Bronx River Houses

Bronx River Houses is a low income public housing project in the Soundview section of The Bronx, New York City, New York. It consists of nine, 14-story buildings with 1,245 apartments. Completed February 28, 1951, the 13.94-acre (56,400 m²) Bronx development is bordered by East 174th Street, Harrod, and Bronx River Avenues. Bronx River Houses is home to 3,025 residents. The project is patrolled by P.S.A. 8 located at 2794 Randall Avenue in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx.

Expansion

Bronx River Addition two senior only buildings, 6 and 14-stories tall with 225 apartments. Completed February 28, 1966, the 1.43-acre (5,800 m²) Bronx development is bordered by East 172nd and East 174th Streets and Manor and Harrod Avenues. Bronx River Addition is home to 232 residents.

History

Bronx River Houses was built to provide temporary housing to working class families. In just a few years crime and decay began to plague the development as more and more generationally poor families moved in. This eventually had an effect on the surrounding community and led to White flight and abandonment. Today violent crime is still a serious problem in the Bronx River Houses and the surrounding community.

Until the late 1990s the Bronx River Houses served as the worldwide ground zero for Hip-Hop culture. In the mid-1990' the Giuliani administration used the NYPD to drive the Zulu Nation out of the Bronx River Houses after defining them as a gang. The Bronx River Houses were the first housing projects in the country to put under 24 hour police watch and have their common areas redesigned so that the entire housing project would be watched by cameras. Famous Hip-Hop musicians from the Bronx River Houses include Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Jazzy Jay, Sean Perry, Afrika Islam, the Soul Sonic Force and Fernando "Royal" Singleton. DJ Red Alert also got his start in the Bronx River Houses.

Demographics

The development is almost entirely African American and Puerto Rican.