Crotona Park East, also known as Crotona or East Morrisania, is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the southwest Bronx in New York City. Crotona Park East is considered part of the South Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, the Bronx River to the east, East 167th Street to the south, and Crotona/Prospect Avenues to the west. Southern Boulevard is the primary thoroughfare through the area. The neighborhood is adjacent to, but distinct from, the nearby park named Crotona Park.
The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 3, and its ZIP Codes include 10459 and 10460. The area is patrolled by the NYPD's 42nd Precinct. 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 1670, the land of the neighborhood was the estate of the Morris family in Westchester County.
In the 1970s, Crotona Park East and many other low income sections of the New York City were being ravaged by arson. By 1980, the South Bronx had become a national symbol of urban decay; Charlotte Street, a street in the neighborhood's heart, had decayed the worst. The area was filled with many burned-out tenement buildings, empty lots, and arsons happening nearly every day, as more than 66% of residents left the area. On October 5, 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter visited Charlotte Street, declaring the South Bronx to be the worst neighborhood in the United States. A year later, the city still had not renovated Charlotte Street. The urban decay of Charlotte Street was used as one of the symbolic locations for the 1981 film Wolfen.
Community groups such as Banana Kelly CIA Inc., the Mid-Bronx Desperadoes, and SEBCO (South East Bronx Community Organization) were helping to maintain existing buildings which were structurally intact after fires. They played a pivotal role in the construction of subsidized multi-family homes and apartment buildings in most of Crotona Park East. The subsidized homes built along Charlotte Street during the late 1980s in Crotona Park East, which originally cost $50,000 were the first and still are the only ranch style homes in the South Bronx today; these homes are now worth over $500,000. This type of housing was selected due to its desirable traits. Today they are home to many African American and Puerto Rican families. The funding for these homes was provided in part by former Assemblyman Louis Niñé, in whose honor Wilkins Avenue was renamed "Louis Niñé Boulevard", following his death in 1983.
Demographics
Crotona Park East is a low-income neighborhood that predominantly consists of Latin Americans and African Americans. The vast majority of households, 93.5% of all housing, are renter-occupied. Almost half of the population lives below the federal poverty line.
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Crotona Park East was 20,277, a change of 2,205 (10.9%) from the 18,072 counted in 2000. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 0.9% (179) White, 32% (6,493) African American, 0.3% (65) Native American, 0.6% (123) Asian, 0% (3) Pacific Islander, 0.2% (39) from other races, and 0.7% (138) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 65.3% (13,237) of the population.
The entirety of Community District 3, which comprises Crotona Park East and Morrisania, had 91,601 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 76.2 years. This is lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 29% are between the ages of between 0–17, 29% between 25–44, and 21% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 12% and 9% respectively.
As of 2017, the median household income in Community Districts 3 and 6, including Tremont and Belmont, was $25,972. In 2018, an estimated 31% of Crotona Park East and Morrisania residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City. One in six residents (16%) were unemployed, compared to 13% in the Bronx and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 60% in Crotona Park East and Morrisania, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 58% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Crotona Park East and Morrisania are gentrifying.