Five Things About the Bronx That Everyone Should Know -Dr. Mark Naison
Photo by RoLizPhotography
That over the past 60 years, the Bronx has produced more varieties of popular music than any place in the United States, starting with Afro Cuban music, jazz and doo wop in the 40's and 50's. to funk and salsa in the 60's and 70's, to hip hop in the 70's 80's and 90's, to bachata hip hop and reggaeton today From Tito Puento, the Chantels and Dion and the Belmonts, through Eddie Palmieri, Willie Colon and Grandmaster Flash, through Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Romeo Santos and Cardi B, the Bronx has set a standard for musical creativity because of the mixing of cultures from the many immigrant groups who have lived there and still make it their home.
That the Bronx, once a byword for urban decay because of the fires that swept through it in the 1970's, has become a great American success story, with every once burned neighborhood filled with townhouses, apartment buildings and shopping centers. No other place in the United States which suffered disinvestment and decay - and there are at least 20 cities which experienced what the Bronx did 10 years later- has been rebuilt as thoroughly and completely.
That the Bronx has more good inexpensive restaurants than any place in New York City, most of them in immigrant neighborhoods far from Arthur Avenue, and one of the largest collection of seafood restaurants in the Eastern US, in a Bronx neighborhood called City Island, in the Eastern part of the borough. Students can eat great Vietnamese. Mexican, West African, West Indian, Dominican, Pueto Rican, Central American and Bengladeshi food at places easily reached by public transportation from Fordham, as well as the great Italian cuisine in Arthur Avenue.
The Bronx has great parks and recreation areas, including four golf courses (Pelham. Split Rock, Van Cordlandt,Moshulu) one of the largest collections of public tennis courts in NY City (in Crotona Park) and a public beach in City Island, as well as more parkland than any other borough. There is also a great free museum and many venues where (after the Pandemic passes) you can hear live music.
Finally, the Bronx has lower crime rates than almost any large city in the US. It is safe to explore by foot and has a great collection of bus lines and subways running through it which allow people to move through it without great expense.