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West Farms, Bronx

Coordinates: 40°50′24″N 73°52′41″W / 40.840°N 73.878°W / 40.840; -73.878
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West Farms
Neighborhood of the Bronx
Bronx River Art Center on Tremont Avenue
Bronx River Art Center on Tremont Avenue
Map
Location in New York City
Coordinates: 40°50′24″N 73°52′41″W / 40.840°N 73.878°W / 40.840; -73.878
Country United States
State New York
City New York City
Borough The Bronx
Community DistrictThe Bronx 6[1]
Area
[2]
 • Total0.38 km2 (0.148 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total4,700
 • Density12,000/km2 (32,000/sq mi)
Economics
 • Median income$35,423
ZIP codes
10460
Area code718, 347, 929, and 917
Websitewww.westfarms.nyc

West Farms is a residential neighborhood in the west-central Bronx, New York City, in the northeast corner of the South Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 6. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Bronx Park to the north, the Bronx River Parkway to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the south, and Crotona Avenue to the west. East Tremont Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through West Farms.

Zip codes include 10460. The area is patrolled by the NYPD's 48th Precinct[3] located at 450 Cross Bronx Expressway in East Tremont. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled by P.S.A. 8 at 2794 Randall Avenue in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx.

Demographics

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of West Farms-Bronx River was 35,011, an increase of 469 (1.4%) from the 34,542 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 344.72 acres (139.50 ha), the combined neighborhood had a population density of 101.6 inhabitants per acre (65,000/sq mi; 25,100/km2).[4]

The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 26.6% (9,312) African American, 3.2% (1,136) Asian, 2.5% (878) White, 0.3% (121) Native American, 0.0% (10) Pacific Islander, 2.1% (743) from other races and 1.4% (482) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 63.8% (22,329) of the population.[5]

West Farms has one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Almost half the population lives below the poverty line and receives public assistance (AFDC, Home Relief, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid). The vast majority of households are renter occupied.[6]

Land use and terrain

West Farms is dominated by 5 and 6-story tenement buildings, older multi-unit homes, vacant lots, and newly constructed subsidized attached multi-unit townhouses and apartment buildings. Most of the original housing stock was structurally damaged by arson and eventually razed by the city. The total land area is less than one square mile. The terrain is somewhat hilly.

The West Farms Bus Depot is located along East 177th Street next to a terminated Sheridan Expressway; it opened on September 7, 2003 on the site of the former Coliseum Depot.[7]

There are two NYCHA developments located in West Farms.[8]

  1. 1010 East 178th Street; a 21-story building.
  2. Twin Parks East (Site 9); a 14-story building.

History

West Farms (pink), and Morrisania (green), 1867

West Farms was separated from the town of Westchester, New York, by an act of the legislature in 1846,[9] formed from the settlements of West Farms, Morrisania, and Fordham, which survive as recognizable neighborhoods of The Bronx to this day. The patent of the "West Farms", which were the farthest western section of Westchester, were granted by letters patent in 1666 to Edward Jessup and John Richardson, both of Westchester, who had jointly purchased it "of the Indyan proprietors". It was bounded on the east by the "river commonly called by the Indians Aquehung, otherwise Broncke river"[10] Jessup was dead within a year, and his widow conveyed his share to Thomas Hunt of Westchester, whose family is commemorated in the name of Hunts Point. In 1711, the heirs of the patentees joined in a second division of the lands in twelve lots with immutable boundaries, which were subsequently divided up. During the American Revolution numerous engagements occurred here; there were too few able-bodied men to form a company of continental militia, so West Farms formed a joint company with Fordham.[11][12]

In 1848 the village of West Farms was described as "pleasantly situated at the head of the navigable waters of the Bronx, three miles from the East river, and twelve from New York".[13] Though it was rapidly increasing in size, it already had about 1000 inhabitants, in about 200 houses.There were three district schools, for boys and girls, and a ladies' seminary and a boys' private school. The railroad depot of the Harlem & Westchester Rail Road stood a mile north of the village, where there were four churches, "4 taverns, a temperance house, 12 stores of different kinds, and a post office." In addition to seven sloops moored on the Bronx River, there were manufactories: a Brussels carpet and spinning factory,[14] another carpet manufactory, and a grist mill and a lumber mill, formerly de Lancey's Mills, converting the last stands of timber accessible to the Bronx River upstream. Rail service to the city was on an almost hourly schedule, and West Farms was developing into a railroad suburb like Yonkers, which bounded it on the north. In 1848 the Hunt house (built in 1688) still stood on Hunts Point at the end of "Planting Neck", and the high ground along the neck was dotted with villas.[15] Poet Joseph Rodman Drake found inspiration in the views of Long Island Sound and is buried nearby.[16]

Social problems

Many social problems associated with poverty, from crime to drug addiction, have plagued the area for decades. Despite declines in crime from its peak during the crack and heroin epidemics, violent crime continues to be a serious problem in the community.[17] West Farms has significantly higher drop out rates and more incidents of violence in its schools than in other parts of the city.[18] Other problems in local schools include low test scores and high truancy rates. Drug addiction is also a serious problem in the community. Peer pressure among children who come from broken homes contributes to the high rate of usage.[19][20][21]

Many households in the area are headed by a single mother which contributes to the high poverty rate.[22] Many of them had their children at a very young age and could not provide for them. Many of the families living in West Farms have been in poverty for generations. The incarceration rate in the area is also very high. In 2012, the 10460 zip code had the 17th highest number of incarcerated residents of any New York City zip code.[23]

Education

Schools

Public:

PS 6, East Tremont Avenue
  • PS 6: West Farms (East Tremont and Bryant Avenues)
  • PS 66: School Of Higher Expectations (Jennings Ave.)
  • PS 67: Mohegan (East 178th Street and Mohegan Avenue)
  • JHS 98: Herman Ridder (East 173rd Street and Boston Road)
  • CS 214: Lorraine Hansberry Academy (West Farms Road and East Tremont Avenue)
  • Explorations Academy (East 173rd Street and Boston Road)
  • Bronx Envision Academy (East 173rd Street and Boston Road)
  • Wings Academy (East 180th Street and Bronx Park Avenue)
  • Emolior Academy[24]

Parochial:

  • St. Thomas Aquinas School (Daly Avenue)

Transportation

West Farms Square

The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve West Farms:[25]

The following New York City Subway stations serve West Farms:[26]

References

  1. ^ "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "West Farms neighborhood in New York". Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  3. ^ "48th Precinct". Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  4. ^ Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
  5. ^ Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
  6. ^ Bronx Community District 6
  7. ^ "New York City Transit - History and Chronology". Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ NYCHA
  9. ^ Robert Bolton, A history of the county of Westchester, from its first settlement to the present time vol. II (New York, 1848) pp 259ff is the source for this section.
  10. ^ Patent quoted in Bolton.
  11. ^ Petition of 1775 to the Continental Congress, printed in Bolton 1848:271f.
  12. ^ "Bronx History - Early European Residents". Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  13. ^ Bolton 1848:266.
  14. ^ It was on the site of a paint manufactory and pottery kilns, which had been active during the War of 1812. Bolton 1848:266.
  15. ^ Bolton 1848:272, 275
  16. ^ "Old Cemeteries Forgotten NY". Archived from the original on April 28, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ 48th Precinct CompStat Report
  18. ^ NYC Dropout Rates
  19. ^ "In the Bronx's West Farms, Families Struggle for a Better Life and Worry About Their Children". Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  20. ^ "Despite Figures on Falling Crime, Fear in Part of the Bronx". The New York Times. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  21. ^ "A 12-Year-Old Girl, a Rape and a Bronx Neighborhood Left Unsettled". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  22. ^ Bronx Census Data Analysis
  23. ^ [1] These 5 Neighborhoods Supply Over A Third Of NYC's Prisoners
  24. ^ "Emolior Academy Official Website". Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  25. ^ "Bronx Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  26. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
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