Mott Haven, Bronx


Mott Haven is a primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner Expressway to the east, the Bronx Kill waterway to the south, and the Harlem River to the west. East 138th Street is the primary east–west thoroughfare through Mott Haven.
The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 1, and is located within ZIP Codes 10451, 10454, and 10455. Mott Haven is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 40th Precinct.
The local subway line is the IRT Pelham Line, operating along East 138th Street. The local buses are the. Mott Haven is served by the Triborough Bridge, the Third Avenue Bridge, the Madison Avenue Bridge, the 145th Street Bridge, and the Willis Avenue Bridge. The closest Metro-North Railroad stops are Harlem – 125th Street and Yankees – East 153rd Street.

History

Settlement by Jonas Bronck

The Bronx was named after the Swedish sea captain Jonas Bronck. In 1639, the Dutch West India Company purchased the land of today's Mott Haven from the Wecquaesgeek. Bronck built his farm on this land and named it "Emmanus". The house was located close to what is today the corner of Willis Avenue and 132nd Street. The peace treaty between Dutch authorities and the Wecquaesgeek chiefs Ranaqua and Tackamuckwas was signed in Bronck's house. This event is portrayed in a painting by the American artist John Ward Dunsmore.
Even though Bronck only lived in the area for four years, the land became known as "Broncksland" and the river that bordered his land kept the name Bronck's River. The first time the spelling "Bronx land was used, was in 1697 in the First Legislature outlined the County of West Chester.

Development

The area that is now called Mott Haven was sold to the Morris family in 1670. A small part of the larger swath of land known as Morrisania, it was purchased by Jordan Lawrence Mott for his iron works in 1849. A vestige of the iron works can be seen just west of the Third Avenue Bridge on East 134th Street at St. Ann's Church on St. Ann's Avenue is the resting place of Lewis Morris, Gouverneur Morris and other members of that powerful colonial family, and a Registered Historic Place.
As the city below grew, the area quickly developed residentially. At the same time, an upper-middle class residential area, marked by brownstones built in an elaborate and architecturally daring fashion, started to grow along Alexander Avenue by the 1890s. A series of brownstones on E. 134th St, east of Willis Ave., was known as Judges' Row. Soon after, the Bronx grew more quickly, especially with public transit into the area, including the Third Avenue Elevated Line. By the early 20th century, the population density of the area supported the construction of many tenement-style apartment buildings.
From the end of the 19th century through the 1940s, Mott Haven was a mixed German-American and Irish-American neighborhood, with an Italian enclave west of Lincoln Ave. The first Puerto Rican settlements came in the late 1940s along the length of Brook Avenue. African-Americans came into the area when Patterson Houses were built.
One of the largest parades in New York City took place here in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was organized by the veterans of the Irish Republican Army, who marched every Easter Sunday, down Willis Avenue from the Hub to E. 138th Street, then west to St. Jerome's. The Star of Munster Ballroom at the northeast corner of Willis Avenue and E. 138th Street was a center of Irish music for decades. It was speculated at one time that there were more bars on Willis Avenue than on any other city street, given its short length. More recorded Irish musicians lived in Mott Haven than in any place outside Ireland.

"South Bronx" and late 20th century

Mott Haven and Port Morris were the first neighborhoods to give rise to the term "South Bronx". Together, they were earlier known as the North Side or North New York. This area was part of New York County after the incorporation of Greater New York in 1898. The Chase Manhattan Bank at Third Avenue and E. 137th Street was originally the North Side Board of Trade Building. It later became the North Side Savings Bank, which became Dollar Dry Dock, which became Chase.
In the 1940s when the Bronx was usually divided into the East Bronx and West Bronx, a group of social workers identified a pocket of poverty on East 134th Street, east of Brown Place, and called it the South Bronx. This area of poverty would spread in part due to an illegal practice known as blockbusting and to Robert Moses building several housing projects in the neighborhood. The poverty greatly expanded northward, following the post-war phenomenon colloquially referred to as white flight, reaching a peak in the 1960s when the socioeconomic North Bronx-South Bronx boundary reached Fordham Road. At this time a wave of arson destroyed or damaged many of the residential, commercial, and industrial structures in the area.
Today the North Bronx-South Bronx distinction remains more common than the traditional East Bronx-West Bronx distinction, and some still regard Fordham Road as the boundary. Though crime has declined versus the highs of the crack epidemic and revitalization of former abandoned properties is taking place, the neighborhood continues to deal with serious crime issues, which some speculate is due to persistent poverty among the population.

Development and gentrification

There have been significant strides to increase gentrification of the neighborhood, and the most changes are seen on Bruckner Boulevard, Alexander Avenue, and Lincoln Avenue. E. 138th Street has seen minor changes with apartment buildings under new renovations, and the arrival of new businesses. Mott Haven is home to a community-supported agriculture program hosted at Brook Park.
Recent development plans include two affordable rental buildings and a Hampton Inn by Monadnock Development and Signature Urban Properties, and the so-called Piano District.

Demographics

Mott Haven is a high-density and mainly low-income neighborhood. Like most neighborhoods in New York City, the vast majority of households are renter-occupied. The neighborhood is largely Puerto Rican, with smaller numbers of African Americans, Mexicans and Dominicans present.
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Mott Haven and Port Morris was 52,413, a change of 3,383 from the 49,030 counted in 2000. Covering an area of, the neighborhood had a population density of.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 1.7% White, 24.7% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 72.3% of the population.
The entirety of Community District 1, which comprises Mott Haven and Melrose, had 98,403 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 77.6 years. This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 28% are between the ages of between 0–17, 28% between 25–44, and 21% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 12% and 10% respectively.
As of 2017, the median household income in Community Districts 1 and 2, including Longwood, was $20,966. In 2018, an estimated 29% of Mott Haven and Melrose residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City. One in eight residents were unemployed, compared to 13% in the Bronx and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 58% in Mott Haven and Melrose, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 58% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Mott Haven and Melrose are considered to be low-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

Land use and terrain

Mott Haven is dominated by tenement-style apartment buildings and large public housing complexes. There are three historical districts consisting of brownstone-style rowhouses. In the last two decades, construction of modern 2- and 3-unit rowhouses and apartment buildings has increased the percentage of owner-occupiers. The neighborhood contains one of the highest concentrations of NYCHA projects in the Bronx. The total land area is roughly one square mile. The terrain is low-lying and flat except around St. Mary's Park where it is somewhat hilly.

Historical districts and landmarks

Three Historic Districts are located in Mott Haven: Mott Haven, Mott Haven East and the Bertine Block.
St. Ann's Episcopal Church is located on the west side of St. Ann's Avenue between East 139th and East 141st Streets. It is the Bronx's oldest church, having been built in 1841 and dedicated to Gouverneur Morris's mother Ann. Notable figures buried there include Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Gouverneur Morris; and former mayor of New York, R. H. Morris.

Public housing projects

The seventeen NYCHA developments in Mott Haven illustrate the various types of public housing initiatives in vogue in New York City over the decades.
  1. Dr. Ramon E. Betances I; thirteen buildings, 3, 4, 11 and 19 stories tall
  2. Dr. Ramon E. Betances II, 13; one 6-story building
  3. Dr. Ramon E. Betances II, 18; two buildings, 4 and 6 stories tall
  4. Dr. Ramon E. Betances II, 9A; one 4-story building.
  5. Dr. Ramon E. Betances III, 13; two rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall.
  6. Dr. Ramon E. Betances III, 18; one rehabilitated and three abandoned tenement buildings 5 stories tall
  7. Dr. Ramon E. Betances III, 9A; two rehabilitated tenement buildings 6 stories tall
  8. Dr. Ramon E. Betances IV; eight buildings, 3, 4 and 5 stories tall with 282 apartments
  9. Dr. Ramon E. Betances V; six rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 and 6 stories tall
  10. Dr. Ramon E. Betances VI; three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 and 6 stories tall
  11. Millbrook Houses; nine 16-story buildings
  12. Millbrook Extension; one 16-story building
  13. Mitchel Houses; ten buildings, 17, 19, and 20 stories tall
  14. Moore Houses; two 20-story buildings
  15. Mott Haven Houses; eight buildings, 20 and 22 stories tall
  16. Patterson Houses; fifteen buildings 6 and 13 stories tall
  17. Southern Boulevard M.H.O.P. ; one 7-story rehabilitated tenement building

    Media

The Mott Haven Herald is a news outlet that reports in Mott Haven, Melrose and Port Morris. It is produced by students at the City University Graduate School of Journalism and edited by Joe Hirsch.

Police and crime

Mott Haven and Melrose are patrolled by the 40th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 257 Alexander Avenue. The 40th Precinct ranked 59th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. With a non-fatal assault rate of 186 per 100,000 people, Mott Haven and Melrose's rate of violent crimes per capita is greater than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 1,214 per 100,000 people is higher than that of the city as a whole.
The 40th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 67.6% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 8 murders, 37 rapes, 462 robberies, 484 felony assaults, 251 burglaries, 774 grand larcenies, and 92 grand larcenies auto in 2018.

Fire safety

Mott Haven contains three New York City Fire Department fire stations:
In addition, FDNY EMS Station 14 is located at Lincoln Hospital at 234 East 149th Street.

Health

and teenage births are more common in Mott Haven and Melrose than in other places citywide. In Mott Haven and Melrose, there were 95 preterm births per 1,000 live births, and 35.1 teenage births per 1,000 live births. Mott Haven and Melrose has a relatively high population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 14%, slightly higher than the citywide rate of 12%.
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Mott Haven and Melrose is, more than the city average. Fifteen percent of Mott Haven and Melrose residents are smokers, which is higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Mott Haven and Melrose, 42% of residents are obese, 20% are diabetic, and 38% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 24% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.
Eighty-two percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is less than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 72% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," lower than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Mott Haven and Melrose, there are 25 bodegas.
The nearest hospital is NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.

Post offices and ZIP Codes

Mott Haven is covered by multiple ZIP Codes. The section west of Third Avenue is part of 10451, while the sections east of Third Avenue are part of 10455 and 10458. The United States Postal Service operates three post offices in Mott Haven:
Mott Haven and Melrose generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city. While 16% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 41% have less than a high school education and 43% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 26% of Bronx residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Mott Haven and Melrose students excelling in math rose from 18% in 2000 to 37% in 2011, though reading achievement decreased slightly from 25% to 24% during the same time period.
Mott Haven and Melrose's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is more than the rest of New York City. In Mott Haven and Melrose, 32% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, higher than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 62% of high school students in Mott Haven and Melrose graduate on time, lower than the citywide average of 75%.

Schools

Public:
Parochial:
The New York Public Library operates the Mott Haven branch at 321 East 140th Street. The branch, a Carnegie library, opened in 1905 and is a New York City designated landmark.

Transportation

The following New York City Subway stations serve Mott Haven:
The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve Mott Haven:
The 145th Street Bridge and Madison Avenue Bridge eastward and the Willis Avenue Bridge northward from Manhattan lead to Mott Haven and are maintained by NYCDOT. The Triborough Bridge, which also ends in Mott Haven, is maintained by the MTA Bridges and Tunnels, and is tolled.

Notable residents

People who were born, raised, or live in Mott Haven.