The Bronx’s Good Times

The borough has 1.4 million residents, according to a Carrion spokesman. In the years since Carrion has been in office, the number of affordable housing have increased with more than 7,500 families realizing their dream of home ownership, according to the Borough President.

Celebrating The Bronx

This year marked the 10th anniversary of Bronx Week, and the celebration was themed, “Come Celebrate Our Home.�

Bronx Week is seven days of food, fun, art, performances, celebrations of cultural diversity; and more. There were free tours on the Bronx trolley; a senior brunch, a domestic violence awareness event, a FIT NOW Health Fair, a seminar for non-profits, a business luncheon and expo with over 500 small Bronx businesses and scores of street festivals with food, games and entertainment.

“We try to turn it into a homecoming for people that grew up in the Bronx, people that invest in the Bronx, people that still live in the Bronx,� says Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. “We want people to come back and support The Bronx.�

Bronx Week, originally a tribute to “outstanding� people from the borough, grew larger each year giving participating businesses, visitors and families momentum for the following year.

The 10th anniversary of Bronx Week included a grand finale weekend, when the borough welcomed home some of its most accomplished “sons and daughters� who were inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame. This year’s inductees were the legendary Dion DiMucci from Dion and the Belmonts, actress Doris Roberts from “Everybody Loves Raymond,� Butt Friedman, founder of the Improv Comedy Clubs and internationally-renowned bachata singing group Aventura; and legendary singer, the late Luther Vandross.

On Sunday, June 24, the Bronx Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony took place on the Grand Concourse and 161 Street, where Borough President Carrion unveiled permanent street signs bearing names of the inductees.

But Bronx Week is only a small part of why the Bronx is flourishing overall. Ask any life long resident about the Bronx 35 years ago and they’ll shake their head in despair. Back then; many sections of the Bronx were victim to decay and abandonment, causing the population of the borough to fall 20%, but that has changed.

“The Bronx is doing well,� says Carrion. “I think the real issue for us was to begin to move the economics forward, attract businesses, create jobs and ensure people that want to work.�

“We’re in a great regional location, close to New Jersey, Westchester, Southern Connecticut, 12 minutes from LaGuardia, 30 minutes from JFK,� airport “and in business it’s all about location. We needed to tell the business community this is a great location,� he adds.

The borough has 1.4 million residents, according to a Carrion spokesman. In the years since Carrion has been in office, the number of affordable housing have increased with more than 7,500 families realizing their dream of home ownership, according to the Borough President.

“We have been aggressively going about building new housing,� Carrion adds.  “Seven out of 10 calls to my office are about housing—there was a real affordability issue.�

Now, sprinkled throughout sections of Mott Haven, Highbridge and East Tremont communities in the Bronx are affordable rents in newly renovated apartment buildings or cookie cutter one and two family homes that attract people in vast numbers.
According to Carrion, over 30,000 affordable housing units were constructed within the past four to five year turning the Bronx into a Mecca for people in the city looking to rent or to purchase an affordable apartment –without leaving the city.

With increasing population there is also more demand on other resources, including library services. Recently in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, construction of a new library was completed.

“It’s modern, in a great building, high-tech, and it has a Puerto Rican historical collection,� Carrion says, of the library. With a new Yankee Stadium in the works, Carrion feels the best days are still ahead for the Bronx. “I still have two years, six months and eleven days to make a difference,� he declares.

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