The Resurrection of the South Bronx: An Event of Fin de Siecle

Abstract

The destruction of the South Bronx in the 1970s has been documented as an urban phenomenon unique in scope. However, the photographs of vacant and burnt-out buildings, rubble and debris have tended to overshadow the continuing presence of people living and surviving in this devastated environment. The South Bronx, as well as all New York City, has been historically and is today the unique setting for American immigrant multi-cultural social life. In a study of 16-years duration, the authors document the decline and examine the resurrection of a South Bronx neighborhood consisting of five census tracts. The research details the exchange of multi-cultural populations and the government, corporate, non-profit and other response to urban devastation. The research employs observation, photographic records, interviews and documents over a 16-year period and census data over a 50-year period. This research identifies the manifestations of community resurrection: social interaction, police presence, renovation, new construction and the establishment of cooperatives. We offer a number of explanations for the apparent rebirth of the neighborhood, including a housing shortage in Manhattan that ultimately extended to the Bronx; a generous national immigration policy that has brought substantial numbers of Caribbean and Asian peoples to the South Bronx in recent years; the availability and investment of massive city, state and federal monies; and the renovation initiatives of local and national (LISC) non-profit and for-profit organizations. Located just north of Yankee Stadium, our neighborhood is also benefiting from the recent renovation and enlargement of the county government offices and courthouses at 161st Street.