Posted September 6, 201014 yr one more neighborhood tour to cap off the summer...! on this thread we boogie down to the south bronx the south south bronx how low can you go? mood music for your thread viewing pleasure: Boogie Down Productions - South Bronx (1986) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mott_Haven,_Bronx first up is the southeast side of the bronx, around southern blvd & the bruckner, it’s mostly a warehouse neighborhood -- there are some impressively gigantic old ones for orientation, i got out at cypress, but this is the rather forlorn 143rd st stop on the 6 train http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm samuel gompers high school detail p.s. 27 as seen from st. marys park views from the Bronx’s ‘top of the rock’ betances houses new $10.6M community center http://www.syarch.com/new/flash/main.html heading south off st. ann’s, this is st. mary’s street at the bottom of st. marys park tts not all harsh concrete, some side streets can be very green sorry but it is always a mandatory inclusion! :laugh: this beautiful corner building needs a little love since 2007 -- the greenmarket in the girasol community garden http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2007/07/12/2007-07-12_blue_ribbon_greens.html charter school this deli is keepin it old skool hey! hey heeeyyy kids! pay attention an you just might learn somethin…! :mrgreen: more stuff along 138th street, which is the main drag of the southernmost Bronx multi-purpose! i *heart* old signage old theater = modern day church now we‘re talking…! time out for a couple south bronx factoids: - The derogatory term "pig" for a policeman is thought to have originated here because of a tough Irish cop who wielded his night stick on Willis Ave. drunks without mercy, known as Paddy the Pig of the 40 Pct. - Sherman McCoy, the bond trader in Tom Woolfe’s hit 1980’s novel ‘Bonfire of the Vanities,” ran over that guy around Bruckner Blvd & 134th Street this is a very classically scenic stretch of housing around alexander ave just above 138th st historically it was known as doctor’s row aka the irish fifth avenue the corner is a library (1905) a very cool little setup formerly old st. jerome heading back down alexander to 138th again whenever they renovate, I hope they keep the produce stand & the old sign! formerly an old theater? historic bertine block (1891-1895) on 132nd a neighbor called this one ‘the titanic’ because the rooms inside are huge & beautiful. its being renovated but it is almost done after several years of work. call now all lines are open! heading south, this one is new housing via obama money stuff around bruckner blvd fixer upin old coal shute we’re getting to the hipstersized sector of the bx & the old former piano factories… …but there is still a little grit around oh and did I mention it was 90+ freakin degrees?!! gorgeously renovated…too bad its full of suburban kids..but its renovated…but… http://stopbrain.com/clock-tower/index.html i think this was called the glassworks building? as seen from lincoln ave. at the waterfront biggest billboard evah?!! :-o detail more bronx facing views from the waterfront ok ok looking south at manhattan! bridges on the west… …and east moving off the waterfront and down to the eastern end of Bruckner blvd toward a pit stop one of nyc’s most excellent classic taverns if you are in town they are having an all day/nite blowout 5yr anniversary block party sept 25th http://www.brucknerbar.com/ so bro’s…here we are after lunch. can you stand a little bit more? i wasn’t feeling the train yet, so a walk into manhattan? this chase was originally the north side board of trade building (1912) don’t do it…dooonnn’t do it! i didn’t http://www.sincitynewyork.com/ metro north going by the southern tip of the grand concourse guaranteed! looking north up the deegan more trains and that’s all folks…afterward it was time for a well-earned cool beverage :drunk: http://www.lenoxlounge.com/ *** i hope your enjoyed a tour of the southernmost bronx on a scorching hot day***
September 6, 201014 yr Wow, what a (pleasant) surprise! Back in the 1970's, the South Bronx was arguably the most dangerous place in America. It was the poster child, textbook example, absolute epitome of American urban decay and blight. The movie, Fort Apache, (1981) used the S. Bronx as its urban setting and I think there was also a Charles Bronson movie set in the S. Bronx with acres of ruins and burned out buildings everywhere. Only gangs of roaming thugs, drug dealers, addicts, and a few terrified old residents who remained barricaded inside their apartments still called it home. Criminals dominated the scene and operated openly with impunity. Cops rarely ventured into the area. Anyone from the outside who was foolish enough to venture there would quickly find themselves a hapless crime victim and/or have their car stripped bare in minutes. That's the image in popular culture the South Bronx had back in those scary days. At the same time, demolition contractors were working overtime knocking down derelict but once elegant Victorian era multi story S. Bronx apartment buildings left and right. I once ran across an online photo album of a fellow who had salvaged demolition fragments of these formerly posh buildings with stone carvings so fantastic they truly belonged in museum collections. As a fearless teenager, he took 1970's photos of some of these buildings while they were in the process of being demolished as well as scooped up some of the beautiful sculptural carvings. Given all of the urban decay and wholesale demolitions happening during that dark period, I was amazed to see anything old in the South Bronx has survived. To see today that some of the old buildings were actually restored and parts of the area appear to becoming somewhat gentrified, (using that term loosely) gives me hope that perhaps even a little will survive in places like Detroit, MI whenever the demolition dust finally settles there. If the South Bronx can go from what it was in the 1970's to what it looks like today, then anything is possible. Great collection of photos, thanks!
September 7, 201014 yr Yup! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 7, 201014 yr There are some architectural gems in there, but I don't think I would ever like to live in a neighborhood like this. The density seems to be too much, and the access to places I would want to go isn't so great. I think I would feel very claustrophobic living in a place like that.
September 7, 201014 yr Nice tour! I didn't know there was so much great old rowhousing in the South Bronx. Unfortunately, I think I'll always associate Bruckner Bar and it's lit up marquee with driving back into Manhattan and the real world after long weekends in the mountains or on the New England coast :(.
September 8, 201014 yr Fantastic tour! Very interesting to see the types of architecture and such in there.
September 16, 201014 yr I like it...could use a little more green space but overall it's not too bad. I thought I would see a lot more people though.
September 16, 201014 yr I like it...could use a little more green space but overall it's not too bad. I thought I would see a lot more people though. With the exception of Yankee stadium area, the north bronx is way more green than the south bronx. Riverdale, The Zoo, The Botanical Garden, Pelham Park, City Island and Beach Access is all above the Cross Bronx Expressway.
September 16, 201014 yr the south bronx ain't what it used to be. When I first moved to NY I worked in a bank with a girl (very bright) who had dropped out of South Bronx High School because it was so unruly; and she related an incident one time on the elevated train thru the Bx when a sniper fired shots through the window and everyone hit the floor (although, if I'm not mistaken--and this goes back the 60's or early 70's--I recall a similar incident on the Shaker Rapid in Cleveland, with a passenger killed). http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
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