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Morrisania
Neighborhood of the Bronx
Location in New York City
Coordinates: 40°49′37″N 73°54′36″W / 40.827°N 73.91°W / 40.827; -73.91Coordinates: 40°49′37″N 73°54′36″W / 40.827°N 73.91°W / 40.827; -73.91
Country	United States
State	New York
City	New York City
Borough	Bronx
Community District	Bronx 3[1]
Area [2]
• Total	0.60 km2 (0.232 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
• Total	16,863
• Density	28,000/km2 (73,000/sq mi)
Economics
• Median income	$28,855
ZIP codes	10456, 10459
Area code	718, 347, 929, and 917
Website	www.morrisania.nyc

Early view of Morrisania from Harlem

Morrisania (/mɒrɪˈseɪniə/ morr-i-SAY-nee-ə) is the historical name for the South Bronx in New York City, New York. The name derives from the Manor of Morrisania, the vast 2,000 acre estate of the powerful and aristocratic Morris family, who at one time owned most of the Bronx as well as much of New Jersey. The family includes Lewis Morris, 4th Lord of the Manor, and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and Gouverneur Morris, penman of the United States Constitution. Both are buried in the crypt at St. Ann's Church of Morrisania.

Today the name is most commonly associated with the village of Morrisania, which is only a small corner of the original Morrisania. It is mostly a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the southwestern Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 3. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue to the west. Third Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Morrisania. ZIP codes include 10456 and 10459. The area is patrolled by the NYPD's 42nd Precinct^[3] located at 830 Washington Avenue. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled by P.S.A. 7 at 737 Melrose Avenue in the Melrose section of the Bronx.

History

From 1644 to the early 20th century, the land of the neighborhood was the estate of the Morris family in Westchester County. In 1790, Lewis Morris, owner of the estate and signer of the Declaration of Independence, proposed the land as the site of the federal capital.

Old Morrisania

Morrisania Town Hall

The area was sparsely populated until 1840, when Gouverneur Morris Jr., son of the famous congressional delegate and nephew of Lewis, allowed a railroad to be built across the property. In 1848, he sold the land next to the line for the development of a new town called Morrisania Village. In 1855, additional settlements along the rail line became the town of Morrisania, with its political center in the original 1840 village (which eventually incorporated in 1864^[4]).^[5] At first the village was an early forerunner of today's bedroom communities, populated by people who worked in Manhattan, but it quickly developed its own local industries and craftsmen as it developed into a full-fledged town. In 1874, the area was annexed to New York City (then consisting only of Manhattan) as part of the Twenty-Third Ward. In 1887, the Third Avenue Elevated was extended to the area to provide easy and quick access to and from Manhattan. By the time the New York City Subway was extended to the area in 1904, a large influx of European immigrants had given the neighborhood an urban character, with tenements replacing houses as the dominant form of dwelling.^[6][7]

In the 1950s along with changing demographics, Robert Moses destroyed various tenements in favor of a colony of public housing. After the construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway, the poverty that East Tremont suffered spread into Morrisania. As a result, and also due to the aggressive 1968 Program for Action, the Third Avenue El closed in 1973. During this time period a wave of arson destroyed or damaged many of the residential, commercial, and industrial structures in the area.^[8]

Many social problems associated with poverty, from crime to drug addiction, have plagued the area for some time. Despite crime declines versus their peaks during the crack and heroin epidemics, violent crime continues to be a serious problem in the community.^[9] Morrisania has significantly higher drop-out rates and incidents of violence in its schools.^[10] Other problems in local schools include low test scores and high truancy rates. Drug addiction is also a serious problem in the community. Due to the lucrative drug trade in the area, many addicts reside in the community. Peer pressure among children who come from broken homes contributes to the high rate of usage. Many households in the area are headed by a single mother, which contributes to the high poverty rate.^[11] Single parent homes often have a harder time providing at the same level as two-parent homes. Many of the families living in Morrisania have been in poverty for generations. The incarceration rate in the area is also very high.^[12] Morrisania is home to a significant number of inmates currently held in New York state prison and jail facilities.

After a wave of arson ravaged the low income communities of New York City throughout the 1970s, most of the residential structures in Morrisania were left seriously damaged or destroyed. The city began to rehabilitate many formally abandoned tenement style apartment buildings and designate them low income housing beginning in the late 1970s. Also many subsidized attached multi-unit townhouses and newly constructed apartment buildings have been or are being built on vacant lots across the neighborhood.

Demographics

Today's Morrisania is a low-income neighborhood with a population of around 16,863. The neighborhood predominantly consists of Latin Americans and African Americans.

Land use and terrain

Morris High School Historic District

Morrisania is dominated by public housing complexes of various types, vacant lots, and tenement buildings. Most of the original housing stock which consisted of older multi-unit homes and tenements were structurally damaged by arson and eventually razed by the city. The total land area is over a square mile. The terrain is somewhat hilly.

Morris High School Historic District

The landmarked Morris High School Historic District is north of the Forest Houses. The two square blocks between Boston Road, Forest Avenue, and East 166th Street have Morris High School and adjacent brownstones.^[13][14]

Low income public housing projects

Webster Houses

Morrisania Air Rights

Twenty NYCHA developments are located in Morrisania:^[15]

• 1162-1176 Washington Avenue; one rehabilitated 6-story tenement building


• Butler Houses; six 21-story buildings


• Claremont Parkway-Franklin Avenue Area; three buildings, 3 and 7 stories tall


• Davidson Houses; one 8-story building


• Eagle Avenue-East 163rd Street; one 6-story building


• Forest Houses; fifteen buildings, 9, 10 and 14 stories tall


• Franklin Avenue I (Conventional); three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall


• Franklin Avenue I M.H.O.P. (Multi Family Homeownership Program); two rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall


• Franklin Avenue II (Conventional); three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall


• Franklin Avenue III (Conventional); one 5-story rehabilitated tenement building


• Franklin Avenue III M.H.O.P. (Multi Family Homeownership Program); three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall


• Jennings Street M.H.O.P. (Multi Family Homeownership Program); three rehabilitated tenement buildings, 5 stories tall


• McKinley Houses; five 16-story buildings


• Morris I; ten buildings, 16 and 20 stories tall


• Morris II; seven buildings, 16 and 20 stories tall


• 
  Morrisania Air Rights; two 16-story buildings


• PSS Grandparent; one 6-story building


• Union Avenue-East 163rd Street; one nine-story building


• Union Avenue-East 166th Street; six 3-story buildings


• Webster Houses; five 21-story buildings

Education

Public schools include:

Transportation

There are no New York City Subway stations in Morrisania, though several bus routes connect with subway stations. The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve Morrisania:^[18]

• 
  Bx6 and Bx6 SBS: to Hunts Point or Riverside Drive (via 161st and 163rd Streets)


• 
  Bx11: to Simpson Street (2 and ​5 trains) or George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal (via 170th Street)


• 
  Bx15: to Fordham Plaza or Third Avenue–149th Street (2 and ​5 trains) (via Third Avenue)


• 
  Bx21: to Westchester Square–East Tremont Avenue (6 and <6>​ trains) or Third Avenue–138th Street (6 and <6>​ trains) (via Boston Road–Morris Park Avenue)


• 
  Bx35: to Simpson Street (2 and ​5 trains) or George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal (via 167th Street)


• 
  Bx41 and Bx41 SBS: to Gun Hill Road (2 and ​5 trains) or Third Avenue–149th Street (2 and ​5 trains) (via Webster Avenue)

Notable people

• 
  Edward Stanley Kellogg, 16th Governor of American Samoa, was born in Morrisania.


• Rapper Fat Joe is from Forest Houses.


• Rapper Cuban Link was raised on Prospect Avenue in Morrisania.


• Lewis Morris signed the Declaration of Independence.^[19]


• Gouverneur Morris penned the Constitution.


• 
  Doo-wop group The Wrens were raised in Morrisania and attended Morris High School where they formed the group.


• 
  Frederick Trump grandfather of 45th president of the United States Donald Trump lived at 1006 Westchester Avenue in the then German-speaking Morrisania with his wife Elizabeth and their family.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morrisania, Bronx.

• Morrisania in Forgotten NY