Post by Lewis H. Goldstein
Many of us recall the words said by Ogden Nash many years ago” The Bronx, No Thonx”. He evolved. In 1964 he ate his words and said “Now I’m an older, wiser man I cry, ‘The Bronx, God bless them!’ ” Our great borough has made the greatest of greatest strides over the past years. We have improved in every area which is important: financial, employment, culture, leadership. As a native Bronxite I have ALWAYS been proud of my borough. I am now even prouder. Much of this is due to our Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. The renaissance in the Bronx is due to his working with the leaders at City Hall, the leaders in Albany and our Congressional delegation in Washington. Every community has seen improvement. Yes, some have a long way to go. They are getting there.
As a BRONXITE FOREVER I resent those who portray our great borough in a negative and blatantly false matter. Senator Ted Cruz’s comment about Manhattan being concerned about its security from us, the residents of the Bronx, is insulting and based on ignorance and hate. Not uncommon with the far right.
Economically we are thriving. Those who are able to work can find jobs. The unemployed, based on August, 2014 statistics, has dropped to 9.8% from 12.1% in 2013. The number of Bronx residents employed has increased by 12.9%, a significant increase. Borough Ruben Diaz Jr. has stated “When I first became borough president, I made it clear that job creation would be a top priority of my administration. Over the past five years my office, in partnership with the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, city and state officials, our business community, no-profits and everyday Bronxites, we have worked hard to create thousands of new jobs in The Bronx. What we are doing is working,” He is so right. Thank you.
Housing starts have increased significantly. We can see that in the monthly statistics from Washington. As we drive around the borough we see more affordable housing being built, private homes being built and an increase in the number of people who are looking to move to The Bronx from other boroughs and other counties and states. As we move on we will see more and better housing for all income levels. It is hoped that the lowest income households will become less income segregated in a manner being supported by Mayor de Blasio and Borough President Diaz. We see the opening of new malls to serve our Bronx residents and to lure business from elsewhere.
Culturally we have seen many initiatives including Bronx Fashion Week. This gives us
“Swag, Style, Respect and Culture.” The Bronx has unheralded designers and models. The “Yes, the Bronx Film Festival and the Bronx International Film Festival (coming in November) are additional initiatives showing the Bronx as a cultural hub. Let us archive: “The Bonfire of the Vanities” forever. To sum up “THE BRONX, THONX”
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