West Farms Bronx

This is pretty bleak info about the neighborhood. After I left the gallery, I had a great little interview with some high school students at the local MacDonald's. I saw Jose at the gallery today and he showed me some of the stuff they have if we need it.

Here's some more text stuff.

West Farms Bronx

West Farms is a
residential neighborhood
geographically located
in the west Bronx,
New York City.

The neighborhood is part of
Bronx Community Board 6.

Its boundaries,
starting from the north and moving
clockwise are:
Bronx Park
to the north,

the Bronx River Parkway
to the east,

the Cross-Bronx Expressway
to the south,

and the Southern Blvd
to the west.

East Tremont Avenue is the
primary thoroughfare through
West Farms.

The local subway is the IRT
White Plains Road Line (2 5) at
West Farms Square -
East Tremont Avenue
(IRT White Plains Road Line),
operating along Boston Road.

Zip codes include 10460.

The area is patrolled by
the 48th Precinct
located at
450 Cross Bronx Expressway
in East Tremont.

NYCHA property in the area is
patrolled by P. S. A. 8
at 2794 Randall Avenue
in the Throgs Neck section
of the Bronx.

Demographics:
West Farms
has a population over 20,000.

For decades
West Farms
has been one of the poorest communities
in America.

Over half the population
lives below the poverty line
and receives public assistance
(AFDC,
Home Relief,
Supplemental Security Income,
and Medicaid).

West Farms
has one of the highest concentrations
of Puerto Ricans
in all of New York City.

The vast majority of households
are renter occupied.

Land use and terrain:
West Farms
is dominated by
5 and 6-story tenement buildings,
older multi-unit homes,
vacant lots,
and newly constructed subsidized
attached multi-unit townhouses
and apartment buildings.

Most of the original housing stock
was structurally damaged by arson
and eventually razed
by the city.

The total land area is less than
one square mile.

The terrain is somewhat hilly.

West Farms Bus Depot:
The West Farms Bus Depot is located
along East 177th Street
next to a terminated
Sheridan Expressway.

Opened on September 7, 2003
on the site of the former
Coliseum Depot.

Low income public housing projects:
There is one
NYCHA development located in
West Farms.
1010 East 178th Street;
a 21-story building.

Many social problems associated
with poverty
from crime
to drug addiction
have plagued the area
for some time.

Despite crime declines
(versus their peaks during the
crack and heroin epidemics)
violent crime continues to be
a serious problem
in the community.

West Farms
has significantly higher
drop out rates
and incidents of violence
in its schools.

Students must pass through
metal detectors
and swipe ID cards
to enter the buildings,
reminiscent of a prison environment
which many feel
encourages bad behavior.

Other problems in local schools
include low test scores
and high truancy rates.

Drug addiction is also a serious
problem in the community.

Due to the lucrative drug trade
in the area
many addicted reside
in the community.

Peer pressure among children
who come from broken homes
contributes to the high rate
of usage.

Many households in the area
are headed by
a single mother
which contributes to the
high poverty rate.

Many of these mothers had their
children at a very young age
and could not properly provide
for their children.

A significant number of families
living in
West Farms
have been in poverty
for generations.

The incarceration rate in the area
is also very high.

Many males in the community
have been arrested
at least once in their lives.

This has a direct correlation to
aggressive policing tactics
including "sweeps" due to the
area's high crime rate.

West Farms
is home to a significant number
of inmates
currently held
in New York state prison
and jail facilities.

Urban renewal:
After a wave of arson
ravaged the low income communities
of New York City
throughout the 1970s,
most residential structures in
West Farms
were left seriously damaged
or destroyed.

The city began to rehabilitate
many formerly abandoned
tenement style
apartment buildings
and designate them
low income housing
beginning in the late 1970s.

Many subsidized
attached multi-unit townhouses
and newly constructed
apartment buildings
have been or are being built
on vacant lots
across the neighborhood.

This particular neighborhood
is known for its
illegal sex trade,
primarily street level
prostitution.

West Farms
is often considered
part of the socioeconomic
South Bronx.



.

Bronx Before 1914

Some more text research. By the way, I didn't change anything today at the space... 

Bronx Before 1914

The development of
the Bronx
is directly connected
to its strategic location
between New England and
New York (Manhattan)

Control over the bridges
across the Harlem River
plagued the period of
British colonial rule

Kingsbridge
built in 1693
where Broadway reached
the Spuyten Duyvil Creek
was a possession
of the lords of
Philipse Manor

The tolls they charged
were resented by
Bronx farmers
with crops and cattle to sell
in New York

It was angry farmers
who built a
"free bridge"
across the Harlem River
which led to the abandonment
of tolls
altogether



The territory
now contained within
Bronx County
was originally part of
Westchester County
one of the
12 original counties
of the English Province of
New York

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

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

In 1873
the town of
Kingsbridge
roughly corresponding to the
modern Bronx neighborhoods
of Kingsbridge
Riverdale
and Woodlawn
was established within
the former borders of
Yonkers

The consolidation of
the Bronx
into New York City
proceeded in
two stages

In 1873
the state legislature annexed
Kingsbridge
West Farms
and Morrisania
to New York

Effective in 1874
the three towns
were abolished
in the process

On January 1, 1898
the consolidated
City of New York
was born, including
the Bronx
as one of the five distinct
Boroughs

At the same time
the Bronx's territory moved from
Westchester County
into New York County
which already contained
Manhattan
and the rest of pre-1874
New York City

On April 19, 1912
those parts of
New York County
which had been annexed from
Westchester County
in the past decades
were newly constituted as
Bronx County
the 62nd and last county
to be created by the state
effective in 1914

Bronx County's courts
opened for business
on January 2, 1914
the same day that
John P. Mitchel
started work as Mayor of
New York City

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

First Day of Work - Details

You can see I didn't even spell check. Text is just place holder at this point. I may continue with the comic idea or drop it. I should probably know by tomorrow. I still have to sort out how to get the mapping element I want to manifest itself in the project.

I did two interviews today, some bus drivers, and also met someone from a nearby school.

I may post some of the text research here on the blog too.

First Day of Work - Full Views

I ended up choosing East wall of the first room to begin work. The North wall already had a fabric piece started and there were several works in the second room as well.

I had done a net search for the term "Bronx" and downloaded about 280 images. I posted 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper showing them as a series of thumbnails. I had also downloaded hundreds of pages of text researching the Bronx and the West Farms area where the Bronx River Art Center is located.

I selected nine of those texts and printed them out, and hung them on the wall.

I also experimented with creating a comic about the neighborhood and about the experience of creating the exhibit. I posted a 13" x 19" example on the wall as well.

All that may well change as I continue to work.

The Neighborhood

View from the subway platform at the BRAC stop.

General Meeting at JCAL

Bob Lee, Jose Ruiz, and Heng-Gil Han lay out the basic Idea for the multi institution Metro Poles Exhibit, for the participating artists, and explain how the approaches of each institution will differ.

First Viewing of the Space

Paul Chang-Jin and Marcy visiting BRAC. Asa had already stopped by.