58 Facts About The Bronx

1.

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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2.

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

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3.

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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4.

Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the present-day The 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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5.

The 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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6.

The 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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7.

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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8.

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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9.

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

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10.

Territory now contained within The 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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11.

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

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12.

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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13.

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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14.

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

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15.

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

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16.

South The 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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17.

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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18.

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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19.

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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20.

The 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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21.

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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22.

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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23.

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

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24.

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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25.

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

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26.

In 2006, a five-year, $220-million program of capital improvements and natural restoration in 70 The 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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27.

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

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28.

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

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29.

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

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30.

The West The 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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31.

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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32.

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

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33.

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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34.

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

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35.

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

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36.

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

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37.

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

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38.

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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39.

The 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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40.

The 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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41.

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

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42.

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

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43.

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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44.

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

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45.

The 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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46.

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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47.

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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48.

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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49.

The 85-acre The 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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50.

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

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51.

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

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52.

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

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53.

The wave of arson in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s inspired the observation that "The Bronx is burning": in 1974 it was the title of both a The New York Times editorial and a BBC documentary film.

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54.

The Bronx was the setting for the 1983 film Fuga dal Bronx, known as Bronx Warriors 2 and Escape 2000, an Italian B-movie best known for its appearance on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

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55.

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

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56.

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

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57.

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

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58.

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

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