Enjoy a few leisurely, annotated threads (4 total) of a long weekend morning walk I took a couple weeks ago from south to north up the whole of “the grand concourse” in the bronx.

the grand concourse? what’s that you say? Info:

 

after it was built up at the turn of the last century, the ‘grand boulevard and concourse’ of the bronx was quickly shortened to the ‘grand concourse’ moniker. it was known as the champs-elysees of america and also as the park avenue of middle class Bronx residents.

 

“The Grand Concourse is set up on a ridge, so you have these great views of the surrounding area,” says Wilhelm Ronda, the Bronx borough director of planning and development. “It’s an amazing jewel.”

 

And so here we go….the grand concourse begins as anonymously as could ever be imaginable at 138th st.

 

I dk if you should say to yourself “how American!”or just “how Bronx!” here?  :laugh:

that america’s so-called champs-elysees starts out in a scrubby rubble field next to a railway, highway & a strip club. Hmm, I’d think maybe more, “how bronx.”  :laugh:

 

 

What’s that? oh. alright, alright. here’s the goods -- sheesh, don’t say I don’t hook you guys up:

http://www.sincitynewyork.com/

and here’s your nearby pre-debachery, pre-yankee game, safe sobro hipster tavern:

http://www.brucknerbar.com/

 

nonsense aside, 138th st & this very bottom of the Bronx neighborhood deserves its own thread…next time! back to the overpass & the southern beginnings of the grand concourse.

 

 

bridge marker and a street sign on the lower concourse ‘bronx walk of fame.’ more:

http://www.ilovethebronx.com/?pg=load&loc=walkofame&tab=celebs

 

looking back south, you can see the not yet very grand concourse starts along both sides of this off-ramp.

 

eh, nothing much happening until 149th, the next main cross street,

This stretch is filled with car repair & car wash shops…

 

…and an increasingly rare gas station (curiously modern for the south bronx)

 

 

i think this is a school, can’t tell  :wtf:

 

Just for fun, here is a historic look back at employees posing in front of new pattullo’s tavern in 1890, which was located just east of here at 138th st & 3rd ave. the mott haven railroad station is in the distance.

 

and to the west along the Hudson river, a rendering of the issac johnson iron works in 1870

 

finally something at the busy 149th st intersection, hostos community college

http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/about/

 

A sleek modern post office – this foreshadows the architectural theme of the gc

 

The 149th/gc station, seen here under repair, says “mott ave” on the exterior & interior.

This was the name of the gc below 149th st, before the gc was fully developed

 

 

 

 

 

time out for a short blurb about rebranding a neighborhood w/ a bad rep

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/the-south-bronx-and-proudly-so/

 

a turn of the century colorized photo of the hub neighborhood just to the east

 

and Italian immigrants posing in front of roadwork on courtlandt ave near e149th street in 1899

 

nothing much on the gc north of 149th yet either (yes, I’ve had the pleasure of being in this one)

 

live chickens next to the deco-ish cardinal hayes hs

 

A look east over the bx from behind the small hayes hs practice field

 

amtrak goes thru down there

 

 

Continuing north back on the concourse

 

 

franz sigel park on the westside

 

finally, across from the park some housing begins on the eastside

 

a look east on a side street at a classic bronx morning view & an apt building courtyard.

 

 

* here’s a link to another multi-part thread I did across 161st that also covers this upcoming area:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,16629.0.html

 

coming up on the art moderne bx courthouse at the busy 161st cross street intersection

 

 

 

the new yankee stadium in the background

 

 

 

as seen from some other angles

 

 

A look up the eastside of the gc from just below 161st

 

this one is the elegant concourse plaza hotel (1930)

 

hard to see it in the rising sun, but anyway as i have the background info fyi this sharp deco building across 161st in was designed by emery roth and was built in 1937.

 

the iconic park focus is the die lorelei fountain. Btw just so you know it’s not all roses and rainbows around here, there is a nice statue of henrich heine, the author of die lorelei nearby, but there were too many stumblebums fussing around for me to get near it.  :|

   

 

A look up the westside of the gc along the park

I side-tracked west here to see what’s up with the stadiums

 

 

Pit-stop  for a café con leche at dos molinos, a good place to stop by if you are sightseeing in the morning…or ok much more likely if go to a Yankees game and don’t want to drink beer. trippy interior!

 

Perhaps the only time you will see obama, biden & uh, bobby murcer together?  :wtf:  :laugh:

 

The deco ‘el’ subway is like a modern version of the mott ave structure down on 149th st.

 

 

They’re still hard at work at the new yankee stadium, I talked with a construction worker about it and he said they are quite a bit schedule

 

A look back in time to april 18, 1923, opening day of the new and now former yankee stadium

 

This one is circa 1940

 

While across town shea is getting torn down, old yankee stadium sits quietly at the moment

 

A small leftover section of macombs dam park is well used

 

Another history pic – located back in the 1800’s at 161st & cromwell creek, the site of yankee stadium, was cedar jack’s last stand clam bar.

 

A great house hidden between apt buildings

 

 

Pointy buildings and hilly streets around here

 

 

 

right next to new yankee stadium on jerome ave -- and again a foreshadowing of much more deco to come ---is my favorite  apt building complex in the Bronx – the colorful and stately park plaza.

 

From forgotten ny:

 

designed by Horace Ginsbern and Marvin Fine. It was started in 1928, making it among the first Art Deco buildings in the area. Its overall design and terra cotta ornamentation were partially based on Mayan motifs. It was among the first modern apartment buildings, with 6 elevators, incinerators, electric refrigeration and modern applianaces. It has 800 rooms arranged in apartments of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 rooms each. The building got off to a slow start: it had to be reconstructed after original construction was gutted in a 1929 fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

north of the stadium Jerome ave is full of other beautiful apt buildings + mullaly park

 

 

Another funky house hidden back between jerome apt buildings

 

And last up is typical of what are known as step-streets.

There are 94 step streets in the whole city and 64 are in the hilly Bronx. More:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/STEP%20STREETS/steps.html

http://changingthecourt.blogspot.com/2006/10/from-eyesore-to-attraction-improving.html

 

*** next, heading back up the now much grander grand concourse to the heart of the Bronx* **

 

ooooh a trip down memory lane.

 

Directly across the street from that BP station were two gay clubs.  People would party and go to the diner across the street from Hostos before hooping on the 2/5 train at 149 or the 4/5 at 138 street (I do not advise using that stop).

 

ETA:  Oh and I like the fact that you threw in the old third avenue (No. 8) El line.

Wow!

 

:-o @ Park Plaza!

Love the pictures of those "pointy buildings and hilly streets."  Thanks.

The "Pointy buildings and hilly streets around here" pictures, I've walked up that hill.. we did our company community service day in that area and that hill is a byatch after several beers.. up or down..