When the Bronx was burning. (Bedford, York: apartments, neighborhoods, construction)

[Rachael84]

This time for the Bronx really interests me. I now work in the Bronx and since I see it everyday, I wonder what it was like then. Was anyone there during that time? Anyone witness it? I'm 23 so I wasn't around back then. I'm especially interested in which areas were the worst. I just looked into this, and I see that Charlotte st was the place where Reagan visited. But what other areas were bad? And was all the south Bronx like this? What about specifically 170 st & Jerome ave, on the 4? That's right by my work. I looked at this article and I can't believe what the area of Charlotte st looks like now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/ny...=1&oref=slogin

[SuperMario]

I wasn't around but I too have great interest on the subject. From research I've done the areas most burned out were Mott Haven, Morrisania, Hunts Point and Melrose. You see most of the new housing being built here as a result. Highbridge and Morris Heights were also affected. Alot of shells there too. I can speak on Morris Heights because I live nearby but visually it has that south Bronx look. University avenue had many shells in this area. The tenements there have MANY violations and the area has ALOT of rehabs.

Tremont doesn't have many NYCHA rehabs, same goes for E. Tremont, University Heights and Fordham. The burned out buildings seemed to go up 179th to the west, and the cross Bronx expressway everywhere else. But that doesn't mean that the above area didn't have shells but it was most prominent south of that.

But anybody who was there can shed some light. Where did the arson reach? I would like to know if University Heights/Fordham was affected too.

[Rachael84]

I would love to see more pictures. I can't find too many.

[SilkCity0416]

Here is a website that shows pictures of the Bronx (and other areas of NYC) that shows urban decay. You can check out other areas as well. Some pictures date back to the 70's

[Pete Piper]

From what I've heard, the burning didn't go north of Fordham Road. You can probably tell which areas were most effected by looking at the buildings themselves. 60's and beyond architecture is pretty distuinguishable from the art deco stuff you see in the Fordham area for example. Or maybe they were able to rehab some of the burnt out buildings? I don't know.

[SuperMario]

Yeah true. If you look at tenements in Fordham-Bedford they look way different than the ones in Mott Haven.

[Rachael84]

How do you mean different exactly? When i'm on the 4 not far from the school I work at, like around 167th st, I see brick apartment buildings that are darker than usual and just look grittier. You mean like that? I'd need to see what you mean.

[Pete Piper]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

How do you mean different exactly? When i'm on the 4 not far from the school I work at, like around 167th st, I see brick apartment buildings that are darker than usual and just look grittier. You mean like that? I'd need to see what you mean.

I just thought that a lot of the stuff that was burnt would have had to be demolished, with newer buildings replacing the old. I'm not the expert, but in this area I believe most apartment buildings were built in the 20's and 30's and tend to have more ornamentation than newer constuction and use better quality materials. It's partially a reflection of style, partially a reflection of cheaper labor and construction materials back in the day. The stuff you see being constructed now is the worst of all, in my opinion.

[SuperMario]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

How do you mean different exactly? When i'm on the 4 not far from the school I work at, like around 167th st, I see brick apartment buildings that are darker than usual and just look grittier. You mean like that? I'd need to see what you mean.

Here are some examples:

Fordham-Bedford:







I had pics of the Grand Concourse in Fordham Bedford, where the buildings are beautiful. But most buildings on the Concourse are nice even south of Fordham. So I avoided those and chose teh above which are all located in the heart of Fordham Bedford. As you can see, it's a densely packed neighborhood. The buildings appear clean and some have a design to them. They are also much bigger. However, dont let the buildings fool you. It is a bad neighborhood.

Watch how those buildings differ from the buildings neighborhoods south of it.

Mott Haven







These I would call tenements. But it is really hard to find big buildings in Mott Haven like you would in Fordham Bedford. But notice that they appear to be more rundown and uglier. They are smaller is size aswell. This is a south Bronx look.

Now for neighborhoods in between.

University Heights










As you can see it is different aswell. University Heights is a hybrid. Here you find big buildings and also tenements. I personally think it has more of a south Bronx look. Though not to the extent of it's southern neighbor Morris Heights.

The bottom two neighborhoods look like they were affected by some kind of arson, especially Mott Haven. Fordham-Bedford in comparison does not.

[Rachael84]

The apartments around my work (170th st) are so run down, way more so than those pictures in MH.

This is getting kind of off-topic. I had asked what the buildings today look like that got burned back then, but not completely burned to the ground and got renovated. I was wondering what those look like today.