Soundview is a low-income residential neighborhood geographically located in the south central section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 9. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: The Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, Lacombe Avenue to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. The Bruckner Expressway bisects the neighborhood along the center and the Bronx River Parkway runs north to south. Soundview Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Soundview. The local subway is the 6 line, operating along Westchester Avenue. Zip codes include 10472 and 10473. The area is patrolled by the 43rd Precinct located at 900 Fteley Avenue. New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) property in the area is patrolled by P.S.A. 8 at 2794 Randall Avenue in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx.
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Demographics
Soundview has a population over 75,000. Almost half the population lives below the poverty line and receives public assistance (AFDC, Home Relief, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid). The neighborhood has a high concentration of African Americans and Hispanics. The vast majority of households are renter occupied.[1]
Land use and terrain
Soundview is dominated by public housing complexes of various types. There are also tenements concentrated near the IRT Pelham Line El on Westchester Avenue and multi-unit semi-detached rowhouses surrounding public housing developments similar to those found in Brownsville and East New York. The neighborhood contains one of the highest concentrations of NYCHA projects in the Bronx. The total land area is roughly two square miles. The terrain is low laying and flat.
Low-income public housing projects
- There are eight NYCHA developments located in Soundview.[2]
- 1471 Watson Avenue; one 6-story building.
- Boynton Avenue Rehab; three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 3 and 6-stories tall.
- Bronxdale Houses; twenty-eight, 7-story buildings.
- Bronx River Houses; nine, 14-story buildings.
- Bronx River Addition; two buildings, 6 and 14-stories tall.
- Clason Point Gardens; forty-six buildings, 2-stories tall.
- Monroe Houses; twelve buildings, 8, 14, and 15-stories tall.
- Sack Wern Houses; seven buildings, 6-stories tall.
- Soundview Houses; thirteen, 9-story buildings.
History
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Until the 1940s, the neighborhood was relatively undeveloped. Most of the residential housing had been built near the El on Westchester Avenue and along major streets like Soundview Avenue. In 1941, Clason Point Gardens was the first development constructed by the NYCHA in the Bronx. It is located at the corner of Metcalf and Story Avenues along Soundview Park. Formerly military barracks converted into low income housing, this development is made up of forty-six 2-story multi-unit rowhouses. This development was originally plagued by very high crime, vacancy rates and decay. The NYCHA at one point planned to tear the development down and replace it with high-rises like later built surrounding developments. The NYCHA later redesigned the grounds, which reduced the crime rate somewhat. Included in the improvement plans were new and improved lighting, redesigned pathways and social spaces, and personalization of some of the grounds.[3]
In the 1950s and 1960s, expressways and many more low income public housing projects were constructed in the area. The Bronx River Houses were built in 1951 on Harrod Avenue and East 174th Street, with nine high-rise towers on a single super block.
The next development to be built, in 1954, was the Soundview Houses immediately to the south of the Clason Point Gardens at the corner of Randall and Rosedale Avenues. This development spans two super blocks with 13 seven-story apartment buildings. Due to the development's isolation and demographics, the complex quickly fell into decay, and crime skyrocketed.
After the Soundview Houses were completed, the NYCHA constructed the Bronxdale Houses one block north of the Clason Point Gardens along Bruckner Blvd between Soundview and Thieriot Avenues. This development spans three super blocks for a total of 28 seven-story buildings.
The James Monroe Houses were built to the immediate south of the Bronxdale Houses in 1961, located at Rosedale and Story Avenues, with two superblocks totaling 12 high-rise buildings. Although the blocks selected for these developments were relatively undeveloped, older homes had still been either moved or destroyed for construction.
In 1966 two additional high-rise buildings were added to the Bronx River Houses under the management name Bronx River Addition.
In 1970 1471 Watson Avenue was built to provide housing to the area's quickly growing low income demographic.
In 1970 the Sack Wern Houses were built in two separate yet close locations in the area on vacant lots. Two buildings were built on Taylor and Lafayette Avenues just south of the James Monroe Houses. Another five buildings were built on Noble and Lafayette Avenues, immediately adjacent to both the Clason Point Gardens and Soundview Houses.
The most recent NYCHA development in the area has been the Boynton Avenue Rehabs located at Boynton and Watson Avenues. These 3 formerly abandoned buildings were renovated in 1985 to provide low income housing to the area.
In the 1970s many Mitchell-Lama subsidized public housing towers were built in the area, including Stevenson Commons, Evergreen Gardens, Boynton and Morrison Lafayette, Carroll Gardens, Leland Houses, and many others.
Like neighboring Hunts Point, Soundview began to fall into decay due to white flight and a growing generational low income population. This flight started as early as the construction of the Clason Point Gardens in the 1940s. However, the real flight began to take a hold of the neighborhood after the Bronx River Houses were completed. After a few stable years, many more generationally poor families relocated into the development, and it began to decay very quickly. As a result, the surrounding neighborhood began to see white flight around all the public housing developments in the area. Abandonment was a problem as the flight picked up pace but much of the White population was being quickly replaced by Puerto Ricans and African Americans, so abandonment was less extensive than in neighborhoods further west including Morrisania.
In the 1960s youth gangs began to spring up across the community. The Black Spades are originally from the Bronxdale Houses. Eventually they became the dominant street gang in the area, controlling every housing project in the neighborhood as one of the most feared gangs in NYC.
In the 1970s heroin took a hold of the neighborhood. Thanks to the local consumer base and expressways, the drug trade thrived. The same occurred when crack hit the streets in the mid 1980s. Through much of the crack epidemic, Soundview had ranked in the top 10 for total homicides citywide. Crack houses sprouted up across the area, in both abandoned and occupied homes and apartments. In some cases entire buildings were part of the operation involving crack and other illicit drugs. One such building was "The Hole" located on Watson Avenue, a 6 story abandoned building with a hole on the side of the ground floor exterior-facing wall. Drug dealers would use the wall to protect them from drive by shootings. The NYPD attacked this building numerous times throughout the crack epidemic. Each time they managed to finally clear the building, a new drug crew would set up shop soon after. This was just one of the many major crack locations in the neighborhood and one of thousands across the city. During this time the Weed and Seed program was put into place by the federal government to improve the situation in Soundview, nearby Mott Haven, and East New York, Brooklyn.
The Soundview Houses have been troublesome since their inception. Many blame this on the fact it is the southernmost development in the community, surrounded by many other public housing projects. Therefore, it is highly isolated. From here the Sex Money Murder Bloods (S.M.M.) street gang quickly spread across the neighborhood and became the dominant force in the area, controlling every housing project much like the Black Spades before them. When founder Pistol Pete (Peter Rollack) was arrested and charged with multiple counts of homicide the gang affiliated themselves with United Bloods Nation street gang. This gang was notorious for extortion, racketeering, drug trafficking, and numerous violent crimes. In 1999-2000 the Sex, Money, Murder gang faced a major blow when the NYPD along with the F.B.I. raided the development and arrested key members for various crimes. Still, in 2002 Soundview was named the murder capital of NYC. Recently the area was highlighted as the car theft capital of NYC.
Because of the poverty and low income demographic, crime is still a problem in the Soundview community as it is in many other sections of the Bronx. Crime has declined relative to its peaks during the crack and heroin epidemics, but it is still a major concern in the community. Other problems such as poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, gangs, teen pregnancy, and many other social issues have seen little to no changes in Soundview and many other low income Bronx neighborhoods. In 2003 the 43rd precinct, which covers Soundview, was designated additional officers for Operation Impact. Watson Avenue, particularly between Bronx River Avenue and the Bronxdale Houses, is one of the most violent open air drug markets in the United States. Surrounded by 4 highways, Watson Avenue and its cross streets are a mega-point for drugs, particularly heroin, for the New York City suburbs, smaller city dealers, and city based addicts.
Education
Public:
- Bronxdale Houses Nursery and Kindergarten
- I.S. 131
- P.S. 47 John Randolf School
- P.S. 69
- P.S. 93
- P.S. 100 Isaac Clason School
- P.S. 107
- J.H.S 123
- P.S. 152
- P.S. 195/196/197
- James Monroe High School: Schools within the former James Monroe High School complex are The Monroe Academy for Business and Law (H.S. 690), The Monroe Academy for Visual Arts and Design (H.S. 692), The High School of World Cultures (H.S. 550), and Bronx Coalition Community School (H.S. 680). The building also houses an elementary school, The Bronx Little School.
- Soundview Educational Campus (Second chance H.S.) Schools within the Soundview Educational Campus are High School X560 - Bronx Academy High School.
Parochial:
- Blessed Sacrament School
- Holy Cross School
Subsections
Bronx River
The Bronx River section is often included in Soundview. It has a population over 20,000. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: The Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, Westchester Avenue to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Bronx River includes the Bronx River Houses, Morrison Avenue, and Harrod Avenue.
Soundview-Bruckner
Soundview-Bruckner is often included in Soundview. It has a population under 30,000. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Westchester Avenue to the north, White Plains Road to the east, the Bruckner Expressway to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Soundview-Bruckner includes the Bronxdale Houses.
Transportation
The IRT 6 elevated train traverses, xouthwest to notheast, through the neighborhood, along Westchester Avenue.
Several bus routes serve the neighborhood.
- Bx4: to Westchester Square (6) or Third Avenue-149th Street (2 5) (via Westchester Avenue)
- Bx5: to Pelham Bay Park or Simpson Street (2 5) (via Story Avenue)
- Bx27: to Simpson Street (2 5) or Clason Point (via Rosedale Avenue)
- Bx36: to Pugsley–Randall Avenues or George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal (via 180th Street)
Facts
- In 1999, the unarmed Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by 4 plainclothes officers on Wheeler and Westchester Avenues.
- Watson-Gleason Playground (Rosedale and Watson Avenues) was also home to some of the first breakdancing and DJing competitions.
- Soundview is sometimes considered part of the socioeconomic South Bronx.
Notable residents
- KRS-One was raised in the Soundview Houses
- The Jazzy Five MC's are the first rappers from the Soundview Houses.
- Rapper Lord Tariq from the rap duo Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz hails from the Soundview Houses.
- Former Def Jam recording artists The Cru are from the Lafayette Island Houses.
- Treston Irby from R&B quintet Hi-Five is from Stevenson Commons.
- Ruff Ryders recording artist Drag-On and legendary hip hop DJ Disco King Mario are from the Bronxdale Houses
- Afrika Bambaataa is from Bronx River Houses, which is considered the foundation of hip hop's legendary Zulu Nation. He was also a founding member of the Black Spades, which began in the Bronxdale Houses.
- D-Tension hip hop artist and producer raised in The Stevenson Commons housing project.
- Terror Squad members Tony Sunshine and the late Big Pun are also from Soundview.
- Sex Money Murder street gang founder Peter Rollock, or Pistol Pete.
- Ahmed Best, voice of Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars movies.
- Sonia Sotomayor, nominated May 26, 2009 for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, grew up in the Bronxdale Houses.
References
 Tenements. |
 Semi-detached multi-unit rowhouses. |
 H.S. built inside once abandoned warehouse. |
 Mural dedicated to homicide victim. |
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Coordinates: 40°48′59″N 73°52′04″W / 40.8163889°N 73.8677778°W
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