Jerome Avenue In 1914 and 102 Years Later
It was reported that since 2010 the Bronx is the fastest growing county in New York State.
Believe it or not, this bucolic scene shown above, from March 1914, is in the Bronx at Jerome Avenue looking north from Clarke Place.
I have not been able to identify the lone building on the left. Besides some telephone and telegraph wires, Belgian block paved streets and trolley tracks, modernity had not yet touched most of the Bronx. The population according to the 1915 police census was 649,726.
In 1914 the Bronx was prosperous and living there was considered to be a sign of upward mobility.
Fast forward 102 years later. Below is the same street from about the same spot.
Jerome Avenue was transformed by the construction of the El in 1917 and 1918, darkening the street, but fostering a building boom. Along this street today you will find no trees or trolley tracks, though there are lots of auto service related stores and various other shops.
Today, an influx of immigrants has boosted the Bronx’s population to over 1.455 million. The Bronx also has the highest poverty rate in the city at 30%.
On the brighter side, since 2002 the Bronx has added over 20,000 private sector jobs and the overall crime rate has dropped 75% since 1990.
As the song goes, “the Bronx is up, (and the Battery’s down.)
