The Bronx has a lot of, well, Queens-y type neighborhoods: family friendly and very diverse. I'm from the Van Cortlandt Park Amalgamated Housing Cooperative, which still provides amazing apartments for moderate-income families...if you can get off the waiting list. It's one of the last co-ops of its kind in New York City.
There is a part of me that would love to go back to the sprawling trees and homey feel of this decidedly ungentrified borough, but I don't think I'll ever convince my boyfriend. In the meantime, I have to settle for out-of-the-way visits every now and again.
This was where we lived. We had three enormous bedrooms overlooking the park....all for $600/month. Would you believe that?
On our trip, we visited the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in Pelham Bay Park. Apparently there were a lot of mansions of this kind in the Bronx back when people considered it vacation territory. This is one of the few remaining. It belonged to the Bartow family, who were finance folks. The city eventually bought it and transformed it into a museum. It's a gorgeous Greek revival home, but it was real hard to heat in the 19th Century.
Next we went to City Island right off Pelham Bay Park. Apparently I went here as a kid a few times, but I don't remember. How could I forget these antique stores and all the waterfront dining?
Next we went to Arthur Avenue, Bronx's Little Italy, which I do remember well. We ate at Mario's all the time. So happy to see it's still in business. We also visited the big indoor market, and other fine Italian establishments.
It's a restorative experience to visit your old 'hood when you haven't been there in ages. This is probably universal, but I feel like my childhood memories are so tied up in my parents and family, as if they aren't necessarily my own. Indeed, we don't have a say in where we live as children, what our rooms look like, or what memories we get to create. Experiencing these things as a fully-fledged adult, with a friend, on my own terms -- it's so identity-affirming. Or something. Try it, dammit. You'll see what I mean.
Then we headed back to Long Island City, Queens, to top off our trip. (And to drop off the car so we could drink, lesbehonest). My friend is from Queens, born and raised, so she got a little bit of a childhood tour too...though she still lives there.
Anyway, we came across this amazing scene, right out of a noir detective flick.
Awesome staircase photo
ReplyDelete