Bronx River: The Monroe High School Project
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Click
here to see slides of the Monroe High School Project
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Implemented by Rosten Woo in 2003, the
Bronx River Project was an outgrowth of a partnership with
the Sam Schwartz Company and the NYC Department of Education
to enhance school facilities in collaboration with students.
Place in History's work involved teaching Monroe students
how to design oral history interviews, how to find resources
about neighborhood issues, and how to pull out salient information
from this research. The permanent installation of five lexan
displays is now featured in the library of the school.
Excerpts from the interviews:
Subway Graffiti:
"I remember when I was a little
kid, and I was inside the train wondering why I can't see
out the window, how come I can't see and I was getting so
mad. The train had been painted and the windows were painted
over and when we finally got out of the train I was looking
at the train and when the doors shut it the whole thing came
into focus. It was this huge picture of a lion and it said
LION below it and I was so excited it was like the worlds
biggest comic book."
"It was a teacher here at Monroe
that encouraged me. She saw what we were doing and really
encouraged me to pursue it. She was like, you know, that's
really like a kind of sign painting. Graffiti was born here
in the Bronx and know it's a global art form. People used
to think of it as a crime and now we're hired by people to
make signs for them."
-Nicer, Tats Cru (Monroe High School '74)
Bronx River:
"When I was a kid we would swim
in the River, hang out there. Over time it got so polluted
you couldn't really do that"
-Edward, Youth Ministries for Peace
and Justice
"When I heard that they were going to try to make
a park out of the Bronx River. I was like, are you kidding,
that's the death river. That's the river where you wade into
it wearing jeans and you come out and your jeans are orange.
When I saw them actually clean it up, that was really eye-opening
for me."
-David, Youth Ministries for Peace
and Justice
Highways/Expressway:
Many here trace the decline of the South Bronx in the 1960s
and 1970s to the construction of two expressways. The Cross-Bronx
expressway ran directly through a neighborhood's main drag.
The Sheridan expressway divides Hunts Point in two. The Sheridan
was never constructed in neighborhoods north of here because
of political pressures, but you can still see these pilings
where the highway was planned. Today, local community groups
are rallying to tear down the Sheridan and convert it into
a park.
"This neighborhood really changed
when I was growing up. It used to be primarily white people.
But a lot of things changed. When the expressway got put in
here and a lot of people moved out of here right when black
and Latino families started moving in and a lot of the services
declined. Things really changed."
-Eddie, YMPJ
Insurance Fires:
"At that time, there were people
who just owned the buildings and they didn't really live here
and they found out that they could make more money from insurance
by burning their buildings down than by collecting the rent
and so they did that. They burned down people's homes for
insurance money!" (Nicer Tats Cru)
"Have you ever heard that phrase
"The Bronx is Burning." It really was. There were
huge fires all over. Huge areas were just completely burned
down. Filled with rubble. That the Bronx has revived so much
is really an amazing testament to the work of community groups
and commitment to these neighborhoods."
-Jerry
Local Games:
"You really used to be able to play in the streets
around here. There weren't any cars really. And this whole
street used to be a park. When I was a kid we used to play
hot peas and butter. You know that game? I would hide a belt
somewhere in like a 10 block radius and everyone would look
for it. When someone found it they would just whale on everybody
else with it. Wow, that hurt. But it was a lot of fun"!
-Eddie, YMPJ
Bronx River Houses
"When I was growing up my parents used to tell me never
to go to Bronx River Houses. Even though I had some relatives
there. I remember I would sometimes cut through there on the
way to school and I would just run the whole way. That's how
scared I was! When I grew up I've gotten to know a lot of
the people there and I realize how twisted my parents conception
of the place was. That place is totally cool! Afrika Bambataa
used to live right there; they used to have some amazing concerts
there."
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