With the end of winter, the long-forgotten waterfront of Port Morris is finally emerging from years of neglect. With new projects and businesses supporting a community that doesn’t yet exist in Port Morris, and the rest of the Bronx, we are beginning to understand why this is happening now.
A walk along the coast of Port Morris today shows an industrial landscape that will be a challenge to redesign. There may as well be flashing neon signs announcing the changes that will take place when Port Morris and the Bronx become a destination for people who need studio space.
Mott bought the original property in 1849 from Governor Morris II, and the name comes from the deep-water harbor that was established at the mouth of the Hudson River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Morris was asked to name the area that quickly took his name, according to the New York Times.
A man from Port Morris borrowed the photos from me and said that he too had grown up in the city and wanted me to photograph them because he had a deep interest in their history. I introduced myself as a black Chicagoan living in New York City and also having a background in real estate, and I knew that the album contained a lot of interesting information about the history of the area and its residents. Also in my possession is a photograph of a church building from the time when Port Morris Church was on the east side of this road.
Garcia says Riverdale has always had something for everyone: “You might know it as a sprawling, multi-racial, mixed neighborhood, but it’s also a very diverse neighborhood.”
Port Morris has a rich nautical history, but the community’s vibrant cultural history also includes a vibrant art scene, considered the birthplace of hip-hop. Both Mott Haven and Port Morris have strong identities, and that’s true – the Blues locals helped shape those identities.
To this end, NYRP recently launched the Haven Project, which aims to monitor, measure and analyze the impact on residents “health over several years. He praised the value of the project and said their advocacy for a network of open spaces was not only about providing safe access for pedestrians and cyclists to the connector, but also about improving the health and well-being of their residents and their communities.
They found that the death rate in one neighborhood, Englewood, was more than twice that in the rest of the city. Point has seen declines in both the number of residential units and vacancy rates in recent years. Moreover, since 2010, there have been an average of 1.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants per year, more than in any other district.
Brick Underground spoke with real estate agent Garcia about the neighborhood and the Bronx to look at. Click here to order from North to South, or click here for more information about the Port Morris neighborhood in New York City.
On the north bank lies a rusty historical relic that once connected the Bronx to the North Island. A number of similar portals are awaiting revival to restore the rapidly developing southern tip of the island sometime in the future, like Port Morris itself. But if we are talking only about Port Morris, there is much more to the neighborhood than just the old portal towers and old railway tracks.
Port Morris is a credit farm, a college and a university, “Lopez says,” and we want to bring them together and evaluate their work to see if we can develop a community-oriented master plan for urban development. The planned first phase of the project will focus on improving access to the southeast corner of Port Morris and establishing a public park at 132nd and 134th Streets, where they meet the East River. On 132rd Street, where the old Port Morris portal is slowly rusting, NYRP and other groups have proposed creating an open public space, though the city has not made an official plan for it. Mott – Haven – Port – Morris will use the community-based neighborhood plan to explore potential CLT models for public spaces.
One positive project that has already been implemented in Port Morris is the Randall’s Island Connector, which opened after nearly a decade of NYCEDC planning. Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the New York Department of Transportation, the Haven Project will modernize the police station on the corner of 132nd Street and 134th Street. Officials hope the new facility – which will serve as a hub for the city’s anti-crime unit and the NYPD – will encourage residents and police to work together to eradicate such crimes from the community.