That’s what everyone asks when I tell them I moved to the south Bronx last year. The answer is yes, by and large it is. At Bruckner and Lincoln in the 40th precinct, we’re good and I like it here a lot.
But go a mile and a half north and things change. The Longwood section is notorious for social problems, their 41st Precinct is immortalized in the 1981 Fort Apache movie starring Paul Newman.
So I rode my bike up to take a look. 165th Street and Bryant Avenue is right in the heart of it. Colin Powell grew up just south of here on Kelly Street. The city has responded to this sea of daily crime with a half dozen public housing buildings (on the map in pink) truly worthy of the neighborhood.
They are fortresses.
Cops and sodium lights are everywhere.
This impressive housing is also along 165th street.
The entry doors suggest a kind of security usually reserved for prisons.
Every entry and exit is on camera and fed right to the 41st. There are more cameras here than in Hollywood.
Where two hinges will suffice and three starts getting serious, no fewer than five, beefy, stainless-steel hinges hang every solid door.
Don’t forget your keys. If you don’t know someone inside you’re gonna need ‘em.
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