“New York, New York, a helluva town.
The Bronx is up, but the Battery’s down…”

Well, for a good part of Ian Frazier’s massive project, PARADISE BRONX: The Life and Times of New York’s Greatest Borough, the opposite seems to be the case. It’s the Bronx that’s down, thanks to economic issues, drug abuse, corruption and racism.

At one point, I’m sure the Bronx was a paradise. Kids played games in front of their apartments and in the street, always wary of approaching cars. Their parents gathered outside to sit and chat. People looked out for each other. The various neighborhoods were homes to jazz musicians, writers, scholars, etc. (not to mention members of the New York Yankees). It’s a familiar story, though. As some groups moved in, seeking to escape poverty or persecution, others saw them as a threat and retreated further and further into the suburbs.

"Frazier has a playful sense in his writing, describing his long walks through the borough, looking for folks to share stories about family and friends."

Urban planning also had a hand in forcing some out and some in. Frazier describes the labyrinth of roads winding through the Bronx, cutting up communities, often at the expense of Black and brown residents. The 1960s and ’70s saw shocking amounts of violence, fires and buildings falling into disrepair as landlords looked to dump their shambling properties with the apocryphal warning coming from Howard Cosell during a televised Yankees game: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning!”

That’s not to say that a return to former glories might not be in the offing. There are still good people who seek to improve their community and the lives of their neighbors. Unfortunately, their work is often overshadowed by incidents that provide more lurid headlines. As the newspaper saying goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” As someone who grew up in Brooklyn --- whose denizens might disagree with Frazier’s use of the word “greatest” (respectfully or not) --- I wonder what lies ahead. My old haunts were ethnic enclaves inhabited by the lower-middle class. Now, many of them have been gentrified to such an extent that they are out of the price range of many who are looking for a place to hang the proverbial hat.

Frazier has a playful sense in his writing, describing his long walks through the borough, looking for folks to share stories about family and friends. However, despite his worthy efforts, I fear that this type of book has a limited audience, like videos of kids at dance recitals. People who have a connection with the Bronx might be interested, looking for familiar names, places and events. But to do so, they will have to get through scores of pages of excellently researched history of the Bronx during the American Revolution and beyond that occupy a good portion of the text.

In the final scene of Gangs of New York, we see the grave of one of the major characters. Time passes, and the scene gradually changes. The site with its wooden marker is overcome by weeds as the Manhattan skyline evolves into skyscrapers.

That’s a sad part of PARADISE BRONX: people and events who were essential to the growth of the borough are lost in the same way. Where major events took place, there might be a historical marker in the parking lot of a White Castle.