Bronx area - Fordham/Kingsbridge (Cortland, Alma: hotel, shops, safest)

[NooYowkur81]

rlrl, I wasn't specifically responding to your post.

No worries.

[Guywithacause]

I don't think much about the sprinkling of "artists" in and around the 134th street area. If you have spent any time there....the huge concentration of gargantuan projects on 138st will prevent any further increase than just a sprinkling. It is a novelty at best, as the few that come quickly depart after the cool factor of being around extreme poverty, filth, and relentless animalistic behavior gets old very fast.

[Guywithacause]

I believe that everyone with 1/10th of a brain realizes that not every person of color is a thief, criminal, or lazy. Should anyone make those assertions I would just ignore them as anything you would say on these boards to them would be a waste of time.

[CityYearMom]

I've spent the better part of a day reading this thread. Great discussion!

My 23-year-old son moved to Mott Haven (134th Street) at the beginning of August from our home in Dallas. I originally found this thread because I had "googled" Bronx crime. The earlier reports I'd heard before he moved were as conflicted as this thread has been, and I tend to believe crime can be unbelievably random (although obviously certain factors increase its risk).

My son is working for City Year, a nonprofit volunteer organization, and has been working 14-hour days, getting him walking home from the subway after 10 p.m. He has confessed that he feels like a constant target. (Although it really shouldn't matter to the discussion, reality is reality, and we happen to be white.) He often calls me late at night while he's walking home from the subway; I had suspected recently that it might not just be killing time during the walk, but that he felt safer on the phone. (Some posts on this thread have made me wonder whether the opposite isn't actually true -- that the visible cell phone puts him at risk.)

When I was first going to post, I was going to ask if anyone had any firsthand knowledge of Mott Haven. But having read every thread here (and appreciating those who have posted), I now have a question and a comment.

First, the comment. My son lives where he lives because he recently joined AmeriCorps' City Year program. He'll lead a team of other volunteers (ages 17-24) working at the nearby elementary school, PS 154. It's been surreal to read the variety of comments (concerns I share about neighborhood safety, diversity, and other issues in the Bronx) with the awareness of what he and his team came there to do. Approximately 50% of the New York City corps members are from New York. The rest are from everywhere throughout the country. They joined the program to try to make a difference in the world; as naive as that may sound, I do believe they do make a difference and will continue to. (No doubt many of them, like my son, chose New York for all the obvious reasons.)

City Year's corps members work to, ultimately, improve academic and civic skills in young people as well as instilling in them a commitment to giving back to the community. They also work in other community programs. It was started in Boston and is relatively new in New York (started just after 9/11).

City Year New York has at least 13 programs in Harlem, Long Island, Brooklyn, and in Hunts Point. My son's program at PS 154 is a pilot program.

I mention all this purely in an educational way. City Year is a terrific program, so it's a great opportunity if you know anyone genuinely looking to try to turn the neighborhoods around.

More information about City Year New York (they have programs in nearly 20 cities) can be found at the links below.

City Year New York site:
www.cityyear.org/sites/new_york

City Year New York public service announcement:
City Year New York City: Public Service Announcement (http://www.makeadifferencenyc.org/psa.html - broken link)

Recent story in TIME magazine:
http://www.cityyear.org/sites/clipp....2&Clipp=091007


Thanks for reading through those comments. I obviously think it's a terrific program.

My QUESTION: How can he avoid looking like a target when being out at night is unavoidable? He wears a City Year uniform, at least on his way home from work. He's pretty average in size and dresses like an average 23-year-old.

From another viewpoint, his experience of walking home after dark has been great for him in understanding firsthand what "his" students are up against every day -- and they're just little children. From my viewpoint, of course, I think he'll be LOTS more helpful to the community if he stays in one piece and out of the hospital! =)

If anyone has any comments about Mott Haven, as well, it would be great to hear them. (Guywithacause, it's slightly ironic that I started reading your posts when I came toward the end of the thread, with all the differently toned comments earlier in the thread. I would especially enjoy hearing more from you.)

Thanks so much to everyone for the wealth of information and the genuine desire to give. Despite what may seem like contention, it's so obvious that everyone has a common desire for things to be better.

[briarwood]

/\ The bitter truth is White people are neither frequent nor welcome in many poor areas of the city. I don't think everyone staring at your son is "targeting" him but may actually be genuinely concered. I post on a message board based out of Bed-Stuy, and basically, every problem residents have boils down to how "White People" are keeping them down. How such hate and misguidance has become so enamored is a topic for a different thread, but your son will never "fit in". Be friendly, be nice, and don't flash the cash (real money or other things that suggest it). And don't act like some white savior for the ghetto, that really pisses people off. Just be.

[Hustla718]

Mott Haven is a nasty neighborhood. Technically that is the Port Morris area. However taking out that cell phone is not a good idea. Better off NOT taking it out.

In that neighborhood, it's not easy being White. I cannot imagine what it must be like. People will do double takes, some will comment, youth especially can be nasty. The only way to "fit in" would be to look like a drug addict. The honest truth. Mott Haven is a poor ghetto neighborhood. The only people who hang out on the streets at night are the criminals, junkies, homeless, and lost kids. If you want to "fit in" you have to look like them. Not easy for a White kid from Dallas, possibly from a middle class background.

Should have made a new thread though...

[Concept]

i could relate...grew up on university av, i was one of only a handful of white kids on the block.

His, is an even tougher situation...white..from out of state...probably didnt grow up with streets kids...being thrown in the ghetto.yeah thats a real tough spot.

my best advice would be:

-mind your busness
-stay aware at all times. keep ur eyes open and ur mouth shut (for the most part lol)
-i disagree about talkin on the phone being safer. highly disagree...flashing cells, ipods, iphones,etc makes u a prime target for a robbery. that happens often.
-and maybe most important....DONT LOOK "WEAK". keep ur head up, dont look to the ground...dont walk very fast as if ur very nervous..look like u have no fear..things like that.that may sound ironic cuz u might think weakness would make someone empathize with u but its the opposite. criminals prey on individuals who show signs of weakness. again,that might sound like crazy advice, but its the truth. thats how the prison system works also, and that mentality comes from the streets.

And even then, theres no guarentee simply because mott haven is one of the worst areas in the whole country.

[Elvira Black]

CityYearMom, I think it's great what your son is doing, but it angers me a bit that the program would allow kids to work 14 hour days and put them in a position where they are riding home and walking through rough areas late at night.

I was a little confused by the post, actually--if he's working in the neighborhood at a local school, why would he be working 14 hours and traveling back to the area late at night?

In any case, it sounds like he has a longish walk home. That area may be relatively safe in the daytime, but at night (esp late night) you are more likely to encounter a bad element there.

Again, it sounds like a great program, but I think there should be some attempt to keep these kids from getting victimized--maybe a van that will take them back late at night. But again, I'm confused by why he would be required to be out that late in the first place?

[CityYearMom]

Thanks for your replies.

I did want to clarify that they're planning and training until the school program begins (October) and he's working at City Year's NY office in mid-town. It sounds to me like the preparation involved is quite a lot, although I admit I don't know exactly what he works on during the day, and I think his "14" hours probably includes his commute (he said about 30-45 minutes each way, including a 10-minute walk).

I also worry about some of the more "junior" kids (he's one of the service team leaders, so at 23 he's one of the older ones) and how they deal with the finances. The CY corps get a small stipend -- while it's difficult to imagine living on that in NY, it probably also (again) makes them aware of a world they may not have even been truly aware of before.

As skinny as the middle class has gotten these days, we're probably there -- but I told briarwood offline that I've always been a single mother (my son didn't know his father) and he's as a result very sensitive to not appear condescending. He just reacts very sharply to people judging people in general.

Thanks again for the information.

[scatman]

Originally Posted by Hustla718

The only way to "fit in" would be to look like a drug addict.

What an AWFUL thing to suggest! Absolutely AWFUL!