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I don't think that areas in the Bronx are regressing..far from it. You cannot take one aspect of quality of life, as in crime, and because there is an increase in crime (an increase from a record 40 year low), label it as a regression. Crime varies from year to year...and some years are up..some years down..but the TREND has been an overhwelming decrease in crime in NYC, as well as the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, etc.
Since this thread was actually about NYC overall, I would prefer not to only speak of the Bronx but that is my specialty. The Bronx continues to improve in leaps and bounds, with major capital improvements and investments, public and private, that are repositioning the borough for the working/middle class of all types. All other quality og life issues have, and continue to increase dramatically, with an influx of mainstream retail and restaurant amenities, condos, coops, new 2/3 family homes, parks, waterfront esplanades...all in areas like Mott Haven and Melrose!
So yes crime will fluctuate, but at the end of the day the TREND continues to demonstrate a profound decrease in crime, coupled with a dramatic increase in the quality of life across the board. I take these crime stats with a grain of salt anyway, as those that are being murdered are those that are involved in that lifestyle, and NOT regular folks.
I think it is important to note that although there have been some slight increases in crime figures so far this year, they are still way lower than what they were at their peaks in the 90's. Let's keep things in perspective folks.
Actually, unfortunately a few of the more high profile murders in the Bronx so far this year have involved regular joe people. Like the young Asian man who got killed in a Fordham sneaker store, and the Ecuadorian Immigrant who got killed at that bar in Norwood. Both were senseless random killings.
NYC has improved since 1990. Compare any neighborhood to 1990 and it's better.
What you noted is correct.....from 2000 - present crime has been up and down. In 2001, the 52nd Precinct had 24 murders, 12 more than in 2000. But in 2006/2007 is back down to 13. Another example, the 43rd precinct was the murder capital of the Bronx in 2002, the next year they had just 12. You never really know.
However one can assume a regression because:
The knowledge that low-income people are being pushed into the Bronx. We know this as fact. Residents from Washington Heights/Harlem/Buswick are coming up here due to the low cost of living. We already have many residents here so chances are that the poverty would spread to other areas. The 45th, 47th, and 50th neighborhoods (other than the PJ's in 47) have never had a problem with crime. These are among the best neighborhoods. They have not fluctuated like bad precincts such as the 43rd and 52nd. This year respectively, the 45th has gone up 15%, the 47th 9%, and the 50th 20%.....these are large figures. So one cant help but assume that this migration of the poor into the Bronx is affecting once nice neighborhoods.
Agreed NooYowkur....but they are making news/high profile precisely BECAUSE they were random, regular joe people. The typical homicides in the projects/drugs just don't get any attention.
NYC has improved since 1990. Compare any neighborhood to 1990 and it's better.
What you noted is correct.....from 2000 - present crime has been up and down. In 2001, the 52nd Precinct had 24 murders, 12 more than in 2000. But in 2006/2007 is back down to 13. Another example, the 43rd precinct was the murder capital of the Bronx in 2002, the next year they had just 12. You never really know.
However one can assume a regression because:
The knowledge that low-income people are being pushed into the Bronx. We know this as fact. Residents from Washington Heights/Harlem/Buswick are coming up here due to the low cost of living. We already have many residents here so chances are that the poverty would spread to other areas. The 45th, 47th, and 50th neighborhoods (other than the PJ's in 47) have never had a problem with crime. These are among the best neighborhoods. They have not fluctuated like bad precincts such as the 43rd and 52nd. This year respectively, the 45th has gone up 15%, the 47th 9%, and the 50th 20%.....these are large figures. So one cant help but assume that this migration of the poor into the Bronx is affecting once nice neighborhoods.
Or how else can you explain this?
People coming from Wash Heights and Harlem to the Bronx is not necessarily such a bad thing. If you ask me, a good chunk of them are amongst the more decent ghetto folk I've been exposed to.
SuperMario...I agree that since the Bronx is the most affordable borough by far, that the poor are being pushed out of the more desireable/pricey areas and are only able to find housing in the Bronx. However, there is also the working/middle class that are reclaiming large swaths of the Bronx as well, like Mott Haven, Melrose, Concourse. So although you see the poor fleeing to the Bronx...there is also a substantial amount of working/middle class people that are also moving to the Bronx and buying new $250,000 condos, investing in $500,000 brownstones, opening new businesses, and helping to take back the Bronx from the thugs.
I cannot say for sure that areas that are considered nice now, like Throggs Neck or Pelham, would suffer a decline in the quality of life becuase the poor are moving to the Bronx. The prices are far too high in these communities for the poor to pay the rents, let alone buy a home, and in all likelihood these residents would not be renting to them anyway..which is why many of these neighborhoods to this day remain stable.
I contend that in fact the Bronx, although the housing of last resort for the poor, is also the housing of last resort for the working/middle class, and is in fact being repositioned NOT as the dumping ground for the poor, but for the working/middle class, the backbone of the city. And the new developments and change in housing policies overall clearly demonstrate that the city wants to maintain the Bronx as the resource for affordable housing for the working/middle class.
I know of quite a few Dominican business owners who moved from the Heights or Harlem to the Bronx when the rents in that part of Manhattan started becoming too much. This is actually helping some Bronx neighborhoods that had very little in the way of new business investments.
People coming from Wash Heights and Harlem to the Bronx is not necessarily such a bad thing. If you ask me, a good chunk of them are amongst the more decent ghetto folk I've been exposed to.
Unfortunately, Dominican migration to the north-west Bronx (Kingsbridge, Marble Hill etc) is the most probable reason for the spike in crime in the 50th precinct. Kingsbridge Heights is almost entirely Dominican now, and the neighborhood is expiriencing white flight. The low-income Dominicans coming from Washington Heights and Inwood are changing the entire outlook of the 50th precinct. Whether it's the drug game or the DDP's and Trinitarios, Dominicans are affecting the area.
I know not all Dominicans are drug dealers.....but coming poor from the Heights (or the Island) the young ones especially are up to no good.
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