The Bronx
The rise and fall and rise of the South Bronx: “A thoughtful story of urbanization in a place that most Americans know only stereotypically.” —American Historical Review
 
Home to the New York Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx was at one time a haven for upwardly mobile second-generation immigrants eager to leave the crowded tenements of Manhattan in pursuit of the American dream. Once hailed as a “wonder borough” of beautiful homes, parks, and universities, the Bronx became—during the 1960s and 1970s—a national symbol of urban deterioration. Thriving neighborhoods that had long been home to generations of families dissolved under waves of arson, crime, and housing abandonment, turning blocks of apartment buildings into gutted, graffiti-covered shells and empty, trash-filled lots. In this revealing history of the Bronx, Evelyn Gonzalez describes how the once-infamous New York City borough underwent one of the most successful and inspiring community revivals in American history.
 
From its beginnings as a loose cluster of commuter villages to its current status as a densely populated home for New York’s growing and increasingly diverse African American and Hispanic populations, this book shows how the Bronx interacted with and was affected by the rest of New York City as it grew from a small colony on the tip of Manhattan into a sprawling metropolis. This is the story of the clattering of elevated subways and the cacophony of crowded neighborhoods, the heady optimism of industrial progress and the despair of economic recession, and the vibrancy of ethnic cultures and the resilience of local grassroots coalitions crucial to the borough’s rejuvenation.
 
“Gonzalez’s reporting and research are excellent, and scholars will appreciate the extensive bibliography.” —Library Journal
"1100867159"
The Bronx
The rise and fall and rise of the South Bronx: “A thoughtful story of urbanization in a place that most Americans know only stereotypically.” —American Historical Review
 
Home to the New York Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx was at one time a haven for upwardly mobile second-generation immigrants eager to leave the crowded tenements of Manhattan in pursuit of the American dream. Once hailed as a “wonder borough” of beautiful homes, parks, and universities, the Bronx became—during the 1960s and 1970s—a national symbol of urban deterioration. Thriving neighborhoods that had long been home to generations of families dissolved under waves of arson, crime, and housing abandonment, turning blocks of apartment buildings into gutted, graffiti-covered shells and empty, trash-filled lots. In this revealing history of the Bronx, Evelyn Gonzalez describes how the once-infamous New York City borough underwent one of the most successful and inspiring community revivals in American history.
 
From its beginnings as a loose cluster of commuter villages to its current status as a densely populated home for New York’s growing and increasingly diverse African American and Hispanic populations, this book shows how the Bronx interacted with and was affected by the rest of New York City as it grew from a small colony on the tip of Manhattan into a sprawling metropolis. This is the story of the clattering of elevated subways and the cacophony of crowded neighborhoods, the heady optimism of industrial progress and the despair of economic recession, and the vibrancy of ethnic cultures and the resilience of local grassroots coalitions crucial to the borough’s rejuvenation.
 
“Gonzalez’s reporting and research are excellent, and scholars will appreciate the extensive bibliography.” —Library Journal
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The Bronx

The Bronx

by Evelyn Gonzalez
The Bronx

The Bronx

by Evelyn Gonzalez

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Overview

The rise and fall and rise of the South Bronx: “A thoughtful story of urbanization in a place that most Americans know only stereotypically.” —American Historical Review
 
Home to the New York Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx was at one time a haven for upwardly mobile second-generation immigrants eager to leave the crowded tenements of Manhattan in pursuit of the American dream. Once hailed as a “wonder borough” of beautiful homes, parks, and universities, the Bronx became—during the 1960s and 1970s—a national symbol of urban deterioration. Thriving neighborhoods that had long been home to generations of families dissolved under waves of arson, crime, and housing abandonment, turning blocks of apartment buildings into gutted, graffiti-covered shells and empty, trash-filled lots. In this revealing history of the Bronx, Evelyn Gonzalez describes how the once-infamous New York City borough underwent one of the most successful and inspiring community revivals in American history.
 
From its beginnings as a loose cluster of commuter villages to its current status as a densely populated home for New York’s growing and increasingly diverse African American and Hispanic populations, this book shows how the Bronx interacted with and was affected by the rest of New York City as it grew from a small colony on the tip of Manhattan into a sprawling metropolis. This is the story of the clattering of elevated subways and the cacophony of crowded neighborhoods, the heady optimism of industrial progress and the despair of economic recession, and the vibrancy of ethnic cultures and the resilience of local grassroots coalitions crucial to the borough’s rejuvenation.
 
“Gonzalez’s reporting and research are excellent, and scholars will appreciate the extensive bibliography.” —Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780231508353
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication date: 07/15/2020
Series: Columbia History of Urban Life
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
File size: 8 MB

About the Author

Evelyn Gonzalez is associate professor of history at William Paterson University in New Jersey.

Table of Contents

List of Maps
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1. The Bronx and Its Neighborhoods
2. Early Beginnings
3. The Changing Landscape
4. Emerging Neighborhoods
5. Boosting a Borough
6. Urban Neighborhoods
7. The South Bronx
8. The Road Back
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Michael H. Ebner

Professor Gonzalez has provided the Bronx with a much-needed cultural asset of immense value by way of a deeply researched and especially well-written history. This informative book will prove a source of enjoyment and edification for general readers as well as scholars. The Bronx merits an essential place, today and for future generations, on the bookshelf of American urban history.

Michael H. Ebner, A. B. Dick Professor of History, Lake Forest College

Howard Gillette

The Bronx has come back from a devastating experience with disinvestment, arson, and abandonment. Its revival is but one stage in the succession of changes chronicled by Evelyn Gonzalez with precision and style. From village to staging ground to a mosaic of diverse neighborhoods, the Bronx's story is worth reading and pondering as it undergoes yet another transformation in the twenty-first century.

Howard Gillette, professor of history, Rutgers University

Timothy J. Gilfoyle

No Bronx cheer for The Bronx. Evelyn Gonzalez's revelatory narrative renders the Bronx as more than a place of deindustrial disorder and urban abandonment. Here rural villages and bucolic retreats were transformed into the nation's fastest growing urban neighborhood by the turn of the twentieth century. Moving from the manor estates of Gouverneur Morris to the factories of Jordan Mott to Frederick Law Olmsted's ignored neighborhood plans to Colin Powell's Kelley Street to the nadir of Fort Apache, the enigmatic vitality of this understudied borough comes alive. Gonzalez's Bronx is New York writ small.

Timothy J. Gilfoyle, professor of American history, Loyola University Chicago

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