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Place Name
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Bronx, the
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Pronunciation
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BRAWNKS
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Place Status (Type)
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borough
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Population
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1,203,789 (1990)
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Location
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Westchester County, New York (NY), United States, North America
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Latitude
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40°51'N
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Longitude
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73°53'W
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Bronx, the
(BRAWNKS), borough (
57 sq mi/148 sq km; 1990 pop.
1,203,789) of N.Y. city, coextensive with Bronx co., SE N.Y.; 40°51'N
73°53'W. The name comes from Jonas Bronck, who purchased the land
from Native Americans in 1639. N.Y. city acquired the Bronx, which had
been the lower portion of Westchester co., in 2 stages in 1875 and
1895. With the consolidation of N.Y. city in 1898 it became a separate
borough; the co. was not organized until 1912. The only mainland
borough of N.Y. city, it comprises the S part of a peninsula bordered W
by the Hudson R., SW by the Harlem R. (which separates it from
Manhattan), S by the East R., and E by L.I. Sound. Among the many
bridges linking the borough to Manhattan and Queens are the Henry
Hudson, the Triborough, the Bronx-Whitestone, and the Throgs Neck. The
borough is also connected to Manhattan by subway and commuter RR lines.
With the extension of mass transit to the Bronx in the early 20th
cent., the pop. of the sparsely settled area rapidly increased. The
Bronx became home to many immigrants from E and S Europe; pop. has
become more ethnically diverse since World War II and now has a
majority of Hispanic and Afr.-Amer. residents, with growing Afr. and
Caribbean communities. The declining local economy led to a
deterioration of housing, and the term “South Bronx” became
synonymous with urban blight. Attempts at renovation have been
successful in many neighborhoods characterized by housing abandonment
for much of the 1970s and 1980s. Although the Bronx is no longer an
extensive shipping, warehouse, and factory center, the Hunts Point
Terminal Market is the major wholesale produce center for N.Y. city.
Areas of interest in the borough include Riverdale, Co-op City,
Parkchester, Grand Concourse, City Isl., Fort Schuyler, and Mott Haven.
Large areas of the borough are set aside for parks, notably Bronx Park,
with the N.Y. Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo) and the N.Y. Botanical
Garden; Van Cortlandt Park, and Pelham Bay Park, with Orchard Beach on
L.I. Sound. Among the institutions of higher learning in the Bronx are
Fordham Univ., Manhattan Col., Albert Einstein Col. of Medicine (of
Yeshiva Univ.), the N.Y. State Maritime Col., Herbert H. Lehman Col.
and Hostos Community Col. of the City Univ. of N.Y. Other points of
interest are Yankee Stadium (1923) and the Edgar Allan Poe cottage
(1812).
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