Longwood- Home to one of New York’s Largest Puerto Rican Populations and Successful South Bronx Revitalizaiton Story

Early in this construction boom, Longwood was one of the most dense and developed Bronx neighborhoods. For much of the first half of the 20th century, the Bronx was mostly home to a diverse mix of middle-class Caucasians and Jews. The neighborhood began experiencing disinvestment thanks to the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway in the 1950s displacing thousands of residents, white flight to the suburbs and new developers like Co-op City in the northeast Bronx, and the growth of poverty and blight from the South Bronx moving northwards in the 1960s and 70s. By the late 1970s, much of the neighborhood was destroyed due to fire or neglect. But thanks to the tireless efforts of Community Development Corporations, most notably  Banana Kelly CIA, Inc. and SEBCO (South East Bronx Community Organization), vacant apartment buildings began to be renovated in the 1980s and new construction by the 1990s. Local, state, and federal government worked alongside the local CDCs to repopulate the neighborhood and Longwood now has limited vacancies. After the displacement of many African American families in the fires of the 1970s large waves of Dominicans and especially Puerto Ricans moved into the neighborhood making Longwood one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Longwood managed to preserved the several blocks of late 19th century brownstones along several residential streets south of Longwood Avenue.

From an urban perspective Longwood is a solid urban district with plenty of strengths but still some major areas for improvement. It has great walkability thanks to several fairly vibrant biz districts (i.e. Longwood Ave, Prospect, Southern Blvd, and Westchester), great subway access, solid bike infrastructure, and convenience to Manhattan. Longwood also has lots of pretty well rated schools, good park amenities, and lots of walkable retail amenities. But for Longwood to become a top tier urban district in NYC it needs more racial and economic diversity, which will bring more cultural amenities and additional shopping options. Crime rates are improved from the 1990s but still much higher than the rest of NYC, and market rate rentals are pretty limited. Given Longwood’s significant number of protected affordable rentals, I’d be comfortable seeing more market rate housing and some gentrification as the benefits seem to outweigh the downsides.

Click here to view my Longwood album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Generally good sidewalk infrastructure but ADA curb cuts are hit or miss on less than half of all intersections.
• Great density at 70K residents per square mile.
• Great access to Manhattan being only 35 mins to Midtown and 45 min to Lower Manhattan by subway. Also only 45 mins to Long Island City in Queens as well.
• Longwood’s connectivity is good but a bit chaotic for most New York City neighborhoods as the streets are often angled with an irregular grid.
• A highly walkable neighborhood with 3 subway lines cutting through it, good bike lane infrastructure and tons of dedicated bike stations. Plenty of walkable biz districts as well along Prospect, Westchester/West Farms, Southern Blvd.
• Lots of families with children. But not the best age diversity.
• Good historic architecture in spots esp. the commercial districts of Prospect and the southern edge of Southern Blvd and the brownstones in the small Longwood Historic District. Otherwise architecture is a mix of working class rowhouses, plain 1920s apartment buildings and lots of in-fill from the late 80s to the present date with generally good urban form. Also lots of 1980s townhouses with parking out-front.
• Solid park amenities with a nice mix of playgrounds, basketball courts, and medium sized well dispersed throughout Longwood. No spectacular parks here like St. Mary’s Park Crotona Park.
• Lots of walkable school options but mixed ratings. Elementary and middle schools are generally rated average but public high schools are rated poorly unless its a charter high school. Only a handful of Catholic private schools.
• Longwood has a ton of rental inventory but most of it is not market rate (15:1 lease below 2K). Few studios and 1-beds that are market rate. Some 2-beds that lease btwn 2K-2K. 3 beds lease btwn 3-4Ks.
• Solid retail amenities including several full sized groceries & drug stores, some home good and furniture stores, plenty of clothing & boutiques stores esp. along Southern Blvd., a couple hardware stores, a couple gift stores, a several bakeries & gyms, a local post office & public library, tons of discount stores, several churches & doctors offices (but not hospitals), plenty of salons & barber shops”

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* A mostly Hispanic neighborhood with a sizable Black population.
* Some economic diversity but nearly 1/3 of the population is in poverty and large numbers or lower-moderate middle class.
* Crime rates have significantly dropped since the 90s but still remain higher than Bronx and the City of New York overall. Longwood has a similar amount of blight to Mott Haven but vacancy is pretty limited.
* Fair amount of autocentric/industrial spots especially along parts of Southern Ave & Westchester (both host elevated subways), and  the southern half of Southern Blvd.
* Generally sidewalks are plenty wide but just gritty and warn down with few recent streetscaping projects.
* Not a ton of for sale product. A handful of 1-bed conds that sell around 175K. More 2-beds that sell btwn 175K-400K. Some 3-bed townhouses (musty from the 60s that sell btwn 500K-600K. Some 3 bed condos that sell around 150K. More 5 beds that sell btwn 500K-800K.
* Cultural amenities are limited to several restaurants and a couple bars and cafes. Not much else.