The Bronx, The Ride

I'm Hi all,

Our destination today was The Bronx, the only borough of New York City that is technically on the mainland of the USA. 

When I was researching where to go and what to do in NYC before our trip, I was a bit unsure about going to The Bronx. The only perceptions I had in my mind were that it was a rough area and that "Jenny from the block" (Jennifer Lopez) grew up here doing it tough. How wrong I was on both counts!!

We met our tour guide, Alexandra, in Grand Central. She grew up in The Bronx and just like Steve yesterday, you could tell immediately she was very passionate about changing the negative stigma that to this day surrounds The Bronx. Her tour company is called Bronx Historical Tours and I would highly recommend you look her up here if you're coming. 

On the train, Alexandra told us that 99% of Staten Island voted for Trump. Shannon went from saying he would like to live there just two days ago to saying he now didn't think he would like it. Haha.

We caught the subway up north with Alex and the two other people on our tour, and then arrived in The Bronx. The borough got its name because in 1639, a Swedish man named Jonas Bronck arrived with his family and settled there on what was then farmland. Hence - "The Broncks". The area didn't officially become a borough and get this name until 1898 though, when politicians decided they wanted more people voting so created a new borough. 

The Bronx is an incredibly culturally diverse area. Initially many Germans and Jews went there to live. However, in the 60s and 70s The Bronx fires happened and drove a lot of these people out. Rent control was put in place during this time in order to have control over how much landlords could charge their tenants. A limit was set, and after some time due to inflation, this meant that the rent being paid by tenants to their landlords wasn't yielding them any profit. In fact, they started to make losses. So the landlords decided that instead of continuing to lose money, they would hire arsonists to burn their flats down and claim the insurance money. This started a chain reaction and many other landlords followed suit, with basically an entire neighbourhood of The Bronx (Longwood) burning to the ground. This left many homeless and obviously created a rough and violent image for the area. 

To try and keep and attract people in the area, the government began selling homes for $1 to try and attract people back and build it up again. This is an interesting contrast, because Alexandra said that today, developers are continuously hassling people in the area to sell up shop. So no one used to want to live here, now everyone wants in! There are plans for a high rise condominium complex to begin being built soon. 

Alexandra told us she has been running the walking tours for almost six years because she wants to change the perception. She said when she first started running them, people seemed anxious and nervous about travelling up this way. The Methadone Clinic we passed immediately after leaving the train station probably didn't help!!

We began walking up the Grand Concourse, the main road in The Bronx that our tour centred around. Apparently it was created in 1892. Along the way, we saw many people working in the streets digging up pipes etc. The area is being fixed up because the local government are interested in attracting developers. Apparently residents here are quite resentful towards that, because the standard of pipes etc has been very low for years, but nothing has been done about them until now when developers are offering money. We also saw the 'Walk of Fame' plaques listing famous people who grew up in the area. Apparently Jennifer Lopez told the council they needed to pay her $40,000 in order to have her name on one. She preaches that she grew up hungry and poor, but Alexandra says she did this just to sell albums. She grew up in the wealthy part of The Bronx, went to a private school and her Dad was a judge. People in The Bronx are also resentful towards her because her music and a book she released reinforce the perception that the area is still full of gangs, drugs and violence. Apparently some other celebrities are embarrassed to admit they're from The Bronx such as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren which is a bit of a shame. 

65% of the residents of The Bronx are Latino, with the majority of them coming from Puerto Rico. Other people that live in the area come from west Africa, Asia, Pakistan, Italy and Hispanic countries. 

We passed a hospital and Alexandra let us know that hospitals provide the most jobs in The Bronx. She said the World first surgery a few years ago separating conjoined twins was done in The Bronx!

Next, we passed the post office. It was a huge beautiful building that has now been shut down due to the dwindling use of the postal system these days. Luckily, it's being turned into a market using and preserving the exact same building. Apparently it has beautiful murals inside. 

Over the road we saw a Häagen Dazs ice cream shop. We were shocked to find out that this company started in The Bronx, not in Scandinavia like you would believe. The man who started it chose the name to lead people to believe that the ice cream was Scandinavian. Who knew!!

We passed an urban farm where kids who have done wrong complete community service, and the ginormous courthouse. And then we had a quick break inside The Bronx Museum of Art and chatted to Alexandra. 

After our stop, we passed the building in which Alexandra grew up. She told us funny stories about wandering the streets trying to spot Yankees players in her childhood and what life was like for her. 

Our last proper stop before the end of the tour was the Andrew Freedman House, a mansion owned by billionaire Andrew Freedman who let 130 rich people affected by the Great Depression live there in the style they were used to. We saw the inside which is now occupied by art exhibitions and very friendly staff. There were some high school age boys working in the garden as well who wished us all a very happy new year. I assure you, the people up here were all lovely. 

We were treated to some more art outside the house, this time street art. Then we continued on through a park and finished our tour outside Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees. This stadium was built in 2009, the older original one has now been knocked down. I'm not fussed that baseball season doesn't start until April, sitting through a San Fran Giants vs Texas Rangers match in 2005 was enough baseball for me!!!

Alexandra took us to a local, off the beaten track drafthouse where Shannon enjoyed a few beers and the rest of us enjoyed lunch. I had a yummy mac and cheese, and the prices were about 2/3 of food prices on Manhattan island. 

We made a quick stop at the Yankees shop where Shannon bought a baseball cap, then we caught the subway back to Manhattan. 

We went and picked up our tickets for the New Year's Eve party we are attending off Times Square tomorrow. We decided that standing in the freezing cold waiting for the ball to drop unable to pee, eat or move for 14 hours wasn't our thing, so we've booked a party instead! Got the tickets and we are all really excited now!

We then went to Bryant Park and met up with Shannon and Alisha's housemate that they used to live with in Brisbane, Elsa. She had her one year old boy with her whose birthday it was today! On our way to the park, IT FINALLY STARTED SNOWING!!! We had been pretty cold today but attributed that to being in The Bronx with less high rises blocking the wind. But turns out it was cold enough to snow, hoorah! Not enough to be annoying, just enough to make us scream like small children and all take photos and videos - haha!

Our final destination for today was 'The Ride' bus. A friend from home had recommended this, and it's hard to describe. A 1.5 hour bus journey with seats facing out towards the side of the bus. You go around hearing comedy, facts about various landmarks and enjoying street performers that randomly burst into song and dance. It was absolutely hilarious and I laughed so much I cried! Our favourite street performer was a guy who rapped for a solid three minutes, and mentioned our group name (Shannon's last name) and Australia multiple times! We saw people doing ballet, someone singing outside Carnegie Hall and lots more. We had lots of fun with it and joined in the singing, dancing and quizzes. Some of the people near us looked like they had a bad smell under their nose. Their loss!

We ran from the bus to the subway to avoid the cold (it is so cold tonight!) and are now back in the apartment on the way home. 

Midnight in Melbourne on New Year's Eve will be just 8am on New Year's Eve day here in New York, so I would like to get in early and wish you all a safe and happy new year. Thank you to my beautiful friends and family who (as they always do) made this year a great one. I can't wait for lots of great times in 2017!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox