71 Facts About Bronx

1.

Bronx is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U S state of New York.

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2.

Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the west, and a flatter eastern section.

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3.

The West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895.

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4.

About a quarter of the Bronx's area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the borough's north and center.

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5.

Bronx contains the poorest congressional district in the United States, the 15th.

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6.

Parts of the Bronx saw a steep decline in population, livable housing, and quality of life in the late 1960s, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and into the early 1990s, culminating in a wave of arson in the late 1970s.

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7.

Bronx was called by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape, while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck.

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8.

Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the present-day Bronx and built a farm named "Emmaus" close to what today is the corner of Willis Avenue and 132nd Street in Mott Haven.

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9.

Bronx leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement of New Haarlem, and bought additional tracts from the local tribes.

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10.

Bronx eventually accumulated 500 acres between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which became known as Bronck's River or the Bronx [River].

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11.

In particular, the Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx is leading efforts to make the city refer to the borough with an uppercase definite article in all uses, comparing the lowercase article in the Bronx's name to "not capitalizing the 's' in 'Staten Island".

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12.

The Bronx was originally part of Westchester County, but it was ceded to New York County in two major parts before it became Bronx County.

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13.

Bronx's development is directly connected to its strategic location between New England and New York .

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14.

Territory now contained within Bronx County was originally part of Westchester County, one of the 12 original counties of the English Province of New York.

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15.

The present Bronx County was contained in the town of Westchester and parts of the towns in Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham.

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16.

Whole territory east of the Bronx River was annexed to the city in 1895, three years before New York's consolidation with Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

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17.

Marble Hill, Manhattan was now connected to the Bronx by filling in the former waterway, but it did not become part of the borough or county.

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18.

The Bronx has experienced an economic and developmental resurgence starting in the late 1980s that continues into today.

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19.

Bronx was a mostly rural area for many generations, with small farms supplying the city markets.

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20.

South Bronx was a manufacturing center for many years and was noted as a center of piano manufacturing in the early part of the 20th century.

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21.

Bronx underwent rapid urban growth after World War I Extensions of the New York City Subway contributed to the increase in population as thousands of immigrants came to the Bronx, resulting in a major boom in residential construction.

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22.

The Bronx became identified with a high rate of poverty and unemployment, which was mainly a persistent problem in the South Bronx.

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23.

Since the late 1980s, significant development has occurred in the Bronx, first stimulated by the city's "Ten-Year Housing Plan" and community members working to rebuild the social, economic and environmental infrastructure by creating affordable housing.

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24.

In 1997, the Bronx was designated an All America City by the National Civic League, acknowledging its comeback from the decline of the mid-century.

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25.

The Bronx has the highest rate of poverty in New York City, and the greater South Bronx is the poorest area.

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26.

Bronx is New York City's northernmost borough, New York State's southernmost mainland county and the only part of New York City that is almost entirely on the North American mainland.

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27.

Marble Hill – politically part of Manhattan but now physically attached to the Bronx – is so-called because of the formation of Inwood marble there as well as in Inwood, Manhattan and parts of the Bronx and Westchester County.

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28.

Directly north of the Bronx are the adjoining Westchester County communities of Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Pelham Manor and, though physically separated by water, New Rochelle.

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29.

Bronx includes several small islands in the East River and Long Island Sound, such as City Island and Hart Island.

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30.

The opposite side of the Bronx has four large low peninsulas or "necks" of low-lying land that jut into the waters of the East River and were once salt marsh: Hunt's Point, Clason's Point, Screvin's Neck and Throggs Neck.

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31.

The vision of a system of major Bronx parks connected by park-like thoroughfares is usually attributed to John Mullaly.

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32.

In 2006, a five-year, $220-million program of capital improvements and natural restoration in 70 Bronx parks was begun as part of an agreement that allowed a water filtration plant under Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park.

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33.

Number, locations, and boundaries of the Bronx's neighborhoods have become unclear with time and successive waves of newcomers.

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34.

Notable Bronx neighborhoods include the South Bronx; Little Italy on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section; and Riverdale.

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35.

The East Bronx has older tenement buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multifamily homes, as well as single family homes.

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36.

Western parts of the Bronx are hillier and are dominated by a series of parallel ridges, running south to north.

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37.

The West Bronx has older apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, multifamily homes in its lower income areas as well as larger single family homes in more affluent areas such as Riverdale and Fieldston.

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38.

The name has been used to represent poverty in the Bronx and is applied to progressively more northern places so that by the 2000s, Fordham Road was often used as a northern limit.

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39.

The South Bronx has many high-density apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multi-unit homes.

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40.

The South Bronx is home to the Bronx County Courthouse, Borough Hall, and other government buildings, as well as Yankee Stadium.

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41.

The South Bronx has some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, as well as very high crime areas.

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42.

Out of all five boroughs, the Bronx has the lowest number and percentage of white residents.

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43.

Bronx is the only New York City borough with a Hispanic majority, many of whom are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.

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44.

The Bronx is referred to in hip-hop slang as "The Boogie Down Bronx", or just "The Boogie Down".

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45.

Newer hip hop artists from the Bronx include Big Pun, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, Camp Lo, Swizz Beatz, Drag-On, Fat Joe, Terror Squad, Cory Gunz, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, French Montana and Cardi B, among others.

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46.

Bronx is the home of the New York Yankees, nicknamed "the Bronx Bombers", of Major League Baseball.

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47.

Bronx is home to several Off-Off-Broadway theaters, many staging new works by immigrant playwrights from Latin America and Africa.

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48.

Bronx has become home to a peculiar poetic tribute in the form of the "Heinrich Heine Memorial", better known as the Lorelei Fountain.

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49.

Bronx is home to several local newspapers and radio and television studios.

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50.

Bronx has three primary shopping centers: The Hub, Gateway Center and Southern Boulevard.

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51.

The Hub has been called "the Broadway of the Bronx", being likened to the real Broadway in Manhattan and the northwestern Bronx.

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52.

All of the Bronx's currently elected public officials have first won the nomination of the Democratic Party .

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53.

Controversial political issues in the Bronx include environmental issues, the cost of housing, and annexation of parkland for new Yankee Stadium.

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54.

Bronx was the first African-American District Attorney in New York State.

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55.

Bronx has twelve Community Boards, appointed bodies that advise on land use and municipal facilities and services for local residents, businesses and institutions.

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56.

The Bronx was thus the only borough not carried by the successful Republican re-election campaigns of Mayors Rudolph Giuliani in 1997 and Michael Bloomberg in 2005.

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57.

Education in the Bronx is provided by a large number of public and private institutions, many of which draw students who live beyond the Bronx.

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58.

Small portion of land between Pelham and Pelham Bay Park, with 35 houses, is a part of the Bronx, but is cut off from the rest of the borough due to the county boundaries; the New York City government pays for the residents' children to go to Pelham Union Free School District schools, including Pelham Memorial High School, since that is more cost effective than sending school buses to take the students to New York City schools.

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59.

The Bronx is home to three of New York City's most prestigious private, secular schools: Fieldston, Horace Mann, and Riverdale Country School.

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60.

The 85-acre Bronx campus, known as Rose Hill, is the main campus of the university, and is among the largest within the city .

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61.

State University of New York Maritime College in Fort Schuyler —at the far southeastern tip of the Bronx—is the national leader in maritime education and houses the Maritime Industry Museum.

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62.

Much of the West Bronx's street numbering carries over from upper Manhattan, but does not match it exactly; East 132nd Street is the lowest numbered street in the Bronx.

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63.

East Bronx is considerably flatter, and the street layout tends to be more regular.

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64.

Bronx is served by seven New York City Subway services along six physical lines, with 70 stations in the Bronx:.

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65.

Mid-20th century movies set in the Bronx portrayed densely settled, working-class, urban culture.

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66.

The most notable examinations of working class Bronx life were Paddy Chayefsky's Academy Award-winning Marty and his 1956 film The Catered Affair.

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67.

Rumble in the Bronx, filmed in Vancouver, was a 1995 Jackie Chan kung-fu film, another which popularized the Bronx to international audiences.

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68.

Don DeLillo's Underworld is set in the Bronx and offers a perspective on the area from the 1950s onward.

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69.

In poetry, the Bronx has been immortalized by one of the world's shortest couplets:.

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70.

Also featured is Ruth Lisa Schecther's poem, "Bronx", which is described as a celebration of the borough's landmarks.

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71.

Bronx Tale is an autobiographical one-man show written and performed by Chazz Palminteri.

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