South Bronx pics from the 80s/90s

[DoubleXAs]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

West- the 4/B/D lines



Central- 2/5 lines



East- 6 train and east of that.


By worse I meant that I've noticed (through pictures) that there seems to be more shelled out buildings and vacant lots.

There were alot of shells and vacant buildings throughout. However if you had to pick the worst you'd have to go through the southern stops of the 2/5 and 6 trains.

But Highbridge and Morris Heights were pretty vacant in their own right.

[Rachael84]

Originally Posted by SuperMario

There were alot of shells and vacant buildings throughout. However if you had to pick the worst you'd have to go through the southern stops of the 2/5 and 6 trains.

But Highbridge and Morris Heights were pretty vacant in their own right.

I looked at aerial pics from the early 80s where I work in Highbridge right now (the 170th st stop on the 4). I didn't see many vacant lots. Were there as many as Morrisania back then?

[DoubleXAs]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

I looked at aerial pics from the early 80s where I work in Highbridge right now (the 170th st stop on the 4). I didn't see many vacant lots. Were there as many as Morrisania back then?

I see where one used to be (now has a development) and thats just passing through right before the cross Bronx on Ogden. I actually see alot of vacant lots, enough that you can tell that it was affected by arson and razing. Morrisania had more lots. Especially east Morrisania (Freeman, Simpson st area)...it was a wasteland. Same goes for parts of Mott Haven, Hunts Point and Melrose.

[schiphol]

Am I messed up for missing those days? In the mid-80s I lived off of the Intervale stop on the 2 train. Sad to say but my friends and I enjoyed playing in the "rubble." It's so surreal to see these pics and feel like "Wow, I can't believe my neighborhood used to look like that."

[Rachael84]

Originally Posted by schiphol

Am I messed up for missing those days? In the mid-80s I lived off of the Intervale stop on the 2 train. Sad to say but my friends and I enjoyed playing in the "rubble." It's so surreal to see these pics and feel like "Wow, I can't believe my neighborhood used to look like that."

I thought that kids were probably upset back then about having nowhere to play. I look back on those pictures and think to myself that it's a shame kids didn't have playgrounds, just rubble. I guess not though lol

[k718]

i grewnup in the hunt's point section of the south bronx which is the poorest neighborhood in this country and it still is. a lot of people are in denial they still have a lot to do in black and latino neighborhoods economically and crime is still high in our area's the bronx had 198 homicides last year thats a lot for one borough.

[Guywithacause]

I don't remember the shells of buildings as much as I remember blocks and blocks of empty lots. I don't think people really can fathom what the South Bronx was like...just vacant/abandoned lots....and unfortunately I thought it was perfectly normal for a long time...because that's all I knew. I remember walking to school, passing empty lot after empty lot, with drugged out people wandering the streets aimlessly, prostitutes, filth, and it was just another day for me...just like anyother. I was not depressed (or at least I did not think so) or scared...that was just the way it was...that was normal. Everyone I knew lived in the neighborhood..so we all went through the same thing..it was an alternate reality...one in which we did not realize as not normal.

Thanks for the pics Rachel...makes the South Bronx of today look like a "nice" place...and in many ways, compared to what it was....it is a "nice" place! It's all in your perspective.