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South Bronx Rising: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of an American City
Jill Jonnes's recounting of the rise, fall, and resurrection of the Bronx has become a classic of urban history. In this new edition, she describes in a new final chapter the extraordinary and monumental rebuilding of the borough by the grass-roots groups that was just getting underway in
1984. The original book was hailed as a vivid history of the Bronx from its origins as colonial farmlands to the borough's 1980s status as one of the nation's foremost urban disasters. The book tells the colorful story of the Bronx, starting with its development as a New York suburb and boomtown
when hundreds of thousands of German, Irish, Italians, and above all, Jewish immigrants flowed into the borough to raise their families. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, assisted by his powerful lieutenant, Boss Ed Flynn, built vast Democratic majorities in the polyglot Bronx into political domination of
New York and the nation. After World War II, the Bronx underwent its second boom, beginning with emigrants from Puerto Rico and blacks displaced from Manhattan. On their heels came the camp followers of modern urban drug dealers, real estate pirates, arsonists. By the mid-1970s the Bronx
was burning. Block after block, once given over to working- and middle-class family life, was now utterly destroyed, abandoned, given up on. The teeming, populous Bronx had turned into an American urban desert. This borough, which in its heyday had produced such notable Americans as Clifford Odets,
Paddy Cheyefsky, Lauren Bacall, Herman Wouk, Jules Feiffer, Jake LaMotta, Stanley Kubrick, E.L. Doctorow, Neil Simon, and Tony Curtis, now lay in ashes, visible to us mainly as a dreadful object lesson. Yet change was in sight. Even while the worst destruction was taking place, new forces were
rising to set aside or remake the tired machinery of government, allying such institutions as the Catholic Church, insurance companies, and dedicated non-profits to rally the Bronx and turn the tide of urban thinking. In her new final chapter, Dr. Jonnes describes the triumph of the grass-roots
groups as they fulfilled their great dream of rebuilding these devastated neighborhoods.
1984. The original book was hailed as a vivid history of the Bronx from its origins as colonial farmlands to the borough's 1980s status as one of the nation's foremost urban disasters. The book tells the colorful story of the Bronx, starting with its development as a New York suburb and boomtown
when hundreds of thousands of German, Irish, Italians, and above all, Jewish immigrants flowed into the borough to raise their families. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, assisted by his powerful lieutenant, Boss Ed Flynn, built vast Democratic majorities in the polyglot Bronx into political domination of
New York and the nation. After World War II, the Bronx underwent its second boom, beginning with emigrants from Puerto Rico and blacks displaced from Manhattan. On their heels came the camp followers of modern urban drug dealers, real estate pirates, arsonists. By the mid-1970s the Bronx
was burning. Block after block, once given over to working- and middle-class family life, was now utterly destroyed, abandoned, given up on. The teeming, populous Bronx had turned into an American urban desert. This borough, which in its heyday had produced such notable Americans as Clifford Odets,
Paddy Cheyefsky, Lauren Bacall, Herman Wouk, Jules Feiffer, Jake LaMotta, Stanley Kubrick, E.L. Doctorow, Neil Simon, and Tony Curtis, now lay in ashes, visible to us mainly as a dreadful object lesson. Yet change was in sight. Even while the worst destruction was taking place, new forces were
rising to set aside or remake the tired machinery of government, allying such institutions as the Catholic Church, insurance companies, and dedicated non-profits to rally the Bronx and turn the tide of urban thinking. In her new final chapter, Dr. Jonnes describes the triumph of the grass-roots
groups as they fulfilled their great dream of rebuilding these devastated neighborhoods.
481 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 5, 2021
Gran cronica, escrita con información a nivel de calle, sobre qué hace, destruye, y rehace, a una comunidad. En este libro podemos ver los distintos tejidos sociales que se formaron o se rompieron gracias al contexto histórico y la composición demográfica de un lugar, y como estos hacen invivible o súper deseable una zona para vivir. Es un libro muy valioso para quienes queremos entender de tejido social, y política desde el barrio. La organización política del Bronx en la primera mitad del siglo XX tiene muchas cosas que enseñarnos, y la destrucción que sucedió después, una historia de cautela para observar la política pública de vivienda de forma crítica.
January 24, 2023
This was a fascinating history of The Bronx from colonial time up to the the 1980s including the eventual downfall and destruction of the South Bronx which was slowly being rebuilt as this book was written.
June 13, 2023
amazing story
Amazing urban decay and resurrection. Fascinating history and analysis
For those who lived in the Bronx a walk down memory lane
Amazing urban decay and resurrection. Fascinating history and analysis
For those who lived in the Bronx a walk down memory lane
July 14, 2014
For anyone interested in the Bronx or urban sociology, this book is a must. It is not technical, yet specific enough to give the layperson an idea of how a community can go from farmland to burning destruction in 70 years. The speed with which the Bronx grew and fell is breathtaking.
This book is out of print, but well worth grabbing a copy from a used book seller before it disappears (I would urge Fordham University Press to keep it in print or at least make an eBook of it).
How the Bronx grew as Manhattan grew and the elevated trains made the northern county accessible is one story. How it grew during the twenties and thirties and become choice real estate in the forties is another story. And then in the 1950s, many different factors caused the Bronx to slowly decline until the decline became a landslide (loss of factory jobs, increase of uneducated immigrants, cars, the Cross Bronx Expressway--there are many causes).
The update for this volume, originally published in 1986, is 2002 and since then, the Bronx has made greater strides. The people from Detroit who are interested in revitalizing their city would be wise to read this volume. However, the Bronx has the great advantage to be an outer borough of one of the greatest cities in the World from which it can gain and give much.
This book is out of print, but well worth grabbing a copy from a used book seller before it disappears (I would urge Fordham University Press to keep it in print or at least make an eBook of it).
How the Bronx grew as Manhattan grew and the elevated trains made the northern county accessible is one story. How it grew during the twenties and thirties and become choice real estate in the forties is another story. And then in the 1950s, many different factors caused the Bronx to slowly decline until the decline became a landslide (loss of factory jobs, increase of uneducated immigrants, cars, the Cross Bronx Expressway--there are many causes).
The update for this volume, originally published in 1986, is 2002 and since then, the Bronx has made greater strides. The people from Detroit who are interested in revitalizing their city would be wise to read this volume. However, the Bronx has the great advantage to be an outer borough of one of the greatest cities in the World from which it can gain and give much.
May 9, 2007
The bronx has a very interesting background. The book starts with the first immigrant group that came to the bronx and follow along with the subsequent transitions in demographics.
She provides a history of how the bronx started from a high point all the way down to it's horrible condition in the 80s and then slowly back up to where it is now and where it continues to improve.
She provides a history of how the bronx started from a high point all the way down to it's horrible condition in the 80s and then slowly back up to where it is now and where it continues to improve.
February 13, 2008
seriously amazing. just read about the 60's and 70's, unless you are jewish. or like to read about jews.
March 13, 2008
This was my techincal-historical intro to the Bronx. A little dry, but good if you're into history.
February 16, 2012
Nice to read about people I know who made it a better place
January 10, 2013
Charlotte Street! Cotona Boulevard!
April 19, 2017
The best book on the Bronx I've ever gotten my hands on. Would recommend to anyone looking to give some context to the Get Down or just wanting to learn about what NYC looked like in some of its roughest times
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews