Arguments I’ll support in the intro are:

• The positive effect of the developing housing market in my given area
• Said markets reflection on businesses in the vicinity
• The negative effect the combined effort of the two have had on the community
• Opinions of neighbors on research (both sides)

Intro

Various factors influence a neighborhood’s ability to prosper. The state of the constantly fluctuating housing market is the main factor. Combine this with the shape of any surrounding businesses (if they are flourishing or in a state of decline) and you can almost always assume the potential of a given area. ‘Almost’ being the key word in this instance. Because, despite the positive effect the housing market has had on nearby businesses, it has had an overall adverse effect on the community of Eastchester.

Thesis

I believe that the within the Eastchester section of the Bronx, the borough has been negatively effected by the development of the neighborhood’s housing market.

Interview Answers

A neighbor of mine, Hyacinth Cole, moved from the Castle Hill section of the Bronx to the Eastchester section of the Bronx approximately ten years ago. When I asked, Hyacinth said that the neighborhood is diverse, though a bit segregated. “There are a lot of African, Indian, Caribbean and some Hispanics, but there are very few white people. It’s when you cross over on the other side of Allerton Ave. that you see a dramatic increase of whites.” The housing (in reference to the size and spacing), however is different. “The houses are larger beyond Allerton”, Mrs. Cole said, but it’s not so abrupt. “It’s a gradual change. The houses go from small with relatively no space between them, to large with sizable backyards.” Though a reliable contributor, these details hadn’t played too large of a role in her house hunting decisions. That Hyacinth hadn’t moved here (to Eastchester) for the upgrade in space goes without saying. The deciding factor actually had more to do with accessibility and availability on the area.

Hyacinth originally relocated here because of the quietness and convenience of the area. While Tiemann Avenue is an easily accessible block (near I-95), it doesn’t seem that way. “We (Hyacinth and her friend) visited the neighborhood a few times. It was a nice place.” She stated that the neighborhood was fairly quiet at the time. “I hadn’t taken the vacations into consideration. It gets a little loud during the summer.” But while the noise or rather lack thereof did play a part in her purchase, it wasn’t the main reason Mrs. Cole followed through. The home was a new-construction. “Most of the homes on this side [of the block] were new-construction. …There was something about Will Chamberlin’s aunt owning the land. When she died, they tore the house down and built two semi-attached homes and one large house in its place.” Unfortunately, the type of project that resulted in the building and purchase of Hyacinth’s house was apparently only the beginning.


Since the time she’s moved to Eastchester, Mrs. Cole has noticed that the neighborhood has continued to change. The transformation, in her opinion, has overall, negatively impacted the neighborhood; the land in our area is continuously being built up. “On one hand, the value of the homes, mines included, is increasing. The neighborhood is developing, prospering, but they are tearing down too many of the older, nicer homes to built smaller, multi-family units”. As I look around, I see that Mrs. Cole is right. The larger, architecturally superior homes are all but a memory. In their places small, over-priced new construction town house-like units stand. A plot of land which held an older, one-family house, with a sizable backyard, is now the site of three cramped two-family apartment-homes. And while the jump in the market may help some, it’s not so significant to most home owners. The costs of tearing down your house, rebuilding and then finding someone to rent each unit out to (because no one would buy the home) is unlikely to yield a hefty profit. “It’s risky.” Afterwards, when I asked Hyacinth if she would leave, she said ‘yes’. “If I could afford it, I’d moved up… to Westchester; upstate. You get more for you money there. It’s not exactly convenient [Hyacinth works in the Bronx], but I think it would be worthwhile in the long run.

'Painting the Town' - A faster way

"Painting the Town" is an article on the painting of the ‘Hells Gate Bridge’ (the “longest, strongest, steel arch bridge in the world”; of its time, of course) by James Monroe Hewlett; an architect better known for his paintings than his design of buildings. The article speaks of the grandeur of the completion of such a masterpiece (in both the painting and the structure itself). A bridge that was both “technologically sound and aesthetically pleasing”. One so different than its predecessors in composition and shape was but an example to all those who came after it.

Standing as the only four-track long-span railroad bridge ever built, Hell’s Gate was a link. A bridge that marked “the apogee of American railroad power and prosperity route”, that would connect the New York, Long Island and New England railroads to the Hudson River Crossing (taking a direct path from Bronx Kill to the Bronx). It was said that the engineer, Gustave Lindenthal, more than likely had little to no formal training as a bridge builder, yet he and architect Henry Hornbostel, are responsible, not only for Hell’s Gate, but also for the redesign of the Manhattan and Queensborough bridges (structures we know are still in good standing and daily use).

Bogart, Michelle H.. "Painting the Town.” Art Scenes and the Urban Scene in New York City.

COPYRIGHT � MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 1 Oct. 2007

<http://www.mcny.org/collections/painting/pttcat64.htm>

Interview Questions

1. How long have you lived in this community? Where did you move from?
2. Since you’ve relocated here, has the neighborhood changed? In what ways?
3. Was it, in your opinion a significant one?
4. What, to your knowledge, was the level of diversity in this area when you arrived?
5. Was diversity at all a factor in your move? Why?
6. Have you, or would you raise your children here? How come? (If they have children – how old were they when the family moved?)
7. Have you attended college?
8. Do you own your home? Rent?
9. There has been a lot of new construction in Eastchester. Mostly of the multi-family housing variety. What are your views in response to the recent development occurring in the neighborhood?
10. Do you believe the construction will help or hinder Eastchester as a whole?

Research

The Bronx is widely considered a densely populated borough. What I’m looking for, exactly, is the diversity of my neighborhood, specifically, and how it relates to the rest of the Bronx. I’m fairly new to the community and I want to know what kind of people live in my area. Are they American born? Is not, where exactly did they come from? Are these people buying their homes? Renting? Over the course of my compilation of this research I’ll look into these things and see how these factors are connected and affect each other.

As shown from the 2005 Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Housing, the population of the Bronx at that time was 1,357,589 persons. The racial diversity index is only 0.86, ranking 3rd in New York (behind Brooklyn and Queens). Of the 1,357,589 people living in the Bronx, approximately 2.9 percent of them were Asian, 31.4% Black (non-Hispanic), 46.8% Hispanic, 18.7% white and 0.2% Natve American. Of all of the races, only the number of Hispanics had begun to rise. The number of African-Americans, Caucasians and Asians were all gradually declining.

The median household income however is $27,500 – what could be defined as working middle class. In the overview chart, we’re shown that the number of housing units rose from 491,006 to 499,029 in three years (2002-5). The rental vacancy rate, however decreased from 3.3 to 2.6%, as did the percent of public housing (down one and a half percent from 11.7 in 2002). Not only this, but the poverty rate had also worsened, however steadily. Because of this information (as well as the increase of housing prices and the increase of their tax delinquency), I think it’s practical to assume that many people rent in the Bronx.

In my neighborhood, however, has a fairly large population at 115, 948 persons (due, mostly in part, to Co-op City) which has a diversity equal to that of the entire Bronx. The household income is above average at $40,700 with the median one family home at about $360,000. Unlike some of the other neighborhoods, as well as the Bronx in general, the Throgs Neck/Co-op City section of the Bronx has an increasing poverty rate in conjunction with the percent of immigrant households (both now 15.8%) The number of housing units and the crime rate also rose, however little (up almost 2 percent). The median household income, on the other hand, decreased $1,300, as did the percent of public housing, home ownership rate (down 3%) and rental vacancy rate. These statistics haven’t been overly obvious; at least in the six years my father has lived in the area. The only indication I’ve had of this is the increase of ‘For Sale’ signs as well as the steep increase of new 2-4 family houses that are hastily being erected around us. I hope these stats will level out, and regulate themselves, but only time (and continued research) will tell.

State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2005. Furman
Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy 8 Sept. 2007
<http://furmancenter.nyu.edu/publications/SOC2005.htm>

"Fading Memories"

They’re not usually seen as landmarks, but many of the people in our city still feel they should be protected. Unfortunately, NY’s Landmark Preservation Commission has decided not to take action. They will not protect the “ghost signs”. “The commission protects architectural features and the commission does not consider the painted signs a significant feature” Diane Jackier (the Preservation Commission’s spokesperson, said. But these pieces of art of a time gone by, seen on the sides of 19th Century brick-faced factories and apartment buildings, give us a much needed glance at the past. Just as much, if not more so, as the pre-war, nationally protected buildings in New York, Chicago and Seattle. The faded pictures, almost all ads for local mom and pop businesses (as were the norm, opposed to our broad-based, monopolistic economy), are for the most part still visible. Locally recruited artists drew one of a kind, brick based billboards. Hand painted pins and bowling balls advertising ‘McLean Bowl-O-Drome’ in Yonkers “boasting air-conditioning” from 1942, or maybe something simple – a now barely discernable Hearns sign (a then name brand department store) sprawled on the corner of a building.


The individualized artwork is more widespread than one may think. Used from the early 1800’s until the 1970’s (a time even after billboard production was commercialized), the ads can be seen on buildings from Brooklyn and the Bronx, to Manhattan. Most actually aren’t realized until an adjacent building is torn down (many have been uncovered in this manner in Times Square). The signs are uncovered even locally. A ‘Jewel Piano Co.’ sign on Bruckner Boulevard and even the ‘Nemuth Blacksmith Welding’ billboard are still seen when driving down Halperin Avenue in my neighborhood.


But these works are being continuously demolished. Some of the signs are taken off, like the ‘Estey Piano Co.’ sign below the clock on the late 19th Century ‘Clocktower’ building (suggesting back to times before WWI, when every home housed a piano), that’s been rented out as lofts since then and the sign scrubbed away. Other buildings are being knocked down to make room for new construction housing. “Older signs are being preserved, virtually, through the Internet,” Frank H. Jump, a 45-year-old Brooklyn teacher said. He sells his photographs of the dying art online - $75 a-piece. Diagnosed with AIDS 22 years ago, Jump said he ‘sees these signs as a “metaphor for survival”’ and was ‘heartbroken’ to see another taken down (this one a ‘spectral azure sign advertising… laundry whitener, ‘Reckitt’s Blue/ The Purest and Best’’ on a three-astory Washington Avenue building in Brooklyn). “That one hurt the most,” he ended.


Berger, Joseph. “Fading Memories”. Metro Section, New York Times
Saturday, November 5, 2005: Pgs. B1-B2.

3060 - Radfan's Deli & Grocery

Qiuck Zips - Annotatie Bibliography (Part II)

The BrainyZip website (an extension of Google), is a database of zip codes. The site allows you to either browse or input any zip code that’s currently valid in the United States. Once you type or click one, up pops the size of the area, not to mention the demographics, population density and the ‘general characteristics’ of said region.

The outline of this site seems like it would be very useful to students for the gathering of quick facts to use in a report or diagram as it doesn’t give you actual dates, but a brief glance of educational, social, economic and housing data. Once you click on the respective links, however, you are keyed into an abundance of information on the subject needed (i.e. how many structures were built and when, as well as the type of fuel each used). Enough to fill any report. ^^

Brainymedia.com. BrainyZip Zip Code Look Up. Google
10 Sept. 2007 <http://www.brainyzip.com/>

Furman Center for Real Estate - Annotative Bibliography (Part I)

State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2005 is a compilation of New York State housing statistics. Editions are published on yearly basis, both describing and illustrating the progression, by comparison, of each of our cities many communities. It also “provides the first independent analysis of... the 2005 Housing and Vacancy Survey”.

The various sections of the site are divided for the ease of the reader/user. With each link is a small synopsis of what each study is based upon. There are links to Recent Trends, which tells of the Affordability and Availability of Housing In New York City, as well as a link to each borough and the examination of its trends.

State of New York City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2005. Furman
Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy 8 Sept. 2007
<http://furmancenter.nyu.edu/publications/SOC2005.htm>

.8 Miles

Hammersley and Tiemann Ave. (Co-op City in background)

A few blocks off Eastchester Road is my neighborhood; the eight quaint blocks and two cross streets that stretch from Haffen Park on Ely and Burke Ave., to the fork of Eastchester and the more famous, Gun Hill Rd. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it), my neighborhood isn’t as… ‘active’ as Gun Hill Rd. and Baychester Ave. And even though you can see Co-op City (FreedomLand) from most of our homes, it may as well be a world apart.

Since my father moved to the Eastchester section of the Bronx, six years ago, the area has changed significantly; as has the surrounding vicinity. A place where police sirens and helicopters sightings were a normality (an echo from Co-op City), had quieted years before and even then was undergoing more modifications. Though we were the only ones moving in on our block, there were throngs of people flooding in to put bids on the new construction homes being built not far away. In 2001 and 2002, many of the older homes and empty lots set closer to Bruner Ave. were being leveled, making way for the rising demand of homes. More and more couples were planning on moving into the area and raising their children in the Bronx. It had become more of a family oriented place.

Though so many new homes have gone up around us, it hasn’t really changed our neighborhood much. It’s still very quiet around here. The older citizens of our little community still follow their routines, gardening every Sunday after church and going for their daily walks. And the establishments on Eastchester Rd. are still the same (if only gaining even more business). Everyone still goes to the Souk on the corner to get milk, bread and potato chips, the Chinese Restaurant is still crowded every Friday afternoon and evening and Nick’s Pizza is still too greasy even for a native New Yorker to digest.

But then, I guess that’s the best part about my neighborhood. My neighborhood has changed so much, yet is the same in so many ways. Though part of a larger community, our little niche is familiar with one another, though not intrusively so. If someone has a dinner party or BBQ, the entire block knows about it. Chances are many of them are invited. If there is a fire, or some sort of familial tragedy, your neighbors will be there to support you.

The look or shapes of the houses may alter, even the families themselves will change, but the feeling of those eight stretches of blocks… That will always be the same.

Two Links

Here are a few links about places in NY:

• A Wikipedia page about where I grew up: Prospect Park (the actual park) and Prospect Park South, Brooklyn (my neighborhood).
• NY State Regents Prep Site: Oswego City School District.

Stonework At Its Best

We always hear that the world around us, that New York, has changed. We’re shown the historic neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens… See the cracked, weathered remnants of this old world, of days pasts, amongst us. And though I’d be the first to say I know of, and have even lived in, a few of these places, it wasn’t until I logged onto http://www.forgotten-ny.com/ that I really understood. I had no idea how dominant relics like lamp posts and slate and cobblestone pathways really were. It’s startling to see how very different Today’s NY is from the one portrayed on ForgottenNY.

For some reason, I was drawn to the “Cobblestones” link. This part of this site is dedicated to showing New York in a time before cars. One with narrowed, sometimes uneven, hand-made streets. I wanted to further explore and compare the areas that were once covered with stone. I’d seen a few streets down by South Street Seaport (which I actually didn’t seen on the site), but none of the more residential areas the site owner, Kevin Walsh, photographed. These roads, however sanctioned, or perhaps forgotten, remain untouched by tar, steamrollers and yellow paint. Tribeca (a neighborhood I already love), has been coined “Manhattan's capital of brick-faced streets”. Walsh has even photographed Collister Street and said it is most like a scene from an Edward Hopper painting. These streets have historical value, some bricks covering our streets being originals - even dating as far back as the early 1800’s.

Even some of the slate sidewalks seemingly abundant in Flushing and Astoria, Queens are protected। They blend easily with the houses and businesses with concrete roadways and Belgian-block driveways.

The Belgian-blocked pavements, however few, in Brooklyn and red brick pavement in Queens and Ridge Court (Bay Ridge, Brooklyn) have also become a rarity and are being preserved. In Bay ridge in Red Hook, small avenues like Tiffany Place and Van Dyke Street (the latter with a circular rather than horizontal design) are a compilation of cement, asphalt and brick.

Many of the streets are landmarked and can only be asphalted if absolutely necessary. Unfortunately the increase in water main breaks makes it easier for the city to cover the beautiful stonework.

I understand the reasons behind the discontinued use of cobblestone and brick roadways, though I don’t necessarily condone the destruction of them. It very well may have been the photos Walsh supplied, but really I’d rather live in a landmarked Federal-styled house on Washington or Harrison St. in Tribeca than in a new construction on 7th Ave. It's not like anyone drives in Manhattan anyway!

While this page and ForgottenNY are not yet complete (as some links don't work - under construction?), Walsh has compiled a good amount of basic information about where these sites can be found. I had been looking for a description of the different types of stonework and what type was predominant in which neighborhoods, but perhaps more of that type of data will come at a later time. I’ve written to the author of the site and ‘suggested’ this.