Norwood, Bronx
Norwood is a neighborhood in the Bronx in New York City, one of the few in the city whose extent can be precisely defined. It is bounded on its north by Van Cortlandt Park and Woodlawn Cemetery, on its east and south by Bronx Park—including the New York Botanical Garden, and on its west by Mosholu Parkway. Norwood's main commercial arteries are Gun Hill Road, Jerome Avenue, Webster Avenue, and Bainbridge Avenue. The neighborhood is frequently called Bainbridge, after the avenue, most consistently within its Irish American community, but "Norwood" has been gaining in popularity due to its use on New York City Transit maps, city publications, and local media.
Nearby neighborhoods include Bedford Park, Williamsbridge, Olinville, Woodlawn, Allerton, and Bronxdale.
Demography
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As of the census2 of 2000, the seven census tracts that make up the neighborhood have a population of 40,748. The racial makeup of the neighborhood is 32.66% White, 22.27% African American, 0.90% Native American, 9.01% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 28.23% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races. 6.83% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The median income for a household in the neighborhood is $28,724, and the median income for a family is $29,679. Males have a median income of $24,876 versus $20,814 for females. The per capita income for the neighborhood is $13,550.
35.15% of the population, (14,324 individuals), are foreign born. Another 8.55% were born in Puerto Rico, and are thus considered native born. Of the foreign born, 32.46% were born in the Caribbean, 13.95% in South America, 11.64% in South Central Asia, 11.44% in Central America, 11.35 in Eastern Europe, 5.35% in Southeast Asia, 3.60% in East Asia, 3.00% in West Africa, 0.84% in Southern Europe, 0.72% in Western Asia, and 0.71% in Western Europe. The countries which are represented by at least 2.5% (358 individuals) of the neighborhood's foreign born population are the Dominican Republic (21.17%), Mexico (7.81%), Jamaica (6.49%), Ecuador (5.65%), Bangladesh (5.42%), Guyana (4.64%), the Philippines (4.52%), Yugoslavia (4.07%), Ireland (3.00%), and Pakistan (2.81%).
Based on sample data from the same census, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 37.44% of the population 5 and over speak only English at home. 46.15% speak Spanish at home, either exclusively or along with to English. Other languages spoken at home by more than 0.5% of the population of Norwood include Tagalog (1.89%), Urdu (0.93%), Korean (0.79%), French (0.68%), Serbo-Croatian (0.69%), Chinese (0.60%) and Gujarati (0.58%). In addition, 2.69% speak "Other Indic languages" (mainly Bengali), 2.47% speak "Other Indo-European languages" (mainly Albanian), 0.85% speak "African languages", and 0.56% speak "Other Slavic languages" (mainly Bulgarian).
History
The neighborhood was laid out in 1889 by Josiah Briggs between the already extant Mosholu Parkway and Woodlawn Cemetery. It went through a series of names in the early 20th century, including North Bedford Park after the neighborhood to the south, Brendan Hill after St. Brendan the Navigator, and Norwood Heights.
Transportation
The neighborhood is served by the 205th Street subway station on the D (IND Concourse Line), the Mosholu Parkway and Woodlawn stations on the 4 elevated (IRT Woodlawn/Jerome Line), and the Williams Bridge station of the Metro North Railroad.
Landmarks
- Montefiore Hospital, now the university hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was founded in 1884 as a Home for Chronic Invalids, housing mainly tuberculosis patients. It has long been a leader in the field of medicine, establishing the United States' first hospital departments of social medicine and home health care. Its newly established pediatric hospital, the Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) made international headlines when a series of surgeries succeessfully separated the conjoined twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre of the Philippines.
- Valentine-Varian House/Museum of Bronx History
- Reservoir Oval, now a park, formerly a facility distributing water to the North Bronx
Sources
John McNamara. A History in Asphalt. Bronx, NY. The Bronx County Historical Society, 1984. ISBN 0941980162.
External links
- Norwood News -- http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/
- Museum of Bronx History -- http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/
- Montefiore Medical Center -- http://www.montefiore.org/