The Bronx and Beyond: Architecture, Art, and History

10/26/2026

I will be leading a walking tour of The Grand Concourse Historic District
Saturday, November 7, 2026
10:00am–12:00pm
The tour will begin at:
Heinrich Heine Fountain (in Joyce Kilmer Park, up the stairs on E. 161st Street)
$20 for members of BCHS/$25 for non-members
Purchase tickets: https://bronxhistory.org/concourse

10/18/2026

The Loew's Paradise Theatre opened in 1929 on The Grand Concourse in the Bronx. It was one of five "Wonder Theatres" that Loew's opened in the New York City area at the time. These theatres were incredibly opulent. They put the "palace" in "movie palace". In fact, according to The New York Times, the Paradise was modeled on the palace of a Venetian Doge.

Everybody who lived in the Bronx from the 1930's to the 1980's saw a show or a movie at The Paradise. It still has a large place in the hearts of those who once called the Bronx home.

It ceased to function as a movie theater in 1994. After that, It functioned as an event space and as a church.

But for the past few years, it has been shuttered, without a purpose and without public access.

Until now. A new nonprofit "Paradise Performing Arts Center" has taken over the building. The landmarked interior and exterior are being maintained. And, it is hoped, performances of all kinds will come to the new Center. All this while giving an economic boost to the community.

Today, for the first time in years, the public was given access to The Paradise, thanks to Open House New York and the Paradise Performing Arts Center.

What is your favorite memory of The Paradise?

10/11/2026

The Andrew Freedman Home is located on the Grand Concourse, north of 166th. It was built as a residence for the formerly wealthy in the 1920's. Today it functions mostly as an arts center. The wall that surrounds much of the property is decorated with graffiti art. A new mural by Tats Cru was recently completed at the section on the Concourse just north of 166th.

10/03/2026

The Bronx is home to several "glacial erratics". Glacial erratics are boulders that were left behind 14,000 years ago as the glaciers melted away. Are you familiar with any of these boulders that seem both surprising and random in their various settings?

09/23/2026

The Paradise Theatre is back!

Nearly a century ago, the historic Loew’s Paradise Theatre opened in the Bronx. Later this year, the New York City landmark movie palace will be finding new

09/14/2026

The Fordham neighborhood occupies what was the colonial “Manor of Fordham”. John Arcer who was granted the land In 1671, called the estate "Fordham" which means "village at a river crossing." Families farmed the Manor that was in existence from 1671 to 1762.

A village was founded in 1751 which was centered around what is now the Grand Concourse and Fordham Road intersection. The area remained rural for a time, but starting in the mid 1800’s, development began. First, archbishop John Hughes bought what had been the Rose Hill estate in 1840 and founded St. John’s College (later Fordham University). Then, the New York and Harlem Railroad came to Fordham in 1841. But once local transportation lines came to the area, the population began to explode. The Third Avenue Elevated was extended to Fordham Road in 1901. Next, the Grand Concourse brought auto traffic in 1909. The IRT Jerome line came in 1917. Finally, the IND line, running underneath the Concourse, came in the 1930’s. Fordham Road quickly became the commercial heart of the Bronx, where all your shopping, religious, banking, and entertainment needs could be met.

In the 1970's, as the South Bronx began to burn, the Fordham neighborhood was just north of the worst of the destruction. As a result, the Fordham area has a higher proportion of preserved apartment buildings from the 1920's and 1930's, many of them in the Art Deco style.

Today, Fordham Road is still a bustling commercial thoroughfare. The surrounding neighborhood is still a home for diverse ethnic groups, but the demographics have changed. Before World War Two, the area had a predominantly Irish, Italian, and Jewish population. Today, Hispanics, especially Dominicans, are the predominant ethnic group. There is also a significant African American minority, and many of whom are immigrants from West Africa. No doubt, the strength of the neighborhood has been, and will continue to be its diverse population, many of whom are newcomers to NYC looking for a better life for them and their children.

For other neighborhood profiles, see the following:

Westchester Square https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1apjyKa2t2/

Allerton
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JL9P4dXRJ/

Belmont Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19N1Q94FWB/

Belmont Part 2
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19VK1LTVQe/

University Heights
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dcrvx9Ste/

Soundview
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CwxB55h5d/

Williamsbridge
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HCSW9zriN/

Mount Eden
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1bK8ENrEn8/

Woodlawn Heights
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19RTJ9GLzQ/

Morrisania Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CRJezn45d/

Morrisania Part 2
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18Ymk4VFRF/

Morrisania Part 3
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GURZxGt9S/

Wakefield
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/192rNF4cEq/

Claremont
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EnLJozFwp/

Throggs Neck
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19HyJ7ufWg/

Mount Hope
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18k4ctKbxu/

Marble Hill
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1c1bkGHDhj/

Hunts Point
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1G6u2JeW4S/

Unionport
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HGZcMm7Td/

Pelham Bay
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19EWFNdQri/

Mott Haven Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/196JPXeWbr

Mott Haven Part 2
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bzi3G6FKV/

Mott Haven Part 3
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19MfwrdyZ4/

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09/01/2026

I will be leading a tour this coming Saturday Sept 5th of Mott Haven for The Bronx County Historical Society. To register, go to bronxhistory.org/motthaven

08/20/2026

Join me on a walking tour of the Fordham/Concourse area on Aug 30th through the Jewish Studies program at Fordham University.

Registration and details here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfQL0tfnfbBXH7GRJv3cn_BInqMZqWmOeOcHB35vSVIAqfDrQ/viewform

08/20/2026

Attn Bronx locals: To celebrate the waning days of summer, attend one of many free, outdoor film showings in various parks in the coming weeks. The program is presented by Bronx World Film, Inc. See below for more info and for which films are being shown where and when.

BRONX WORLD FILM CYCLE, A ROVING CINÉMATHÉQUE, TAKES ART HOUSE FILM TO BRONX NEIGHBORHOODS FOR A NINTH SUMMER

DATES & TIMES: August 26-September 6, 2026
VENUES: Various Bronx-wide

FULL PROGRAMME LINK
https://www.bronxworldfilm.org/cycleguide

New York, New York. August 5, 2026. – Bronx World Film Cycle, Summer ’26, the Bronx’s first “roving cinémathèque” started in 2017 by pioneer art house presenter Bronx World Film, returns to neighborhoods, parks and venues borough-wide from August 26th through September 6th with a marquee of cutting-edge films from all over the world and something for everyone.

The series, strong on animation, comedy, documentary and experimental forms, will screen fourteen films from eleven countries by sixteen directors, a good number of them US or New York City premieres. There are works fresh off world premieres at the Short Film Corner at Festival de Cannes, at sister organization International Sound and Film Music Festival in Croatia (both this past May), and from the extensive local and international networks Bronx World Film has cultivated. Many are made by young and emerging filmmakers, the organization’s driving inspiration. The films reflect the diversity that is the organization’s hallmark, its attention to film as art, Bronx demographics and a global sensibility.

Bronx World Film, a non-profit founded in 2011 with programmes in Manhattan and The Bronx, has been called “a place for young filmmakers.” The “Cycle” is its flagship film and multiarts event, presented since its founding at Manhattan host venue La Nacional – Spanish Benevolent Society, and in recent years also at amenable Bronx venues. Bronx World Film holds curated events and programming year-round.

Admission to Bronx World Film Cycle, Summer ’26 events is free and open to the public.

08/18/2026

Mott Haven Part 3: The Homes.

(For Mott Haven Part 1, The Institutions, go to
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BJjx2pUUX/ )

(For Mott Haven Part 2: The Houses of Worship, go to https://www.facebook.com/share/p/195sX638yw/ )

Residential development in the area came about in fits and starts once the J.L. Mott Iron works came to what is now known as the South Bronx. But things really took off once the Third Avenue Elevated train arrived in the 1880's. German and Irish immigrants working in the area needed places to live, of course. Rowhouses were built for families with means, while tenement style apartments were built for those who labored in Mott Haven's industries. Luckily, we can still see many of these nineteenth century homes in the three NYC landmarked districts that are within Mott Haven.

After World War II, Puerto Rican and African Americans began to move to the neighborhood. German, Italian, and Irish Americans began to move elsewhere. At the same time, the housing situation in the postwar years deteriorated rapidly. First, many homes and apartment buildings were destroyed in order to build several large public housing developments. Second, apartment buildings that were not destroyed by eminent domain lost value principally due to redlining policies by banks. Redlining refers to the practice of banks not giving mortgages to buildings in places with a high percentage of minorities. The buildings lost their value, and landlords realized they could get more money out of their buildings by burning them down for insurance money rather than collecting rent. Other landlords simply let the buildings deteriorate to the point that they became unlivable.

More recently, luxury rental highrises have gone up along the Harlem River. It was thought that these developments might spur the creation of new small businesses in the area. Although cafes, bars, restaurants, and bakeries have opened, many of them have closed, finding that the promised customers did not materialize.

Walking through Mott Haven today, you can see the layers of history everywhere you look. You can see that a diverse population with a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds have made the neighborhood their home. Mott Haven certainly has struggled for the last several decades, but a renaissance may be in the cards for this beautiful and complicated neighborhood.

For other neighborhood profiles, see the following:

Westchester Square https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1apjyKa2t2/

Allerton https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JL9P4dXRJ/

Belmont Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19N1Q94FWB/

Belmont Part 2
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19VK1LTVQe/

University Heights
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dcrvx9Ste/

Soundview
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CwxB55h5d/

Williamsbridge
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HCSW9zriN/

Mount Eden
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1bK8ENrEn8/

Woodlawn Heights
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19RTJ9GLzQ/

Morrisania Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CRJezn45d/

Morrisania Part 2
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18Ymk4VFRF/

Morrisania Part 3
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GURZxGt9S/

Wakefield
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/192rNF4cEq/

Claremont
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EnLJozFwp/

Throggs Neck
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19HyJ7ufWg/

Mount Hope
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18k4ctKbxu/

Marble Hill
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1c1bkGHDhj/

Hunts Point
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1G6u2JeW4S/

Unionport
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HGZcMm7Td/

Pelham Bay
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19EWFNdQri/

Mott Haven Part 1
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/196JPXeWbr

Mott Haven Part 3
To see other neighborhood profiles, see the following: