Borough of the Bronx

cultural treasures – those that are well known, such as the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, Yankee Stadium and The Woodlawn Cemetery, as well as those still undiscovered by BOROUGH OF many who journey to New York City. To the uninitiated and the THE BRONX unaware, the Bronx will be a delightful surprise. Lloyd Ultan, Bronx Borough Historian TOURING THE BRONX – Welcome to the Bronx, one of New York City’s “must see” YANKEE STADIUM AND BEYOND communities. It’s a place of world-famous attractions, diverse artistic expression, miles of parks, and over 60 landmarks and YOUR GUIDE – Lloyd Ultan is the Bronx Borough Historian. historic districts. It’s where people like Edgar Allan Poe and He is the author of numerous books on the Bronx including Mark Twain lived – and where break dancing and salsa music The Beautiful Bronx 1920–1950, The Bronx: It Was Only Yesterday, were born. 1935–1965 and Bronx Accent: A Literary and Pictorial History of the Borough. Adolfo Carrion, Jr., Bronx Borough President START – Take the 4, B or D trains to 161 Street – Yankee Of New York City’s fi ve boroughs, the Bronx is the only one Stadium. that is actually on the mainland of the United States. At 42 square miles, it’s twice the size of the borough of Manhattan and Yankee Stadium and Grand Concourse Walking Tour equal in size to the cities of Paris and San Francisco. The more than 1.3 million people who reside in the Bronx, living side by 1. YANKEE STADIUM – E 161 St & River Av side in the same neighborhoods in friendly harmony, trace their origins to just about every inhabited continent on the globe. Since it opened in Parks cover 25% of the Bronx, establishing it as the borough of 1923, Yankee Stadium parks. Home of 14 institutions of higher education, the Bronx has been home to the is also known as the borough of universities. For the two and New York Yankees. a half centuries since its fi rst European settler – a Swede by the Nicknamed “The name of Jonas Bronck – arrived from the Netherlands in 1639, Bronx Bombers,” the Bronx was largely a rural area with scattered villages here the Yankees have and there. Then, in 1874, New York City annexed its western dominated baseball half, and, in 1895, it took over the half to the east as well. In by winning more World Series than any other team, with such 1898, with the origin of the city’s borough system, the borough great players as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey of the Bronx was created, named after the river that fl ows down Mantle. In 2009, the New Yankee Stadium will open across the its center. street from the old ballpark, at which time the old stadium will be converted into a park and playing fi eld for neighborhood use. The construction of the subway system from 1904 to 1933 provided a swift and inexpensive way for millions of people to Tours of Yankee Stadium can be arranged by calling 718 293 4300 well escape from overcrowded Manhattan neighborhoods to reside in in advance of your visit and asking for the tour offi ce. comfortable apartments and homes with many amenities, amidst trees and grass. Today’s public transportation system, with From Yankee Stadium, walk up E 161 St to the Grand buses connecting to subway stations, affords visitors easy access Concourse. to all neighborhoods in the borough and to its many 308 309 TTHEHE BBRONXRONX TTHEHE BBRONXRONX E 167 ST eclectic and 1930s Art Deco style with large rooms and the W 167 ST 167 St 167 St Station latest amenities of the period. From the 1920s to the 1960s, Station BD 4 TUDOR PL these apartments were home largely to Jewish people who had CROMWELL AV 7 attained status and wealth. To live in these elegant buildings with Fish MC CLELLAN ST W 166 ST Building their uniformed doormen was a symbol of economic and social MC CLELLAN ST success; in those days, the Grand Concourse was equivalent to Andrew 6 Freedman GRAND CONCOURSE Manhattan’s Park and Fifth Avenues. Starting in the 1950s, diverse Home ethnic groups also moved to the Grand Concourse, refl ecting CARROLL PL SHERIDAN AV the rich cultural heritage that the borough symbolizes to this day. E 166 ST Bronx 5 Museum The boulevard south of Mount Eden Av is placed on the National of the Arts E 165 ST Register of Historic Places. WOODYCREST AV CARROLL PL W 164 ST John Mullaly Park 2. THE BRONX COUNTY BUILDING JEROME AV E 164 ST SW corner of 161 St & Grand Concourse John RIVER AV ANDERSON AV High GERARD AV Mullaly Park WALTON AV Erected in 1932, the Bronx County Bridge E 162 ST Building houses the offi ces of the SHERMAN AV 4 SHERIDAN AV Bronx Borough President, County New E 163 ST E 162 ST 1 Yankee Joyce GRAND CONCOURSE Clerk, County Surrogate, and the Stadium Kilmer Park judges of the Bronx Supreme Court. 1 ST E 162 ST On the third fl oor is a sculptured 3 Concourse Plaza frieze by George Keck. The high- E 161 ST Hotel Macombs relief allegorical blocks fl anking E 161 ST Dam Park 4 B D 161 St each entrance are by a consortium of sculptors, led by Adolph Yankee 2 Stadium Bronx Concourse Weinman. Behind the wall on the corner of the street is the arch RUPPERT PL Station E 159 ST Old County Yankee E 158 ST Building from the bridge at Chateau Thierry, where Americans blunted the Stadium E 158 ST Village German offensive in World War I, turning the tide of the war. E 157 ST Walk of Fame THE GRAND CONCOURSE THE BRONX WALK OF FAME The boulevard was designed in the 1890s by Louis A. Risse, who Beginning at 161 St and running south along the Grand modeled it after the Champs Elysees in Paris. When it opened in Concourse, this series of colorful street signs attached to light 1909, there was a grand entrance at 161 St, (later redesigned to poles honors famous Bronxites. Among the more than 70 become Joyce Kilmer Park). Risse’s design introduced what was inductees are Diahann Carroll, The Chantels, Bobby Darin, E. L. then an innovation for an urban thoroughfare – grade separations, Doctorow, Ray Barretto, Mary Higgins Clark, Rita Moreno, Regis with major streets crossing beneath the Concourse to avoid Philbin and Colin Powell. traffi c jams. It was the forerunner of the modern highway cloverleaf. 3. THE CONCOURSE PLAZA HOTEL NE corner 161 St & Grand Concourse For most of its length, the Grand Concourse is fl anked by fi ve- and six-story apartment buildings designed in the 1920s Erected in 1923, the Concourse Plaza once served as the social 310 311 TTHEHE BBRONXRONX TTHEHE BBRONXRONX center of the Bronx. Important 6. ANDREW FREEDMAN HOME family celebrations, business Grand Concourse btwn 166 & McClellan St, on your left meetings and political events Named for the man who endowed it in his will, the historic were held here – including Andrew Freedman Home was erected in the 1920s to house some attended by Franklin D. elderly people who were once wealthy, but who had lost all their Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and money, so that they could live their lives in the manner to which John F. Kennedy. Because of its they had become accustomed. It now houses several social proximity to Yankee Stadium, service and educational organizations. it was a home away from home for both Yankee players and members of other teams. Since the 1980s, it has served as a senior citizen residence. 7. THE FISH BUILDING 1150 Grand Concourse at McClellan St 4. JOYCE KILMER PARK The entrance to this Art Deco NW corner of 161 St & Grand Concourse apartment house is fl anked by an attractive mosaic mural of Joyce Kilmer Park was named after the poet who wrote “Trees” tropical fi sh. Designed by Horace and who died fi ghting in World War I. Note the fountain Ginsbern, it is often called the overlooking 161 St created by Ernst Herter and donated by the “Fish” House or the “Fish” Empress Elizabeth of Austria in honor of the German-Jewish poet Building by local residents. Heinrich Heine and his beloved poem, “Die Lorelei.” Turn left at 161 St for a brief stroll along the Grand The Grand Concourse Bus Ride Concourse. At 167 St, board the Bx1 bus for a ride up the Grand Concourse, the backbone of the Bronx. The ride provides 5. THE BRONX MUSEUM OF THE ARTS a sample of the variety of cultures, architecture and 1040 Grand Concourse at 165 St attractions the Bronx offers. The route ends at the 231 Street Subway Station where one has the option of returning Since it opened in 1923, BxMA’s to Manhattan or taking the bus to Wave Hill, a 28-acre permanent collection has been public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson unique in its focus on contemporary River and Palisades. works by artists of African, Asian and Latin American descent. BxMA’s collection policy, initiated LOEW’S PARADISE THEATER in 1986, demonstrates an ongoing 2431 Grand Concourse at 187 St commitment to exhibit, preserve … on your left and document the work of artists not typically represented in more Now the Utopia Paradise Theater, traditional museum collections. Info: it opened as the Loew’s Paradise in 718 681 6000. 1929. As Seth Kugel, writing in the New York Times, described it, “The Paradise was the venue where generations of Bronxites chose 312 313 TTHEHE BBRONXRONX TTHEHE BBRONXRONX between watching fi rst-run southern end of the park, used fi lms and a fi rst kiss on the for swing music and dancing in 7 balcony.” The Paradise was the “big band era,” still hosts RIVERDALE one of the ‘atmospheric’ occasional concerts.

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