Tuesday, October 28, 2008

10452.us Bronx, NY

This is some of my text research. 

10452.us Bronx, NY
(Highlights)

The Bronx is New York City's
northernmost borough
coterminous with
Bronx County

It is the only one of the
city's five boroughs
situated primarily
on the United States
mainland
rather than on an island

If all five boroughs were
independent cities
the Bronx would rank as the
ninth most populous city
in the United States

The Bronx is the
fourth most populous of
New York City's
five boroughs

Although commonly known as
"The Bronx"
The official county name
does not include
the definite article
"The"

The name refers to
the Bronx River
and rivers are
commonly referred to
with the article "The"
(e.g. "the Hudson")

The Bronx was called
Rananchqua
by the native
Siwanoy people
a band of the
Lenape peoples
while other Native Americans
knew The Bronx as
Keskeskeck

The land was
first settled by Europeans
in 1639
when Jonas Bronck
for whom the area was later named
established a farm
along the Harlem River

The Dutch and English settlers
referred to the area as
"Bronck's Land"

The territory now contained within
Bronx County
was originally part of
Westchester County

In 1846, a new town
West Farms
was created by secession from
Westchester
in turn, in 1855
the town of Morrisania seceded from
West Farms

In 1874
the western portion of
the present Bronx County
consisting of the towns of
Kingsbridge
West Farms
and Morrisania
was transferred to
New York County
and in 1895 the
Town of Westchester
and portions of
Eastchester and Pelham
were transferred to
New York County

In 1898
the amalgamated City of New York
was created
including
the Bronx
as one of its five boroughs

In 1914
those parts of the then
New York County
which had been annexed from
Westchester County
in the past decades
were newly constituted as
Bronx County
while keeping its status as a
borough of New York City

The Bronx
underwent rapid growth
after World War I

Extensions of
the New York City Subway
contributed to the increase in
population as thousands of
immigrants flooded
the Bronx
resulting in a major boom in
residential construction

Among these groups
many Irish
and Italians
but especially Jews
settled here

In addition
French
German
and Polish
immigrants
moved into the borough

The Jewish population
also increased notably
during this time
and many synagogues
still exist
throughout the borough
although many of these
have been converted
to other uses

In prohibition days
bootleggers and gangs
ran rampant in
the Bronx

Mostly Irish
and Italian
immigrants
smuggled in
the illegal whiskey

By 1926
the Bronx
was noted
for its high crime rate
and its many
speakeasies

After the 1930s
the Irish immigrant population
in the Bronx
decreased as a result of
better living conditions
in New York suburbs
and in other states

The German population
followed suit
in the 1940s

So did many Italians
in the 1950s
and Jewish-Americans
in the 1960s

As the generation of
the 1930s retired
many moved to
southeastern Florida
west of Fort Lauderdale
and Palm Beach

Today there is a thriving
Hispanic community
mostly Puerto Rican
and Dominican
as well as African and
African-American
populations

During the mid-1960s
to the mid-1970s
the Bronx
went into an era of
sharp decline
in the residents'
quality of life

Urban renewal projects
in the borough
(such as Robert Moses'
Cross-Bronx Expressway)
destroyed existing
low-density neighborhoods
in favor of roads that produced
urban sprawl
as well as high-density
housing projects

Another factor
may have been the reduction
by insurance companies
and banks
in offering mortgages
to some areas of
the Bronx
a process known as
Redlining

A wave of arson
overtook the southern portion
of the borough's
apartment buildings

Some point to the heavy traffic
and use of illicit drugs
among the area's poor
as causing them to be
inclined to scam
the city's benefits
for burn-out victims
as well as the
Section 8 housing program

Others believe landlords
decided to
burn their buildings
before their insurance policies
expired
and were not
renewed

After the destruction
of many buildings
in the South Bronx
the arsons
all but ended
by the mid 1980s

The infamous crack epidemic
continued into the
early 1990s

Since the early 1990s
much development has occurred

Groups affiliated with
South Bronx churches
have built the
Nehemiah Homes
with about 1,000 units

This and other developments
have transformed the
south Bronx
and the ripple effects
are felt
borough-wide

While the Bronx
still contains the
poorest congressional district
in the mainland US
crime has dropped substantially
from the burned-out days
of the 1970s and 1980s

This is due primarily
to community members
working to
take the community back
and build it up
once again

The resurgence in housing
has led some single-family homes
in the East Bronx
to be replaced by
multi-family homes

As a result
the IRT White Plains Road Line
has experienced increased
ridership

The Bronx is
almost entirely
situated on the
North American mainland
but it also includes
several small islands
in the East River and
Long Island Sound

The Hudson River separates
the Bronx
from New Jersey to its west
the Harlem River separates it
from the island of Manhattan
to the southwest
the East River separates it
from Queens to the southeast
and Long Island Sound
separates it from Nassau County
to the east

Westchester County is directly
north of the Bronx

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