The Bronx

The Bronx is a borough of New York City. It's known for Yankee Stadium, the home field of the New York Yankees baseball team. Dating from 1899, the vast Bronx Zoo houses hundreds of species of animals. 

Nearby, the sprawling New York Botanical Garden features a landmark greenhouse with rainforest and cactus displays. 

I've been to theBotanical Gargens and Bronx Zoo many times. Although I was a big Yankee fan, I never went to Yankee Stadium.

This gives you an idea of the neighborhood. I will write about the building next time.

The south Bronx was the home of  Irish and German immigrants. At least our area was, I know they had Jewish, Italian, Black and Spanish sections too. 

Apartments lined the streets but the corners would have a store. Our corner had an Egg "factory". It was one German man  who had a conveyor belt he put eggs on and they would pass infront of a light. He would take it off if it was bad. He put the good ones into cartons.  If he was in a good mood he would let me sit near the door and watch, he would sometimes give me an egg to take home. 
When he was in a bad mood he would not let me in his shop. 

Around the corner were the Butchers. Trucks would come with Meat that were hung on big hooks,(like in the movie, Rocky) they were brought inside to be butchered. It did not smell good there, even when they were closed on Sunday. 
Across the street was the neighborhood Bar. I forgot the name of it.  Men and women hung out there. We kids could go in too and get a coke and snack and sit at a table if a parent was in there. 

Kitty Corner was the back of Woolworths. The older kids would hang out on the stairs there.

St.Ann's Park was nearby and St.Peter and Paul's was the  Catholic school my sisters and cousin went to and I was registered to start there, but we moved.

We had a TV but most people still did not have a phone. We got one in 1956, I think. 

At this time, the Bronx was a great place to live.  Everybody knew everybody, for better or worse. 

We moved in 1957 but I have many memories of our time spent there. 

The neighborhood was starting to turn bad. It was the Puerto Rican's  moving in, that destroyed it. I am not being racist. It's what happened.  

The movie, West Side Story depicts how it was back then.

Thank goodness my parents and cousins moved when they did because the gangs started to flourish. The movies, Fort Apache and The Bronx is Burning, shows what happened to the Bronx. Very sad, indeed. 

This is a 1981 short film about The Bronx, 24 years after we left, but you see the neighborhood I came from.