
, German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
, and Polish
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
immigrants moved into the borough. The Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
population also increased notably during this time. In 1937, according to Jewish organizations, 592,185 Jews lived in the Bronx (43.9% of the borough's population), while in 2002, only about 45,000 did. Many synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s still stand in the Bronx, but most have been converted to other uses.
In Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
days (1920–33), bootleggers
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
and gangs ran rampant in the Bronx. Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
and Polish
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
immigrants smuggled in most of the illegal whiskey. By 1926, the Bronx was noted for its high crime rate and its many speakeasies
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
.
By the 1920s the Fordham Road-Grand Concourse intersection was a great commercial nexus and a center of tree-lined avenues, with luxurious homes and apartment buildings designed in the latest Art Deco and modernist styles. Outstanding public attractions were the Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
, one of the largest zoos in the world; the park-like New York Botanical Garden
New York Botanical Garden
- See also :* Education in New York City* List of botanical gardens in the United States* List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City- External links :* official website** blog*...
; the prestigious Bronx High School of Science
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
; and Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
, built in 1923, which gave way to a new stadium in 2009.
After the 1930s, the Irish immigrant population in the Bronx decreased. The German population followed suit in the 1940s, as did many Italians in the 1950s and Jews in the 1960s. As the generation of the 1930s retired, many moved to southeastern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, west of Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
. The migration has left a Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
(mostly Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
and Dominican
Dominican American
A Dominican American is any American who has origins in the Dominican Republic.Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 19th century, and New York City has had a Dominican community since the 1930s...
) and African-American population, along with some non-Hispanic white areas in the far southeastern and northwestern parts of the county.
| Bronx residents born abroad or overseas, 1930 and 2000 | |||||
| 1930 United States Census | 2000 United States Census | ||||
| Total population of the Bronx | 1,265,258 | Total population of the Bronx | 1,332,650 | ||
| All born abroad or overseas ‡ | 524,410 | 39.4% | |||
| Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an... |
126,649 | 9.5% | |||
| Foreign-born Whites | 477,342 | 37.7% | All foreign-born | 385,827 | 29.0% |
| White persons born in Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
135,210 | 10.7% | Dominican Republic Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries... |
124,032 | 9.3% |
| White persons born in Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
67,732 | 5.4% | Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic... |
51,120 | 3.8% |
| White persons born in Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
55,969 | 4.4% | Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
20,962 | 1.6% |
| White persons born in Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
43,349 | 3.4% | Guyana Guyana Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British... |
14,868 | 1.1% |
| White persons born in the Irish Free State † | 34,538 | 2.7% | Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... |
14,800 | 1.1% |
| Other foreign birthplaces of Whites | 140,544 | 11.1% | Other foreign birthplaces | 160,045 | 12.0% |
| † the 26 counties now within the Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... |
‡ beyond the 50 states & District of Columbia | ||||
During the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, the Bronx went into an era of sharp decline in the residents' quality of life
Quality of life
The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life should not be confused with the concept of standard of...
. Historians and social scientists have put forward many factors. They include the theory (elaborated in Robert Caro
Robert Caro
Robert Allan Caro is an American journalist and author known for his celebrated biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson...
's biography The Power Broker
The Power Broker
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1974 biography of Robert Moses, "New York City's Master Builder", by Robert Caro...
) that Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
' Cross-Bronx Expressway
Cross-Bronx Expressway
The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx, conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It carries traffic on Interstate 95 through the city, and serves as a portion of Interstate 295 toward Long Island; a portion is also designated U.S...
destroyed existing residential neighborhoods. Another (unintended) factor in the Bronx's decline may have been the development of high-rise housing projects. Yet another may have been a reduction in the real-estate listings and property-related financial services (such as mortgages or insurance policies) offered in some areas of the Bronx — a process known as redlining
Redlining
Redlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain, often racially determined, areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a...
. Others have suggested a "planned shrinkage
Planned shrinkage
Planned shrinkage is a public policy, practiced most notably in the 1970s in New York City, of withdrawing essential city services from neighborhoods suffering from urban decay, crime, and poverty so that neighborhoods may be claimed by outside interests for new development...
" of municipal services, such as fire-fighting. There was also much debate as to whether rent control
Rent control
Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
laws had made it less profitable (or more costly) for landlords to maintain existing buildings with their existing tenants than to abandon or destroy those buildings.
In the 1970s, the Bronx was plagued by a wave of arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. The burning of buildings was mostly in the South Bronx
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
, concentrated especially along Westchester Avenue and in West Farms
West Farms, Bronx
West Farms is a residential neighborhood in a west central part of The Bronx, New York City, also known as the northeast corner of the South Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6...
. The most common explanation of what occurred was that landlords decided to burn their buildings and take the insurance money as profit. Competing explanations blamed the insurance companies since their non-renewals of policies might have encouraged the landlords or the residents themselves. After the destruction of many buildings in the South Bronx, the arsons slowed significantly in the later part of the decade, but the aftereffects were still felt into the early 1990s.
Since the mid-1980s, significant residential development has occurred, stimulated by the city's "Ten-Year Housing Plan" and community members working to rebuild the social, economic and environmental infrastructure by creating affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
. Groups affiliated with South Bronx churches erected the Nehemiah Homes with about 1,000 units. The grass roots organization Nos Quedamos' endeavor known as Melrose Commons began to rebuild the South Bronx. The ripple effects have been felt borough-wide. As a result of the growing population, the IRT White Plains Road Line
IRT White Plains Road Line
The White Plains Road Line is a rapid transit line of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, serving the central Bronx. It is mostly elevated, and served both subway and elevated trains until 1952...
has had an increase in riders. Chains such as Marshalls
Marshalls
Marshalls, Inc., is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 750 conventional stores, as well as larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls expanded into Canada in March 2011...
, Staples and Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
have opened stores in the Bronx.
More bank branches have opened in the Bronx as a whole (rising from 106 in 1997 to 149 in 2007), although not primarily in poor or minority neighborhoods, while the Bronx still has fewer branches per person than wealthier boroughs.
In 1997, the Bronx was designated an All America City by the National Civic League
National Civic League
The National Civic League is an American non-profit organization that advocates for transparency, effectiveness, and openness in local government...
, signifying its comeback from the decline of the 1970s. In 2006, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that "construction cranes have become the borough's new visual metaphor, replacing the window decals of the 1980s in which pictures of potted plants and drawn curtains were placed in the windows of abandoned buildings." The borough has experienced substantial new building construction since 2002. Between 2002 and June 2007, 33,687 new units of housing were built or were under way and $4.8 billion has been invested in new housing. In the first six months of 2007 alone total investment in new residential development was $965 million and 5,187 residential units were scheduled to be completed. Much of the new development is springing up in formerly vacant lots across the South Bronx.
Further reading
- Barrows, Edward, and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (1999)
- Baver, Sherrie L. "Development of New York's Puerto Rican Community," Bronx County Historical Society Journal 1988 25(1): 1-9
- Briggs, Xavier de Souza, Anita Miller and John Shapiro. 1996. "CCRP in the South Bronx." Planners' Casebook, Winter.
- Federal Writers' Project. New York City Guide: A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis: Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond (1939) online edition
- Gonzalez, Evelyn. The Bronx. (Columbia University Press, 2004. 263 pp. 0–231-12114-8), scholarly history focused on the slums of the South Bronx online edition
- Goodman, Sam. "The Golden Ghetto: The Grand Concourse in the Twentieth Century," Bronx County Historical Society Journal 2004 41(1): 4-18 and 2005 42(2): 80-99
- Greene, Anthony C., “The Black Bronx: A Look at the Foundation of the Bronx’s Black Communities until 1900,” Bronx County Historical Society Journal, 44 (Spring–Fall 2007), 1–18.
- Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. The Encyclopedia of New York CityThe Encyclopedia of New York CityThe Encyclopedia of New York City is a comprehensive reference book on New York City. Historian and Columbia University professor Kenneth T...
, (Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
and The New York Historical Society, (1995) ISBN 0-300-05536-6), has entries, maps, illustrations, statistics and bibliographic references on almost all of the significant topics in this article, from the entire borough to individual neighborhoods, people, events and artistic works. - Jonnes, Jull. South Bronx Rising: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of an American City (2002) online edition
- Olmsted, Robert A. "A History of Transportation in the Bronx," Bronx County Historical Society Journal 1989 26(2): 68-91
- Olmsted, Robert A. "Transportation Made the Bronx," Bronx County Historical Society Journal 1998 35(2): 166-180
- Purnell, Brian, “Desegregating the Jim Crow North: Racial Discrimination in the Postwar Bronx and the Fight to Integrate the Castle Hill Beach Club (1953–1973),” Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, 33 (July 2009), 47–78.
- Purnell, Brian, and Oneka LaBennett, “The Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP) and Approaches to Scholarship about/for Black Communities,” Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, 33 (July 2009), 7–23.
- Rodríguez, Clara E. Puerto Ricans: Born in the U.S.A (1991) online edition
- Samtur, Stephen M. and Martin A. Jackson. The Bronx: Lost, Found, and Remembered, 1935–1975 (1999) online review, nostalgia
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Northern Borough: A History Of The Bronx (2009), popular general history
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the frontier era: from the beginning to 1696 (1994)
- Ultan, Lloyd. The beautiful Bronx (1920–1950) (1979), heavily illustrated
- Ultan, Lloyd. The birth of the Bronx, 1609–1900 (2000), popular
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the innocent years, 1890–1925 (1985), popular
- Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday, "The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday 1935–1965 (1992), heavily illustrated popular history