Must Read/View Piece by David Gonzalez

David Gonzalez, one of our favorite NY Times writers, has a fantastic piece about his return fresh from Yale to the South Bronx in 1979 to teach photography.

Here's the written piece.
You must also view this slideshow with voice-over of photograph's Mr. Gonzalez took during what he described as the "Bad Old Days."

*photo courtesy of David Gonzalez*
~ErLu

I'm From the South Bronx

South Bronx native, Colin Powell gives a great interview to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. In it he lays a smack down on moose-hunting anti-big city Republicans. Wasilla-style small town values are not the only acceptable set of American values. Here's the former Secretary of State's best quote from the interview:

"...[M]ost of us don’t live in small towns. And I was raised in the South Bronx, and there’s nothing wrong with my value system from the South Bronx."

Watch the rest below:


Special thanks to Think Progress where we first saw this clip. The full interview should air on CNN this weekend.

~ErLu

"Alphabet Soup" of Incentives for Businesses Looking to Take Up Shop in the BoogieDown

Crain's New York Business' Elaine Pofeldt has a nice piece explaining the crazy amount of incentives entrepreneurs looking to relocate to Port Morris or other South Bronx industrial areas can take advantage of to help grow their businesses.

The article spotlights Dufour Pastry Kitchens, a business which relocated to the BoogieDown from the Manhattan's meatpacking district last year and receives $100,000 in tax credits annually. Not too shabby, eh?

~ErLu

What's in a Name?

Apparently a heck of a lot, according to one South Bronx community activist (who shall remain nameless) who doesn't like the term "SoBro." Actually, it may even be more accurate to say he detests the nickname his South Bronx hood, asking us not to use it because it is a "moniker of gentrification."

As anyone who reads BoogieDowner knows, we frequently refer to South Bronx as "SoBro." With our main goal being changing the negative PR image of the Bronx, we just think it's better to use the name "SoBro," as people who are kinda dumb and stuck in the 70s think of fires, murders and looting when they here "South Bronx." It's also shorter and cuter looking in a sentence.

We want to here from the readers out there: Are we annoying the crap out of you every time we write "SoBro?" Would you rather us just say "South Bronx" and leave the "SoBro" nickname to the real estate agents?

With the countdown to the presidential election on, BoogieDowner wants to rally the troops with a little poll of our own. Let us know how you feel about the term "SoBro" by voting on this issue in the upper-right hand side of the page. MAYBE, just MAYBE if enough of you guys hate the nickname we'll stop using it...

Let's also get some comments going on this issue.

*Those are actually my legs - I took a self portrait of them this morning in the living room... I've been working out*

**Psych!!!! Those aren't my legs... gotcha! Sexy legs courtesy of http://deprogramminghour.com**

~ErLu

Bronxites Get Shit End of the Stick

Staten Island Advance is running an Associated Press article by Marcus Franklin detailing the steps being taken to reduce stinkiness coming from New York Organic Fertilizer Co., a sewage-treatment plant in Hunts Point which transforms sewage into fertilizer pellets.

The plant runs the risk of not getting its permit renewed unless significant measures are taken to control the air pollution it is creating. One such measure is installing an air pressure alarm which would keep odors from wafting through the South Bronx.

To make matters worse, there is a city-run sewage treatment plant close by which processes the poopie of about 600,000 New Yorkers... Naturally, this one stinks as well.

Concerned residents have banded together to sue both New York Organic Fertilizer Co., as well as the city-run plant for messing with their quality of life and creating health problems.

More here by New York Times' Sewell Chan.

*Photo courtesy of flickr/2kjb*

~ErLu

$400/year = Serenity

The New York Times' Joyce Walder's article, "Backyard Bargain in the Bronx," profiled a South Bronx homeowner who has basically grown a mini-New York Botanical Garden in his backyard.

Sam Oglesby, who "was well ahead of the recent wave of transplanted Manhattan professionals when he bought this property 10 years ago" [NY Times], owns an 1987 three story brick townhouse with a 20x40 foot lot that he has transformed into a literal urban oasis. His original start-up cost to create the space was a little over $3,000, and it takes only $400 per year to maintain.

Mr. Oglesby, who is 69 and moved to the Bronx 10 years ago shortly after retiring, paid a mere $113,000 for that beauty of a house you see pictured. Talk about a smart cookie. Hmmmm, maybe the Bronx is not only the new Williamsburg, but possibly the next Boca Raton, FL as well?

*Photos courtesy of Andrew Henderson/New York Times*

~ErLu

Scientific Evidence that SoBro is the Hotness

As further evidence that the South Bronx is the hippest thing to hit NYC since the "stay-cation" and the hideous rubber "Crocs" sandal/shoe hybrid, Osiris, the maker of the Bronx sneaker, has now come out with a South Bronx version, which features bolder colors and slightly lowered high-top for men and women. The sneaker is a top seller among skaters, however it is now a top seller among the trend-setters for the fall season, and we can see why!

Here's a quote from a local Osiris South Bronx sneaker aficionado: "When you're in da greatest city in da world, you gotta rock da blocks wearin' da Osiris South Bronx Skate Shoe. Why, you ask? Cuz one, dese hi-tops keep your ankles covered and your fashion fresh, while the comfortable cupsole grabs your deck like a mugger grabbin' your wallet. And two, if Uncle Vinny sees you wearin' anything else, he'll send Rodrigo over to bust your freakin' knee caps!"

We couldn't agree more.

*High fashion photo of business man wearing Crocs to work courtesy of manshion.net*

~Jay O. + ErLu

Longwood Lovelies: More Beautiful Bronx Brownstones

Longwood is in the South Bronx, North of Hunt's Point, East of Melrose.
Take a look at these beauties:

~Jay O.

Melrose Reborn

I am fascinated and intrigued by the wholesale rebuilding and development happening in Melrose, a community in the South Bronx. This community is literally being rebuilt from the ground up, with new sidewalks, streets, decorative street lights, tree plantings, new condos and rentals, affordable and market rate, new 3 family homes, new retail, a new college, and a number of green housing and initiatives, including solar panels and green roofs.

This community is in the midst of a major transformation, and you can see how much has happened thus far, and it is only about 1/3 complete: about 1 million more square feet of retail, commercial and residential will be coming online in the next 2 years, with further development over the following 3 years. The changes are dramatic. Take a look...this is the South Bronx of today AND tomorrow...





















~Jay O.

Plaza of the Hub - Mott Haven Gets A Little Bit Cooler

The Related Companies is now negotiating to build a 1.1 million of mixed retail/residential facility in the Hub (149th St. and Brook Ave), which will be comprised of 4 buildings: Building 1: 356,000 sf of retail space +10 story officetower about 290,000 sf. Building 2: 3,800 sf ground floor retail, 44,500sf supermarket on the ground floor as well, 123,000 sf cinema with 14screens and 3,500 seats. Buildings 3 & 4: Both will be 11 stories,272,000 sf of middle income housing and 16,000 sf of retail. WOW! If you would like to see the architectural drawing of the project, and learn more about the details, please see the link below...it looks amazing!!

Click for 66 pages of Filing and Reports about this Project

Even before this new development the Hub was transcending the 99-cent store scene with a shopping experience to rival Fordham Rd. Here are some stats (and an article) provided by the NY Daily News:

Checkout: The Hub

• 122 stores in the Business Improvement District.


• 1928 Alexander's opened a store that year on Third Ave., the department-store chain's first. Discounter Conway now owns and occupies the building.


• 40% decrease in crime in the past decade.


• $85-$125 per square foot asking rents for prime store locations.


• $56.7M retail and office building constructed by Related Cos. on Third Ave. and E. 156th St.


• 80,000 square feet of store space in Related's Third Ave. development.


• 250+ employees work at the stores in Related's Third Ave. building.


• $30 per square foot was the highest rent landlords could get on Third Ave. north of E. 153rd St. before Related's project was completed. Since it opened last year, retail landlords in the area are now asking up to $70 per square foot.
  -NYDN

~Jay O.+ErLu