The Bronx - Wikipedia The Bronx `` Bronx '' redirects here. For other uses, see Bronx ( disambiguation ). The Bronx Bronx County Borough of New York City County of New York State Yankee Stadium ( center ), Bronx County Courthouse and the Grand Concourse towards the top. To the right of the current stadium is the site of its predecessor. Flag Seal Motto ( s ) : Ne cede malis -- `` Yield Not To Evil '' ( lit. `` Yield Not to Evil Things '' ) Location of the Bronx, shown in red, in New York City Coordinates : 40 ° 50 ′ 14 '' N 73 ° 53 ′ 10 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 40.83722 ° N 73.88611 ° W ﻿ / 40.83722 ; - 73.88611 Coordinates : 40 ° 50 ′ 14 '' N 73 ° 53 ′ 10 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 40.83722 ° N 73.88611 ° W ﻿ / 40.83722 ; - 73.88611 Country United States of America State New York County Bronx ( Coterminous ) City New York City Borough created 1898 ( County in 1914 ) Named for Jonas Bronck Government Type Borough ( New York City ) Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. ( D ) -- ( Borough of the Bronx ) District Attorney Darcel Clark -- ( Bronx County ) Area Total 57 sq mi ( 150 km ) Land 42 sq mi ( 110 km ) Water 15 sq mi ( 40 km ) 27 % Highest elevation 280 ft ( 90 m ) Population ( 2017 ) Total 1,471,160 Density 35,027.6 / sq mi ( 13,524.2 / km ) Time zone Eastern Standard Time ( North America ) ( UTC − 05 : 00 ) Summer ( DST ) Eastern Daylight Time ( UTC − 04 : 00 ) ZIP Code prefix 104 Area code ( s ) 718 / 347 / 929, 917 Website Official website of the Bronx Borough President The Bronx ( / brɒŋks / ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. It is south of Westchester County ; north and east of Manhattan, across the Harlem River ; and north of Queens, across the East River. Since 1914, the borough has had the same boundaries as Bronx County, the third-most densely populated county in the United States. The Bronx has a land area of 42 square miles ( 109 km ) and a population of 1,471,160 in 2017. Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth - largest area, fourth - highest population, and third - highest population density. It is the only borough predominantly on the U.S. mainland. The Bronx is divided by the Bronx River into a hillier section in the west, and a flatter eastern section. East and west street names are divided by Jerome Avenue -- the continuation of Manhattan 's Fifth Avenue. The West Bronx was annexed to New York City in 1874, and the areas east of the Bronx River in 1895. Bronx County was separated from New York County in 1914. About a quarter of the Bronx 's area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Bronx Zoo in the borough 's north and center. These open spaces are situated primarily on land deliberately reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north and east from Manhattan. The name `` Bronx '' originated with Jonas Bronck, who established the first settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639. The native Lenape were displaced after 1643 by settlers. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bronx received many immigrant and migrant groups as it was transformed into an urban community, first from various European countries ( particularly Ireland, Germany, and Italy ) and later from the Caribbean region ( particularly Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic ), as well as African American migrants from the southern United States. This cultural mix has made the Bronx a wellspring of Latin music hip hop and rock. The Bronx contains one of the five poorest Congressional Districts in the United States, the 15th, but its wide diversity also includes affluent, upper - income and middle - income neighborhoods such as Riverdale, Fieldston, Spuyten Duyvil, Schuylerville, Pelham Bay, Pelham Gardens, Morris Park, and Country Club. The Bronx, particularly the South Bronx, saw a sharp decline in population, livable housing, and the quality of life in the late 1960s and the 1970s, culminating in a wave of arson. Since then the communities have shown significant redevelopment starting in the late 1980s before picking up pace from the 1990s until today. Contents 1 Etymology and naming 1.1 Early names 1.2 Use of definite article 2 History 2.1 Before 1914 2.2 After 1914 2.2. 1 New York City expands 2.2. 2 Decline 2.3 Revitalization 3 Geography 3.1 Location and physical features 3.2 Parks and open space 3.3 Neighborhoods 3.3. 1 East Bronx 3.3. 1.1 City Island and Hart Island 3.3. 2 West Bronx 3.3. 2.1 Northwestern Bronx 3.3. 2.2 South Bronx 3.4 Adjacent counties 4 Transportation 4.1 Roads and streets 4.1. 1 Surface streets 4.1. 2 Highways 4.1. 3 Bridges and tunnels 4.2 Mass transit 5 Demographics 5.1 Race, ethnicity, language, and immigration 5.1. 1 2013 estimates 5.1. 2 2010 Census 5.1. 3 2009 Community Survey 5.1. 4 Older estimates 5.2 Population and housing 5.3 Individual and household income 6 Government and politics 6.1 Local government 6.2 Representatives in the U.S. Congress 6.3 Votes for other offices 7 Economy 7.1 Shopping districts 8 Education 8.1 Educational attainment 8.2 High schools 8.3 Colleges and universities 9 Culture and institutions 9.1 Culture 9.1. 1 Founding of hip - hop 9.1. 2 Sports 9.1. 3 Off - Off - Broadway 9.1. 4 Arts 9.1. 5 Maritime heritage 9.2 Press and broadcasting 9.2. 1 Newspapers 9.2. 2 Radio and television 10 In popular culture 10.1 Film and television 10.1. 1 Mid-20th century 10.1. 2 As a symbolism 10.1. 3 As a setting 10.2 In literature 10.2. 1 Books 10.2. 2 Poetry 10.2. 3 Bronx Memoir Project 10.3 In songs 11 See also 12 References 12.1 Notes 12.2 Citations 12.3 Further reading 13 External links New York City 's five boroughs Jurisdiction Population Land area Density Borough County Estimate ( 2016 ) square miles square km persons / sq. mi persons / sq. km Manhattan New York 1,643,734 22.83 59.1 72,033 27,826 The Bronx Bronx 1,455,720 42 110 34,653 13,231 Brooklyn Kings 2,629,150 71 180 37,137 14,649 Queens Queens 2,333,054 109 280 21,460 8,354 Staten Island Richmond 476,015 58.5 152 8,112 3,132 City of New York 8,537,673 303.33 781.1 28,188 10,947 State of New York 19,745,289 47,214 122,284 416.4 159 Sources : see individual borough articles Etymology and naming Early names Map of the Bronx in 1867 The Bronx was called Rananchqua by the native Siwanoy band of Lenape ( also known historically as the Delawares ), while other Native Americans knew the Bronx as Keskeskeck. It was divided by the Aquahung River. The origin of Jonas Bronck ( c. 1600 -- 43 ) is contested. Some sources claim he was a Swedish born emigrant from Komstad, Norra Ljunga parish in Småland, Sweden, who arrived in New Netherland during the spring of 1639. Bronck became the first recorded European settler in the area now known as the Bronx and built a farm named `` Emmanus '' close to what today is the corner of Willis Avenue and 132nd Street in Mott Haven. He leased land from the Dutch West India Company on the neck of the mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement in Harlem ( on Manhattan Island ), and bought additional tracts from the local tribes. He eventually accumulated 500 acres ( 200 ha ) between the Harlem River and the Aquahung, which became known as Bronck 's River or the Bronx ( River ). Dutch and English settlers referred to the area as Bronck 's Land. The American poet William Bronk was a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Bronck 's son or his younger brother. More recent research indicates that Pieter was probably Jonas ' nephew or cousin, but certainly of the same family. Use of definite article The Bronx is referred to with the definite article as `` The Bronx '', both legally and colloquially. The County of Bronx does not place `` The '' immediately before `` Bronx '' in formal references, unlike the coextensive Borough of the Bronx, nor does the United States Postal Service in its database of Bronx addresses ( the city and state mailing - address format is simply `` Bronx, NY '' ). The region was apparently named after the Bronx River and first appeared in the `` Annexed District of The Bronx '' created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County. It was continued in the `` Borough of The Bronx '', which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1898. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. Another explanation for the use of the definite article in the borough 's name is that the original form of the name was a possessive or collective one referring to the family, as in visiting `` the Broncks '', `` the Bronck 's '', or `` the Broncks ' ''. The capitalization of The Bronx 's name is sometimes disputed. Generally, the definite article is lowercase in place names ( `` the Bronx '' ) except in official references to the borough. It would be capitalized ( `` The Bronx '' ) at the beginning of a sentence or in any other situation when a normally lowercase word would be capitalized. However, some people and groups refer to the borough with a capital letter at all times, such as Lloyd Ultan, a Bronx County Historical Society historian, and the Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx, a Bronx - based organization. These people say that the definite article is part of the proper name. In particular, the Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx is leading efforts to make the city refer to the borough with an uppercase definite article in all uses, comparing the lowercase article in The Bronx 's name to `` not capitalizing the ' s ' in ' Staten Island. ' '' History See also : Timeline of the Bronx European colonization of the Bronx began in 1639. The Bronx was originally part of Westchester County, but it was ceded to New York County in two major parts ( West Bronx, 1874 and East Bronx, 1895 ) before it became Bronx County. Originally, the area was part of the Lenape 's Lenapehoking territory inhabited by Siwanoy of the Wappinger Confederacy. Over time, European colonists converted the borough into farmlands. Before 1914 See also : List of former municipalities in New York City 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. The King 's Bridge, built in 1693 where Broadway reached the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, was a possession of Frederick Philipse, lord of Philipse Manor. The tolls were resented by local farmers on both sides of the creek, and in 1759, Jacobus Dyckman and Benjamin Palmer led them into building a free bridge across the Harlem River. After the American Revolutionary War, the King 's Bridge toll was abolished. 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 in Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In 1846, a new town was created by division of Westchester, called West Farms. The town of Morrisania was created, in turn, from West Farms in 1855. In 1873, the town of Kingsbridge was established within the former borders of Yonkers, roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale, and Woodlawn. Among famous settlers in the Bronx during the 19th and early 20th centuries were author Willa Cather, tobacco merchant Pierre Lorillard, and inventor Jordan L. Mott, who established Mott Haven to house the workers at his iron works. 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 soon abolished in the process. The whole territory east of the Bronx River was annexed to the city in 1895, three years before New York 's consolidation with Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. This included the Town of Westchester ( which had voted against consolidation in 1894 ) and portions of Eastchester and Pelham. The nautical community of City Island voted to join the city in 1896. 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 ). Marble Hill, Manhattan was now connected to the Bronx, but it did not become part of that county by a historical accident due to changes in waterways. After 1914 Bronx residents born abroad or overseas, 1930 and 2000 1930 United States Census 2000 United States Census Total population of the Bronx 1,265,258 Total population of the Bronx 1,332,650 All born abroad or overseas 524,410 39.4 % Puerto Rico 126,649 9.5 % Foreign - born Whites 477,342 37.7 % All foreign - born 385,827 29.0 % White persons born in Russia 135,210 10.7 % Dominican Republic 124,032 9.3 % White persons born in Italy 67,732 5.4 % Jamaica 51,120 3.8 % White persons born in Poland 55,969 4.4 % Mexico 20,962 1.6 % White persons born in Germany 43,349 3.4 % Guyana 14,868 1.1 % White persons born in the Irish Free State 34,538 2.7 % Ecuador 14,800 1.1 % Other foreign birthplaces of Whites 140,544 11.1 % Other foreign birthplaces 160,045 12.0 % † the 26 counties now within the Republic of Ireland ‡ beyond the 50 states & District of Columbia The history of the Bronx during the 20th century may be divided into four periods : a boom period during 1900 -- 29, with a population growth by a factor of six from 200,000 in 1900 to 1.3 million in 1930. The Great Depression and post World War II years saw a slowing of growth leading into an eventual decline. The mid to late century were hard times, as the Bronx declined 1950 -- 85 from a predominantly moderate - income to a predominantly lower - income area with high rates of violent crime and poverty. The Bronx has experienced an economic and developmental resurgence starting in the late 1980s that continues into today. New York City expands Grand Concourse and 161st Street as it appeared around 1900 The Bronx was a mostly rural area for many generations, small farms supplying the city markets, but it grew into a railroad suburb in the late 19th century. Faster transportation enabled rapid population growth in the late 19th century, involving the move from horse - drawn street cars to elevated railways and the subway system, which linked to Manhattan in 1904. The South Bronx was a manufacturing center for many years and was noted as a center of piano manufacturing in the early part of the 20th century. In 1919, the Bronx was the site of 63 piano factories employing more than 5,000 workers. At the end of World War I, the Bronx hosted the rather small 1918 World 's Fair at 177th Street and DeVoe Avenue. The Bronx underwent rapid urban growth after World War I. Extensions of the New York City subway contributed to the increase in population as thousands of immigrants came to the Bronx, resulting in a major boom in residential construction. Among these groups, many Irish Americans, Italian Americans, and especially Jewish Americans settled here. In addition, French, German, Polish, and other immigrants moved into the borough. The Jewish population also increased notably during this time. In 1937, 592,185 Jews lived in The Bronx ( 43.9 % of the borough 's population ), while only 54,000 Jews lived in the borough in 2011. Many synagogues still stand in the Bronx, but most have been converted to other uses. Decline Bootleggers and gangs were active in the Bronx during Prohibition ( 1920 -- 33 ). Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish gangs smuggled in most of the illegal whiskey, and the oldest sections of the borough became poverty - stricken. Between 1930 and 1960, moderate and upper income Bronxites ( predominantly non-Hispanic Whites ) began to relocate from the southwestern neighborhoods of the borough. This migration has left a mostly poor African American and Hispanic ( largely Puerto Rican ) population in the West Bronx. One significant factor that shifted the racial and economic demographics was the construction of Co-op City, built with the intent of housing middle - class residents in family - sized apartments. The high - rise complex played a significant role in draining middle - class residents from older tenement buildings in the borough 's southern and western fringes. Most predominantly non-Hispanic White communities today are located in the eastern and northwestern sections of the borough. From the early 1960s to the early 1980s, the quality of life declined sharply for many Bronx residents. Historians and social scientists have suggested many factors, including the theory that Robert Moses ' Cross Bronx Expressway destroyed existing residential neighborhoods and created instant slums, as put forward in Robert Caro 's biography The Power Broker. Another factor in the Bronx 's decline may have been the development of high - rise housing projects, particularly in the South Bronx. Yet another factor may have been a reduction in the real estate listings and property - related financial services offered in some areas of the Bronx, such as mortgage loans or insurance policies -- a process known as redlining. Others have suggested a `` planned shrinkage '' of municipal services, such as fire - fighting. There was also much debate as to whether rent control laws had made it less profitable ( or more costly ) for landlords to maintain existing buildings with their existing tenants than to abandon or destroy those buildings. In the 1970s, the Bronx was plagued by a wave of arson. The burning of buildings was predominantly in the poorest communities, such as the South Bronx. One explanation of what occurred was that landlords decided to burn their low property - value buildings and take the insurance money, as it was more lucrative to get insurance money than to refurbish or sell a building in a severely distressed area. The Bronx became identified with a high rate of poverty and unemployment, which was mainly a persistent problem in the South Bronx. Out of 289 census tracts in the Bronx borough, 7 tracts lost more than 97 % of their buildings to fire and abandonment between 1970 and 1980 ; another 44 tracts had more than 50 % of their buildings meet the same fate. By the early 1980s, the South Bronx was considered one of the most blighted urban areas in the country, with a loss of 60 % of the population and 40 % of housing units. However, starting in the 1990s, many burned - out and run - down tenements were replaced by multi-unit housing. Revitalization Row houses on a location where there was once burnt rubble. The Bronx has seen an increase in revitalization in recent years. Since the late 1980s, significant development has occurred in the Bronx, first stimulated by the city 's `` Ten - Year Housing Plan '' and community members working to rebuild the social, economic and environmental infrastructure by creating affordable housing. Groups affiliated with churches in the South Bronx erected the Nehemiah Homes with about 1,000 units. The grass roots organization Nos Quedamos ' endeavor known as Melrose Commons began to rebuild areas in the South Bronx. The IRT White Plains Road Line ( 2 and ​ 5 trains ) began to show an increase in riders. Chains such as Marshalls, Staples, and Target opened stores in the Bronx. More bank branches opened in the Bronx as a whole ( rising from 106 in 1997 to 149 in 2007 ), although not primarily in poor or minority neighborhoods, while the Bronx still has fewer branches per person than other boroughs. In 1997, the Bronx was designated an All America City by the National Civic League, acknowledging its comeback from the decline of the mid-century. In 2006, The New York Times reported that `` construction cranes have become the borough 's new visual metaphor, replacing the window decals of the 1980s in which pictures of potted plants and drawn curtains were placed in the windows of abandoned buildings. '' The borough has experienced substantial new building construction since 2002. Between 2002 and June 2007, 33,687 new units of housing were built or were under way and $4.8 billion has been invested in new housing. In the first six months of 2007 alone total investment in new residential development was $965 million and 5,187 residential units were scheduled to be completed. Much of the new development is springing up in formerly vacant lots across the South Bronx. In addition, there is a revitalization of the existing housing market in areas such as Hunts Point, the Lower Concourse, and the neighborhoods surrounding the Third Avenue Bridge as people buy apartments and renovate them. Several boutique and chain hotels have opened in recent years in the South Bronx. New developments are underway. The Bronx General Post Office on the corner of the Grand Concourse and East 149th Street is being converted into a market place, boutiques, restaurants and office space with a USPS concession. The Kingsbridge Armory, often cited as the largest armory in the world, is scheduled for redevelopment as the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. Under consideration for future development is the construction of a platform over the New York City subway 's Concourse Yard adjacent to Lehman College. The construction would permit approximately 2,000,000 square feet ( 190,000 m ) of development and would cost US $350 -- 500 million. In addition, a La Quinta Inn has been proposed for the Mott Haven waterfront. Geography Main article : Geography of New York City Location and physical features New York Times 1896 map of parks and transit in the newly annexed Bronx. Marble Hill is in pink, cut off by water from the rest of Manhattan in orange. Parks are light green, Woodlawn Cemetery medium green, sports facilities dark green, the not - yet - built Jerome Park Reservoir light blue, St. John 's College ( now Fordham University ) in violet, and the city limits of the newly expanded New York in red. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bronx County has a total area of 57 square miles ( 150 km ), of which 42 square miles ( 110 km ) is land and 15 square miles ( 39 km ) ( 27 % ) is water. The Bronx is the only part of New York City that is almost entirely situated on the North American mainland. Its bedrock is primarily Fordham gneiss, a high - grade heavily banded metamorphic rock containing significant amounts of pink feldspar. Marble Hill -- politically part of Manhattan but now physically attached to the Bronx -- is so - called because of the formation of Inwood marble there as well as in Inwood, Manhattan and parts of the Bronx and Westchester County. The Hudson River separates the Bronx on the west from Alpine, Tenafly and Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, New Jersey ; the Harlem River separates it from the island of Manhattan to the southwest ; the East River separates it from Queens to the southeast ; and to the east, Long Island Sound separates it from Nassau County in western Long Island. Directly north of the Bronx are ( from west to east ) the adjoining Westchester County communities of Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Pelham Manor and New Rochelle. ( There is also a short southern land boundary with Marble Hill in the Borough of Manhattan, over the filled - in former course of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. Marble Hill 's postal ZIP code, telephonic area codes and fire service, however, are shared with the Bronx and not Manhattan. ) The Bronx River flows south from Westchester County through the borough, emptying into the East River ; it is the only entirely freshwater river in New York City. A smaller river, the Hutchinson River ( named after the religious leader Anne Hutchinson, killed along its banks in 1641 ), passes through the East Bronx and empties into Eastchester Bay. The Bronx also includes several small islands in the East River and Long Island Sound, such as City Island and Hart Island. Rikers Island in the East River, home to the large jail complex for the entire city, is also part of the Bronx. See also : List of smaller islands in New York City The Bronx 's highest elevation at 280 feet ( 85 m ) is in the northwest corner, west of Van Cortlandt Park and in the Chapel Farm area near the Riverdale Country School. The opposite ( southeastern ) side of the Bronx has four large low peninsulas or `` necks '' of low - lying land that jut into the waters of the East River and were once salt marsh : Hunt 's Point, Clason 's Point, Screvin 's Neck and Throggs Neck. Further up the coastline, Rodman 's Neck lies between Pelham Bay Park in the northeast and City Island. The Bronx 's irregular shoreline extends for 75 square miles ( 194 km ). Parks and open space See also : Category : Parks in the Bronx Sample of Bronx open spaces and parks Acquired Name acres mi hectares 1863 Woodlawn Cemetery 400 0.6 162 1888 Pelham Bay Park 2,764 4.3 1,119 Van Cortlandt Park 1,146 1.8 464 Bronx Park 718 1.1 291 Crotona Park 128 0.2 52 St. Mary 's Park 35 0.05 14 1890 Jerome Park Reservoir 94 0.15 38 1897 St. James Park 11 0.02 4.6 1899 Macombs Dam Park † 28 0.04 12 1909 Henry Hudson Park 9 0.01 1937 Ferry Point Park 414 0.65 168 Soundview Park 196 0.31 79 1962 Wave Hill 21 0.03 8.5 Land area of the Bronx in 2000 26,897 42.0 10,885 Water area 9,855 15.4 3,988 Total area 36,752 57.4 14,873 † closed in 2007 to build a new park & Yankee Stadium Main source : New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Although Bronx County was the third most densely populated county in the United States as of 2006 ( after Manhattan and Brooklyn ), 7,000 acres ( 28 km ) of the Bronx -- about one - fifth of the Bronx 's area, and one - quarter of its land area -- is given over to parkland. The vision of a system of major Bronx parks connected by park - like thoroughfares is usually attributed to John Mullaly. Woodlawn Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries in New York City, sits on the western bank of the Bronx River near Yonkers. It opened in 1863, at a time when the Bronx was still considered a rural area. The northern side of the borough includes the largest park in New York City -- Pelham Bay Park, which includes Orchard Beach -- and the third - largest, Van Cortlandt Park, which is west of Woodlawn Cemetery and borders Yonkers. Also in the northern Bronx, Wave Hill, the former estate of George W. Perkins -- known for a historic house, gardens, changing site - specific art installations and concerts -- overlooks the New Jersey Palisades from a promontory on the Hudson in Riverdale. Nearer the borough 's center, and along the Bronx River, is Bronx Park ; its northern end houses the New York Botanical Gardens, which preserve the last patch of the original hemlock forest that once covered the entire county, and its southern end the Bronx Zoo, the largest urban zoological gardens in the United States. Just south of Van Cortlandt Park is the Jerome Park Reservoir, surrounded by 2 miles ( 3 km ) of stone walls and bordering several small parks in the Bedford Park neighborhood ; the reservoir was built in the 1890s on the site of the former Jerome Park Racetrack. Further south is Crotona Park, home to a 3.3 - acre ( 1.3 ha ) lake, 28 species of trees, and a large swimming pool. The land for these parks, and many others, was bought by New York City in 1888, while land was still open and inexpensive, in anticipation of future needs and future pressures for development. Some of the acquired land was set aside for the Grand Concourse and Pelham Parkway, the first of a series of boulevards and parkways ( thoroughfares lined with trees, vegetation and greenery ). Later projects included the Bronx River Parkway, which developed a road while restoring the riverbank and reducing pollution, Mosholu Parkway and the Henry Hudson Parkway. Northern tip of Hunter Island in Pelham Bay Park In 2006, a five - year, $220 - million program of capital improvements and natural restoration in 70 Bronx parks was begun ( financed by water and sewer revenues ) as part of an agreement that allowed a water filtration plant under Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park. One major focus is on opening more of the Bronx River 's banks and restoring them to a natural state. Neighborhoods This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2016 ) See also : List of Bronx neighborhoods, Bronx Community Board, and Timeline of town creation in Downstate New York The number, locations, and boundaries of the Bronx 's neighborhoods ( many of them sitting on the sites of 19th - century villages ) have become unclear with time and successive waves of newcomers. In 2006, Manny Fernandez of The New York Times wrote, According to a Department of City Planning map of the city 's neighborhoods, the Bronx has 49. The map publisher Hagstrom identifies 69. The borough president, Adolfo Carrión Jr., says 61. The Mayor 's Community Assistance Unit, in a listing of the borough 's community boards, names 68. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, lists 44. Notable Bronx neighborhoods include the South Bronx ; Little Italy on Arthur Avenue in the Belmont section ; and Riverdale. East Bronx Main article : East Bronx ( Bronx Community Boards 9 ( south central ), 10 ( east ), 11 ( east central ) and 12 ( north central ) ) The neighborhood of Co-op City is the largest cooperative housing development in the world. East of the Bronx River, the borough is relatively flat and includes four large low peninsulas, or ' necks, ' of low - lying land which jut into the waters of the East River and were once saltmarsh : Hunts Point, Clason 's Point, Screvin 's Neck ( Castle Hill Point ) and Throgs Neck. The East Bronx has older tenement buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multifamily homes, as well as single family homes. It includes New York City 's largest park : Pelham Bay Park along the Westchester - Bronx border. Neighborhoods include : Clason 's Point, Harding Park, Soundview, Castle Hill, Parkchester ( Board 9 ) ; Throggs Neck, Country Club, City Island, Pelham Bay, Edgewater Park, Co-op City ( Board 10 ) ; Westchester Square, Van Nest, Pelham Parkway, Morris Park ( Board 11 ) ; Williamsbridge, Eastchester, Baychester, Edenwald and Wakefield ( Board 12 ). City Island and Hart Island Main articles : City Island, Bronx and Hart Island, New York A sunken boat off the shore of City Island. ( Bronx Community Board 10 ) City Island is located east of Pelham Bay Park in Long Island Sound and is known for its seafood restaurants and private waterfront homes. City Island 's single shopping street, City Island Avenue, is reminiscent of a small New England town. It is connected to Rodman 's Neck on the mainland by the City Island Bridge. East of City Island is Hart Island, which is uninhabited and not open to the public. It once served as a prison and now houses New York City 's potter 's field for unclaimed bodies. West Bronx Main article : West Bronx Grand Concourse at East 165th Street ( Bronx Community Boards 1 to 8, progressing roughly from south to northwest ) The western parts of the Bronx are hillier and are dominated by a series of parallel ridges, running south to north. The West Bronx has older apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, multifamily homes in its lower income areas as well as larger single family homes in more affluent areas such as Riverdale and Fieldston. It includes New York City 's third - largest park : Van Cortlandt Park along the Westchester - Bronx border. The Grand Concourse, a wide boulevard, runs through it, north to south. Northwestern Bronx ( Bronx Community Boards 7 ( between the Bronx and Harlem Rivers ) and 8 ( facing the Hudson River ) -- plus part of Board 12 ) Neighborhoods include : Fordham - Bedford, Bedford Park, Norwood, Kingsbridge Heights ( Board 7 ), Kingsbridge, Riverdale ( Board 8 ), and Woodlawn ( Board 12 ). ( Marble Hill, Manhattan is now connected by land to the Bronx rather than Manhattan and is served by Bronx Community Board 8. ) South Bronx Main article : South Bronx ( Bronx Community Boards 1 to 6 plus part of Board 7 -- progressing northwards, Boards 2, 3 and 6 border the Bronx River from its mouth to Bronx Park, while 1, 4, 5 and 7 face Manhattan across the Harlem River ) Like other neighborhoods in New York City, the South Bronx has no official boundaries. The name has been used to represent poverty in the Bronx and is applied to progressively more northern places so that by the 2000s, Fordham Road was often used as a northern limit. The Bronx River more consistently forms an eastern boundary. The South Bronx has many high - density apartment buildings, low income public housing complexes, and multi-unit homes. The South Bronx is home to the Bronx County Courthouse, Borough Hall, and other government buildings, as well as Yankee Stadium. The Cross Bronx Expressway bisects it, east to west. The South Bronx has some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, as well as very high crime areas. Neighborhoods include : The Hub ( a retail district at Third Avenue and East 149th Street ), Port Morris, Mott Haven ( Board 1 ), Melrose ( Board 1 & Board 3 ), Morrisania, East Morrisania ( also known as Crotona Park East ) ( Board 3 ), Hunts Point, Longwood ( Board 2 ), Highbridge, Concourse ( Board 4 ), West Farms, Belmont, East Tremont ( Board 6 ), Tremont, Morris Heights ( Board 5 ), University Heights. ( Board 5 & Board 7 ). Adjacent counties The Bronx adjoins : Westchester County -- north Nassau County, New York -- southeast ( across the East River ) Queens County, New York ( Queens ) -- south ( across the East River ) New York County, New York ( Manhattan ) -- southwest Bergen County, New Jersey -- west ( across the Hudson River ) Transportation See also : Transportation in New York City Roads and streets Bronx -- Whitestone Bridge Surface streets The Bronx street grid is irregular. Like the northernmost part of upper Manhattan, the West Bronx 's hilly terrain leaves a relatively free - style street grid. Much of the West Bronx 's street numbering carries over from upper Manhattan, but does not match it exactly ; East 132nd Street is the lowest numbered street in the Bronx. This dates from the mid-19th century when the southwestern area of Westchester County west of the Bronx River, was incorporated into New York City and known as the Northside. The East Bronx is considerably flatter, and the street layout tends to be more regular. Only the Wakefield neighborhood picks up the street numbering, albeit at a misalignment due to Tremont Avenue 's layout. At the same diagonal latitude, West 262nd Street in Riverdale matches East 237th Street in Wakefield. Three major north - south thoroughfares run between Manhattan and the Bronx : Third Avenue, Park Avenue, and Broadway. Other major north - south roads include the Grand Concourse, Jerome Avenue, Sedgwick Avenue, Webster Avenue, and White Plains Road. Major east - west thoroughfares include Mosholu Parkway, Gun Hill Road, Fordham Road, Pelham Parkway, and Tremont Avenue. Most east - west streets are prefixed with either East or West, to indicate on which side of Jerome Avenue they lie ( continuing the similar system in Manhattan, which uses Fifth Avenue as the dividing line ). The historic Boston Post Road, part of the long pre-revolutionary road connecting Boston with other northeastern cities, runs east - west in some places, and sometimes northeast - southwest. Mosholu and Pelham Parkways, with Bronx Park between them, Van Cortlandt Park to the west and Pelham Bay Park to the east, are also linked by bridle paths. As of the 2000 Census, approximately 61.6 % of all Bronx households do not have access to a car. Citywide, the percentage of autoless households is 55 %. Highways Several major limited access highways traverse the Bronx. These include : the Bronx River Parkway the Bruckner Expressway ( I - 278 / I - 95 ) the Cross Bronx Expressway ( I - 95 / I - 295 ) the New England Thruway ( I - 95 ) the Henry Hudson Parkway ( NY - 9A ) the Hutchinson River Parkway the Major Deegan Expressway ( I - 87 ) Bridges and tunnels An aerial view of the Throgs Neck Bridge Thirteen bridges and three tunnels connect the Bronx to Manhattan, and three bridges connect the Bronx to Queens. These are, from west to east : To Manhattan : the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Broadway Bridge, the University Heights Bridge, the Washington Bridge, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, the High Bridge, the Concourse Tunnel, the Macombs Dam Bridge, the 145th Street Bridge, the 149th Street Tunnel, the Madison Avenue Bridge, the Park Avenue Bridge, the Lexington Avenue Tunnel, the Third Avenue Bridge ( southbound traffic only ), and the Willis Avenue Bridge ( northbound traffic only ). To both Manhattan and Queens : the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, formerly known as the Triborough Bridge. To Queens : the Bronx -- Whitestone Bridge and the Throgs Neck Bridge. Mass transit Middletown Road subway station on the 6 and < 6 > ​ trains NYC Transit bus operating on the Bx40 route in University Heights The Bronx is served by seven New York City subway services along six physical lines, with 70 stations in the Bronx : IND Concourse Line ( B and ​ D trains ) IRT Broadway -- Seventh Avenue Line ( 1 train ) IRT Dyre Avenue Line ( 2 and ​ 5 trains ) IRT Jerome Avenue Line ( 4 train ) IRT Pelham Line ( 6 and < 6 > ​ trains ) IRT White Plains Road Line ( 2 and ​ 5 trains ) There are also many MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes in the Bronx. This includes local and express routes as well as Bee - Line Bus System routes. Two Metro - North Railroad commuter rail lines ( the Harlem Line and the Hudson Line ) serve 11 stations in the Bronx. ( Marble Hill, between the Spuyten Duyvil and University Heights stations, is actually in the only part of Manhattan connected to the mainland. ) In addition, trains serving the New Haven Line stop at Fordham Road. Demographics Main article : Demographics of the Bronx Race, ethnicity, language, and immigration See also : List of people from the Bronx 2013 estimates Racial / ethnic concentrations within the Bronx, by block. ( Red indicates Hispanic of any race ; Blue indicates non-Hispanic White ; and Green indicates non-Hispanic Black or African - American. ) Racial composition 2013 1990 1970 1940 White 45.8 % 35.7 % 73.4 % 98.3 % -- Non-Hispanic 10.5 % 22.6 % n / a n / a Black or African American 43.3 % 37.3 % 24.3 % 1.7 % Hispanic or Latino ( of any race ) 54.6 % 43.5 % 27.7 % n / a Asian 4.2 % 3.0 % 0.5 % 0.1 % Other race N / A 23.5 % 1.6 % ( X ) According to a 2013 Census Bureau estimate, 45.8 % of the Bronx 's population was white, 43.3 % was black or African American, 4.2 % Asian, 3.0 % American Indian, 0.4 % Pacific Islander, and 3.3 % of two or more races. In addition, 54.6 % of the population was of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race. The Census Bureau considers the Bronx to be the most diverse area in the country. There is an 89.7 percent chance that any two residents, chosen at random, would be of different race or ethnicity. The borough 's most populous racial group, white, declined from 98.3 % in 1940 to 45.8 % in 2013. 31.7 % of the population were foreign born and another 8.9 % were born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parents. 55.6 % spoke a language other than English at home and 16.4 % had a bachelor 's degree or higher. Approximately 44.3 % of the population over the age of five spoke only English at home, which is roughly 570,000 people. The majority ( 55.7 % ) of the population spoke a language other than English at home. Over 580,600 people ( 45.2 % of the population ) spoke Spanish at home. 2010 Census Historical population Census Pop. % ± 1790 1,781 -- 1800 1,755 − 1.5 % 1810 2,267 29.2 % 1820 2,782 22.7 % 1830 3,023 8.7 % 1840 5,346 76.8 % 1850 8,032 50.2 % 1860 23,593 193.7 % 1870 37,393 58.5 % 1880 51,980 39.0 % 1890 88,908 71.0 % 1900 200,507 125.5 % 1910 430,980 114.9 % 1920 732,016 69.8 % 1930 1,265,258 72.8 % 1940 1,394,711 10.2 % 1950 1,451,277 4.1 % 1960 1,424,815 − 1.8 % 1970 1,471,701 3.3 % 1980 1,168,972 − 20.6 % 1990 1,203,789 3.0 % 2000 1,332,650 10.7 % 1,385,108 3.9 % Est. 2017 1,471,160 6.2 % Sources : 1790 -- 1990 ; According to the 2010 Census, 53.5 % of Bronx 's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin ( they may be of any race ) ; 30.1 % non-Hispanic Black or African American, 10.9 % of the population was non-Hispanic White, 3.4 % non-Hispanic Asian, 0.6 % from some other race ( non-Hispanic ) and 1.2 % of two or more races ( non-Hispanic ). The U.S. Census considers the Bronx to be the most diverse area in the country. There is an 89.7 percent chance that any two residents, chosen at random, would be of different race or ethnicity. As of 2010, 46.29 % ( 584,463 ) of Bronx residents aged five and older spoke Spanish at home, while 44.02 % ( 555,767 ) spoke English, 2.48 % ( 31,361 ) African languages, 0.91 % ( 11,455 ) French, 0.90 % ( 11,355 ) Italian, 0.87 % ( 10,946 ) various Indic languages, 0.70 % ( 8,836 ) other Indo - European languages, and Chinese was spoken at home by 0.50 % ( 6,610 ) of the population over the age of five. In total, 55.98 % ( 706,783 ) of the Bronx 's population age five and older spoke a language at home other than English. A Garifuna - speaking community from Honduras and Guatemala also makes the Bronx its home. 2009 Community survey According to the 2009 American Community Survey, White Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin represented over one - fifth ( 22.9 % ) of the Bronx 's population. However, non-Hispanic whites formed under one - eighth ( 12.1 % ) of the population, down from 34.4 % in 1980. Out of all five boroughs, the Bronx has the lowest number and percentage of white residents. 320,640 whites called the Bronx home, of which 168,570 were non-Hispanic whites. The majority of the non-Hispanic European American population is of Italian and Irish descent. People of Italian descent numbered over 55,000 individuals and made up 3.9 % of the population. People of Irish descent numbered over 43,500 individuals and made up 3.1 % of the population. German Americans and Polish Americans made up 1.4 % and 0.8 % of the population respectively. The Bronx is the only New York City borough with a Hispanic majority, many of whom are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. At the 2009 American Community Survey, Black Americans made the second largest group in the Bronx after Hispanics and Latinos. Blacks of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin represented over one - third ( 35.4 % ) of the Bronx 's population. Blacks of non-Hispanic origin made up 30.8 % of the population. Over 495,200 blacks resided in the borough, of which 430,600 were non-Hispanic blacks. Over 61,000 people identified themselves as `` Sub-Saharan African '' in the survey, making up 4.4 % of the population. Native Americans are a very small minority in the borough. Only some 5,560 individuals ( out of the borough 's 1.4 million people ) are Native American, which is equal to just 0.4 % of the population. In addition, roughly 2,500 people are Native Americans of non-Hispanic origin. In 2009, Hispanic and Latino Americans represented 52.0 % of the Bronx 's population. Puerto Ricans represented 23.2 % of the borough 's population. Over 72,500 Mexicans lived in the Bronx, and they formed 5.2 % of the population. Cubans numbered over 9,640 members and formed 0.7 % of the population. In addition, over 319,000 people were of various Hispanic and Latino groups, such as Dominican, Salvadoran, and so on. These groups collectively represented 22.9 % of the population. At the 2010 Census, 53.5 % of Bronx 's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin ( they may be of any race ). Asian Americans are a small but sizable minority in the borough. Roughly 49,600 Asians make up 3.6 % of the population. Roughly 13,600 Indians call the Bronx home, along with 9,800 Chinese, 6,540 Filipinos, 2,260 Vietnamese, 2,010 Koreans, and 1,100 Japanese. Multiracial Americans are also a sizable minority in the Bronx. People of multiracial heritage number over 41,800 individuals and represent 3.0 % of the population. People of mixed Caucasian and African American heritage number over 6,850 members and form 0.5 % of the population. People of mixed Caucasian and Native American heritage number over 2,450 members and form 0.2 % of the population. People of mixed Caucasian and Asian heritage number over 880 members and form 0.1 % of the population. People of mixed African American and Native American heritage number over 1,220 members and form 0.1 % of the population. Older estimates The Census of 1930 counted only 1.0 % ( 12,930 ) of the Bronx 's population as Negro ( while making no distinct counts of Hispanic or Spanish - surname residents ). Foreign or overseas birthplaces of Bronx residents, 1930 and 2000 1930 United States Census 2000 United States Census Total population of the Bronx 1,265,258 Total population of the Bronx 1,332,650 All born abroad or overseas 524,410 39.4 % Puerto Rico 126,649 9.5 % Foreign - born Whites 477,342 37.7 % All foreign - born 385,827 29.0 % White persons born in Russia 135,210 10.7 % Dominican Republic 124,032 9.3 % White persons born in Italy 67,732 5.4 % Jamaica 51,120 3.8 % White persons born in Poland 55,969 4.4 % Mexico 20,962 1.6 % White persons born in Germany 43,349 3.4 % Guyana 14,868 1.1 % White persons born in the Irish Free State 34,538 2.7 % Ecuador 14,800 1.1 % Other foreign birthplaces of Whites 140,544 11.1 % Other foreign birthplaces 160,045 12.0 % † the 26 counties now within the Republic of Ireland ‡ beyond the 50 states & District of Columbia Population and housing Poverty concentrations within the Bronx, by Census Tract At the 2010 Census, there were, 1,385,108 people living in Bronx, a 3.9 % increase since 2000. As of the United States Census of 2000, there were 1,332,650 people, 463,212 households, and 314,984 families residing in the borough. The population density was 31,709.3 inhabitants per square mile ( 12,242.2 / km2 ). There were 490,659 housing units at an average density of 11,674.8 per square mile ( 4,507.4 / km2 ). Recent Census estimates place total population of Bronx county at 1,392,002 as of 2012. There were 463,212 households out of which 38.1 % had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.4 % were married couples living together, 30.4 % had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0 % were non-families. 27.4 % of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4 % had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.37. The age distribution of the population in the Bronx was as follows : 29.8 % under the age of 18, 10.6 % from 18 to 24, 30.7 % from 25 to 44, 18.8 % from 45 to 64, and 10.1 % 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 87.0 males. Individual and household income This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( April 2017 ) The 1999 median income for a household in the borough was $27,611, and the median income for a family was $30,682. Males had a median income of $31,178 versus $29,429 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,959. About 28.0 % of families and 30.7 % of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.5 % of those under age 18 and 21.3 % of those age 65 or over. From 2015 Census data, the median income for a household was ( in 2015 dollars ) $34,299. Per capita income in past 12 months ( in 2015 dollars ) : $18,456 with persons in poverty at 30.3 %. Government and politics Local government Main article : Government of New York City Since New York City 's consolidation in 1898, the Bronx has been governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a `` strong '' mayor - council system. The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in the Bronx. Borough Presidents of the Bronx Name Party Term † Louis F. Haffen Democratic 1898 -- Aug. 1909 John F. Murray Democratic Aug. 1909 -- 1910 Cyrus C. Miller Democratic 1910 -- 1914 Douglas Mathewson Republican - Fusion 1914 -- 1918 Henry Bruckner Democratic 1918 -- 1934 James J. Lyons Democratic 1934 -- 1962 Joseph F. Periconi Republican - Liberal 1962 -- 1966 Herman Badillo Democratic 1966 -- 1970 Robert Abrams Democratic 1970 -- 1979 Stanley Simon Democratic 1979 -- April 1987 Fernando Ferrer Democratic April 1987 -- 2002 Adolfo Carrión, Jr. Democratic 2002 -- March 2009 Ruben Diaz, Jr. Democratic May 2009 -- † Terms begin and end in January where the month is not specified. The office of Borough President was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful administrative role derived from having a vote on the New York City Board of Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the city 's budget and proposals for land use. In 1989 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment 's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court 's 1964 `` one man, one vote '' decision. Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations. Until March 1, 2009, the Borough President of the Bronx was Adolfo Carrión Jr., elected as a Democrat in 2001 and 2005 before retiring early to direct the White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy. His successor, Democratic New York State Assembly member Rubén Díaz, Jr., who won a special election on April 21, 2009 by a vote of 86.3 % ( 29,420 ) on the `` Bronx Unity '' line to 13.3 % ( 4,646 ) for the Republican district leader Anthony Ribustello on the `` People First '' line, became Borough President on May 1. All of the Bronx 's currently elected public officials have first won the nomination of the Democratic Party ( in addition to any other endorsements ). Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education and economic development. Controversial political issues in the Bronx include environmental issues, the cost of housing, and annexation of parkland for new Yankee Stadium. Since its separation from New York County on January 1, 1914, the Bronx, has had, like each of the other 61 counties of New York State, its own criminal court system and District Attorney, the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. Darcel D. Clark has been the Bronx County District Attorney since 2016. Her predecessor was Robert T. Johnson, was the District Attorney from 1989 to 2015. He was the first African - American District Attorney in New York State. Eight members of the New York City Council represent districts wholly within the Bronx ( 11 -- 18 ), while a ninth represents a Manhattan district ( 8 ) that also includes a small area of the Bronx. One of those members, Joel Rivera ( District 15 ), has been the Council 's Majority Leader since 2002. In 2008, all of them were Democrats. The Bronx also has twelve Community Boards, appointed bodies that field complaints and advise on land use and municipal facilities and services for local residents, businesses and institutions. ( They are listed at Bronx Community Boards ). Representatives in the U.S. congress Candidates winning non-judicial elections in the Bronx since 2004 year office winner of the Bronx † ( failed to win overall contest ) Bronx % over - all % borough - wide votes U.S. President & V.P. † John Kerry -- John Edwards, D - WF 81.8 % 48.3 % 2005 Mayor of New York † Fernando Ferrer, D 59.8 % 39.0 % Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, D 93.8 % 90.0 % City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., D - WF 95.5 % 92.6 % Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr., D 83.8 % 2006 U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, D - WF - Independence 89.5 % 67.0 % Governor & Lt Gov. Eliot Spitzer -- David Paterson, D - WF - Indpce 88.8 % 69.0 % State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, D - WF - Independence 84.5 % 56.8 % NY Attorney - General Andrew M. Cuomo, D - Working Families 82.6 % 58.3 % 2007 Bronx Dist. Attorney Robert T. Johnson, D-R - Conservative 100 -- % 2008 Democratic Pres. † Hillary Clinton 61.2 % 48.0 % Republican Pres. John McCain 54.4 % 46.6 % U.S. President & V.P. Barack Obama -- Joe Biden, D - WF 87.8 % 52.9 % 2009 Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Unity 86.3 % individual legislative districts 2005 New York City Council Council District 8 Melissa Mark Viverito, D - WF 100. % 100. % Council District 11 G. Oliver Koppell, D 81.1 % Council District 12 Larry B. Seabrook, D 87.2 % Council District 13 James Vacca, D 64.4 % Council District 14 María Baez, D 94.7 % Council District 15 Joel Rivera, D ( majority leader ) 91.0 % Council District 16 Helen D. Foster, D-R - Working Families 98.6 % Council District 17 María Del Carmen Arroyo, D - Indep'ce 98.3 % Council District 18 Annabel Palma, D - WF 89.1 % 2006 U.S. House of Representatives Cong. District 7 Joseph Crowley, D - WF 84.9 % 84.0 % Cong. District 16 José E. Serrano, D - WF 95.3 % Cong. District 17 Eliot L. Engel, D - WF 89.3 % 76.4 % New York State Senate Senate District 28 José M. Serrano, D - WF 100. % 100. % Senate District 31 Eric T. Schneiderman, D - WF 88.8 % 92.3 % Senate District 32 Rubén Díaz, D 92.5 % Senate District 33 Efraín González, Jr., D 96.9 % Senate District 34 Jeffrey D. Klein, D - WF 64.8 % 61.2 % Senate District 36 Ruth H. Thompson, D - WF 95.4 % 95.4 % New York State Assembly Assembly District 76 Peter M. Rivera, D - WF 91.8 % Assembly District 77 Aurelia Greene, D - WF 94.9 % Assembly District 78 José Rivera, D 89.7 % Assembly District 79 Michael A. Benjamin, D 95.1 % Assembly District 80 Naomi Rivera, D 74.6 % Assembly District 81 Jeffrey Dinowitz, D - WF 95.1 % Assembly District 82 Michael R. Benedetto, D - WF 81.4 % Assembly District 83 Carl E. Heastie, D - WF 94.1 % Assembly District 84 Carmen E. Arroyo, D 92.7 % Assembly District 85 Rubén Díaz, Jr., D 94.8 % Assembly District 86 Luís M. Diaz, D 94.6 % D = Democratic Party ; R = Republican Party ; WF = Working Families Party ; Indpce = Independence Party of New York In 2008, three Democrats represented almost all of the Bronx in the United States House of Representatives. José E. Serrano ( first elected in March 1990 ) represents New York 's 16th congressional district, which covers much of the South Bronx. It was, in 2000, the poorest of the nation 's 435 districts ( 42.8 % below the poverty line ) ; it was also the most Hispanic of New York state 's 29 congressional districts ( 62.8 % ) and the youngest ( 34.5 % under 18 years old ; 6.7 % over 65 ). Eliot Engel ( first elected in 1988 ) represents the 17th District which includes parts of the northwest Bronx as well as parts of Westchester and Rockland counties. Joseph Crowley ( first elected in 1998 ) represents the 7th District which spans the East Bronx and includes Co-op City, City Island, Pelham Bay, Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Parkchester, Castle Hill and Throgs Neck, as well as parts of northwest Queens. ( Riker 's Island, the city 's main jail complex, is included in the 15th District, which covers Upper Manhattan and utilities facilities in Astoria, Queens. It is represented by Charles B. Rangel, first elected in 1970. In 2006, the Congressional election returns in this district included no votes from the Bronx or Queens. ) All of these Representatives won over 75 % of their districts ' respective votes in both 2004 and 2006. National Journal 's neutral rating system placed all of their voting records in 2005 and 2006 somewhere between very liberal and extremely liberal. 11 out of 150 members of the New York State Assembly ( the lower house of the state legislature ) represent districts wholly within the Bronx. Six State Senators out of 62 represent Bronx districts, half of them wholly within the County, and half straddling other counties. All these legislators are Democrats who won between 65 % and 100 % of their districts ' vote in 2006. Votes for other offices In the 2004 presidential election, Senator John F. Kerry received 81.8 % of the vote in the Bronx ( 79.8 % on the Democratic line plus 2 % on the Working Families Party 's line ) while President George W. Bush received 16.3 % ( 15.5 % Republican plus 0.85 % Conservative ). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama improved on Kerry 's showing, and took 88.7 % of the vote in the Bronx to Republican John McCain 's 10.9 %. In 2005, the Democratic former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer won 59.8 % of the borough 's vote against 38.8 % ( 35.3 % Republican, 3.5 % Independence Party ) for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who carried every other borough in his winning campaign for re-election. In 2006, successfully reelected Senator Hillary Clinton won 89.5 % of the Bronx 's vote ( 82.8 % Dem. + 4.1 % Working Families + 2.6 % Independence ) against Yonkers ex-Mayor John Spencer 's 9.6 % ( 8.2 % Republican + 1.4 % Cons. ), while Eliot Spitzer won 88.8 % of the Borough 's vote ( 82.1 % Dem. + 4.1 % Working Families + 2.5 % Independence Party ) in winning the Governorship against John Faso, who received 9.7 % of the Bronx 's vote ( 8.2 % Republican + 1.5 % Cons. ) In the Presidential primary elections of February 5, 2008, Sen. Clinton won 61.2 % of the Bronx 's 148,636 Democratic votes against 37.8 % for Barack Obama and 1.0 % for the other four candidates combined ( John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden ). On the same day, John McCain won 54.4 % of the borough 's 5,643 Republican votes, Mitt Romney 20.8 %, Mike Huckabee 8.2 %, Ron Paul 7.4 %, Rudy Giuliani 5.6 %, and the other candidates ( Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter and Alan Keyes ) 3.6 % between them. After becoming a separate county in 1914, the Bronx has supported only two Republican Presidential candidates. It voted heavily for the winning Republican Warren G. Harding in 1920, but much more narrowly on a split vote for his victorious Republican successor Calvin Coolidge in 1924 ( Coolidge 79,562 ; John W. Davis, Dem., 72,834 ; Robert La Follette, 62,202 equally divided between the Progressive and Socialist lines ). Since then, the Bronx has always supported the Democratic Party 's nominee for President, starting with a vote of 2 -- 1 for the unsuccessful Al Smith in 1928, followed by four 2 -- 1 votes for the successful Franklin D. Roosevelt. ( Both had been Governors of New York, but Republican former Gov. Thomas E. Dewey won only 28 % of the Bronx 's vote in 1948 against 55 % for Pres. Harry Truman, the winning Democrat, and 17 % for Henry A. Wallace of the Progressives. It was only 32 years earlier, by contrast, that another Republican former Governor who narrowly lost the Presidency, Charles Evans Hughes, had won 42.6 % of the Bronx 's 1916 vote against Democratic President Woodrow Wilson 's 49.8 % and Socialist candidate Allan Benson 's 7.3 %. ) The Bronx has often shown striking differences from other boroughs in elections for Mayor. The only Republican to carry the Bronx since 1914 was Fiorello La Guardia in 1933, 1937 and 1941 ( and in the latter two elections, only because his 30 % to 32 % vote on the American Labor Party line was added to 22 % to 23 % as a Republican ). The Bronx was thus the only borough not carried by the successful Republican re-election campaigns of Mayors Rudolph Giuliani in 1997 and Michael Bloomberg in 2005. The anti-war Socialist campaign of Morris Hillquit in the 1917 mayoral election won over 31 % of the Bronx 's vote, putting him second and well ahead of the 20 % won by the incumbent pro-war Fusion Mayor John P. Mitchel, who came in second ( ahead of Hillquit ) everywhere else and outpolled Hillquit citywide by 23.2 % to 21.7 %. The Bronx County Vote for President and Mayor since 1952 President & Vice President of the United States Mayor of the City of New York Year Republican, Conservative & Independence Democratic, Liberal & Working Families Won the Bronx Elected President Year Candidate carrying the Bronx Elected Mayor 2016 9.5 % 37,797 88.5 % 353,646 Hillary Clinton Donald Trump 2017 Bill de Blasio, D - Working Families Bill de Blasio, D - Working Families 2012 8.1 % 29,967 91.5 % 339,211 Barack Obama Barack Obama 2013 Bill de Blasio, D - Working Families Bill de Blasio, D - Working Families 2008 10.9 % 41,683 88.7 % 338,261 Barack Obama Barack Obama 2009 William C. Thompson, Jr, D - Working Families Michael Bloomberg, R -- Indep'ce / Jobs & Educ'n 16.3 % 56,701 81.8 % 283,994 John F. Kerry George W. Bush 2005 Fernando Ferrer, D Mike Bloomberg, R / Lib - Indep'ce 2000 11.8 % 36,245 86.3 % 265,801 Al Gore George W. Bush Mark Green, D - Working Families Michael Bloomberg, R - Independence 10.5 % 30,435 85.8 % 248,276 Bill Clinton Bill Clinton Ruth Messinger, D Rudolph Giuliani, R - Liberal 1992 20.7 % 63,310 73.7 % 225,038 Bill Clinton Bill Clinton David Dinkins, D Rudolph Giuliani, R - Liberal 1988 25.5 % 76,043 73.2 % 218,245 Michael Dukakis George H.W. Bush David Dinkins, D David Dinkins, D 1984 32.8 % 109,308 66.9 % 223,112 Walter Mondale Ronald Reagan 1985 Edward Koch, D - Indep. Edward Koch, D - Independent 1980 30.7 % 86,843 ' 64.0 % 181,090 Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan 1981 Edward Koch, D-R Edward Koch, D-R 1976 28.7 % 96,842 70.8 % 238,786 Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter 1977 Edward Koch, D Edward Koch, D 1972 44.6 % 196,756 55.2 % 243,345 George McGovern Richard Nixon 1973 Abraham Beame, D Abraham Beame, D 1968 32.0 % 142,314 62.4 % 277,385 Hubert Humphrey Richard Nixon 1969 Mario Procaccino, D - Nonpartisan - Civil Svce Ind. John V. Lindsay, Liberal 1964 25.2 % 135,780 74.7 % 403,014 Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson 1965 Abraham Beame, D - Civil Service Fusion John Lindsay, R - Liberal - Independent Citizens 1960 31.8 % 182,393 67.9 % 389,818 John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy 1961 Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D - Liberal - Brotherhood Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D - Liberal - Brotherhood 1956 42.8 % 256,909 57.2 % 343,656 Adlai Stevenson II Dwight D. Eisenhower 1957 Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D - Liberal - Fusion Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D - Liberal - Fusion 1952 37.3 % 241,898 60.6 % 309,482 Adlai Stevenson II Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953 Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D Robert F. Wagner, Jr., D Republican and Democratic columns for Presidential elections also include their candidates ' votes on other lines, such as the New York State Right to Life Party and the Working Families Party. For details of votes and parties in a particular election, click the year or see New York City mayoral elections. Presidential Elections Results Year Republican Democratic Third parties 2016 9.5 % 37,797 88.5 % 353,646 2.0 % 8,079 2012 8.1 % 29,967 91.5 % 339,211 0.5 % 1,760 2008 10.9 % 41,683 88.7 % 338,261 0.4 % 1,378 16.5 % 56,701 82.8 % 283,994 0.7 % 2,284 2000 11.8 % 36,245 86.3 % 265,801 2.0 % 6,017 10.5 % 30,435 85.8 % 248,276 3.7 % 10,639 1992 20.7 % 63,310 73.7 % 225,038 5.6 % 17,112 1988 25.5 % 76,043 73.2 % 218,245 1.3 % 3,793 1984 32.8 % 109,308 66.9 % 223,112 0.4 % 1,263 1980 30.7 % 86,843 64.0 % 181,090 5.3 % 14,914 1976 28.7 % 96,842 70.8 % 238,786 0.5 % 1,763 1972 44.6 % 196,754 55.2 % 243,345 0.2 % 1,075 1968 32.0 % 142,314 62.4 % 277,385 5.6 % 24,818 1964 25.2 % 135,780 74.7 % 403,014 0.2 % 800 1960 31.8 % 182,393 67.9 % 389,818 0.4 % 2,071 1956 42.8 % 257,382 57.2 % 343,823 0.0 % 0 1952 37.3 % 241,898 60.6 % 392,477 2.1 % 13,420 1948 27.8 % 173,044 54.2 % 337,129 18.0 % 112,182 1944 31.8 % 211,158 67.7 % 450,525 0.5 % 3,352 1940 31.8 % 198,293 67.1 % 418,931 1.1 % 6,980 1936 17.6 % 93,151 79.4 % 419,625 3.0 % 16,042 1932 19.2 % 76,587 70.4 % 281,330 10.5 % 42,002 1928 28.7 % 98,636 67.7 % 232,766 3.7 % 12,545 1924 36.7 % 79,583 33.6 % 72,840 29.6 % 64,234 1920 56.6 % 106,050 24.4 % 45,741 19.0 % 35,538 1916 42.6 % 40,938 49.8 % 47,870 7.7 % 7,396 Economy See also : Economy of New York City Shopping malls and markets in the Bronx include : Bay Plaza Shopping Center Bronx Terminal Market Hunts Point Cooperative Market Shopping districts The Hub on Third Avenue Renovated Prow Building, part of the original Bronx Terminal Market An aerial view of the Bronx, Harlem River, Harlem, Hudson River, and George Washington Bridge Morris Heights, a Bronx neighborhood of over 45,000 Street scene on Fordham Road, a major street in the Bronx Prominent shopping areas in the Bronx include Fordham Road, Bay Plaza in Co-op City, The Hub, the Riverdale / Kingsbridge shopping center, and Bruckner Boulevard. Shops are also concentrated on streets aligned underneath elevated railroad lines, including Westchester Avenue, White Plains Road, Jerome Avenue, Southern Boulevard, and Broadway. The Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market contains several big - box stores, which opened in 2009 south of Yankee Stadium. There are three primary shopping centers in the Bronx : The Hub, Gateway Center and Southern Boulevard. The Hub -- Third Avenue Business Improvement District ( B.I.D. ), in The Hub, is the retail heart of the South Bronx, located where four roads converge : East 149th Street, Willis, Melrose and Third Avenues. It is primarily located inside the neighborhood of Melrose but also lines the northern border of Mott Haven. The Hub has been called `` the Broadway of the Bronx '', being likened to the real Broadway in Manhattan and the northwestern Bronx. It is the site of both maximum traffic and architectural density. In configuration, it resembles a miniature Times Square, a spatial `` bow - tie '' created by the geometry of the street. The Hub is part of Bronx Community Board 1. The Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market, in the West Bronx, is a shopping center that encompasses less than one million square feet of retail space, built on a 17 acres ( 7 ha ) site that formerly held the Bronx Terminal Market, a wholesale fruit and vegetable market as well as the former Bronx House of Detention, south of Yankee Stadium. The $500 million shopping center, which was completed in 2009, saw the construction of new buildings and two smaller buildings, one new and the other a renovation of an existing building that was part of the original market. The two main buildings are linked by a six - level garage for 2,600 cars. The center has earned itself a LEED `` Silver '' designation in its design. Education See also : Education in New York City, List of public elementary schools in New York City, and Category : Charter schools in New York ( state ) Education in the Bronx is provided by a large number of public and private institutions, many of which draw students who live beyond the Bronx. The New York City Department of Education manages public noncharter schools in the borough. In 2000, public schools enrolled nearly 280,000 of the Bronx 's residents over 3 years old ( out of 333,100 enrolled in all pre-college schools ). There are also several public charter schools. Private schools range from élite independent schools to religiously affiliated schools run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Jewish organizations. A small portion of land that is between Pelham and Pelham Bay Park, with a total of 35 houses, is a part of the Bronx, but is cut off from the rest of the borough due to the way the county boundaries were established ; the New York City government pays for the residents ' children to go to Pelham Union Free School District schools, including Pelham Memorial High School, since that is more cost effective than sending school buses to take the students to New York City schools. This arrangement has been in place since 1948. Educational attainment In 2000, according to the U.S. Census, out of the nearly 800,000 people in the Bronx who were then at least 25 years old, 62.3 % had graduated from high school and 14.6 % held a bachelor 's or higher college degree. These percentages were lower than those for New York 's other boroughs, which ranged from 68.8 % ( Brooklyn ) to 82.6 % ( Staten Island ) for high school graduates over 24, and from 21.8 % ( Brooklyn ) to 49.4 % ( Manhattan ) for college graduates. ( The respective state and national percentages were ( NY ) 79.1 % & 27.4 % and ( US ) 80.4 % & 24.4 %. ) High schools See also : List of high schools in New York City § Bronx The Bronx High School of Science In the 2000 Census, 79,240 of the nearly 95,000 Bronx residents enrolled in high school attended public schools. Many public high schools are located in the borough including the elite Bronx High School of Science, Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, DeWitt Clinton High School, High School for Violin and Dance, Bronx Leadership Academy 2, Bronx International High School, the School for Excellence, the Morris Academy for Collaborative Study, Wings Academy for young adults, The Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice, Validus Preparatory Academy, The Eagle Academy For Young Men, Bronx Expeditionary Learning High School, Bronx Academy of Letters, Herbert H. Lehman High School and High School of American Studies. The Bronx is also home to three of New York City 's most prestigious private, secular schools : Fieldston, Horace Mann, and Riverdale Country School. High schools linked to the Roman Catholic Church include : Saint Raymond 's Academy for Girls, All Hallows High School, Fordham Preparatory School, Monsignor Scanlan High School, St. Raymond High School for Boys, Cardinal Hayes High School, Cardinal Spellman High School, The Academy of Mount Saint Ursula, Aquinas High School, Preston High School, St. Catharine Academy, Mount Saint Michael Academy, and St. Barnabas High School. The SAR Academy and SAR High School are Modern Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva coeducational day schools in Riverdale, with roots in Manhattan 's Lower East Side. In the 1990s, New York City began closing the large, public high schools in the Bronx and replacing them with small high schools. Among the reasons cited for the changes were poor graduation rates and concerns about safety. Schools that have been closed or reduced in size include John F. Kennedy, James Monroe, Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, Evander Childs, Christopher Columbus, Morris, Walton, and South Bronx High Schools. More recently the City has started phasing out large middle schools, also replacing them with smaller schools. Fordham University 's Keating Hall Colleges and universities See also : List of colleges and universities in New York City In 2000, 49,442 ( 57.5 % ) of the 86,014 Bronx residents seeking college, graduate or professional degrees attended public institutions. Several colleges and universities are located in the Bronx. Fordham University was founded as St. John 's College in 1841 by the Diocese of New York as the first Catholic institution of higher education in the northeast. It is now officially an independent institution, but strongly embraces its Jesuit heritage. The 85 - acre ( 340,000 m ) Bronx campus, known as Rose Hill, is the main campus of the university, and is among the largest within the city ( other Fordham campuses are located in Manhattan and Westchester County ). Three campuses of the City University of New York are in the Bronx : Hostos Community College, Bronx Community College ( occupying the former University Heights Campus of New York University ) and Herbert H. Lehman College ( formerly the uptown campus of Hunter College ), which offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The College of Mount Saint Vincent is a Catholic liberal arts college in Riverdale under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of New York. Founded in 1847 as a school for girls, the academy became a degree - granting college in 1911 and began admitting men in 1974. The school serves 1,600 students. Its campus is also home to the Academy for Jewish Religion, a transdenominational rabbinical and cantorial school. Manhattan College is a Catholic college in Riverdale which offers undergraduate programs in the arts, business, education, engineering, and science. It also offers graduate programs in education and engineering. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of the Montefiore Medical Center, is in Morris Park. Two colleges based in Westchester County have Bronx campuses. The Catholic and nearly all - female College of New Rochelle maintains satellite campuses at Co-op City and in The Hub. The coeducational and non-sectarian Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, founded by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy in 1950, has a campus near Westchester Square. By contrast, the private, proprietary Monroe College, focused on preparation for business and the professions, started in the Bronx in 1933 but now has a campus in New Rochelle ( Westchester County ) as well the Bronx 's Fordham neighborhood. The State University of New York Maritime College in Fort Schuyler ( Throggs Neck ) -- at the far southeastern tip of the Bronx -- is the national leader in maritime education and houses the Maritime Industry Museum. ( Directly across Long Island Sound is Kings Point, Long Island, home of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and the American Merchant Marine Museum. ) As of 2017, graduates from the university earned an average annual salary of $144,000, the highest of any university graduates in the United States. Culture and institutions See also : Culture of New York City ; Music of New York City ; List of people from the Bronx ; and List of Registered Historic Places in Bronx County, New York Culture The Bronx Zoo is the largest zoo in New York City, and among the largest in the country. The Bronx 's P.L.A.Y.E.R.S. Club Steppers performing at the 2007 Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival in Brooklyn. ( Note the T - shirts ' inscription `` I ♥ BX '' ( Bronx ), echoing the ubiquitous slogan `` I ♥ NY '' ( I Love New York ) ). Author Edgar Allan Poe spent the last years of his life ( 1846 to 1849 ) in the Bronx at Poe Cottage, now located at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. A small wooden farmhouse built around 1812, the cottage once commanded unobstructed vistas over the rolling Bronx hills to the shores of Long Island. Poe moved there to get away from the Manhattan city air and crowding in hope that the then rural area would be beneficial for his wife 's tuberculosis. It was in the Bronx that Poe wrote one of his most famous works, Annabel Lee. More than a century later, the Bronx would evolve from a hot bed of Latin jazz to an incubator of hip hop as documented in the award - winning documentary, produced by City Lore and broadcast on PBS in 2006, `` From Mambo to Hip Hop : A South Bronx Tale. '' Hip Hop first emerged in the South Bronx in the early 1970s. The New York Times has identified 1520 Sedgwick Avenue `` an otherwise unremarkable high - rise just north of the Cross Bronx Expressway and hard along the Major Deegan Expressway '' as a starting point, where DJ Kool Herc presided over parties in the community room. The 2016 Netflix series The Get Down is based on the development of hip hop in 1977 in the South Bronx. Ten years earlier, the Bronx Opera had been founded. Founding of hip - hop On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc was a D.J. and M.C. at a party in the recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx adjacent to the Cross Bronx Expressway. While it was not the actual `` Birthplace of Hip Hop '' -- the genre developed slowly in several places in the 1970s -- it was verified to be the place where one of the pivotal and formative events occurred. Specifically : ( Cool Herc ) extended an instrumental beat ( mixing or scratching ) to let people dance longer ( B - boying ) and began MC'ing ( rapping ) during the extended breakdancing... ( This ) helped lay the foundation for a cultural revolution. -- History Detectives Beginning with the advent of beat match DJing, in which Bronx disc jockeys ) including Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc extended the breaks of funk records, a major new musical genre emerged that sought to isolate the percussion breaks of hit funk, disco and soul songs. As hip hop 's popularity grew, performers began speaking ( `` rapping '' ) in sync with the beats, and became known as MCs or emcees. The Herculoids, made up of Herc, Coke La Rock, and Clark Kent, were the earliest to gain major fame. The Bronx is referred to in hip - hop slang as `` The Boogie Down Bronx '', or just `` The Boogie Down ''. This was hip - hop pioneer KRS - One 's inspiration for his group BDP, or Boogie Down Productions, which included DJ Scott La Rock. Newer hip hop artists from the Bronx include Big Pun, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, Camp Lo, Swizz Beatz, Drag - On, Fat Joe, Terror Squad and Cory Gunz. Hush Hip Hop Tours, a tour company founded in 2002 by local licensed sightseeing tour guide Debra Harris, has established a sightseeing tour of the Bronx showcasing the locations that helped shape hip hop culture, and features some of the pioneers of hip hop as tour guides. The Bronx 's recognition as an important center of African - American culture has led Fordham University to establish the Bronx African - American History Project ( BAAHP ). Sports New Yankee Stadium at 161st and River Avenue The Bronx is the home of the New York Yankees, nicknamed `` the Bronx Bombers '', of Major League Baseball. The original Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 on 161st Street and River Avenue, a year that saw the Yankees bring home their first of 27 World Series Championships. With the famous facade, the short right field porch and Monument Park, Yankee Stadium has been home to many of baseball 's greatest players including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The original stadium was the scene of Lou Gehrig 's Farewell Speech in 1939, Don Larsen 's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Roger Maris ' record breaking 61st home run in 1961, and Reggie Jackson 's 3 home runs to clinch Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. The Stadium was the former home of the New York Giants of the National Football League from 1956 to 1973. The original Yankee Stadium closed in 2008 to make way for a new Yankee Stadium in which the team started play in 2009. It is located north - northeast of the 1923 Yankee Stadium, on the former site of Macombs Dam Park. The current Yankee Stadium is also the home of New York City FC of Major League Soccer, who began play in 2015. Off - off - Broadway Main article : Off - Off - Broadway The Bronx is home to several Off - Off - Broadway theaters, many staging new works by immigrant playwrights from Latin America and Africa. The Pregones Theater, which produces Latin American work, opened a new 130 - seat theater in 2005 on Walton Avenue in the South Bronx. Some artists from elsewhere in New York City have begun to converge on the area, and housing prices have nearly quadrupled in the area since 2002. However rising prices directly correlate to a housing shortage across the city and the entire metro area. Arts The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, founded in 1998 by Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice - Gonzalez, provides dance, theatre and art workshops, festivals and performances focusing on contemporary and modern art in relation to race, gender, and sexuality. It is home to the Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre, a contemporary dance company, and the Bronx Dance Coalition. The Academy was formerly in the American Bank Note Company Building before relocating to a venue on the grounds of St. Peter 's Episcopal Church. The Bronx Museum of the Arts, founded in 1971, exhibits 20th century and contemporary art through its central museum space and 11,000 square feet ( 1,000 m ) of galleries. Many of its exhibitions are on themes of special interest to the Bronx. Its permanent collection features more than 800 works of art, primarily by artists from Africa, Asia and Latin America, including paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, and mixed media. The museum was temporarily closed in 2006 while it underwent a major expansion designed by the architectural firm Arquitectonica. The Bronx has also become home to a peculiar poetic tribute in the form of the `` Heinrich Heine Memorial '', better known as the Lorelei Fountain. After Heine 's German birthplace of Düsseldorf had rejected, allegedly for anti-Semitic motives, a centennial monument to the radical German - Jewish poet ( 1797 -- 1856 ), his incensed German - American admirers, including Carl Schurz, started a movement to place one instead in Midtown Manhattan, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. However, this intention was thwarted by a combination of ethnic antagonism, aesthetic controversy and political struggles over the institutional control of public art. In 1899, the memorial by Ernst Gustav Herter was placed in Joyce Kilmer Park, near the Yankee Stadium. In 1999, it was moved to 161st Street and the Concourse. Maritime heritage The peninsular borough 's maritime heritage is acknowledged in several ways. The City Island Historical Society and Nautical Museum occupies a former public school designed by the New York City school system 's turn - of - the - last - century master architect C.B.J. Snyder. The state 's Maritime College in Fort Schuyler ( on the southeastern shore ) houses the Maritime Industry Museum. In addition, the Harlem River is reemerging as `` Scullers ' Row '' due in large part to the efforts of the Bronx River Restoration Project, a joint public - private endeavor of the city 's parks department. Canoeing and kayaking on the borough 's namesake river have been promoted by the Bronx River Alliance. The river is also straddled by the New York Botanical Gardens, its neighbor, the Bronx Zoo, and a little further south, on the west shore, Bronx River Art Center. Press and broadcasting Newspapers The Bronx has several local newspapers, including The Bronx News, Parkchester News, City News, The Norwood News, The Riverdale Press, Riverdale Review, The Bronx Times Reporter, Inner City Press ( which now has more of a focus on national issues ) and Co-op City Times. Four non-profit news outlets, Norwood News, Mount Hope Monitor, Mott Haven Herald and The Hunts Point Express serve the borough 's poorer communities. The editor and co-publisher of The Riverdale Press, Bernard Stein, won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for his editorials about Bronx and New York City issues in 1998. ( Stein graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1959. ) The Bronx once had its own daily newspaper, The Bronx Home News, which started publishing on January 20, 1907, and merged into the New York Post in 1948. It became a special section of the Post, sold only in the Bronx, and eventually disappeared from view. Radio and television One of New York City 's major non-commercial radio broadcasters is WFUV, a National Public Radio - affiliated 50,000 - watt station broadcasting from Fordham University 's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The radio station 's antenna is atop an apartment building owned by Montefiore Medical Center. The City of New York has an official television station run by the NYC Media Group and broadcasting from Bronx Community College, and Cablevision operates News 12 The Bronx, both of which feature programming based in the Bronx. Co-op City was the first area in the Bronx, and the first in New York beyond Manhattan, to have its own cable television provider. The local public - access television station BronxNet originates from Herbert H. Lehman College, the borough 's only four year CUNY school, and provides government - access television ( GATV ) public affairs programming in addition to programming produced by Bronx residents. In popular culture Film and television See also : List of films set in New York City and List of television shows set in New York City Mid-20th century Mid-20th century movies set in the Bronx portrayed densely settled, working - class, urban culture. Hollywood films such as From This Day Forward ( 1946 ), set in Highbridge, occasionally delved into Bronx life. Paddy Chayefsky 's Academy Award - winning Marty was the most notable examination of working class Bronx life was also explored by Chayefsky in his 1956 film The Catered Affair, and in the 1993 Robert De Niro / Chazz Palminteri film, A Bronx Tale, Spike Lee 's 1999 movie Summer of Sam, centered in an Italian - American Bronx community, 1994 's I Like It Like That that takes place in the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood of the South Bronx, and Doughboys, the story of two Italian - American brothers in danger of losing their bakery thanks to one brother 's gambling debts. The Bronx 's gritty urban life had worked its way into the movies even earlier, with depictions of the `` Bronx cheer '', a loud flatulent - like sound of disapproval, allegedly first made by New York Yankees fans. The sound can be heard, for example, on the Spike Jones and His City Slickers recording of `` Der Fuehrer 's Face '' ( from the 1942 Disney animated film of the same name ), repeatedly lambasting Adolf Hitler with : `` We 'll Heil ! ( Bronx cheer ) Heil ! ( Bronx cheer ) Right in Der Fuehrer 's Face ! '' As a symbolism Some movies have also used the term Bronx for comic effect, such as `` Bronx '', the character on the Disney animated series Gargoyles. Starting in the 1970s, the Bronx often symbolized violence, decay, and urban ruin. The wave of arson in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s inspired the observation that `` The Bronx is burning '' : in 1974 it was the title of both a New York Times editorial and a BBC documentary film. The line entered the pop - consciousness with Game Two of the 1977 World Series, when a fire broke out near Yankee Stadium as the team was playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Numerous fires had previously broken out in the Bronx prior to this fire. As the fire was captured on live television, announcer Howard Cosell is wrongly remembered to have said something like, `` There it is, ladies and gentlemen : the Bronx is burning ''. Historians of New York City frequently point to Cosell 's remark as an acknowledgement of both the city and the borough 's decline. A new feature - length documentary film by Edwin Pagan called Bronx Burning is in production in 2006, chronicling what led up to the numerous arson - for - insurance fraud fires of the 1970s in the borough. Bronx gang life was depicted in the 1974 novel The Wanderers by Bronx native Richard Price and the 1979 movie of the same name. They are set in the heart of the Bronx, showing apartment life and the then - landmark Krums ice cream parlor. In the 1979 film The Warriors, the eponymous gang go to a meeting in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and have to fight their way out of the borough and get back to Coney Island in Brooklyn. A Bronx Tale ( 1993 ) depicts gang activities in the Belmont `` Little Italy '' section of the Bronx. The 2005 video game adaptation features levels called Pelham, Tremont, and `` Gunhill '' ( a play off the name Gun Hill Road ). This theme lends itself to the title of The Bronx Is Burning, an eight - part ESPN TV mini-series ( 2007 ) about the New York Yankees ' drive to winning baseball 's 1977 World Series. The TV series emphasizes the boisterous nature of the team, led by manager Billy Martin, catcher Thurman Munson and outfielder Reggie Jackson, as well as the malaise of the Bronx and New York City in general during that time, such as the blackout, the city 's serious financial woes and near bankruptcy, the arson for insurance payments, and the election of Ed Koch as mayor. The 1981 film Fort Apache, The Bronx is another film that used the Bronx 's gritty image for its storyline. The movie 's title is from the nickname for the 41st Police Precinct in the South Bronx which was nicknamed `` Fort Apache ''. Also from 1981 is the horror film Wolfen making use of the rubble of the Bronx as a home for werewolf type creatures. Knights of the South Bronx, a true story of a teacher who worked with disadvantaged children, is another film also set in the Bronx released in 2005. The Bronx was the setting for the 1983 film Fuga dal Bronx, also known as Bronx Warriors 2 and Escape 2000, an Italian B - movie best known for its appearance on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. The plot revolves around a sinister construction corporation 's plans to depopulate, destroy and redevelop the Bronx, and a band of rebels who are out to expose the corporation 's murderous ways and save their homes. The film is memorable for its almost incessant use of the phrase, `` Leave the Bronx ! '' Many of the movie 's scenes were filmed in Queens, substituting as the Bronx. Rumble in the Bronx, filmed in Vancouver, was a 1995 Jackie Chan kung - fu film, another which popularized the Bronx to international audiences. Last Bronx, a 1996 Sega game played on the bad reputation of the Bronx to lend its name to an alternate version of post-Japanese bubble Tokyo, where crime and gang warfare is rampant. As a setting Bronx native Nancy Savoca 's 1989 comedy, True Love, explores two Italian - American Bronx sweethearts in the days before their wedding. The film, which debuted Annabella Sciorra and Ron Eldard as the betrothed couple, won the Grand Jury Prize at that year 's Sundance Film Festival. The CBS television sitcom Becker, 1998 -- 2004, was more ambiguous. The show starred Ted Danson as Dr. John Becker, a doctor who operated a small practice and was constantly annoyed by his patients, co-workers, friends, and practically everything and everybody else in his world. It showed his everyday life as a doctor working in a small clinic in the Bronx. Penny Marshall 's 1990 film Awakenings, which was nominated for several Oscars, is based on neurologist Oliver Sacks ' 1973 account of his psychiatric patients at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx who were paralyzed by a form of encephalitis but briefly responded to the drug L - dopa. Robin Williams played the physician ; Robert De Niro was one of the patients who emerged from a catatonic ( frozen ) state. The home of Williams ' character was shot not far from Sacks ' actual City Island residence. A 1973 Yorkshire Television documentary and `` A Kind of Alaska '', a 1985 play by Harold Pinter, were also based on Sacks ' book. Gus Van Sant 's 2000 Finding Forrester was quickly billed `` Good Will Hunting in the Hood. '' Sean Connery is in the title role of a reclusive old man who 50 years earlier wrote a single novel that garnered the Pulitzer Prize. He meets 16 - year - old Jamal, portrayed by Rob Brown, a gifted basketball player and aspiring writer from the Bronx, and becomes his mentor. The movie includes stock footage of Bronx housing projects from 1990, as well as some other scenes shot in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The 2012 documentary `` South Bronx United '' features the Mott Haven neighborhood and its conflict over the online grocery delivery service Fresh Direct 's move of their trucking facility from Long Island City to the South Bronx. In literature See also : List of books set in New York City Books The Bronx has been featured significantly in fiction literature. All of the characters in Herman Wouk 's City Boy : The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder ( 1948 ) live in the Bronx, and about half of the action is set there. Kate Simon 's Bronx Primitive : Portraits of a Childhood is directly autobiographical, a warm account of a Polish - Jewish girl in an immigrant family growing up before World War II, and living near Arthur Avenue and Tremont Avenue. In Jacob M. Appel 's short story, `` The Grand Concourse '' ( 2007 ), a woman who grew up in the iconic Lewis Morris Building returns to the Morrisania neighborhood with her adult daughter. Similarly, in Avery Corman 's book The Old Neighborhood ( 1980 ), an upper - middle class white protagonist returns to his birth neighborhood ( Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse ), and learns that even though the folks are poor, Hispanic and African - American, they are good people. By contrast, Tom Wolfe 's Bonfire of the Vanities ( 1987 ) portrays a wealthy, white protagonist, Sherman McCoy, getting lost off the Major Deegan Expressway in the South Bronx and having an altercation with locals. A substantial piece of the last part of the book is set in the resulting riotous trial at the Bronx County Courthouse. However, times change, and in 2007, The New York Times reported that `` the Bronx neighborhoods near the site of Sherman 's accident are now dotted with townhouses and apartments. '' In the same article, the Reverend Al Sharpton ( whose fictional analogue in the novel is `` Reverend Bacon '' ) asserts that `` twenty years later, the cynicism of The Bonfire of the Vanities is as out of style as Tom Wolfe 's wardrobe. '' Don DeLillo 's Underworld ( 1997 ) is also set in the Bronx and offers a perspective on the decline of the area from the 1950s onwards. John Patrick Shanley 's `` Savage in Limbo '' is set in a 1980s Bronx bar called ' Scales ' where the frustrated characters feel they are unable to move. Poetry In poetry, the Bronx has been immortalized by one of the world 's shortest couplets : The Bronx No Thonx Ogden Nash, The New Yorker, 1931 Nash repented 33 years after his calumny, penning in 1964 the following prose poem to the Dean of Bronx Community College : I ca n't seem to escape the sins of my smart - alec youth ; Here are my amends. I wrote those lines, `` The Bronx ? No thonx `` ; I shudder to confess them. Now I 'm an older, wiser man I cry, `` The Bronx ? God bless them ! '' In 2016, W.R. Rodriguez published Bronx Trilogy -- consisting of the shoe shine parlor poems et al, concrete pastures of the beautiful bronx, and from the banks of brook avenue. The trilogy celebrates Bronx people, places, and events. DeWitt Clinton High School, St. Mary 's Park, and Brook Avenue are a few of the schools, parks, and streets Rodriguez uses as subjects for his poems. Nash 's couplet `` The Bronx No Thonx '' and his subsequent blessing are mentioned in Bronx Accent : A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough, edited by Llyod Ultan and Barbara Unger and published in 2000. The book, which includes the work of Yiddish poets, offers a selection from Allen Ginsberg 's Kaddish, as his Aunt Elanor and his mother, Naomi, lived near Woodlawn Cemetery. Also featured is Ruth Lisa Schecther 's poem, `` Bronx '', which is described as a celebration of the borough 's landmarks. There is a selection of works from poets such as Sandra María Esteves, Milton Kessler, Joan Murray, W.R. Rodriguez, Myra Shapiro, Gayl Teller, and Terence Wynch. `` Bronx Migrations '' by Michelle M. Tokarczyk is a collection that spans five decades of Tokarczyk 's life in the Bronx, from her exodus in 1962 to her return in search of her childhood tenement. Bronx Memoir Project Bronx Memoir Project : Vol. 1 is a published anthology by the Bronx Council on the Arts and brought forth through a series of workshops meant to empower Bronx residents and shed the stigma on the Bronx 's burning past. The Bronx Memoir Project was created as an ongoing collaboration between the Bronx Council on the Arts and other cultural institutions, including The Bronx Documentary Center, The Bronx Library Center, the ( Edgar Allan ) Poe Park Visitor Center, Mindbuilders, and other institutions and funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The goal was to develop and refine memoir fragments written by people of all walks of life that share a common bond residing within the Bronx. In songs Passing through : The theme song to the 1960s U.S. television comedy series Car 54, Where Are You ? begins `` There 's a holdup in the Bronx. '' In addition, the song `` New York, New York '' ( by Betty Comden and Adolph Green from the 1940s musical comedy and film, On the Town ) explains that `` The Bronx is up and the Battery 's down. '' Another song, `` Manhattan '' ( by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1925 musical `` Garrick Gaieties '' ), declares `` We 'll have Manhattan, / The Bronx and Staten / Island too. / It 's lovely going through / the zoo. '' Bronx Local : In Marc Ferris 's 5 - page, 15 - column list of `` Songs and Compositions Inspired by New York City '' in The Encyclopedia of New York City ( 1995 ), only a handful refer to the Bronx ; most refer to New York City proper, especially Manhattan and Brooklyn. Ferris 's extensive but selective 1995 list mentions only four songs referring specifically to the Bronx : `` On the Banks of the Bronx '' ( 1919 ), William LeBaron, Victor Jacobi `` Bronx Express '' ( 1922 ), Creamer and Layton `` The Tremont Avenue Cruisewear Fashion Show '' ( 1973 ), Jerry Livingston, Mark David `` I Love the New York Yankees '' ( 1987 ), Paula Lindstrom The following songs also mention the Bronx ( see also list of songs about New York City ) : `` Alfie From the Bronx '' by The Toy Dolls `` Back to the Bronx '' by 2 Live Crew `` Boogie Down Bronx '' by Man Parrish `` Bronx '' by Kurtis Blow `` The Bronx '' by Regina Spektor `` Bronx Backyard '' by The Johnny Seven Band `` Bronx Bombers '' by Grandmaster Flash `` The Bronx Is Beautiful '' by Robert Klein `` Bronx Keeps Creating It '' by Fat Joe `` Bronx Tale '' by Fat Joe `` Bronx War Stories '' by A.I.G. `` BX Warrior '' by Tim Dog `` BX We Invented Hip - Hop '' by Tim Dog `` Cousin in the Bronx '' by Kaiser Chiefs `` Cross Bronx Expressway '' by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz `` Deja Vu ( Uptown Baby ) '' by Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz `` From BX '' by Tim Dog `` Ha Ya Doin ? Yankees '' -- The Haya Doin ' ? Boys `` Here Come the Yankees '', by Bob Bundin and Lou Stallman `` Jenny from the Block '' by Jennifer Lopez featuring Styles P & Jadakiss `` On The Streets Of the Bronx '' by The Moonglows `` Our Lady of the Bronx '' by Black 47 `` Rockin ' the Bronx '' by Black 47 `` School of Hard Knocks '' by Swizz Beatz and Drag - On `` South Bronx '' by Boogie Down Productions `` Lost in the Flood '' by Bruce Springsteen `` Bulls In the Bronx '' by Pierce the Veil See also New York City portal New York portal Bronx Borough Hall Bronx court system delays Joseph P. Day, early land auctioneer List of people from the Bronx National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx General : List of counties in New York References Notes Jump up ^ This data was as of 2006. By May 25, 2014, English Wikipedia listed 58. Jump up ^ Not Clark Kent ( producer ). Jump up ^ See : Car 54, Where Are You ? § Theme song Citations ^ Jump up to : `` QuickFacts Bronx County ( Bronx Borough ), New York ''. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2018. ^ Jump up to : New York State Department of Health, Population, Land Area, and Population Density by County, New York State -- 2010, retrieved on August 8, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Lloyd Ultann, Bronx Borough Historian, `` History of the Bronx River, '' Paper presented to the Bronx River Alliance, November 5, 2002 ( notes taken by Maarten de Kadt, November 16, 2002 ), retrieved on August 29, 2008. This 21⁄2 hour talk covers much of the early history of the Bronx as a whole, in addition to the Bronx River. ^ Jump up to : On the start of business for Bronx County : Bronx County In Motion. New Officials All Find Work to Do on Their First Day. The New York Times, January 3, 1914 ( PDF retrieved on June 26, 2008 ) : `` Despite the fact that the new Bronx County Court House is not completed there was no delay yesterday in getting the court machinery in motion. All the new county officials were on hand and the County Clerk, the District Attorney, the Surrogate, and the County Judge soon had things in working order. The seal to be used by the new county was selected by County Judge Louis D. Gibbs. It is circular. In the center is a seated figure of Justice. To her right is an American shield and over the figure is written ' Populi Suprema. '... '' `` Surrogate George M.S. Schulz, with his office force, was busy at the stroke of 9 o'clock. Two wills were filed in the early morning, but owing to the absence of a safe they were recorded and then returned to the attorneys for safe keeping... '' `` There was a rush of business to the new County Clerk 's office. Between seventy - five and a hundred men applied for first naturalization papers. Two certificates of incorporation were issued, and seventeen judgments, seven lis pendens, three mechanics ' liens and one suit for negligence were filed. '' `` Sheriff O'Brien announced several additional appointments. '' ^ Jump up to : Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is blooming ! by Beth J. Harpaz, Travel Editor of Associated Press ( AP ), June 30, 2008, retrieved on July 11, 2008 Archived May 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Wylie, Jonathon ( 1987 ). The Faroe Islands : Interpretations of History. University of Kentucky Press. p. 209. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8131 - 1578 - 8. Jónas Bronck ( or Brunck ) was the son of Morten Jespersen Bronck... Jónas seems to have gone to school in Roskilde in 1619, but found his way to Holland where he joined an expedition to Amsterdam. Jump up ^ * `` Jonas Bronx ''. Bronx Notables. Bronx Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2012. van Laer, A.J.F. ( October 1916 ). `` Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630 -- 1674 ''. The American Historical Review. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. 22 ( 1 ) : 164 -- 166. doi : 10.1086 / ahr / 22.1. 164. JSTOR 1836219. ``... Jonas Bronck was a Dane... ''. Burrows, Edwin G. ; Wallace, Mike ( Michael L. ) ( 1999 ). Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898. 1. Oxford, New York : Oxford University Press. pp. 30 -- 37. ISBN 0 - 19 - 511634 - 8... many of these colonists, perhaps as many as half of them, represented the same broad mixture of nationalities as New Amsterdam itself. Among them were Swedes, Germans, French, Belgians, Africans, and Danes ( such as a certain Jonas Bronck )... ^ Jump up to : Van Rensselaer, Mariana Griswold ( 1909 ). History of the city of New York in the seventeenth century. 1. New York : The Macmillan Company. p. 161. Jump up ^ Braver ( 1998 ) ^ Jump up to : The Almanac of American Politics 2008, edited by Michael Barone with Richard E. Cohen and Grant Ujifusa, National Journal Group, Washington, D.C., 2008 ISBN 978 - 0 - 89234 - 117 - 7 ( paperback ) or ISBN 978 - 0 - 89234 - 116 - 0 ( hardback ), chapter on New York state ^ Jump up to : U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States : 2003, Section 31, Table 1384. Congressional District Profiles -- 108th Congress : 2000 Jump up ^ See the `` Historical Populations '' table in History above and its sources. Jump up ^ `` Current Population Estimates : NYC ''. NYC.gov. Retrieved June 10, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Bronx History : What 's in a Name ? ''. New York Public Library. Retrieved March 15, 2008. The Native Americans called the land Rananchqua, but the Dutch and English began to refer to it as Broncksland. Jump up ^ `` Harding Park ''. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved March 15, 2008. Jump up ^ Ellis, Edward Robb ( 1966 ). The Epic of New York City. Old Town Books. p. 55. ISBN 0 - 7867 - 1436 - 0. ^ Jump up to : Hansen, Harry ( 1950 ). North of Manhattan. Hastings House. OCLC 542679., excerpted at The Bronx... Its History & Perspective Jump up ^ van Laer, A.J.F. ( 1916 ). `` Scandinavian Immigrants in New York, 1630 -- 1674 ''. The American Historical Review. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. 22 ( 1 ) : 164 -- 166. doi : 10.2307 / 1836219. JSTOR 1836219... Jonas Bronck was a Swede... Jump up ^ Burrows, Edwin G. ; Wallace, Mike ( Michael L. ) ( 1999 ). Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898. 1. Oxford, New York : Oxford University Press. pp. 30 -- 37. ISBN 0 - 19 - 511634 - 8.... many of these colonists, perhaps as many as half of them, represented the same broad mixture of nationalities as New Amsterdam itself. Among them were Swedes, Germans, French, Belgians, Africans, and Danes ( such as a certain Jonas Bronck )... Jump up ^ `` The first Bronxite ''. The Advocate. Bronx County Bar Association. 24 : 59. 1977. It is widely accepted that Bronck came from Sweden, but claims have also been made by the Frisian Islands on the North Sea coast and by a small town in Germany. Jump up ^ Karl Ritter, `` Swedish town celebrates link to the Bronx '' Associated Press, August 21, 2014. ( 1 ) which also refers to a claim by the Faeroe Islands. Jump up ^ `` The Bronx Mall -- Cultural Mosaic -- The Bronx... Its History & Perspective ''. Bronxmall.com. Retrieved July 12, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Excerpts from an Interview with William Bronk by Mark Katzman ''. uiuc.edu. Jump up ^ See, for example, New York City Administrative Code § 2 -- 202 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ See, for example, references on the New York City website Jump up ^ `` ZIP Code Lookup ''. United States Postal Service. Note that the database also does not use punctuation, and other articles ( such as the ) to improve automated scanning of addresses. Jump up ^ Clarke, Erin `` What 's in a Name : How ' The ' Bronx Got the ' The ' '', NY1, June 7, 2015, Retrieved on February 6, 2016. Jump up ^ Steven Hess, `` From The Hague to the Bronx : Definite Articles in Place Names '', Journal of the North Central Name Society, Fall 1987. Jump up ^ Rev. David J. Born, letter to William F. Buckley, Jr. in `` Notes & Asides '', National Review, January 28, 2002, retrieved on July 3, 2008. Jump up ^ `` 3. Capitalization Rules '' ( PDF ). gpo.gov. United States Government Publishing Office. p. 29. Retrieved July 26, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Why The Bronx ? ''. The New York Times. May 9, 1993. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved July 27, 2016. ^ Jump up to : Slattery, Denis. `` Bronx residents call on media and city agencies to capitalize ' The Bronx ' ''. nydailynews.com. New York Daily News. Retrieved July 27, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Croton Water Treatment Plant at the Harlem River Site ; 7.12 : Historic and Archaeological Resources '' ( PDF ). New York City Department of Environmental Protection. June 30, 2004. Retrieved January 2, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Dyckman House -- History ''. fordham.edu. Jump up ^ Stephen Jenkins ( 1912 ). The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day. G.P. Putnam 's Sons. pp. 177 -- 208. Retrieved January 2, 2017. Jump up ^ For Jordan L. Mott : John Thomas Scharf ( 1886 ). History of Westchester County : New York, Including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which Have Been Annexed to New York City. L.E. Preston & Company. pp. 830 -- 832. Troxell Freedley, Edwin ; Young, Edward ( 1868 ). A History of American Manufactures from 1608 to 1860... : Comprising Annals of the Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures and Useful Arts, with a Notice of the Important Inventions, Tariffs, and the Results of Each Decennial Census. E. Young. pp. 576 -- 578. ^ Jump up to : Thorne, Kathryn Ford ( 1993 ). Long, John H., ed. New York Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. Simon & Schuster. pp. 33, 118 -- 133. ISBN 0 - 13 - 051962 - 6. Jump up ^ New York. Laws of New York. 1873, 96th Session, Chapter 613, Section 1. p. 928. Jump up ^ Articles on `` consolidation '' ( by David C. Hammack ) and the `` Bronx '' ( by David C. Hermalyn and Lloyd Ultan ) in The Encyclopedia of New York City, Yale 1995 Jump up ^ New York. Laws of New York. 1895, 118th Session, Chapter 934, Section 1. p. 1948. Jump up ^ Peck, Richard. `` In the Bronx, the Gentry Live On ; The Gentry Live On '', The New York Times, December 2, 1973. Accessed July 17, 2008. `` But the Harlem riverfront was industrializing, and in 1874 the city annexed the area west of the Bronx River : Morrisania, West Farms and Kingsbridge. A second annexation in 1894 gathered in Westchester and portions of Eastchester and Pelham. '' However, 1894 must refer to the referendum, since the enabling act was not passed or signed until 1895. Jump up ^ New York. Laws of New York. 1912, 135th Session, Chapter 548, Section 1. p. 1352. ^ Jump up to : Historical Census Browser Archived August 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. University of Virginia, Geospatial and Statistical Data Center, retrieved on August 7, 2008, querying 1930 Census for New York State. `` The data and terminology presented in the Historical Census Browser are drawn directly from historical volumes of the U.S. Census of Population and Housing. '' `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 07. ^ Jump up to : Quick Tables QT - P15 and QT - P22, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved on August 10, 2008 Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : Olmsted ( 1989 ) ; Olmsted ( 1998 ) Jump up ^ `` Piano Workers May Strike ''. The New York Times. August 29, 1919. Retrieved January 25, 2011. Jump up ^ Christopher Gray, `` Streetscapes : The New York Coliseum ; From Auditorium To Bus Garage to... '' The New York Times, Real Estate section, March 22, 1992, retrieved on July 2, 2008 Jump up ^ The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1943, page 494, citing the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Statistical Bureau of the Synagogue Council of America Jump up ^ Remembrance of Synagogues Past : The Lost Civilization of the Jewish South Bronx, by Seymour J. Perlin, Ed. D. ( retrieved on August 10, 2008 ), citing population estimates in `` The Jewish Community Study of New York : 2002 '', UJA ( United Jewish Appeal ) Federation of New York, June 2004, and his own survey of synagogue sites. Jump up ^ Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1974 ; ISBN 0 - 394 - 72024 - 5 Jump up ^ `` American Realities ''. American Realities. Jump up ^ Roderick Wallace : `` A synergism of plagues : ' planned shrinkage, ' contagious housing destruction, and AIDS in the Bronx. '' Environmental Research, October 1988, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 1 -- 33, and `` Urban desertification, public health and public order : ' planned shrinkage ', violent death, substance abuse and AIDS in the Bronx '', Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 37, No. 7 ( 1990 ) pp. 801 -- 813 -- abstracts retrieved on July 5, 2008 from PubMed. One sentence in the abstract of the 1990 article reads, `` Empirical and theoretical analyses strongly imply present sharply rising levels of violent death, intensification of deviant behaviors implicated in the spread of AIDS, and the pattern of the AIDS outbreak itself, have been gravely affected, and even strongly determined, by the outcomes of a program of ' planned shrinkage ' directed against African - American and Hispanic communities, and implemented through systematic and continuing denial of municipal services -- particularly fire extinguishment resources -- essential for maintaining urban levels of population density and ensuring community stability. '' Jump up ^ Issues such as redlining, hospital quality, and what looked like the planned shrinkage of garbage collection were alleged as the motivations which sparked the Puerto Rican activists known as the Young Lords. The Young Lords coalesced with similar groups who claimed to be fighting for neighborhood empowerment, such as the Black Panthers, to protest urban renewal and arson for profit with sit - ins, marches, and violence. See pages 6 -- 9 of the guide to ¡ Palante Siempre Palante ! The Young Lords a `` P.O.V. '' ( Point of View ) documentary on the Public Broadcasting Service. Jump up ^ For an example of this argument, as well as of several other theses mentioned here, see `` When the Bronx was burning '' City - data forum ( blog ), 2007, where rubygreta writes : `` Rent control destroyed the Bronx, especially starting in the 1960s and 1970s, when oil prices rose through the roof, and heavily subsidized Coop City opened in the East Bronx. Essentially, tenants never moved out of their apartments because they had below - market rents thanks to rent control. The apartments deteriorated and common areas deteriorated because the landlords had no cash - flow. And no cash flow meant that they could not get mortgages for major repairs such as boilers, roofs and window replacement. '' Jump up ^ `` Arson for Hate and Profit ''. Time. October 31, 1977. Retrieved March 14, 2008. ^ Jump up to : Gonzalez ( 2004 ) Jump up ^ PERSPECTIVES : The 10 - Year Housing Plan ; Issues for the 90 's : Management and Costs, The New York Times, January 7, 1990 Jump up ^ Neighborhood Change and the City of New York 's Ten - Year Housing Plan Housing Policy Debate Volume 10, Issue 4. Fannie Mae Foundation 1999. Jump up ^ NOS QUEDAMOS / WE STAY Melrose Commons, Bronx, New York Sustainable Communities Network Case Studies Sustainability in Action 1997, retrieved on July 6, 2008 Jump up ^ David Gonzalez, Yolanda Garcia, 53, Dies ; A Bronx Community Force, The New York Times, February 19, 2005, retrieved on July 6, 2008 Jump up ^ Meera Subramanian, Homes and Gardens in the South Bronx Archived August 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., Portfolio, November 8, 2005, New York University Department of Journalism, retrieved on July 6, 2008 Jump up ^ Powell, Michael ( July 27, 2011 ). `` How the South Bronx 's Ruins Became Fertile Ground ''. City Room. Retrieved November 1, 2015. Jump up ^ Wealthy are drowning in new bank branches, says study, New York Daily News, Monday, September 10, 2007 Jump up ^ Superintendent Neiman Addresses the Ninth Annual Bronx Bankers Breakfast Archived January 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. June 15, 2007. Among the remarks of Richard H. Neiman, New York State 's Superintendent of Banks, were these : `` The Bronx was an economically stable community until the mid-1960s when the entire South Bronx struggled with major construction, real estate issues, red - lining, and block busting. This included a thoroughfare that divided communities, the deterioration of property as a result of rent control, and decrease in the value of real estate. Due to strong community leadership, advances in policing, social services, and changing economic migration patterns to New York City, the Bronx is undergoing a resurgence, with new housing developments and thriving business. From 2000 to 2006, there was a 2.2 % increase in population, and home ownership rates increased by 19.6 %. Still, bank branches were absent in places such as Community districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 12. Jump up ^ New bank targets Latinos in South Bronx December 11, 2007 Jump up ^ On June 30, 2005, there were 129 Federally insured banking offices in the Bronx, for a ratio of 1.0 offices for every 10,000 inhabitants. By contrast the national financial center of Manhattan had 555 for a ratio of 3.5 / 10,000, Staten Island a ratio of 1.9, Queens 1.7 and Brooklyn 1.1. In New York State as a whole the ratio was 2.6 and in the United States, 3.5 ( a single office can serve more people in a more - densely - populated area ). U.S. Census Bureau, City and County Data Book, 2007 Table B - 11. Counties -- Banking, Retail Trade, and Accommodation and Food Services For 1997 and 2007, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Summary of Deposits ; summary tables Archived December 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Deposits of all FDIC - Insured Institutions Operating in New York : State Totals by County -- all retrieved on July 15 -- 16, 2008. Jump up ^ Smalls, F. Romall ( July 20, 1997 ). `` The Bronx Is Named an ' All - America ' City ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Williams, Timothy ( June 27, 2006 ). `` Celebrities Now Give Thonx for Their Roots in the Bronx ''. The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2008. Jump up ^ Topousis, Tom ( July 23, 2007 ). `` Bx is Booming ''. New York Post. Archived from the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2008. Jump up ^ Kaysen, Rhonda ( September 17, 2015 ). `` The South Bronx Beckons ''. The New York Times. Jump up ^ Slattery, Denis ( September 15, 2014 ). `` The Bronx is booming with boutique and luxury hotels ''. New York Daily News. Jump up ^ `` NYC Post Offices to observe Presidents ' Day Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine... '' United States Postal Service. February 11, 2009. Retrieved on May 5, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Post Office Location -- BRONX GPO. '' United States Postal Service. Retrieved on May 5, 2009. Jump up ^ Anthony, Madeline ( March 18 -- 24, 2016 ). `` Bronx GPO conversion to retail space in motion ''. Bronx Times Reporter. p. 28. Jump up ^ `` Residents fear gentrification around Ice Center ''. News 12 : The Bronx. February 17, 2016. Jump up ^ Wirsing, Robert ( February 12, 2016 ). `` Concourse Yard revisited as ' new ' development site ''. Bronx Times Reporter. Jump up ^ Anthony, Madeline ( February 12, 2016 ). `` Inn planned for Mott Haven waterfront ''. Bronx Times Reporter. Jump up ^ FUTURE OF NEW WARDS ; New - York 's Possession in Westchester County Rapidly Developing. The New York Times, Wednesday, May 17, 1896, page 15 ( The subheadlines continue `` Trolley and Steam Road Systems Vast Areas Being Brought Close to the Heart of the City -- Miles of New Streets and Sewers. Botanical and Zoological Gardens. Advantages That Will Soon Relieve Crowded Sections of the City of Thousands of Their Inhabitants. '' ) This is a very useful glimpse into the state of the Bronx ( and the hopes of Manhattan 's pro-Consolidation forces ) as parks, housing and transit were all being rapidly developed. ^ Jump up to : `` 2010 Census Gazetteer Files ''. United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Find a County ''. National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011. Jump up ^ The fact that the immediate layer of bedrock in the Bronx is Fordham gneiss, while that of Manhattan is schist has led to the expression : `` The Bronx is gneiss ( nice ) but Manhattan is schist. '' Eldredge, Niles & Horenstein, Sidney ( 2014 ). Concrete Jungle : New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future. Berkeley, California : University of California Press. p. 42, n1. ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 27015 - 2. Jump up ^ Berger, Joseph ( July 19, 2010 ). `` Reclaimed Jewel Whose Attraction Can Be Perilous ''. The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2010. Jump up ^ Bronx High Point and Ascent of Bronx Point on June 24, 2008 at Peakbaggers.com, retrieved on July 22, 2008 Jump up ^ Waterfront Development Initiative Archived September 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., Bronx Borough President 's office, March 19, 2004, retrieved on July 29, 2008 Jump up ^ Last Section Of Macombs Dam Park Closes To The Public For Redevelopment On - site construction begins on Garage A and the New Macombs Dam Park, Press Release, November 1, 2007, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation retrieved on July 19, 2008 Jump up ^ `` Van Cortlandt Park : NYC Parks ''. Nycgovparks.org. Retrieved August 26, 2017. ^ Jump up to : In September 2008, Fordham University and its neighbor, the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global research organization which operates the Bronx Zoo, will begin a joint program leading to a Master of Science degree in adolescent science education ( biology grades 7 -- 12 ). Jump up ^ Jerome Park ( New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, retrieved on July 12, 2008 ). Jump up ^ Crotona Park New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, retrieved on July 20, 2008 Jump up ^ Article on the Bronx by Gary Hermalyn and Lloyd Ultan in The Encyclopedia of New York City ( 1995 -- see Further reading for bibliographic details ) Jump up ^ Bronx Parks for the 21st Century Archived June 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, retrieved on July 20, 2008. This links to both an interactive map and a downloadable ( 1.7 MB PDF ) map showing nearly every public park and green space in the Bronx. Jump up ^ As Maps and Memories Fade, So Do Some Bronx Boundary Lines by Manny Fernandez, The New York Times, September 16, 2006, retrieved on August 3, 2008 Jump up ^ Most correlations with Community Board jurisdictions in this section come from Bronx Community Boards at the Bronx Mall web - site, and New York : a City of Neighborhoods Archived September 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine., New York City Department of City Planning, both retrieved on August 5, 2008 Jump up ^ Fischler, Marcelle Sussman ( September 13, 2015 ). `` City Island, a Quainter Side of the Bronx ''. The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2016. Jump up ^ Walshe, Sadhbh ( June 3, 2015 ). `` ' Like a prison for the dead ' : welcome to Hart Island, home to New York City 's pauper graves ''. The Guardian. Retrieved January 23, 2016. Jump up ^ Fieldston Property Owners ' Association, Inc. By - Laws Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine., by the FPOA, September 17, 2006 Jump up ^ Areas touching Bronx County, MapIt. Accessed August 1, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Unlock the Grid, Then Ditch the Maps and Apps '', WNET, February 24, 2012. Accessed August 1, 2016. `` Jerome Avenue is the Bronx 's Fifth Avenue : Jerome Avenue divides the eastern and western halves of the Bronx. Much of the West Bronx 's numbering continues where Upper Manhattan 's street grid left off. '' Jump up ^ Bronx factsheet, Tri ‐ State Transportation Campaign. Accessed August 1, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Subway Map '' ( PDF ). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Bronx Bus Map '' ( PDF ). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Bronx County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau ''. census.gov. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` New York -- Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places : Earliest Census to 1990 ''. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012. Jump up ^ From 15 % sample ^ Jump up to : `` Photos : Bronx Residents on Obama ''. Newsweek. January 17, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2011. Jump up ^ `` American FactFinder ''. Factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2012. Jump up ^ `` American FactFinder ''. Factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012. Jump up ^ `` American FactFinder ''. Factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2012. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Population 1790 -- 1960 : The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1966, page 452, citing estimates of the Department of Health, City of New York. ( 2 ) Population 1790 -- 1990 : Article on `` population '' by Nathan Kantrowitz in The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson ( Yale University Press, 1995 ISBN 0 - 300 - 05536 - 6 ), citing the United States Census Bureau N.B., Estimates in ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) before 1920 re-allocate the Census population from the counties whose land is now partly occupied by Bronx County. ( 3 ) Population 1920 -- 1990 : Population of Counties by Decennial Census : 1900 to 1990, Compiled and edited by Richard L. Forstall, Population Division, US Bureau of the Census, United States Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. 20233, March 27, 1995, retrieved July 4, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Bronx County, New York ''. Modern Language Association. Archived from the original on June 19, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2013. Jump up ^ Claudio Torrens ( May 28, 2011 ). `` Some NY immigrants cite lack of Spanish as barrier ''. San Diego Union - Tribune. Retrieved February 10, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` American FactFinder ''. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Bronx County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau ''. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2013. Jump up ^ Cornell Law School Supreme Court Collection : Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, accessed June 12, 2006 Jump up ^ Trymaine Lee, `` Bronx Voters Elect Díaz as New Borough President '', The New York Times, New York edition, April 22, 2009, page A24, retrieved on May 13, 2009 Jump up ^ The Board of Elections in the City of New York, Bronx Borough President special election results, April 21, 2009 Archived July 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. ( PDF with details by Assembly District, April 29, 2009 ), retrieved on May 13, 2009 Jump up ^ New York State Board of Elections : 2006 Results Page, retrieved on July 23, 2008. Jump up ^ Board of Elections in the City of New York election results, retrieved on July 8, 2008. Jump up ^ Board of Elections in the City of New York Summary of Election Results ( 1999 -- 2008 ), retrieved on July 21, 2008. Jump up ^ The World Almanac and Book of Facts for 1929 & 1957 ; Our Campaigns ( New York Counties Bronx President History ) ; The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson ( Yale University Press and The New York Historical Society, New Haven, Connecticut, 1995 ISBN 0 - 300 - 05536 - 6 ), article on `` government and politics '' Jump up ^ ( The Republican line exceeded the ALP 's in every other borough ) Jump up ^ To see a comparison of borough votes for Mayor, see New York City mayoral elections # How the boroughs voted Jump up ^ Leip, David. `` Dave Leip 's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections ''. uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Jump up ^ The Hub Archived January 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Bronx Neighborhood Histories Archived May 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Bronx Hub revival gathers steam Archived November 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Michael Sorkin Studio ''. Michael Sorkin Studio. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Chains of Silver : Gateway Center At Bronx Terminal Market Earns LEED Silver Bona Fides '' ^ Jump up to : QT - P19. School Enrollment : 2000 ; Data Set : Census 2000 Summary File 3 ( SF 3 ) -- Sample Data ; Geographic Area : Bronx County, New York, U.S. Census Bureau, retrieved August 22, 2008 Archived January 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Gross, Jane ( May 6, 1997 ). `` A Tiny Strip of New York That Feels Like the Suburbs ''. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2012. ( ) Jump up ^ U.S. Census Bureau, County and City Data Book : 2007, Table B - 4. Counties -- Population Characteristics Jump up ^ Chronopoulos, Themis. `` '' Urban Decline and the Withdrawal of New York University from University Heights, The Bronx. '' The Bronx County Historical Society Journal XLVI ( Spring / Fall 2009 ) : 4 -- 24 ``. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014. Jump up ^ Monroe College history ( from the College 's web site ) retrieved on July 27, 2008. Jump up ^ Gary M. Stern ( March 16, 2017 ). `` The Young Mariners of Throgs Neck ''. The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017. Jump up ^ `` 2007 Fort Greene Park Summer Literary Festival ''. July 29, 2007. Archived from the original on July 29, 2007. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Photograph album of the 2007 Festival ''. Flickr.com. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Edgar Allan Poe Cottage ''. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. Retrieved October 9, 2006. Jump up ^ Stamp, Jimmy ( January 28, 2014 ). `` When Edgar Allan Poe Needed to Get Away, He Went to the Bronx ''. Smithsonian Magazine. Jump up ^ The Bronx on IMDb Jump up ^ David Gonzalez, `` Will Gentrification Spoil the Birthplace of Hip - Hop ? '', The New York Times, May 21, 2007, retrieved on July 1, 2008 Jump up ^ Jennifer Lee, `` Tenants Might Buy the Birthplace of Hip - Hop '', The New York Times, January 15, 2008, retrieved on July 1, 2008 Jump up ^ `` The Get Down review -- an insanely extravagant love letter to 70s New York '' by Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, August 15, 2016 ^ Jump up to : Tukufu Zuberi ( `` detective '' ), `` Birthplace of Hip Hop '', History Detectives, Season 6, Episode 11, New York City, found at PBS official website. Accessed February 24, 2009. Jump up ^ Kugelberg, Johan, ed. ( 2007 ). Born in the Bronx : A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop. New York : Rizzoli New York. p. 31. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7893 - 1540 - 3. Jump up ^ Jody Rosen ( February 12, 2006 ). `` A Rolling Shout - Out to Hip - Hop History ''. The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Bronx African American History Project ''. Jump up ^ `` About ''. BAAD ! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Jump up ^ Christopher Gray, `` Sturm und Drang Over a Memorial to Heinrich Heine '', The New York Times, May 27, 2007, retrieved on July 3, 2008. Archived on July 12, 2012. See also Public Art in the Bronx : Joyce Kilmer Park, from Lehman College Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Maritime Industry Museum, retrieved on August 21, 2008 Archived July 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Harlem River Community Rowing ''. Harlem River Community Rowing. Jump up ^ ( 2 ) Jump up ^ `` Bronx River Art Center : : Welcome ''. bronxriverart.org. Jump up ^ bxnews.net Archived June 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` ( some ) About Us ''. Inner City Press. Retrieved November 7, 2012. Jump up ^ Its website showcases very short selections ( less than 20 seconds and over 2 MB each in uncompressed AIFF format ) from Bronx Music Vol. 1, an out - of - press compact disc of the old and new sounds and artists of the Bronx. Archived August 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Chronopoulos, Themis. `` '' Paddy Chayefsky 's ' Marty ' and Its Significance to the Social History of Arthur Avenue, The Bronx, in the 1950s. '' The Bronx County Historical Society Journal XLIV ( Spring / Fall 2007 ) : 50 -- 59 ``. Archived from the original on 2013 - 01 - 20. Jump up ^ David Hinkley, `` Scorn and disdain : Spike Jones giffs Hitler der old birdaphone, 1942. '' New York Daily News, `` March 3, 2004. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2004/03/03/2004-03-03_scorn_and_disdain_spike_jone.html Jump up ^ Mahler, Jonathan ( 2005 ). Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0 - 312 - 42430 - 2. Jump up ^ `` Bronx Burning ( 2008 ) ''. IMDb.com. January 15, 2009. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Opportunities for Arts Organizations and Community Based Organizations ''. E-News Update. Bronx Council on the Arts. January 2006. Jump up ^ ( ISBN 0 - 573 - 12129 - X ) Jump up ^ Kate Simon, Bronx Primitive : Portraits in a Childhood. New York : Harper Colophon, 1983. Jump up ^ The Threepenny Review, Volume 109, Spring 2007 Jump up ^ Avery Corman, The Old Neighborhood, Simon & Schuster, 1980 ; ISBN 0 - 671 - 41475 - 5 Jump up ^ Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1987 ( hardback ) ISBN 978 - 0 - 374 - 11535 - 7, Picador Books 2008 ( paperback ) ISBN 978 - 0 - 312 - 42757 - 3 Jump up ^ Anne Barnard, Twenty Years After ' Bonfire, ' A City No Longer in Flames, The New York Times, December 10, 2007, retrieved on July 1, 2008 Jump up ^ `` From the Banks of Brook Avenue by W.R. Rodriguez ''. Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved August 26, 2017. Jump up ^ Ultan, Lloyd ; Unger, Barbara ( 2006 ). Bronx Accent : A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough. Rivergate Regionals Collection. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8135 - 3862 - 4. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 02. Jump up ^ Tokarczyk, M.M. ( 2016 ). Bronx Migrations. Cherry Castle Publishing. ISBN 978 - 0 - 692 - 73765 - 1. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 11. Jump up ^ Daniels, Jim ( December 2016 ). `` Tokarczyk, Michelle M. ( 2016 ) Bronx Migrations, Cherry Castle Publishing, Columbia, Md '' ( PDF ). Journal of Working - Class Studies. 1 ( 1 ). Jump up ^ `` A trio of Bronx tomes tell the tales of the borough ''. NY Daily News. Retrieved January 24, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Writing to Heal in the Bronx ''. The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 24, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Bronx Council on the Arts Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant for The Bronx Memoir Project -- Bronx, NY ''. www.americantowns.com. Retrieved January 24, 2016. Jump up ^ The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson ( Yale University Press and the New - York Historical Society, New Haven, Connecticut, 1995 ISBN 0 - 300 - 05536 - 6 ), pages 1091 -- 1095 Jump up ^ `` Man Parrish Featuring Freeze Force -- Boogie Down ( Bronx ) ''. Discogs. Further reading See also : Bibliography of the history of the Bronx General : Barrows, Edward, and Mike Wallace. Gotham : A History of New York City to 1898 ( 1999 ) Baver, Sherrie L ( 1988 ). `` Development of New York 's Puerto Rican Community ''. Bronx County Historical Society Journal. 25 ( 1 ) : 1 -- 9. Briggs, Xavier de Souza, Anita Miller and John Shapiro. 1996. `` CCRP in the South Bronx. '' Planners ' Casebook, Winter. Corman, Avery. `` My Old Neighborhood Remembered, A Memoir. '' Barricade Books ( 2014 ) Chronopoulos, Themis. `` Paddy Chayefsky 's ' Marty ' and Its Significance to the Social History of Arthur Avenue, The Bronx, in the 1950s. '' The Bronx County Historical Society Journal XLIV ( Spring / Fall 2007 ) : 50 -- 59. Chronopoulos, Themis. `` Urban Decline and the Withdrawal of New York University from University Heights, The Bronx. '' The Bronx County Historical Society Journal XLVI ( Spring / Fall 2009 ) : 4 -- 24. de Kadt, Maarten. The Bronx River : An Environmental and Social History. The History Press ( 2011 ) DiBrino, Nicholas. The History of the Morris Park Racecourse and the Morris Family ( 1977 ) Federal Writers ' Project. New York City Guide : A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis : Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond ( 1939 ) online edition Gonzalez, Evelyn. The Bronx. ( Columbia University Press, 2004. 263 ISBN 0 - 231 - 12114 - 8 ), scholarly history focused on the slums of the South Bronx online edition Goodman, Sam. `` The Golden Ghetto : The Grand Concourse in the Twentieth Century '', Bronx County Historical Society Journal 2004 41 ( 1 ) : 4 -- 18 and 2005 42 ( 2 ) : 80 -- 99 Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City, ( Yale University Press and The New - York Historical Society, ( 1995 ) ISBN 0 - 300 - 05536 - 6 ), has entries, maps, illustrations, statistics and bibliographic references on almost all of the significant topics in this article, from the entire borough to individual neighborhoods, people, events and artistic works. Jonnes, Jull. South Bronx Rising : The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of an American City ( 2002 ) online edition McNamara, John History In Asphalt : The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names ( 1993 ) ISBN 0 - 941980 - 16 - 2 McNamara, John McNamara 's Old Bronx ( 1989 ) ISBN 0 - 941980 - 25 - 1 Olmsted, Robert A ( 1989 ). `` A History of Transportation in the Bronx ''. Bronx County Historical Society Journal. 26 ( 2 ) : 68 -- 91. Olmsted, Robert A ( 1998 ). `` Transportation Made the Bronx ''. Bronx County Historical Society Journal. 35 ( 2 ) : 166 -- 180. Rodríguez, Clara E. Puerto Ricans : Born in the U.S.A ( 1991 ) online edition Samtur, Stephen M. and Martin A. Jackson. The Bronx : Lost, Found, and Remembered, 1935 -- 1975 ( 1999 ) online review, nostalgia Twomey, Bill and Casey, Thomas Images of America Series : Northwest Bronx ( 2011 ) Twomey, Bill and McNamara, John. Throggs Neck Memories ( 1993 ) Twomey, Bill and McNamara, John. Images of America Series : Throggs Neck - Pelham Bay ( 1998 ) Twomey, Bill and Moussot, Peter. Throggs Neck ( 1983 ), pictorial Twomey, Bill. Images of America Series : East Bronx ( 1999 ) Twomey, Bill. Images of America Series : South Bronx ( 2002 ) Twomey, Bill. The Bronx in Bits and Pieces ( 2007 ) Ultan, Lloyd. The Northern Borough : A History Of The Bronx ( 2009 ), popular general history Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the frontier era : from the beginning to 1696 ( 1994 ) Ultan, Lloyd. The Beautiful Bronx ( 1920 -- 1950 ) ( 1979 ), heavily illustrated Ultan, Lloyd. The Birth of the Bronx, 1609 -- 1900 ( 2000 ), popular Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the Innocent years, 1890 -- 1925 ( 1985 ), popular Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx : It Was Only Yesterday, `` The Bronx : It Was Only Yesterday 1935 -- 1965 ( 1992 ), heavily illustrated popular history Bronx history : Barrows, Edward, and Mike Wallace. Gotham : A History of New York City to 1898 ( 1999 ) Baver, Sherrie L ( 1988 ). `` Development of New York 's Puerto Rican Community ''. Bronx County Historical Society Journal. 25 ( 1 ) : 1 -- 9. Federal Writers ' Project. New York City Guide : A Comprehensive Guide to the Five Boroughs of the Metropolis : Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Richmond ( 1939 ) online edition Fitzpatrick Benedict. The Bronx and Its People ; A History 1609 -- 1927 ( The Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1927. 3 volumes ), Narrative history plus many biographies of prominent citizens Gonzalez, Evelyn. The Bronx. ( Columbia University Press, 2004. 263 pp. 0 -- 231 - 12114 - 8 ), scholarly history focused on the slums of the South Bronx online edition Goodman, Sam. `` The Golden Ghetto : The Grand Concourse in the Twentieth Century '', Bronx County Historical Society Journal 2004 41 ( 1 ) : 4 -- 18 and 2005 42 ( 2 ) : 80 -- 99 Greene, Anthony C., `` The Black Bronx : A Look at the Foundation of the Bronx 's Black Communities until 1900 '', Bronx County Historical Society Journal, 44 ( Spring -- Fall 2007 ), 1 -- 18. Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City, ( Yale University Press and The New York Historical Society, ( 1995 ) ISBN 0 - 300 - 05536 - 6 ), has entries, maps, illustrations, statistics and bibliographic references on almost all of the significant topics in this article, from the entire borough to individual neighborhoods, people, events and artistic works. Jonnes, Jull. South Bronx Rising : The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of an American City ( 2002 ) online edition Melancholy in the Bronx, but Not Because of the Stadium by David Gonzales, The New York Times, published and retrieved on September 19, 2008 Olmsted, Robert A ( 1989 ). `` A History of Transportation in the Bronx ''. Bronx County Historical Society Journal. 26 ( 2 ) : 68 -- 91. Olmsted, Robert A ( 1998 ). `` Transportation Made the Bronx ''. Bronx County Historical Society Journal. 35 ( 2 ) : 166 -- 180. Purnell, Brian ( 2009 ). `` Desegregating the Jim Crow North : Racial Discrimination in the Postwar Bronx and the Fight to Integrate the Castle Hill Beach Club ( 1953 -- 1973 ) ''. Afro - Americans in New York Life and History. 33 : 47 -- 78. Purnell, Brian ; LaBennett, Oneka ( 2009 ). `` The Bronx African American History Project ( BAAHP ) and Approaches to Scholarship about / for Black Communities ''. Afro - Americans in New York Life and History. 33 : 7 -- 23. Rodríguez, Clara E. Puerto Ricans : Born in the U.S.A ( 1991 ) online edition Samtur, Stephen M. and Martin A. Jackson. The Bronx : Lost, Found, and Remembered, 1935 -- 1975 ( 1999 ) online review, nostalgia Ultan, Lloyd. The Northern Borough : A History Of The Bronx ( 2009 ), popular general history Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the frontier era : from the beginning to 1696 ( 1994 ) Ultan, Lloyd. The Beautiful Bronx ( 1920 -- 1950 ) ( 1979 ), heavily illustrated Ultan, Lloyd. The Birth of the Bronx, 1609 -- 1900 ( 2000 ), popular Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx in the innocent years, 1890 -- 1925 ( 1985 ), popular Ultan, Lloyd. The Bronx : It Was Only Yesterday, `` The Bronx : It Was Only Yesterday 1935 -- 1965 ( 1992 ), heavily illustrated popular history External links Find more aboutThe Bronxat Wikipedia 's sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Wikimedia Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Travel guide from Wikivoyage Learning resources from Wikiversity Bronx Borough President 's Office Bronx County at Curlie ( based on DMOZ ) Newspapers : The Bronx Times Reporter The Bronx Times Weekly Bronx Report from Inner City Press The Hunts Point Express The Mott Haven Herald Norwood News The Riverdale Press Blogs : Welcome2TheBronx Associations : The Bronx River Alliance Bronx Council for Environmental Quality Throggs Neck Merchant Association The Bronx Market The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation Bronx County, NY Website History : City Island Nautical Museum East Bronx History Forum Kingsbridge Historical Society Museum of Bronx History The Bronx County Historical Society The Bronx : A Swedish Connection Report of the Bronx Parkway Commission, December 31, 1918, retrieved on July 24, 2008 Remembrance of Synagogues Past : The Lost Civilization of the Jewish South Bronx by Seymour Perlin, retrieved on August 10, 2008 Forgotten New York : Relics of a Rich History in the Everyday Life of New York City Places adjacent to The Bronx Westchester County Bergen County, New Jersey Bronx County, New York Eastchester Bay New York County ( Manhattan ) Queens County ( Queens ) Links to related articles Neighborhoods in the New York City borough of the Bronx Allerton Bathgate Baychester Bedford Park Belmont ( Arthur Avenue ) Bronx Park East Castle Hill City Island Clason Point Crotona Park East Concourse Co-op City Country Club East Bronx Eastchester East Tremont Fieldston Fordham Fordham Plaza Harding Park Highbridge Hunts Point The Hub Hudson Hill Kingsbridge Kingsbridge Heights Locust Point Longwood Melrose Morrisania Morris Heights Morris Park Mosholu Mott Haven North Bronx North Riverdale Norwood Parkchester Pelham Bay Pelham Gardens Pelham Parkway Port Morris Riverdale Schuylerville Soundview South Bronx Spuyten Duyvil Throggs Neck Tremont University Heights Van Cortlandt Village Van Nest Wakefield West Bronx West Farms Westchester Square Williamsbridge Woodlawn Community boards : 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 See also History of the Bronx Timeline of the Bronx New York City The Five Boroughs The Bronx ( Bronx County ) Brooklyn ( Kings County ) : Manhattan ( New York County ) Queens ( Queens County ) Staten Island ( Richmond County ) General topics History timeline Neighborhoods ethnic enclaves Architecture monuments skyscrapers People Media Economy companies Geography Flags Environment food and water Demographics history Culture Arts Books Cuisine Dialect Museums Music Nicknames `` Sixth borough '' Sports Tourism gardens landmarks parks Government Mayor Elections Council Borough presidents Politics Emergency services Hospitals Fire Police crime law enforcement Education Dept. of Education Elementary schools High schools Colleges Transportation History Entities DOT former BOT Vision Zero Initiative Metropolitan Transportation Authority Subway Bus Long Island Rail Road Metro - 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Question: where did the name the bronx come from
Answer: Jonas Bronck, who established the first settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639