Yesterday I took my grandmother and her home care attendant to the Bronx Museum of the Arts, around the corner from where my grandmother lives, and the very same tenement that I spent my formative years growing up in during the mid 70’s and 80’s, when I first immigrated to the USA. The new ultra modern 16,000 sq. ft gleaming glass / steel building was constructed in 2004 (adjacent to the original site which was a synagogue) at a cool $19 Mil. Its design by the Miami-based firm Arquitectonica was awarded the “Excellence in Design” prize by The Art Commission of the City of New York in 2003.
The museum trip was a profound experience for me. Why? I had NEVER once ventured into the original site of the museum when it was converted from a synagogue in 1982, even though it was right around the corner from where I lived. I remembered thinking what a waste it was to have a museum in a poor neighborhood. If people are on welfare and collecting food stamps, will they find solace in art? My grandmother also had NEVER once ventured into either the original site or the new space in her 28 yrs of living in the Bronx, even though it was right around the corner from where she lives, perhaps because she does not speak English. I decided to take her on Friday because I was curious, because it was so incongruent to the existing neighborhood (even though it has gentrified), and because I wanted her to experience a new world now that her right eye can see after the surgery.
In recent weeks I have made a number of trips to visit my grandmother because of her surgery. As I take the #4 train from the Upper East Side to cross into the Bronx, memories so inextricably tied to my childhood came rushing back. They are jarred by burnt out and abandoned buildings. The place that I remembered was a war zone with countless of see-thru buildings, where street corners were occupied by scores of drug dealers and other unsavory characters. I spent years thinking that one day I will leave the South Bronx for good and vowed never to return. So it was with unfathomable feelings as I return to the South Bronx multiple times in recent weeks and finding myself enjoying (surprisingly) the trip down memory lane!!! It was remarkable if not shocking to witness perhaps the greatest cultural gentrification of any urban metropolis, particularly in light of the severe urban decline it had endured.
And when I get off at 161st Street (Yankee Stadium) to walk to my grandma’s place, I can’t help but marvel aloud at the transformation. It is a charismatic picture of the soon to be completed NEW Yankee Stadium (sitting side by side to the old). The new Yankee Stadium will open in 2009, replacing the third-oldest stadium in the Major Leagues.
The museum trip was a profound experience for me. Why? I had NEVER once ventured into the original site of the museum when it was converted from a synagogue in 1982, even though it was right around the corner from where I lived. I remembered thinking what a waste it was to have a museum in a poor neighborhood. If people are on welfare and collecting food stamps, will they find solace in art? My grandmother also had NEVER once ventured into either the original site or the new space in her 28 yrs of living in the Bronx, even though it was right around the corner from where she lives, perhaps because she does not speak English. I decided to take her on Friday because I was curious, because it was so incongruent to the existing neighborhood (even though it has gentrified), and because I wanted her to experience a new world now that her right eye can see after the surgery.
In recent weeks I have made a number of trips to visit my grandmother because of her surgery. As I take the #4 train from the Upper East Side to cross into the Bronx, memories so inextricably tied to my childhood came rushing back. They are jarred by burnt out and abandoned buildings. The place that I remembered was a war zone with countless of see-thru buildings, where street corners were occupied by scores of drug dealers and other unsavory characters. I spent years thinking that one day I will leave the South Bronx for good and vowed never to return. So it was with unfathomable feelings as I return to the South Bronx multiple times in recent weeks and finding myself enjoying (surprisingly) the trip down memory lane!!! It was remarkable if not shocking to witness perhaps the greatest cultural gentrification of any urban metropolis, particularly in light of the severe urban decline it had endured.
And when I get off at 161st Street (Yankee Stadium) to walk to my grandma’s place, I can’t help but marvel aloud at the transformation. It is a charismatic picture of the soon to be completed NEW Yankee Stadium (sitting side by side to the old). The new Yankee Stadium will open in 2009, replacing the third-oldest stadium in the Major Leagues.
"This new stadium will present new comforts, new features and be state-of-the-art in every way," Yankees president Randy Levine said. "It will be the most spectacular fan-friendly stadium ever built."
Finally, the South Bronx finds its place in the sun, some 3 decades later.
Finally, the South Bronx finds its place in the sun, some 3 decades later.
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2 comments:
Your story is really compelling. I am currently doing a project about gentrification in the south bronx. I would like to hear more about your history with your neighborhood and how it has changed. my email is Divad bx@gmail.com
Divad: Many thanks for stopping by my blog, I responded to your email but bounced back, not sure if I have the right address. Happy to help with your project in any shape or form.
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