Talk:The Bronx

Jacob Bronck? Whoever put that there, are you sure?? I always learned his name was Jonas Bronck. -BRG

Nobody's responded, and I've sen the name given as Joseph in another place. I've changed it to cite all these variants, and also put it into the "Bronx County" article. - BRG

One of the worst reputations for what? DanKeshet

Bronx County and Bronx are now the same article, because they talk about the same place. WhisperToMe 18:30, 8 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I don't agree with replacing "the Bronx" with "The Bronx." Common usage dicates that when talking about the Bronx in the middle of the sentence (like I just did in this sentence), "the" is not capitalized. This is the same as talking about the United States. I'm tempted to revert immediately, but would like some feedback first. --BaronLarf 22:42, Jan 3, 2005 (UTC)

My initial reaction was to agree with "The Bronx", but a few google searches changed my mind; I now agree with BaronLarf; it should be "the Bronx". All of the NY Times, the NYC Government, and the US Census bureau seem to use "the Bronx" (except, of course, at the beginning of a sentence). Try searching for "in the bronx" site:www.nyc.gov, for example. --RoySmith 00:45, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Move

Either have this at The Bronx or Bronx County, New York, not Bronx. --Jia ng 11:22, 3 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The Bronx Bombers

Hey Bletch, what on God's green earth is "inapropriate" about calling the Yankees the Bronx Bombers? It's a pretty common nickname that makes the point about where they actually play, a point rather relevant to this particular borough. I don't think anyone could really be confused by this, given that the caption is explicitly labelled "Yankee Stadium".--Pharos 04:16, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

If I weren't familiar with baseball, that caption would make me think that a team named the Bronx Bombers played in Yankee Stadium. Rhobite 04:35, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

Delete "See Also"

What do people think of the "See Also" section. I'm thinking most of the links don't really add much to the Bronx article and we could just delete the whole section. --RoySmith 17:04, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

South bronx fires

The article claims, "the destruction of nearly half of the buildings in the South Bronx". Does anybody have a reference for this difficult to believe statement?

200th Street?

Can some one clarify what that is all about or why its important? For someone not from NYC, this is a very odd way to start a section. --67.184.239.70 23:16, 19 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It is not important, even for someone from NYC. Can it be removed? Jd2718 04:54, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Poorest County?

"Though the Bronx's crime rate has plummeted in recent years, it was named as the poorest county in the United States in 2005."

This is at the start of the article. I'm almost certain it's untrue. Nach0king 19:32, 9 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

You are right. According to the United States Census Bureau data for 2003 (MS Excel format), Bronx county is 349th out of 3141 counties in the United States in median household income. Scanning thru the lowest 100, I could not find a single urban county. I doubt that the 2005 figures have been released (2003 is the most recent on census.gov), and even if they had, I can't imagine that it could have changed that dramatically. The statement in the article needs to go. I will remove it. --rogerd 20:41, 9 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Cool, thanks. I was pretty sure I'd read somewhere that it was some place in the Dakotas or Oklahoma that was poorest. I guess that was right. Nach0king 10:54, 10 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Bronx is not the poorest county, but it is very very poor, especially considering the region it is in. Some reference to the high poverty rate must be included. Would: "By many measures, the Bronx appears to be the poorest urban area in the United States." work? Here are some statistics that might help:

The Bronx is one of five counties in the US where over 30% of households consist of families headed by single women. Three of the five are Indian reservations in South Dakota; the fourth is Holmes County, Mississippi

The Bronx is the only county in the northeast quarter of the US (north of the Ohio River; east of the Great Plains) where more than 40% of children live in families below poverty (43.1% according to ACS 2004).

It is the only county in the same area where more than 30% of the populaton lives below the poverty line.

Congressional District 16 (entirely in The Bronx, covering most of the South Bronx) has the highest poverty rate in the US (40.2%; the next highest rate is 32.4%).

Congressional District 16 also has the highest proportion of children living below poverty (50.1%; the next highest is 42.2%), and the lowest median household income.

The data cited above was by county, and the poorest counties have small populations. There is nothing as poor as large as the Bronx in the United States. I have a secondary source using 2000 cnesus data and 2004 American Community Survey division of the Census Bureau data. I can source back to the raw data, if necy. Jd2718 05:09, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

C'est le Bronx???

"Bronx" has become synonymous with violent or messy areas. For instance, in casual French, "c'est le Bronx" stands for "what a mess." According to whom? Having studied in both France & Quebec I can say that slang french expressions are typically based of regional traditions, not american city boroughs. Have never heard this phrase before. --Katwmn6 21:53, 3 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Go ahead and delete it if you feel it is wrong. I also have not heard of that expression, but then again I don't speak French, and my only excursions outside of the U.S. have been to Niagara Falls, Ontario. --rogerd 22:49, 3 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

C'est le Bronx is a widely used expression in French when you wanna speak about a very violent city or neighborhood. I've heard and used this expression thousand of times, and I'm a French citizen, born and raised in Paris suburbs.

--Revas 20:38, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Only borough on US mainland?

If Manhattan borders and is contiguos with the Bronx, surely it is part of the mainland too. What am I missing? 81.98.89.195 02:16, 21 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The borough of Manhattan borders the Bronx but almost all of their border is along the Harlem River. The neighborhood of Marble Hill, however, is on the north (Bronx) side of the river, and receives, for example, fire and postal services from Bronx-based offices for reasons of convenience, but is legally considered part of Manhattan. The reason for this is explained in that article. However, Manhattan Island (the long, skinny island on which one finds lots of skyscrapers, Central Park, etc.) is an island. The borough of Manhattan consists of Manhattan Island, plus a few smaller nearby islands and Marble Hill. Izzycat 16:11, 23 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Canal

The reason that is, because of what happened after the US Civil War, The US Army Corps of Engineers carved a shortcut canal through the northern tip of Manhattan Island called the Harlem River Shipping Canal and the gooseneck part of the river was filled in and built upon. So now the north end of Manhattan Island was cutoff and fused to the Bronx, but it is still legally in New York County and not in Bronx County, OK?

69.121.69.166 21:04, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Redlining

The process is well-described --

"Another factor may have been the shift by insurance companies and banks to stop offering financial services to the Bronx and other working-class industrial areas (the "Rustbelt") in favor of the booming suburbs in "the Sunbelt"— a process known as redlining."

-- but the terms' "Rustbelt" and "Sunbelt" are not, afaik, used in the context of Bronx redlining. Is there a source for them? Jd2718 03:12, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Demographics

By using the census racial categories, the most identifiable aspect of Bronx demography is obscured: the Bronx is the second most Hispanic county on the eastern seaboard, the Bronx is the most Puerto Rican county outside of Puerto Rico itself. There are now 200,000 Dominicans living in the Bronx. The significant West Indian population is not mentioned at all. And the most prominent part of the section belongs to the bulleted list for 11% of the population with European origins. How about dumping the census racial data, and expanding the European origins list to encompass everybody (including Albanians)? Jd2718 05:33, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Transportation - Railroads

Relatively minor - How many lines service the Bronx? The Hudson line runs along the Harlem and Hudson Rivers. The tracks that run through the center of the Bronx carry trains destined for both the New Haven and the Harlem lines, but in the Bronx they run as one line. Should this be changed to two lines servicing the Bronx? Jd2718 06:02, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Transportation - Highways

The selection of three main expressways seems too limited. The Henry Hudson Parkway, the Major Deegan, the Bronx River Parkway, the Sheriden Expressway, the Cross Bronx Expressway, The New England Thruway, the Hutchinson River Parkway, and the Bruckner Expressway all run through the Bronx. Should they all go in? Jd2718 06:02, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it is probably best to cover all bases. — Larry V (talk) 06:50, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Transportation - Bridges

Should any/some/all bridges be included? The Bronx Whitestone Bridge and the Throgs Neck Bridge connect the Bronx to Queens, and carry high way traffic. The Triborough Bridge connects the Bronx to Queens and Manhattan, and carries highway traffic. There are eight or nine local bridges, carrying local vehicles and pedestrians, two more less prominent highway bridges (Henry Hudson Bridge and the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, and a few railroad bridges (4?). Jd2718 06:02, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

All bridges should probably be included, yes. — Larry V (talk) 06:51, 21 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Transportation - Roads - Can we remove the trivia?

Suggested edits:

Delete the 2nd paragraph. (200th street trivia)

Delete the 4th paragraph. (zip code trivia)

Replace the 1st paragraph with

The Bronx street grid is irregular. Much of the west Bronx follows the Manhattan street grid, and some of the streets are numbered. The west Bronx's hilly terrain, however, leaves a much freer street grid than Manhattan's tight gridiron. Because the street numbering carries over from upper Manhattan, the lowest numbered street in the Bronx is East 132 St. The east Bronx is considerably flatter and the street layout tends to be more regular. However only the Wakefield section picks up the numbered street grid.

Current 1st paragraph

Many of the Bronx's streets are numbered, but unlike the street numbering systems in Brooklyn and Queens, the Bronx's system is a continuation of the Manhattan street grid. Because of this, the lowest numbered street in the borough is 132nd Street in the South Bronx, and the highest is 263rd Street in Riverdale. The numbered street grid is far from regular, as some numbers are simply skipped altogether in certain locations; other neighborhoods have no numbered streets at all. The notion that the more "urban" neighborhoods are the ones with numbered streets is a broad generalization; while the more built-up western half of the borough which is closer to Manhattan is where the streets tend to be numbered, the wooded Fieldston section of Riverdale has numbered streets while blighted neighborhoods such as Hunts Point and Soundview do not.

Replace the 3rd pargraph with

Three major north-south thoroughfares run between Manhattan amd the Bronx: Third Avenue, Park Avenue, and Broadway. Other major north-south roads include the Grand Concourse, Jerome Avenue, Webster Avenue, and White Plains Road. Major east-west streets include Gun Hill Road, Fordham Road, Pelham Parkway, and Tremont Avenue. Many east-west streets are prefixed with either "East" or "West," to indicate on which side of Jerome Avenue they lie.

Current 3rd paragraph

Some north-south thoroughfares continue from Manhattan into the Bronx; examples include Third Avenue—above which the IRT Third Avenue Line once ran (in Manhattan until 1955 and in the Bronx until 1973)—Park Avenue, and Broadway. Other major roads, such as the Grand Concourse and Fordham Road, are located only in the Bronx. Like Manhattan, the streets are designated either "East" or "West," with the divider being Jerome Avenue (the divider in Manhattan is Fifth Avenue).

My writing is far from perfect, but some of this improvement is necessary Jd2718 01:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]