98-486: The Andrew Freedman Home is a historic building in the Bronx , New York City. Constructed by the estate of the millionaire Andrew Freedman , it has been renovated into an artists' hub consisting of an interdisciplinary artist residency, an incubator space, workforce development and community services. It is a New York City designated landmark . The money to build it was bequeathed by Freedman. Located at 1125 Grand Concourse in
196-470: A Mitchell-Lama affordable housing property. In the summer of 2007, New York state officials declared 1520 Sedgwick Avenue the "birthplace of hip-hop", and nominated it to national and state historic registers. The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development ruled against the proposed sale in February 2008, on the grounds that "the proposed purchase price is inconsistent with the use of property as
294-419: A Loose ", Jimmy Castor 's "It's Just Begun" and Booker T. & the M.G.'s ' "Melting Pot". With Bronx clubs struggling with street gangs, uptown DJs catering to an older disco crowd with different aspirations, and commercial radio also catering to a demographic distinct from teenagers in the Bronx, Herc's parties, organized and promoted by his sister Cindy, had a ready-made audience. DJ Kool Herc developed
392-447: A Mitchell-Lama affordable housing development". It is the first time they have so ruled in such a case. According to The Source , DJ Kool Herc fell gravely ill in early 2011 and was said to lack health insurance. He had surgery for kidney stones , with a stent placed to relieve the pressure. He needed follow-up surgery but St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx , the site that performed
490-526: A boom period during 1900–1929, 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 changed during 1950–1985 from a predominantly moderate-income to a predominantly lower-income area with high rates of violent crime and poverty in some areas. The Bronx has experienced an economic and developmental resurgence starting in
588-435: A break in 1975. It became a firm b-boy favorite—"the Bronx national anthem" —and is still in use in hip hop today. Steven Hager wrote of this period: For over five years the Bronx had lived in constant terror of street gangs. Suddenly, in 1975, they disappeared almost as quickly as they had arrived. This happened because something better came along to replace the gangs. That something was eventually called hip-hop. In 1979,
686-423: A copy of " Sex Machine " by James Brown , a record that not a lot of his friends had, and which they would come to him to hear. He used the recreation room of their building, 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Herc's first sound system consisted of two turntables connected to two amplifiers and a Shure "Vocal Master" PA system with two speaker columns, on which he played records such as James Brown 's " Give It Up or Turnit
784-759: 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,
882-552: 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 to house 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 in
980-426: 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 the town of Yonkers, roughly corresponding to the modern Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale , and Woodlawn Heights , and included Woodlawn Cemetery . Among the famous people who settled in
1078-407: A place for "the vicious elements, bootleggers, gamblers and their friends in all walks of life" to cooperate and to "evade the law, escape punishment for their crimes, [and] to deter the police from doing their duty". Between 1930 and 1960, moderate and upper income Bronxites (predominantly non-Hispanic Whites) began to relocate from the borough's southwestern neighborhoods. This migration has left
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#17328843650821176-821: 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 county, and its southern end the Bronx Zoo , the largest urban zoological gardens in the United States. In 1904 the Chestnut Blight pathogen ( Cryphonectria parasitica )
1274-502: A record to play at a certain place on it). Developments changed techniques of cutting (switching from one record to another) and scratching (moving the record by hand to and fro under the stylus for percussive effect) in the late 1970s. Herc said he retreated from the scene after being stabbed at the Executive Playhouse while trying to intercede in a fight, and the burning down of one of his venues. In 1980, Herc had stopped DJing and
1372-401: A schoolyard party: The sun hadn't gone down yet, and kids were just hanging out, waiting for something to happen. Van pulls up, a bunch of guys come out with a table, crates of records. They unscrew the base of the light pole, take their equipment, attach it to that, get the electricity – Boom! We got a concert right here in the schoolyard and it's this guy Kool Herc. And he's just standing with
1470-541: A system of major Bronx parks connected by park-like thoroughfares is usually attributed to John Mullaly . Woodlawn Cemetery , located on 400 acres (160 ha) and one of the largest cemeteries in New York City, sits on the western bank of the Bronx River near Yonkers . It opened in 1863, in what was then the town of Yonkers, at the time a rural area. Since the first burial in 1865, more than 300,000 people have been interred there. The borough's northern side includes
1568-450: Is a Jamaican American DJ who is credited with being one of the founders of hip hop music in the Bronx , New York City, in 1973. Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop , Campbell began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown . Campbell began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record which emphasized the drum beat—the " break "—and switch from one break to another. Using
1666-409: Is a multi-disciplinary examination of American consumerism of prison labor and our daily choices to purchase, condone or reject goods created in penitentiaries. The Bronx The Bronx ( / b r ɒ ŋ k s / BRONKS ) is the northernmost borough of New York City , coextensive with Bronx County , in the U.S. state of New York . It is south of Westchester County ; north and east of
1764-409: Is based on the Bronx River , while the other strictly separates South Bronx from the rest of the borough. The Bronx River divides the borough nearly in half, putting the earlier-settled, more urban, and hillier sections in the western lobe and the newer, more suburban coastal sections in the eastern lobe. It is an accurate reflection on the Bronx's history considering that the towns that existed in
1862-588: 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 . Local farmers on both sides of the creek resented the tolls, and in 1759, Jacobus Dyckman and Benjamin Palmer led them in building
1960-523: 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 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 (modern-day Manhattan) in 1914. About a quarter of the Bronx's area is open space, including Woodlawn Cemetery , Van Cortlandt Park , Pelham Bay Park ,
2058-678: Is land and 15 square miles (39 km ) (27%) is water. The Bronx is New York City's northernmost borough, New York State's southernmost mainland county and the only part of New York City that is almost entirely on the North American mainland, unlike the other four boroughs that are either islands or located on islands. The bedrock of the West Bronx 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
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#17328843650822156-502: 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
2254-524: The Concourse neighborhood, the Andrew Freedman Home was designed as a retirement home for wealthy individuals who had lost their fortunes. The trust that operated the Andrew Freedman Home ran out of money in the 1960s. The home was reopened in 1983 for all elderly individuals, regardless of past financial status. As of 2012, the Andrew Freedman Home serves as a day-care center and event space. During
2352-652: The Dominican Republic ), and immigrants from West Africa (particularly from Ghana and Nigeria ), African American migrants from the Southern United States , Panamanians , Hondurans , and South Asians . The Bronx contains the poorest congressional district in the United States , New York's 15th . The borough also features upper- and middle-income neighborhoods, such as Riverdale , Fieldston , Spuyten Duyvil , Schuylerville , Pelham Bay , Pelham Gardens , Morris Park , and Country Club . Parts of
2450-627: 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
2548-701: The New York Botanical Garden , and the Bronx Zoo in the borough's north and center. The Thain Family Forest at the New York Botanical Garden is thousands of years old and is New York City's largest remaining tract of the original forest that once covered the city. These open spaces are primarily on land reserved in the late 19th century as urban development progressed north and east from Manhattan. The word "Bronx" originated with Swedish -born (or Faroese -born) Jonas Bronck , who established
2646-505: 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. As evidence of the change in population, by 1937, 592,185 Jews lived in
2744-444: The PAL on 183rd Street, as well as at high schools such as Dodge and Taft . Rapping duties were delegated to Coke La Rock and Theodore Puccio. Herc's collective, known as The Herculoids, was augmented by Clark Kent and dancers The Nigga Twins. Herc took his soundsystem (the herculords) —still legendary for its sheer volume —to the streets and parks of the Bronx. Nelson George recalls
2842-464: The Panic of 1907 , Andrew Freedman , a self-made millionaire, came to the realization that he almost lost his entire fortune. He feared what would have happened to him in his later life without his wealth. As a result, he developed the idea of a charitable trust to build a home for older individuals who had lost their fortunes, where they could live in their retirements. When Freedman died in 1915, his estate
2940-459: 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. It separates the West Bronx from the schist of the East Bronx . A smaller river,
3038-538: The Wall Street Crash of 1929 moved into the Home in the 1930s. After World War II, various Jews of European descent moved into the home. At dinner, formal dress was a requirement. People were forbidden to sleep on couches or put their feet on the furniture in the public areas. Just as with its beneficiaries, the trust's money ran low by the 1960s. By 1965, residents were required to pay rent. People began to move out of
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3136-470: The definite article as "the Bronx" or "The Bronx", both legally and colloquially. The "County of the Bronx" also takes "the" immediately before "Bronx" in formal references, like the coextensive "Borough of the Bronx". The United States Postal Service uses "Bronx, NY" for mailing addresses. 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
3234-508: The sound systems of neighborhood parties called dance halls , and the accompanying speech of their DJs, known as toasting . He emigrated with his family at the age of 12 to The Bronx , New York City in November 1967, where they lived at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue . Campbell attended the Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx, where his height, frame, and demeanor on
3332-438: 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 by filling in the former waterway, but it is not part of the borough or county. The history of the Bronx during the 20th century may be divided into four periods:
3430-619: The Andrew Freedman Home rent free, and received free servants. Plans were filed in 1922 to build the home as a four-story brick building. Untermeyer purchased the plot of land on Grand Concourse. Architects Joseph H. Friedlander and Harry Allan Jacobs estimated the cost of construction at $ 500,000 ($ 9,101,392 in current dollar terms). The Home was built as a four-story building in a French and Italian Renaissance style with soft gray and yellow limestone . The building cost approximately $ 1 million ($ 17,780,000 in current dollar terms) to build. The Andrew Freedman Home opened in 1924. The building
3528-517: The B-boys would go into the center. At first the dance was simple: touch your toes, hop, kick out your leg. Then some guy went down, spun around on all fours. Everybody said wow and went home to try to come up with something better. In the early 1980s, the media began to call this style " breakdance ", which in 1991 The New York Times wrote was "an art as demanding and inventive as mainstream dance forms like ballet and jazz." Since this emerging culture
3626-488: 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. Bootleggers and gangs were active in the Bronx during Prohibition (1920–1933). Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish gangs smuggled in most of the illegal whiskey, and the oldest sections of the borough became poverty-stricken. Police Commissioner Richard Enright said that speakeasies provided
3724-544: 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. The Bronx's development
3822-404: 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;
3920-407: The Bronx saw a steep decline in population, livable housing, and quality of life starting from the mid-to-late 1960s, continuing throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, ultimately culminating in a wave of arson in the late 1970s, a period when hip hop music evolved. The South Bronx , in particular, experienced severe urban decay . The borough began experiencing new population growth starting in
4018-692: 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
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4116-575: 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
4214-502: 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
4312-532: The Bronx-based organization Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx, arguing 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 ' ". European colonization of
4410-561: The Bronx. 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
4508-530: The English rock band Babe Ruth . Kool Herc also contributed to developing the rhyming style of hip hop by punctuating the recorded music with slang phrases, announcing: "Rock on, my mellow!" "B-boys, b-girls, are you ready? keep on rock steady" "This is the joint! Herc beat on the point" "To the beat, y'all!" "You don't stop!" For his contributions, Time nicknamed Herc the "Founding Father of Hip Hop", called him "nascent cultural hero", and an integral part of
4606-670: The Home as the area around Grand Concourse declined. The Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council purchased the home in 1982, and relocated the remaining 30 residents. They reopened the Home in 1983 as a residence for the elderly and poor. The Andrew Freedman Home was named a New York City Designated Landmark in 1992. As of 2012, the Andrew Freedman Home serves as a daycare center and event space. On April 4, 2012 No Longer Empty opened "This Side of Paradise", an exhibition of artworks in various mediums including photography, video projections and installations. Artists such as photographer Sylvia Plachy and graffiti artist Daze showed work relating to
4704-507: The Home's galleries. Artists offer workshops to the local Bronx community, exchanging 20 hours of labor per month for AIR benefits. Workshops are low-cost or free-of-charge and include art-making and music lessons, such as Afro-Puerto Rican drum classes offered by Jose "Dr. Drum" Ortiz. Current AFH | AIR resident artist and organizations include Renée Cox , En Foco , Jennie West and Meguru Yamaguchi . Andrew Freedman Home exhibits art regularly in its galleries and as installations throughout
4802-487: The Merry-Go-Round into his sets in 1973. The earliest known Merry-Go-Round involved playing James Brown's " Give It Up or Turnit a Loose " (with its refrain , "Now clap your hands! Stomp your feet!"), then switching from that record's break into the break from a second record, " Bongo Rock " by The Incredible Bongo Band . From the "Bongo Rock"'s break, Herc used a third record to switch to the break on " The Mexican " by
4900-460: The New York City borough of Manhattan , across the Harlem River ; and north of the New York City borough of Queens , across the East River . The Bronx, the only New York City borough not primarily located on an island, has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km ) and a population of 1,472,654 at the 2020 census . Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density . The Bronx
4998-504: 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,
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#17328843650825096-537: The Third Avenue Bridge as people buy apartments and renovate them. Several boutique and chain hotels opened in the 2010s 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
5194-662: 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 . In 2006, a five-year, $ 220-million program of capital improvements and natural restoration in 70 Bronx parks
5292-526: The area prior to annexation to the City of New York generally did not straddle the Bronx River. In addition, what is today the Bronx was annexed to New York City in two stages: areas west of the Bronx River were annexed in 1874 while areas to the east of the river were annexed in 1895. Under this system, the Bronx can be further divided into the following regions: Kool Herc Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc ,
5390-546: The basketball court prompted the other kids to nickname him " Hercules ". After being involved in a physical altercation with school bullies, the Five Percenters came to Herc's aid, befriended him and as Herc put it, helped "Americanize" him with an education in New York City street culture. He began running with a graffiti crew called the Ex-Vandals, taking the name Kool Herc. Herc recalls persuading his father to buy him
5488-432: The beginnings of hip hop. On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc was a disc jockey and emcee at a party hosted by himself and his younger sister Cindy at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. She wanted to earn extra cash for back-to-school clothes, so she decided to throw a party where her older brother, then just 18 years old, would play music for the neighborhood in their apartment building. She promoted the event with flyers and organized
5586-492: The borough's name is sometimes disputed. Generally, the definite article is lowercase in place names ("the Bronx") except in some official references. The definite article is 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 Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan , The Bronx County Historical Society , and
5684-443: The break, which allowed him to extend a relatively short section of music into a "five-minute loop of fury". This innovation had its roots in what Herc called "The Merry-Go-Round", a technique by which the deejay switched from break to break at the height of the party. This technique is specifically called "The Merry-Go-Round" because according to Herc, it takes one "back and forth with no slack." Herc stated that he first introduced
5782-678: The building and grounds. Bronx Voyeurs featured works by artist Emory Douglas and others in a multichannel video installation in windows of the Home, curated by Walter Puryear and designed by Benton C Bainbridge . Interactive exhibit Undesign the Redline examined the social effects of urban planning in a series of participatory displays. In Fall, 2017, a three-venue exhibition between Andrew Freedman Home, BronxArtSpace and Swing Space opened, featuring Incarcerated Nation , Noté Peter George , Solitary Watch , Hank Willis Thomas , Julia Justo , and dozens of other organizations and artists. STATE PROPERTY
5880-404: The building they lived in so they could qualify for emergency relocations by city social service agencies to better residences, sometimes being relocated to other parts of the city. Out of 289 census tracts in the Bronx borough, 7 tracts lost more than 97% of their buildings to arson and abandonment between 1970 and 1980; another 44 tracts had more than 50% of their buildings meet the same fate. By
5978-577: The city in 1896. Following these two annexations, the Bronx's territory had moved from Westchester County into New York County, which already included Manhattan and the rest of pre-1874 New York City. On January 1, 1898, the consolidated City of New York was born, including the Bronx as one of the five distinct boroughs . However, it remained part of New York County until Bronx County was created in 1914. On April 19, 1912, those parts of New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County in previous decades were newly constituted as Bronx County,
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#17328843650826076-464: The clubs, community centres and high school gymnasiums of the Bronx. Afrika Bambaataa first heard Kool Herc in 1973. Bambaataa, at that time a general in the notorious Black Spades gang of the Bronx, obtained his own soundsystem in 1975 and began to DJ in Herc's style, converting his followers to the non-violent Zulu Nation in the process. Kool Herc began using The Incredible Bongo Band 's " Apache " as
6174-514: 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 ). Although Bronx County was the third most densely populated county in the United States in 2022 (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
6272-412: The early 1980s, the Bronx was considered the most blighted urban area in the country, particularly the South Bronx which experienced a loss of 60% of the population and 40% of housing units. However, starting in the 1990s, many of the burned-out and run-down tenements were replaced by new housing units. In May 1984, New York Supreme Court justice Peter J. McQuillan ruled that Marble Hill, Manhattan ,
6370-491: The eastern and northwestern sections of the borough . From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, the quality of life changed for some 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
6468-612: The first European settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639. European settlers displaced the native Lenape after 1643. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bronx received many immigrant and migrant groups as it was transformed into an urban community, first from European countries particularly Ireland , Germany , Italy , and Eastern Europe , and later from the Caribbean region (particularly Puerto Rico , Trinidad , Haiti , Guyana , Jamaica , Barbados , and
6566-473: 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 came a revitalization of the existing housing market in areas such as Hunts Point, the Lower Concourse, and the neighborhoods surrounding
6664-544: The foreword to Jeff Chang 's book on hip hop, Can't Stop Won't Stop . In 2005 he appeared in the music video of "Top 5 (Dead or Alive)" by Jin from the album The Emcee's Properganda . In 2006, he became involved in getting Hip Hop commemorated at the Smithsonian Institution museums. He participated in the 2007 Dance parade . Since 2007, Herc has worked on a campaign to prevent 1520 Sedgwick Avenue from being sold to developers and withdrawn from its status as
6762-412: The history of the Home and addressing themes like immigration and memory. Since "This Side of Paradise", Andrew Freedman Home Director Walter Puryear has offered an Artist In Residency program. Resident Artists have included DJ Kool Herc , Aaron Lazansky, Melissa Calderón, fiber artist Valarie Irizarry, and Josue Guarionex. AFH | AIR artists are awarded studio space and participate in group exhibitions in
6860-411: The largest armory in the world, is currently slated for redevelopment. 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 . Despite significant investment compared to
6958-537: 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
7056-438: The late 1980s that continues into today. The Bronx was a mostly rural area for many generations, with small farms supplying the city markets. In the late 19th century, however, it grew into a railroad suburb. 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
7154-583: The late 1990s and continuing to the present day. 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 (now known in English as the Bronx River ). The Bronx was named after Jonas Bronck ( c. 1600–1643 ), a European settler whose precise origins are disputed. Documents indicate he
7252-509: The mainland immediately north of the Dutch settlement of New Haarlem (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
7350-559: The official maps of the city. 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
7448-460: The party. She also styled her brother's clothes for the party. According to music journalist Steven Ivory, in 1973, Herc placed on the turntables two copies of Brown's 1970 Sex Machine album and ran "an extended cut 'n' mix of the percussion breakdown" from "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose", signaling the birth of hip hop. The "b-boys" and "b-girls" were the dancers to Herc's breaks, who were described as "breaking". Herc has noted that "breaking"
7546-427: The post war period, many exacerbated social problems remain including high rates of violent crime, substance abuse, overcrowding, and substandard housing conditions. The Bronx has the highest rate of poverty in New York City, and the greater South Bronx is the poorest area. 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 )
7644-488: The record company executive Sylvia Robinson assembled a group she called The Sugarhill Gang and recorded " Rapper's Delight ". The hit song ushered in the era of commercially released hip hop. By that year's end, Grandmaster Flash was recording for Enjoy Records . In 1980, Afrika Bambaataa began recording for Winley . By this time, DJ Kool Herc's star had faded. Grandmaster Flash suggests that Herc may not have kept pace with developments in techniques of cueing (lining up
7742-471: The same two-turntable set-up of disco DJs, he used two copies of the same record to elongate the break. This breakbeat DJing, using funky drum solos, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers helped lead to the syncopated , rhythmically spoken accompaniment now known as rapping . He called the dancers "break-boys" and "break-girls", or simply b-boys and b-girls, terms that continue to be used fifty years later in
7840-452: 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
7938-647: The sport of breaking . Campbell's DJ style was quickly taken up by figures such as Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash . Unlike them, he never made the move into commercially recorded hip hop in its earliest years. On November 3, 2023, Campbell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Influence Award category. Clive Campbell was the first of six children born to Keith and Nettie Campbell in Kingston, Jamaica . While growing up, he saw and heard
8036-414: The style that was used as one of the additions to the blueprints for hip hop music . Herc used the record to focus on a short, heavily percussive part in it: the " break ". Since this part of the record was the one the dancers liked best, Herc isolated the break and prolonged it by changing between two record players. As one record reached the end of the break, he cued a second record back to the beginning of
8134-453: 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 parts of Eastchester and Pelham. The nautical community of City Island voted to join
8232-577: The turntable, and the guys were studying his hands. There are people dancing, but there's as many people standing, just watching what he's doing. That was my first introduction to in-the-street, hip hop DJing. In 1975, the young Grandmaster Flash , to whom Kool Herc was, in his words, "a hero", began DJing in Herc's style. By 1976, Flash and his MCs The Furious Five played to a packed Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan . Venue owners were often nervous of unruly young crowds, however, and soon sent hip hop back to
8330-577: Was a Swedish-born immigrant 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 present-day Bronx and built a farm named "Emmaus" 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
8428-517: Was a descendant of Pieter Bronck, either Jonas Bronck's son or his younger brother, but most probably a nephew or cousin, as there was an age difference of 16 years. Much work on the Swedish claim has been undertaken by Brian G. Andersson, former Commissioner of New York City's Department of Records, who helped organize a 375th Anniversary celebration in Bronck's hometown in 2014. The Bronx is referred to with
8526-416: 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
8624-411: 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, parts of the Bronx were plagued by a wave of arson. The burning of buildings was predominantly in the poorest communities, such as the South Bronx. One explanation of this event
8722-400: Was also street slang of the time meaning "getting excited", "acting energetically", or "causing a disturbance". Herc coined the terms "b-boy", "b-girl", and "breaking" which became part of the lexicon of what would be eventually called hip hop culture. Early Kool Herc b-boy and later DJ innovator Grandmixer DXT describes the early evolution as follows: ... [E]verybody would form a circle and
8820-477: 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. The Bronx adjoins: There are two primary systems for dividing the Bronx into regions, which do not necessarily agree with one another. One system
8918-473: Was continued in the "Borough of The Bronx", created in 1898, which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1895. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. A time-worn story purportedly explaining the use of the definite article in the borough's name says it stems from the phrase "visiting the Broncks", referring to the settler's family. The capitalization of
9016-447: Was expanded between 1928 and 1931, adding two new wings. The building included formal English gardens , a well-manicured lawn, and public rooms with fireplaces and oriental rugs . Each private residence contained a white marble shower stall. The Home could accommodate 130 residents at a time. Although the first guests to move into the Home did not have the intended cultural background, many wealthy individuals who lost their fortunes in
9114-532: Was found for the first time outside of Asia , here, at the Bronx Zoo. Over the next 40 years it spread throughout eastern North America and killed back essentially every American Chestnut ( Castanea dentata ), causing ecological and economic devastation. 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
9212-512: Was simultaneously part of the Borough of Manhattan (not the Borough of the Bronx) and part of Bronx County (not New York County) and the matter was definitively settled later that year when the New York Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation declaring the neighborhood part of both New York County and the Borough of Manhattan and made this clarification retroactive to 1938, as reflected on
9310-506: Was still without a name, participants often identified as "b-boys", a usage that included and went beyond the specific connection to dance, a usage that would persist in hip hop culture. With the mystique of his graffiti name, his physical stature, and the reputation of his small parties, Herc became a folk hero in the Bronx. He began to play at nearby clubs including the Hevalo (now Salvation Baptist Church), Twilight Zone, Executive Playhouse,
9408-423: Was that landlords decided to burn their low property-value buildings and take the insurance money, as it was easier for them to get insurance money than to try to refurbish a dilapidated building 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. There were cases where tenants set fire to
9506-526: Was working in a record shop in South Bronx. Kool Herc appeared in Hollywood's motion picture take on hip hop, Beat Street ( Orion , 1984), as himself. In the mid-1980s, his father died, and he became addicted to crack cocaine . "I couldn't cope, so I started medicating", he says of this period. In 1994, Herc performed on Terminator X & the Godfathers of Threatt's album, Super Bad . In 2005, he wrote
9604-469: Was worth over $ 4 million ($ 120,500,000 in current dollar terms). Samuel Untermyer served as executor of his estate. In his will, Freedman bequeathed money to build the Andrew Freedman Home at 1125 Grand Concourse in The Bronx . The home was intended to serve as a retirement home for "aged and indigent persons of both sexes", who had formerly been of "good circumstances" financially. Each resident lived at
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