Highbridge is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the central-west section of the Bronx, New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, Macombs Dam Bridge to the south, and the Harlem River to the west. Ogden Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Highbridge.
At the time of European settlement, the southern Bronx was inhabited by the Siwanoy, a tribe of the Wappinger confederacy. They called the hill that is now Highbridge "Nuasin", or "the land between", for its location between the Harlem River and an estuary that formerly flowed in the area of modern-day Jerome Avenue.[2]
The neighborhood takes its name from the High Bridge, built in 1848 by Irish immigrants.[3] The structure originally carried Croton Aqueduct water across the Harlem River.[4] In 1864, a walkway was built across the High Bridge.[5] Use of the structure to deliver water to Manhattan ceased in 1949. The bridge was closed to pedestrian traffic in the 1970s in the middle of the fiscal crisis affecting the city, and allowed to fall into disrepair; in 2015 a reconstruction project was undertaken and completed with the opening of the bridge in 2019.
In the mid-late 19th century, the area was developed as a suburban retreat for the elite, who built large homes overlooking the Harlem River. The names of these families and their estates are reflected in the names of Highbridge's north-south avenues: Ogden Avenue and Boscobel Place for William B. Ogden,[2] Merriam Avenue for Francis W. Merriam,[2] Anderson Avenue and Woodycrest Avenue for the Anderson family, and Shakespeare Avenue for the Shakespeare Garden on the Marcher family estate.[6] Around the turn of the 20th century, many of these estates were subdivided for urban development, however a few older houses still remain.[2]
In the late 1960s, the residents of Highbridge were predominantly of Irish, Italian and Eastern European Jewish descent. They have since been replaced by large numbers of Hispanics and African Americans.[7] As of 2017, the neighborhood is undergoing gentrification.[8]
Demographics
Prior to the 1960s, Highbridge was a predominantly Irish American neighborhood.[7] Today the vast majority of residents in the area are of Dominican, Puerto Rican and African American descent. Almost 40% of families live below the federal poverty line.[9]
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Highbridge was 37,727, an increase of 3,883 (11.5%) from the 33,844 counted in 2000. Covering an area of Шаблон:Convert, the neighborhood had a population density of Шаблон:Convert.[10]
The entirety of Community District 4, which comprises Highbridge and Concourse, had 155,835 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 78.6 years.[12]Шаблон:Rp This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[13]Шаблон:Rp[14] Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 27% are between the ages of between 0–17, 29% between 25–44, and 23% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 11% and 10% respectively.[12]Шаблон:Rp
As of 2017, the median household income in Community District 4 was $30,900.[15] In 2018, an estimated 32% of Highbridge and Concourse residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City. One in eight residents (13%) were unemployed, compared to 13% in the Bronx and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 61% in Highbridge and Concourse, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 58% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, Шаблон:As of, Highbridge and Concourse are considered low-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[12]Шаблон:Rp However, Шаблон:As of, rents in Highbridge have risen more than any other neighborhood in New York City, at a rate of 22%.[8]
Highbridge is dominated by townhouses and 5 and 6-story apartment buildings, including numerous Art Deco landmarks built by the developer Bernard J. Noonan and the architects Horace Ginsberg and Marvin Fine.[16] Many older detached mansions still remain on Woodycrest Avenue and Ogden Avenue. The total land area is roughly one square mile. The terrain is elevated and very hilly.
Stair streets connect the parts of the neighborhood that are located at different elevations.[17] One particular stair street between Shakespeare and Anderson Avenues became known as the "Joker Stairs", drawing tourists after the 2019 film Joker was filmed there.[18][19]
Landmarks
The Woodycrest Children's Home on Woodycrest Avenue was built as an orphanage by the American Female Guardian Society and Home for the Friendlessto rescue from degradation, physical and moral, the children of want, homelessness and sorrow.[20] This grand Beaux Arts building was designed by William Tuthill, the architect of Carnegie Hall.[20] Opening in 1902, it housed 120 children in five dormitories, and contained a chapel, a kindergarten, a hospital, a dining room and a quarantine ward for new arrivals.[20] The building is now managed by the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center as the Highbridge-Woodycrest center, providing long-term geriatric and AIDS care.[21]
The "Lighthouse" building at Sedgewick Avenue and University Avenue has housed the H.W. Wilson Company, an educational publisher and index services provider, since 1917. The building's distinctive lighthouse was added in 1929. The company merged with EBSCO Publishing in June 2011.[24]Файл:HW Wilson lighthouse W162 Bx jeh.jpgH.W. Wilson Company "Lighthouse" Building, Highbridge
Parks
The eponymous High Bridge, part of the former Croton Aqueduct and now a pedestrian bridge. terminates in a park in the northwest corner of the neighborhood.[25] The High Bridge connects it to Highbridge Park in Manhattan.
Highbridge and Concourse are patrolled by the 44th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 2 East 169th Street.[1] The 44th Precinct ranked 39th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010.[36]Шаблон:As of, with a non-fatal assault rate of 123 per 100,000 people, Highbridge and Concourse's rate of violent crimes per capita is greater than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 813 per 100,000 people is higher than that of the city as a whole.[12]Шаблон:Rp
The 44th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 77.3% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported 19 murders, 36 rapes, 713 robberies, 1,048 felony assaults, 421 burglaries, 934 grand larcenies, and 396 grand larcenies auto in 2022.[37]
Fire safety
High Bridge is located near two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations.[38] Engine Co. 50/Ladder Co. 19/Battalion 26 is located at 1155 Washington Avenue,[39] while Engine Co. 68/Ladder Co. 49 is located at 1160 Ogden Avenue.[40]
In addition, FDNY EMS Station 17 is located at 1080 Ogden Avenue.Шаблон:Cn
Health
Шаблон:As of, preterm births and births to teenage mothers are more common in Highbridge and Concourse than in other places citywide. In Highbridge and Concourse, there were 93 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 34 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[12]Шаблон:Rp Highbridge and Concourse has a relatively average population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 13%, slightly higher than the citywide rate of 12%.[12]Шаблон:Rp
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Highbridge and Concourse is Шаблон:Convert, more than the city average.[12]Шаблон:Rp Fifteen percent of Highbridge and Concourse residents are smokers, which is higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[12]Шаблон:Rp In Highbridge and Concourse, 34% of residents are obese, 17% are diabetic, and 42% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.[12]Шаблон:Rp In addition, 23% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[12]Шаблон:Rp
Eighty-three percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is less than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 72% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", lower than the city's average of 78%.[12]Шаблон:Rp For every supermarket in Highbridge and Concourse, there are 18 bodegas.[12]Шаблон:Rp
Highbridge and Concourse generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city Шаблон:As of. While 36% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 43% have less than a high school education and 21% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 26% of Bronx residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.[12]Шаблон:Rp The percentage of Highbridge and Concourse students excelling in math rose from 17% in 2000 to 40% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 21% to 25% during the same time period.[44]
Highbridge and Concourse's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is more than the rest of New York City. In Highbridge and Concourse, 28% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, higher than the citywide average of 20%.[13]Шаблон:Rp[12]Шаблон:Rp Additionally, 67% of high school students in Highbridge and Concourse graduate on time, lower than the citywide average of 75%.[12]Шаблон:Rp
The New York Public Library (NYPL) operates two branches near Highbridge. The Grand Concourse branch is located at 155 East 173rd Street. The branch is a two-story structure that opened in 1959.[47] The High Bridge branch is located at 78 West 168th Street. The branch was opened in the early 20th century and was renovated in 2010.[48]
↑Itzkoff, Dave. "For Tracy Morgan, Every Day Is a Show", The New York Times, October 28, 2008. Accessed June 12, 2017. "He was the second of five children, raised in housing projects in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and the High Bridge section of the Bronx."
↑"William B. Ogden.", Illinois During the Gilded Age. Accessed June 12, 2017. "His business causing him, of late years, to spend much of his time in New York, he purchased a handsome villa, in the spring of 1866, in Westchester County, at Fordham Heights, adjoining the High Bridge."
