Hunts Point, Bronx

Hunts Point is a neighborhood in the Bronx borough of New York City. The peninsula extends west into a bend of the East River.The neighborhood is bounded by Westchester Avenue to the north, the Bronx River to the east, the East River to the south, and Prospect Avenue to the west. The Longwood neighborhood is contained within the borders of Hunts Point.

Famous natives include former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as 2005 New York City mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer.

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Hunts Point Residents congregate on corner of Southern Boulevard outside bodega

Social Conditions

As a neighborhood, there are about 11,000 residents (2003) in Hunts Point, while industy employs approximately 25,000 workers.

The majority of the population of Hunts Point 25 years of age or older is a high school graduate. That is approximately 50% of the total residents of Hunts Point. An additional 4% have a bachelor’s degree or better. Accordingly, even though the numbers for income and employment do not show it, Hunts Point has a semi-skilled, educated working population. Mostly, due to crime in the past and businesses perceptions of the local residents a lot of the business in the area has not translated into job opportunities for local residents. At least 65% percent of the residents speak a second language and 22% are foreign born.

Local industry and the approximately 60,000 truck trips per week they depend on contribute in part to the asthma rates among children under 14. The New York City Department of Planning recommends a minimum of 2.5 acres of parkland per 1000 residents. Due to its historically industrial nature, Hunts Point and the rest of the South Bronx have around 0.5 acres of parkland per 1000 people.

The residential neighborhood occupies the high ground in the center of the peninsula. Along with much of the South Bronx, Hunts Point reached its nadir in the late 1970's, losing a third of its population. The neighborhood is the setting for the stark film "Fort Apache." In addition, Hunts Point is notorious for its prostitution industry. HBO has made four documentaries about prostitution in Hunts Point, the most recent in April 2002.

Non Profit Presence

There are several non profits operating in this area of the South Bronx, most notably: the Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation (HPEDC), Sustainable South Bronx (SSB) and the Point Community Development Corporation. The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation's (SOBRO) is also involved in this area.

Sustainable South Bronx

Sustainable South Bronx(SSB) is a community led Environmental Justice advocacy organization working to improve the enivronment. Working with others, they contributed to a turnaround in the neighborhood, which saw rapid population increases in the 1990's.

Majora Carter (2005 MacArthur Fellow), and also executive director of SSB has been instrumental in bringing federal, state, and city money into the area to build two new waterfront parks under construction along the Bronx River at Lafayette Avenue, and along the East River at the end of Tiffany Street, providing the first formalized waterfront access in 60 years to a newly-resurgent community.

Cultural Institutions

Today an arts scene is emerging in Hunts Point. Cultural institutions have recently emerged such as The Point community center, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD), and the Bronx Charter School for the Arts. BAAD is located in the historic Bank Note Building. The Point, which is located in a former bagel factory, provides performance art space, visual art galleries, and craft sales. The Bronx Charter School for the arts openned in a former industrial building in September, 2003.

Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation

The Hunt Point Economic Development Corporation(HPEDC) was established in 1988 as a not-for-profit economic development corporation with the aim of improving and enhancing the diverse and challenging Hunts Point business environment. With a dynamic Board of Directors and staff professionals in community development, urban planning, small business development and community revitalization, HPEDC provides an active, unified voice for this valuable New York city business community. Included in the mission of HPEDC is service provision for local businesses, the cultivation of entrepreneurship and the empowerment of local residents to participate in the local economy

The Hunts Point Express

In 2006, an on-line news outlet at www.huntspointexpress.com reporting on Hunts Point and Longwood began publication. Written by students at Hunter College, The Hunts Point Express is updated regularly. The Express is edited by journalism professor Bernard L. Stein, who hopes it will evolve into a community newspaper distributed free throughout the neighborhood.

Food Distribution Center

Hunts Point is home to the largest food distribution center in the world. The Produce and Meat Distribution Center were opened along the Bronx river in 1967 and 1974, respectively. In 2005, Hunts Point became the site for New York City's New Fulton Fish Market, which replaced the 180 year old fish market formerly located in downtown Manhattan. Over 800 industrial businesses, employing over 25,000 workers, are located on the peninsula. A large concentration of food wholesalers, distributors, and processing businesses are scattered throughout the industrial district which surrounds the residential area.

Below are some of the facilities that make up the Food Distribution Center in Hunts Point:

New York City Terminal Market

The New York City Terminal Market carries fresh fruit and vegetables from 49 states and 55 foreign countries. The market consists of four buildings, each one-third of a mile in length. More than 65 fruit and vegetable wholesalers own and operate the coop, which has 475,000 square feet of warehouse space. Each year approximately 2.7 billion pounds of produce are sold from the Market which as recently as 1998 posted $1.5 billion in revenues.

The Hunts Point Cooperative Market

The Hunts Point Cooperative Market handles the production, processing, distribution and sale of meat, poultry and related products. Spread over 38 acres, the market’s six main buildings offer 700,000 square feet of refrigerated space. More than 50 independent wholesale food companies operate facilities here. In 2002, a state-of-the art, 100,000 square foot refrigerated warehouse was added to accommodate the ever expanding needs of current and relocating businesses.

The New Fulton Fish Market

In November 2001, shortly before leaving office, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani broke ground for the New Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point. Nearly 4 years after the structure was completed, 55 businesses moved into a 450,000 square foot complex located within the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center.