We’re from the Bronx
“Our background?
Our background is a dense city within-a-city. A city which is part of one of the biggest cities in the world. Home to one of the biggest metropolitan zoos in the United States. The birthplace of one of the best genres of music: Hip Hop. The only borough of New York City connected to the American mainland. The Bronx.”
No one knows where they are when they're born. You can wake up in a broken-down home with little to no help from any professional doctors trying to assist your mother. Or you can wake up in a high-end hospital with multiple doctors and nurses taking care of you. We all come from different backgrounds. Our background?
Our background is a dense city within-a-city. A city which is part of one of the biggest cities in the world. Home to one of the biggest metropolitan zoos in the United States. The birthplace of one of the best genres of music: Hip Hop. The only borough of New York City connected to the American mainland. The Bronx. A vibrant place with rich history, a diverse culture, and many iconic landmarks. From the bustling hub of Fordham to the almost suburban streets of Riverdale, The Bronx contains a wide array of neighborhoods and districts, each with its own unique character and charm.
The Bronx River
In 1639, a man named Jonas Bronck, a Swedish captain from the Netherlands arrived. Before this man had arrived, the Lenape Native Americans were living there. Tensions would rise between the two, and even became violent. He would stay near the river that was later named after him, which people called Bronck’s River. That area was then known as Bronck’s area, because of him and his family that was staying there at the time.
But on paper, since writing his last name with a quill pen was quite challenging, they chose to shorten “Bronck’s” to what we know now as: The Bronx.
All the area east of the Bronx River got annexed by the city of New York, which became part of NYC and New York County, however people did not know what to call it and in the end they decided to name it The Bronx which they named after the Bronx River when looking at the map.
The west side of the Bronx was the first area outside of Manhattan to be annexed by the City of New York in 1874. Today we know it as the West Bronx, but before this, it was known as the Annexed District. Areas east of the Bronx river were annexed in 1895 by NYC.
Before the city annexed the west side, however, the High Bridge was built.
High Bridge
According to the NYC Parks website, “The High Bridge was built in the mid-19th century as part of an Aqueduct system, which carried water from Westchester down to Manhattan. When crossing the bridge, you will be walking above the aqueduct’s original pipe, which still lies beneath the walkway of the bridge.” The walkway was completed in 1864, making it a popular spot to walk and enjoy the view on a nice day.
The website continues: “The bridge achieved fame as an attraction for New Yorkers and tourists and a favorite subject for artists and photographers, a sort of 19th century High Line. The walkway’s popularity led to the building of hotels, restaurants and amusement parks in the vicinity.”
After construction of the Major Deegan Expressway in 1956, public use of the waterfront faded. In the 1970s, public access to the bridge was discontinued. It reopened, however, in June 2015.
The reason this bridge was so important to the Bronx was because it brought more visitors and residents, which is one of the reasons why the city annexed that part of the Bronx. The High Bridge plus the Third Avenue El (elevated), population was booming in the west and south areas of the Bronx.
Trains and Subways
Trains were a big deal in New York City. Between 1832 and 1852, the New York and Harlem railroad, now known as the Metro North, was getting designed and constructed in lower manhattan. Throughout the years, it expanded all the way to the tip of Manhattan.
1886, The Third Avenue El extended into the Bronx. Peter Derrick, a historian with the Bronx County Historical Society, notes that “this development opened the then-remote area to settlement by people who worked in Manhattan; the population of the Bronx swelled almost fivefold in the two following decades, mostly along the Third Avenue corridor.”
The south Bronx and West Tremont skyrocketed with its population and the Bronx was becoming part of the city. They took down the Third Avenue El around the 1950s, however the Bronx had something like the railroad, if not better. The NYC subway expanded to the Bronx in 1905. Most of the Bronx’s subway is above ground. This was due to historical and geographical factors. The Bronx had more land to be built above ground, plus due to the hills and rivers, it was more practical and cost-effective to build the elevated tracks. There are many abandoned train stations in the Bronx, as well as many tracks that no longer exist in the borough.
There's actually an abandoned train station close to our school: The Westchester Avenue Railroad Station. “The Westchester Ave station was one of twelve planned stations for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad which operated until 1937,” according to the Bronx River Alliance.
Parks and Landscape
You can’t talk about the Bronx without talking about its parks and green space. Of the 5 boroughs, It’s the only borough with the most greenspace with nature parks and playgrounds. In 1888, the city of NY claimed multiple parks: Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx Park, Pelham Bay Park, Crotona Park, Claremont Park, St. Mary’s Park, Mosholu Parkway, Pelham Parkway, Crotona Parkway and many many more. “The park system of the Bronx covers 24% of the borough’s land surface, making it New York City's greenest borough.” (Timetoast)
Pelham Bay park is the largest park in all of New York city, with 2,765 acres. According to NYC Parks, Pelham Bay allows “Visitors to … enjoy miles of bridle paths and hiking trails, Orchard Beach, the Bartow-Pell Mansion, two golf courses, and a breathtaking 13-mile saltwater shoreline … Athletes frequent its numerous fields and courts while children frolic in its playgrounds” Having the 6 Train stop at the park and many buses terminating at the station, Pelham Bay park is highly accessible for everyone. If you’re a car person, Pelham Parkway and I95 are great ways of arriving at the park.
The numerous memories we both have together and separately of Pelham Bay Park will never leave our minds. Some of the memories include: Sam joining Briana’s family for a BBQ, Briana swinging as high as she could on the swings, field trips to the park, and more!
Van Cortlandt Park, the third largest park in NYC, consists of 1,146 acres. According to Lehman College, the park is home to “the country's first public golf course, the borough's largest freshwater lake, and the oldest standing house in the Bronx…The Van Cortlandt Mansion was once the scene of political intrigue as both American and British military commanders including…general George Washington [who] used the house during the American Revolution as a headquarters.” Trains located near the park are the 1 and 4 trains with multiple bus lines arriving as well. Mosholu Parkway and I87 go directly through the park. We've both not gone to Van Cortlandt Park, but after knowing about it and seeing its history we already made plans…
The final park we will be covering is Bronx Park. 718 acres seems pretty small but it’s the 7th largest park in the city. According to the NYC Parks website, “Bronx Park boasts some of the city’s most beautiful outdoor space and ecologically diverse wildlife…The vastness of the park and the diversity of its flora and fauna make Bronx Park one of the true hidden gems of New York City. The Bronx River, which begins in North White Plains and flows into the East River at Soundview Park, offers numerous scenic and recreational opportunities…The two-mile stretch of river in Bronx Park runs through a deep gorge, where a combination of red maple hardwood swamp and floodplain forest grows on the riverbanks. While the park is perhaps best known as the home of the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park also has many recreation areas such as: numerous playgrounds, bicycle paths, baseball diamonds, tennis and basketball courts and football and soccer fields.”
Trains located beside the park are the 2 and 5 train via White Plains Road. With buses cutting inside Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway, arriving here wouldn’t be too hard. Bronx River Parkway also cuts through the park. We’ve both gone to the Bronx Zoo multiple times before high school, however Sam hasn’t visited the New York Botanical Garden. Briana wants to take him one day to see everything the garden has to offer.
1970s Bronx Fire
As The Bronx was sprawling to be accepted as a borough of New York City, there's bound to be demand for highways, more parks, and to meet the needs of new diverse communities. The only issue was the amount of red lining, disinvestment and eminent domain.
We read the New York Times article “How Fire Defined the Bronx and Us” by David Gonzalez and learned about the history of the 1970s Bronx Fire.
The importance of this fire is complicated. Many homes were lost, communities were destroyed, however not by accident but instead on purpose from landlords who lit up their tenements in flames to just acquire insurance than to receive rent from them. If one landlord has 20 buildings, they would burn all of them. With these fires, neighborhoods became gentrified especially after the Cross Bronx split the Bronx.
Riverdale, Throggs Neck, and northern Bronx areas weren’t affiliated much with the fires. “Those areas at the time were considered white,” said Sam’s father. People who grew up around the fires grew up with trauma, and a will to live.
The South Bronx worked together to rebuild their lost neighborhoods and became stronger. They all proved that the Bronx is their home and they will stay.
Future Projects
While the future of the Bronx is not certain, the city has many plans to make the Bronx a better place to live in.
The Cross Bronx Expressway will hopefully receive an update to improve the health of people living around it. Their proposals according to nyc.gov are to …”Improve quality of life for residents...Create new public open space…Improve safety on local streets and along the corridor”. The only issue we see with this proposal is that it says 2024. Meaning this project is either delayed or they just forgot about it. If this proposal eventually happens, it will improve the life of so many people in the Bronx.
Bronx Metro-North station area study, proposed back in 2018, is a regional train service starting in Penn Station to Hunts Point, all the way to Co-op City. Parkchester and Morris park are the other two proposed stations, making it 4 new stations Bronx residents can use to go to, midtown, New Jersey and areas north of the city. The service will hopefully be available 2027. Workers and residents can arrive home earlier and on time with this great system.
Hutchinson River Parkway is getting a major upgrade as well. In this proposal, they plan to include more than one million square feet of office space, 700 thousand square feet of regional retail, and a proposed commuter rail station! With this proposal, it would decrease the congestion the highway accumulates, and decrease its safety concerns — further improving its existing conditions.
For me, Briana, The Bronx, while having its positives and negatives, is important to me. It is full of history, memorable parks, public schools, hanging out with friends after school, the numerous delis, and more. It's the place where I grew up. The place where I call home.
For me, Samuel, The Bronx is important to me. Now and always. Its memorable, difficult, and long history made the Bronx the way it is. I've visited glamorous landmarks, parks, and commercial places that foreigners of the borough would neglect. But it's the place where my friends, and family live. It’s not the place where I was born, but it has made me believe I was.