matchless

NYTimes

Burning objects associated with squalor or sin is a practice known as “The Bonfire of the Vanities.”

Tom Wolf’s 1987 bestseller used Mott Haven--literally on fire in those days--as a backdrop to depict the insatiable greed on Wall Street.

NYTimes

Fires were everywhere in the south Bronx. 

Crime was out of control.

affordablehousing.org

Today Mott Haven is just another gentrified neighborhood when compared to the 1980’s and 90’s. 

Total crime in Mott Haven has dropped 72 percent from 1993 to 2010 in the 40th Precinct.

Later this week we’ll compare crime stats in 69 of New York City’s neighborhoods.

Hint: 

We are statistically safer here than in Brooklyn Heights.