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Before people say "the boroughs used to be seperate cities", the overwhelming majority of buildings were built after the merger.
So why did the West and Central Bronx get a large amount of 5-6 story buildings, while large chunks of Brooklyn equidistant or even closer to Lower/Midtown Manhattan get mostly 2-3 story buildings? Both areas have had subway service for a long time.
I'm curious about this because Bushwick seems to have been built mostly between 1910 and 1930, yet is mostly 2-3 story buildings, while the aforementioned sections of The Bronx were also built up around this time and are mostly 5-6 story buildings (or in some cases were, prior to the arson wave of the 70s). Most of Brooklyn in general is low rise, with exceptions of course. The same thing can be said of the parts of Queens with subway access.
Was it a matter of zoning, differing visions the developers at the time had, or something else?
It's interesting to think what NYC would be like if every neighborhood with subway service was a sea of 6 story buildings like much of Manhattan and parts of The Bronx.
I'm should be clear by now how each borough was developed. Brooklyn has always functioned as rather independent of Manhattan to some degree. The Bronx however was built and marketed moreso as an escape for the middle class who worked in Manhattan, and that's who it was built for. A lot of Manhattan was overcrowded, dirty and run down. The Bronx was a step up for many residents. They could come to a nice quiet place after a long day of work in Manhattan.
People will help and scream about it, but the Bronx was built as an extension of Manhattan. It was supposed to be that suburban place before Westchester and Long Island became the true suburbs. This is why so many parts of the Bronx look like Westchester because it was once apart of Westchester (at least most of it was anyway) and it was built like a suburb in parts even after annexation.
Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan housed the fresh off the boat european working class, and was basically the ghettos. Bronx buildings were built for the middle class. More money more stories.
Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan housed the fresh off the boat european working class, and was basically the ghettos. Bronx buildings were built for the middle class. More money more stories.
Areas like Brooklyn Heights were the exception, as it was built as a bedroom community for the rich from the start. One of the things that I find fascinating was how much power the rich had back in the day. Lots of the streets found around the City are named after them... The Delafields, the Pierreponts... These were very rich and influential people in terms of shaping the City from a planning standpoint, or using their money to get their way. The Pierrepont family was very influential in the planning of Brooklyn.
Funny thing is a lot of the way each borough functions has remained in terms of how they were shaped by the rich. The Bronx is still a place where you generally travel to Manhattan moreso than Brooklyn.
The rich also gave money for certain projects around the City to showcase their wealth.
The Bronx was essentially split up into towns and you can sort of see that today. Back in the day you had Westchester (much of what is today East Bronx - Morris Park, Country Club, etc.) Westchester Square was once part of Westchester. There were rich families that split up the borough into villages and thus each part developed differently. This likely explains why it feels sort of split up.
"Most of the eastern half of the area now known as the Bronx was bought in 1654 by Thomas Pell of Connecticut, who invited sixteen families to form the village of Westchester near what is now Westchester Square. Westchester was between 1683 and 1714 the seat of Westchester County (which included the Bronx until the second half of the nineteenth century) and as a chartered borough was the only town in the colony with an elected mayor. In addition, it was the first town without a property qualification for suffrage: settlers chose a representative to the provincial assembly and had their own municipal court. Horses, cattle, sheep and wheat were the main agricultural products and a cottage industry in cloth making thrived."
Areas like Brooklyn Heights were the exception, as it was built as a bedroom community for the rich from the start. One of the things that I find fascinating was how much power the rich had back in the day. Lots of the streets found around the City are named after them... The Delafields, the Pierreponts... These were very rich and influential people in terms of shaping the City from a planning standpoint, or using their money to get their way. The Pierrepont family was very influential in the planning of Brooklyn.
Funny thing is a lot of the way each borough functions has remained in terms of how they were shaped by the rich. The Bronx is still a place where you generally travel to Manhattan moreso than Brooklyn.
The rich also gave money for certain projects around the City to showcase their wealth.
The rich influence explains why two of the Q train stops in Flatbush are literally 1 block from each other
Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan housed the fresh off the boat european working class, and was basically the ghettos. Bronx buildings were built for the middle class. More money more stories.
But Lower Manhattan is filled with 4-7 story buildings
And I think the existing walkup buildings down there were considered good for that time period, they replaced the actual tenements from the 1800s. Some of those buildings are very ornate.
The Bronx was essentially split up into towns and you can sort of see that today. Back in the day you had Westchester (much of what is today East Bronx - Morris Park, Country Club, etc.) Westchester Square was once part of Westchester. There were rich families that split up the borough into villages and thus each part developed differently. This likely explains why it feels sort of split up.
"Most of the eastern half of the area now known as the Bronx was bought in 1654 by Thomas Pell of Connecticut, who invited sixteen families to form the village of Westchester near what is now Westchester Square. Westchester was between 1683 and 1714 the seat of Westchester County (which included the Bronx until the second half of the nineteenth century) and as a chartered borough was the only town in the colony with an elected mayor. In addition, it was the first town without a property qualification for suffrage: settlers chose a representative to the provincial assembly and had their own municipal court. Horses, cattle, sheep and wheat were the main agricultural products and a cottage industry in cloth making thrived."
But the existing architecture was built so much later, after The Bronx became an NYC orough
Quote:
Originally Posted by l1995
But Lower Manhattan is filled with 4-7 story buildings
And I think the existing walkup buildings down there were considered good for that time period, they replaced the actual tenements from the 1800s. Some of those buildings are very ornate.
Yeah, and? Lower Manhattan and much of Manhattan for that matter was built much earlier and a lot of it was an absolute ghetto, while the buildings in the Bronx had much better amenities. The buildings on the Concourse were especially luxurious for its time. If you've seen how slumy the Lower East Side was prior to gentrification, that should give you a good idea. You have to consider the types of jobs in certain areas and who the housing was built for.
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