Fordham, Bronx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fordham is a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the west Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Fordham Road to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, East Burnside Avenue to the south, and Jerome Avenue to the west. The Grand Concourse is the primary thoroughfare through Fordham. The local subway is the D line, operating along the Grand Concourse, with the Jerome Avenue line on its western border. Zip codes include 10453, 10457, 10458 and 10468. The area is patrolled by the 46th Precinct located at 2120 Ryer Avenue. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled by P.S.A. 7 at 737 Melrose Avenue in the Melrose section of the Bronx.
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[edit] Demographics
Fordham has a population over 30,000. Its first growth was in the 1930s, when middle-class and working-class families from Manhattan flocked into the area, attracted by the then-modern housing and convenient subway access by the D and Jerome Avenue lines to business districts in Manhattan where they could work and shop.
However, for decades Fordham has been one of the poorest communities in America. Over half the population lives below the poverty line and receives public assistance (AFDC, Home Relief, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid). The vast majority of residents in the area are of Puerto Rican, Dominican, or African American descent. The vast majority of households are renter occupied.[1]
[edit] Land use and terrain
Fordham is dominated by 5 and 6-story apartment buildings, often set flush to the sidewalk and with no (or little) space in between them. The apartments on the Grand Concourse are often taller. Hence, the general appearance of Fordham is of a wall of apartment buildings.
The total land area is less than 1 square mile. The area is elevated above adjacent areas and is very hilly. Stair streets connect areas located at different elevations.
[edit] The Fordham Road B.I.D. (Business Improvement District)
The Fordham Road B.I.D. lines the northern border of the neighborhood. This retail district is the longest in the Bronx.
[edit] Low income public housing projects
- There is one NYCHA development located in Fordham.[2]
- Twin Parks West (Sites 1 & 2); one, 16-story building.
[edit] History
Fordham was a predominantly middle class Jewish neighborhood, from the 1930s through the 1970s, when many Jewish families moved to the suburbs or retired to Florida.[3]
[edit] Social problems
Many social problems associated with poverty from crime to drug addiction have plagued the area for some time. Despite crime declines versus their peaks during the crack and heroin epidemics violent crime continues to be a serious problem in the community.[4] Fordham has significantly higher drop out rates and incidents of violence in its schools.[5] Students must pass through metal detectors and swipe ID cards to enter the buildings. Reminiscent a prison environment which many feel encourages bad behavior. Other problems in local schools include low test scores and high truancy rates. Drug addiction is also a serious problem in the community. Due to the lucrative drug trade in the area many addicted reside in the community. Peer pressure among children who come from broken homes contributes to the high rate of usage. Many households in the area are headed by a single mother which contributes to the high poverty rate.[6] Many of whom had their children at a very young age and unfortunately could not provide for their children. Many of the families living in Fordham have been in poverty for generations. The incarceration rate in the area is also very high.[7] Many if not most males in the community have been arrested at some point in their lives. This has a direct correlation to aggressive policing tactics including "sweeps" due to the area's high crime rate. Fordham is home to a significant number of inmates currently held in New York state prison and jail facilities.
[edit] Urban renewal
After a wave of arson ravaged the low income communities of New York City throughout the 1970s, many of the residential structures in Fordham were left seriously damaged or destroyed. The city began to rehabilitate many formally abandoned tenement style apartment buildings and designate them low income housing beginning in the late 1970s. Also many subsidized attached multi-unit townhouses and newly constructed apartment buildings have been or are being built on vacant lots across across the neighborhood.
[edit] Transportation
- Bx1: to Riverdale or 3rd Av-138th St station (via Grand Concourse
- Bx2: to Kingsbridge Heights or 3rd Av-138th St station (via Grand Concourse
- Bx9: to Riverdale or West Farms Square-East Tremont Av station (via Kingsbridge Rd)
- Bx12: to Bay Plaza Shopping Center or Inwood-207th St station (via Fordham Road-Pelham Parkway
- Bx15: to West Harlem (via 3rd Av)
- Bx17: to Port Morris (via Prospect-Crotona Avs)
- Bx22: to Bronx High School of Science or Castle Hill (via Castle Hill Av)
- Bx41: to Wakefield-241st St station or 3rd Av-149th St station (via Webster Av)
- Bx55: to Gun Hill Rd station or 3rd Av-149th St station
- 182nd-183rd Sts station (IND B/D)
- Fordham Rd station (IND B/D)
- Fordham Station
[edit] Facts
- American poet Edgar Allan Poe spent his final years in a cottage in Fordham which is still standing.
- In 1994 Anthony Baez suffered from a fatal asthma attack while resisting arrest. Many in the community feel the arresting officers used excessive force.
- Fordham was considered part of the West Bronx through the 1970s, but is now often considered part of the socioeconomic South Bronx.
[edit] References
- ^ Bronx Community District 5
- ^ NYCHA
- ^ Avery Corman, The Old Neighborhood., New York: Bantam Books, 1981. ISBN 9780553148916
- ^ 46th Precinct CompStat Report
- ^ NYC Dropout Rates
- ^ Bronx Census Data Analysis
- ^ NYC Prison Expenditure
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