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Request A Call HereHunts Point is a neighborhood situated on a peninsula in the South Bronx of New York City. Hunts Point boundaries are the Bruckner Expressway which is to the west and north, the Bronx River to the east, and to the South is the East River. Continue reading to learn more about Hunt Points, brought to you by our Bronx personal injury attorneys.
Hunts Point is thought to be a 'red-light district' due to the crime rate and prostitution in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is also a low-income area with a large population of Puerto Ricans.
A smaller population of African Americans, Dominicans, and Mexicans also lives here. The neighborhood has experienced such high rates of crime and poverty for many years, that nearly half of the population lives below the federal poverty line.
Because of the area's lucrative drug trade, there are a lot of drug addicts living in this neighborhood. The area is also well-known for its prostitution industry, and HBO has produced documentaries about the rampant prostitution there.
Regardless of the crime and prostitution in this area, there are some notable cultural landmarks that make up the neighborhood. Below are the three cultural landmarks that are found here.
Established in 1909, the American Banknote Building, now called The Banknote, is well-known as the "Penny Factory" by the locals as an ode to its beginnings as the home of The American Banknote Building. The Banknote Building also housed a minting company that printed foreign currency.
The Banknote is now a four-building, 405,500 square-foot complex that is home to various government, civic and private tenants, including non-profit organizations. The Banknote Building is well known in the area as a point of reference for multitudes of motorists as the biggest building on either side of the Bruckner Expressway.
The Barretto Street Garden has been part of the Hunts Point community for nearly 25 years now. It was founded by Henry Font, who was a resident of the neighborhood and was passionate about nature and had a desire to provide his community with harvest fresh vegetables.
The garden has over the years developed into a gathering place for community residents where people can have barbecues and birthday parties. Barretto Street Garden is seen as an asset to the Hunts Point neighborhood.
The Point Community Development Corporation is a 501 (c) (3) located at 940 Garrison Avenue in the Bronx. The Point CDC is dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the neighborhood.
The community works with its neighbors to celebrate their lives and the art found in the area. There are three main programs that are headed by The Point CDC which are Youth Development, Arts and Culture and Community Development, all in an effort to revive Hunts Point.
Aside from the cultural institutions found in the neighborhood, there are other parks found here that take away from the red-light district reputation of the area.
Hunts Point Riverside Park is a park that used to be an illegal dumping ground that has been transformed into a waterfront oasis. It comes complete with a pier for fishing, and a kayak and canoe launch.
The Joseph Rodman Drake Park is located in the area of the Bronx that once was a Weckquaesgeek Indian settlement. The land originally belonged to the Hunt family, which the neighborhood is named after, and Joseph Drake was a family friend who would come and visit them. Drake died at the age of twenty-five due to tuberculosis in the 19th century and was laid to rest in the Hunt family burial ground.
The burial ground at Drake Park has over 40 markers of people buried there. Now the park is open to the public and is welcoming to all who live in the neighborhood.
The area is patrolled by the 41st Precinct police and the main hospital in the area is Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center. Contact details for both are found below.
1650 Grand Concourse,
Bronx, NY 10457
1276 Fulton Ave., Bronx,
NY 10456
(718) 590-1800
NYPD 41st Precinct
1035 Longwood Avenue., Bronx,
NY, 10459-5204
(718) 542-4771
Also see: Profile Of Morris Heights, Bronx From Our NYC Injury Lawyers
