When people enter the lower Bronx from the subways or the highways, they see the tough kids of the Bronx, feel the bumpy roads, and hear the music blasting from car stereos. But soon visitors may see children nibbling their ice cream cones on rolling, luscious hills overlooking Harlem River currents.
The Grand Concourse was designed by engineer Louis Risse and finished in 1909. It was modeled after the boulevard Champs-Elysees located in Paris. The 1920s and 1930s gave rise to the art-deco buildings for which the Concourse is best known.
Advocates believed that the Concourse and its blocks and blocks of beautiful buildings would increase the standard of living in the area, which was rapidly becoming more populous. But by the 1970s, the area – and much of the Bronx below Fordham Road – became ravaged by crime and arson.
Since those days, local residents, community groups, and city officials have tried to change that perception of the Bronx. Last year, the Bronx Museum held a competition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Concourse. More than 200 people submitted entries of suggestions on how to revitalize the boulevard. Ideas included footbridges over the Concourse, parks, windmills, and vegetable gardens. The winning design proposed major cleanup of the Harlem River waterfront and clean air initiative.
It remains to be seen if any of these ideas will see fruition, but last year the City Council approved the Lower Concourse Rezoning Project, which has made future development in the area more likely.
The decision will encourage the building of more residential buildings in the area (which aren’t currently allowed), along with waterfront parks, and retail and grocery stores. The re-zoning will “create a highly visible symbol of the Bronx’s resurgence,” according to the New York City Department of City Planning website.
The area is bound by the Harlem River to the west, East 149th Street to the north, Morris and Lincoln avenues to the east, and the Major Deegan Expressway to the south.
As for what local residents would like to see in the area and along the Concourse, Mike Rodriguez, 15, said he would welcome a state park. “Landlords always complain about us skateboarding in front of buildings. But where do we go?” Mike said.
“In my opinion, I think that the areas that are vacant should be made into parks and there should be more cops on patrol,” said Rosa Fernandez, 54.
Others believe that to make a change throughout the Grand Concourse and the wider Bronx, it is necessary for the younger residents to get involved. “Young people will be the catalyst for the community,” said Joyce Hogi, a community activist. “To be perfectly honest, the older residents have been working so long that they are running out of steam. Young people have to be the driving force.”