Hunts Point, Bronx

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hunts Point is a neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City. The peninsula extends west into a bend of the East River.The neighborhood is bounded by Westchester Avenue to the north, the Bronx River to the east, the East River to the south, and Prospect Avenue to the west. The neighborhoods of Longwood, Intervale Valley and Hunts Point comprise the community district area in which Hunts Point is located.

Hunts Point-Longwood is located in Bronx Community District 2 and is a 2.1 square mile area of the South Bronx. The population of Community District 2 is about 50,000 of which 42% receive public assistance (AFDC, Home Relief, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid).

1 History
2 Demographics
- 2.1 Social Conditions
3 Non-Profits' Presence
4 Food Distribution Center

[edit] History

The Europeans first settled Hunt’s Point in 1663. At this time, Edward Jessup and John Richardson arrived on the peninsula and purchased the land from the Wekkguasegeeck tribe indigenous to the area. After Jessup died his widow, Elizabeth entrusted the land to Thomas Hunt Jr., her son in-law for whom the area is named. ^[1]

In the years between the Hunts’ inheritance and 1850, several other wealthy landowning families occupied the peninsula. Legend has it that George Fox (1624-1691), founder of the Society of Friends (commonly known as Quakers), preached in the area in 1672. William H. Fox, a descendant of the Quaker leader, and his wife Charlotte Leggett, owned much of the land that is now Hunts Point.

As time passed and more New Yorkers became aware of the luxurious lifestyle available in Hunt’s Point, more City dwellers flocked to the area between 1850 and 1900. Later, the property wound up in the hands of Fox's and Leggett's son-in-law, H.D. Tiffany, a member of the family that owned the famous jewelry and decorative arts store now on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Fox, Tiffany and Leggett Streets derive their names from these former landowners. In 1909, the Fox mansion was demolished.

Hunts Point’s status as a home and vacation spot to the City’s elite came to a rather abrupt end in the period following World War I. At this time, a train line was built along Southern Boulevard. Apartment buildings replaced mansions, streets replaced meadows and Hunt’s Point became a virtual melting pot for the City’s masses. ^[2]

Aside from being a period of residential growth for Hunt’s Point, the 20th Century has also been a time of industrial expansion for the peninsula. As more people moved to the area, the city’s business owners began to realize the advantages of locating to Hunt’s Point. Among them were the convenient access to the Tri-State region, the existing rail lines running through the Hunt’s Point area and the abundance of space available for the development of industrial and commercial activity.

This discovery led to an influx of businesses to the area. As the momentum of incoming businesses increased, the reputation of Hunt’s Point grew accordingly among business circles. With the openings of the New York City Produce market in 1967 and Hunts Point Meat Market in 1974, and culminating with the designation of Hunts Point as an In-Place-Industrial Park in 1980, Hunt’s Point has grown into a booming economic zone. Today Hunt’s Point thrives as an Industrial Park hosting over 800 businesses providing an array of products and services to points throughout the world. Since 1988 Josephine Infante executive director of The Hunts Point Economic Development Corporationhas been managing the Hunts Point In-Place Industrial Park and providing development assistance to the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center: HPEDC helped the Hunts Point Cooperative Market obtain $16 million for the construction of a state of-the-art refrigerated 100,000 s.f. warehouse. The construction was completed in 2001, creating 200 new jobs in Hunts Point.

The 1970’s and early 1980’s, however, were difficult years for the districts’ residential community. Characterized by frequent arson and mass abandonment, this period was undoubtedly the low point in the area’s rich and diverse history. Living conditions became so difficult that almost 60,000 residents, approximately two-thirds of the existing population, left the neighborhood during the 1970’s. ^[3]

[edit] Demographics

Demographically, Community District 2 is mostly of Latin-American origin: 76% Hispanic, 21% African-American. Only 3,361 people in the area are reported to be in the labor force, which translates as approximately 40% of the total available working population that is employed. The average family here makes around $17,000 per year and the average household income is $16,000 per year. In the United States as whole the average household income is $42,000 per year and the average family makes $50,000 per year. On the heels of that it is worth noting that well over half the population of Hunts Point lives below poverty level as of Census 2000.

The following is a summary of the area's land use: 22% transportation/utility, 19% industrial, 10% vacant, 14% residential, 7% institutions, 4% commercial, 4% parking facilities, 2% open space/recreation.

Famous natives include former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as 2005 New York City mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer.

[edit] Social Conditions

Outside bodega, corner of Southern Boulevard in Hunts Point, Bronx

As a neighborhood, there are about 11,000 residents (2003) in Hunts Point (10474) specifically, while industry employs approximately 25,000 workers.

The majority of the population of Hunts Point 25 years of age or older is a high school graduate. That is approximately 50% of the total residents of Hunts Point. An additional 4% have a bachelor’s degree or better. Accordingly, even though the numbers for income and employment do not show it, Hunts Point has a semi-skilled, educated working population. Mostly, due to crime in the past and businesses perceptions of the local residents a lot of the business in the area has not translated into job opportunities for local residents. At least 65% percent of the residents speak a second language and 22% are foreign born.

Local industry and the approximately 60,000 truck trips per week they depend on contribute in part to the asthma rates among children under 14. The New York City Department of Planning recommends a minimum of 2.5 acres of parkland per 1000 residents. Due to its historically industrial nature, Hunts Point and the rest of the South Bronx have around 0.5 acres of parkland per 1000 people.

The residential neighborhood occupies the high ground in the center of the peninsula. Along with much of the South Bronx, Hunts Point reached its nadir in the late 1970's, losing a third of its population. The neighborhood is the setting for the stark film "Fort Apache." In addition, Hunts Point is notorious for its prostitution industry. HBO has made four documentaries about prostitution in Hunts Point, the most recent in April 2002.

[edit] Non-Profits' Presence

There are several non profits operating in this area of the South Bronx, most notably: the Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation (HPEDC), Sustainable South Bronx (SSB), the Point Community Development Corporation, and The Legal Aid Society, Bronx Neighborhood Office. The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation's (SOBRO) is also involved in this area.

[edit] Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation

The Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation(HPEDC) was established in 1988 as a not-for-profit economic development corporation with the aim of improving and enhancing the diverse and challenging Hunts Point business environment. With a dynamic Board of Directors and staff professionals in community development, urban planning, small business development, human resource development and community revitalization, HPEDC provides an active, unified voice for this valuable New York City business community. Included in the mission of HPEDC is service provision for local businesses, the cultivation of entrepreneurship and the empowerment of local residents to participate in the local economy.

When we mention Hunts Point, Bronx we can’t leave out the name of Josephine Infante founder and executive director of The Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation(HPEDC). She worked successfully with public and private agencies to obtain federal empowerment and empire state incentives to revitalize a devastated Hunts Point industrial zone into a multi-billion dollar economic region. Since 1988 she's worked with 4 mayors and monitored more than five hundred million dollars in public works projects. She also successfully led the local community to relocate the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan to the Hunts Point,partnered with the 41st Precinct to relocate the infamous “Fort Apache” precinct to a more central location in the community, developed the first 10474 full service post office for Hunts Point approved by the U.S.Postal Service in 1996 and opened in 2001. In 1995 she successfully lobbied NYNEX to accelerate the investment of $51 million to upgrade telephone system for fiber optic lines underground. In 2004, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg inaugurated an employment and training center for Hunts Point with her leadership and at present she is developing a business improvement district and a streetscape and transportaion signage plan for the industrial park and residential community.

[edit] Sustainable South Bronx

Sustainable South Bronx(SSB) is a community led Environmental Justice advocacy organization working to improve the environment. Working with others, they contributed to a turnaround in the neighborhood, which saw rapid population increases in the 1990's.

Majora Carter (2005 MacArthur Fellow), and also executive director of SSB has been instrumental in bringing federal, state, and city money into the area to build two new waterfront parks under construction along the Bronx River at Lafayette Avenue, and along the East River at the end of Tiffany Street, providing the first formalized waterfront access in 60 years to a newly-resurgent community. In addition, SSB runs the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST) program which takes qualifying students through 12 weeks of intesive training covering everything from tree puning to OSHA brownfield remediation to estuary maintenance, to job/life skils. This program is designed to give local residents a personal and financial stake in the management of thier local environment. In Dec 2006, Mitsubishi International Corp contributed $150,000 to expand this successful endeavor. Above their offices in the historic Banknote Building is the SSB Cool and Greenroof Demonstration Project - the first such demonstration in the City of New York. Greenroofs serve to mitigate Urban Heat Island Effect, retain storm water runoff from overwhelming the city sewerage system and dumping into the rivers, and provide local jobs for installation and maintenance. Majora Carter has been the driving force behind the South Bronx Greenway plan. Starting with a $1.25M federal transportation grant she wrote to design the project with acclaimed landscape architects Matthews-Nielsen, over $20M has been secured for first phase projects to go up in early 2007.

[edit] The Legal Aid Society, Bronx Neighborhood Office

The Legal Aid Society has provided free civil legal services to the Bronx community from its Bronx Neighborhood Office located at 953 Southern Boulevard for over 20 years. Specializing in housing, government benefits, and matrimonial law, The Legal Aid Society provides free legal services to the borough's most needy residents.

[edit] The Hunts Point Express

In 2006, an on-line news outlet at www.huntspointexpress.com reporting on Hunts Point and Longwood began publication. Written by students at Hunter College, The Hunts Point Express is updated regularly. The Express is edited by journalism professor Bernard L. Stein, who hopes it will evolve into a community newspaper distributed free throughout the neighborhood.

[edit] Cultural Institutions

Today an arts scene is emerging in Hunts Point. Cultural institutions have recently emerged such as The Point community center, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD), MUD/BONE, and the Bronx Charter School for the Arts. BAAD is located in the historic Bank Note Building. The Point, which is located in a former bagel factory, provides performance art space, visual art galleries, and craft sales.

[edit] Bronx Charter School for the Arts

Hunts Point has been experiencing a prolonged period of growth characterized by new and renovated housing, economic development, and a thriving arts community. However, quality education has been lagging behind. In response to this, between 1999-2002 Bronx Arts founding team, led by Xanthe Jory, convened to draft charter proposal and create educational plan for Bronx Charter School for the Arts. The Bronx Arts team comprised a dynamic, group of educators, parents, and community residents who recognized the critical need for quality education in the South Bronx.

In 2002, New York State Board of Regents awards charter to Bronx Charter School for the Arts. Shortly after receiving the charter, Bronx Arts wins, in succession, the National Social Venture Competition sponsored by Columbia and Berkeley business schools and major grants from Goldman Sachs, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Council of La Raza.

Then between 2002-2003; or a one-and-a-half year start-up period, with a staff of six advance planning for the school began. Subsequently, in July 2003, Bronx Arts founding instructional staff is hired and convenes for first annual Summer Institute which led to Bronx Charter School for the Arts opening its doors to 162 students in grades K-3 September 2003. In August 2004 Bronx Arts relocated to its current state-of-the-art permanent facility on Longfellow Avenue in Hunts Point. The school increased to 200 students in grades K-4.^[4]

[edit] Food Distribution Center

Hunts Point is home to the largest food distribution center in the world. The Produce and Meat Distribution Center were opened along the Bronx river in 1967 and 1974, respectively. In 2005, Hunts Point became the site for New York City's New Fulton Fish Market, which replaced the 180 year old fish market formerly located in downtown Manhattan. Over 800 industrial businesses, employing over 25,000 workers, are located on the peninsula. A large concentration of food wholesalers, distributors, and processing businesses are scattered throughout the industrial district which surrounds the residential area. Between 1996 and 2002, the Industrial Park experienced a net increase of 200 businesses

Below are some of the facilities that make up the Food Distribution Center in Hunts Point:

[edit] New York City Terminal Market

The New York City Terminal Market carries fresh fruit and vegetables from 49 states and 55 foreign countries. The market consists of four buildings, each one-third of a mile in length. More than 65 fruit and vegetable wholesalers own and operate the coop, which has 475,000 square feet of warehouse space. Each year approximately 2.7 billion pounds of produce are sole from the Market which as recently as 1998 posted $1.5 billion in revenues.

[edit] The Hunts Point Cooperative Market

The Hunts Point Cooperative Market handles the production, processing, distribution and sale of meat, poultry and related products. Spread over 38 acres, the market’s six main buildings offer 700,000 square feet of refrigerated space. More than 50 independent wholesale food companies operate facilities here. In 2002, a state-of-the art, 100,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse was added to accommodate the ever expanding needs of current and relocating businesses.

[edit] The New Fulton Fish Market

In November 2001, shortly before leaving office, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani broke ground for the New Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point. Nearly 4 years after the structure was completed, which cost $85 million to build, 55 businesses moved into a 450,000 square foot complex, located within the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center.

This move will bring 650 workers from the market's former location into the area, with an additioanl 3000 diesel truck trips through Hunts Point bringing the weekly total to 60,000 and ensuring that the area's asthma rates remain the highest in the nation for decades to come. The facility could generate and estimated $1 billion in yearly revenue, as it will allow seafood distributors to store their goods in temperature controlled warehouses with easier transportation access due to its proximity to the Bruckner Expressway. Many of the design aspects of this facility were already out of date in terms of energy effeciency when it was completed, and will only grow more costly as the price of energy increases in the years to come.