Tales from the Bronx: Apache District graffiti
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It is one of those names that could be heard swallowing. The Bronx. For those who have grown up with movies like "Fort Apache" or watching Charles Bronson pursue criminals through the streets, this New York neighborhood was synonymous with danger. Now, marginal stories are told in graffiti from their buildings, in shoes hanging cable of light. And there is, in the center of the dark side coveted by Manhattan, the legendary Fort Apache Station.
"In New York there is a neighborhood where even the police are afraid". So Twentieth Century Fox promoted 1981 the movie "Fort Apache: The Bronx” (in Spain "Fort Apache"), starring the immortal Paul Newman, a film that revolved around the police station of the same name, located in the hottest area of the Bronx New York, al norte de Manhattan.
The first thing that attracts attention when it travels (Wheel, must be made clear) the most contentious of the Bronx, During the seventies, he earned be considered the most dangerous neighborhood of the Big Apple, are the murals that adorn some of its facades, true living history of the young lords of the district. Here they are known among Hispanics as "bargains" and, the style of the Sicilian Mafia, sharing its areas of influence defend tooth and nail.
When one dies (almost always a clash with police or rival gangs), his peers as a tribute graffiti paint and hang your favorite slippers electrical wiring. So it's not too difficult to find a pair of sneakers hanging in grotesque form of lying as we move through the street 138. But the Bronx is no longer the most dangerous district of New York, say that at least the crime statistics of the city, that at the moment in which it traveled to eight other districts placed ahead.
The first thing that attracts attention when you look down the most contentious area of the Bronx are the murals that adorn some of its facades, true living history of the young lords of the district.
It does, wanders through the Bronx containing, almost, respiration, film with prejudice lurking in every corner and nerves gripped. Costs take the camera to photograph the murals and more dismounting in search of a better perspective. We passed a prison of barred windows and walls of barbed wire coils. But, is not a prison, but a school, where in the door rather than a smiling receptionist is a metal detector.
The traitor brother
Close, at the intersection of Melrose with 151, we fall down with Manuel graffiti Contes, died in November 1994 to 57 years. On a flag of Puerto Rico can be read: “Peace in the community” (peace in the neighborhood). I guess it's some kind killed in a skirmish or a community leader who worked to shape a better Bronx, who knows. Another mural, this street 157, is much more explicit. “A brother can´t be a friend, but a friend can be a brother” (a brother may not be a friend, but a friend it can be a brother), reads the caption written under the image of a young Hispanic man killed in a shootout with police after being betrayed by his own brother.
The U.S. government is engaged in for years gaining ground on crime in the Bronx. The pressure of Manhattan real estate are tremendous, and New York can not afford to miss a neighborhood where there is ground to build office buildings and apartments. To encourage people to move to this district, homes are offered at half price and low interest loans and 30 year term. That all the Bronx to become a safe place is just a matter of time, as has been, eg, with Harlem (where the very Bill Clinton moved his office work after leaving the White House).
At the corner of Washington Avenue and the street 159 cast finally dismounted. Before us, a red brick building with a plaque. “36th Precinct Police Station”. At the gates, a white police car siren those that skid in the movies alleys chasing criminals. We are in Fort Apache, where was filmed the same name, now converted into tourist attraction. This is, certainly, the safest place in the Bronx.
The police issue
We visited the police station, where they have launched a campaign to try to reduce the number of firearms in the district. For every one that is delivered, Police given in exchange 100 dollars without asking the source. The problem is that half that money can be found on the black market a gun "hot" (sought by police), whereby the spiral does not stop. However, TSA agents each year in this way the delivery of more than 1.200 firearms.
Die 12-S. His obituary, its unfortunate history, probably lost in the commotion of a wounded city, but his teammates have not forgotten.
In the dungeons, a detainee is confused with the gloom. Leaning against the bars, not even pay attention to strangers, that are traveling this small theme park and law enforcement. The walls are filled with the faces of search and arrest criminals. In a preferred, other photos, those of the 25 the police officers who lost their lives in the 11-S. Next door is larger by a young police, after work without interruption over 30 hours on that fateful day, was killed on his way home and fell asleep at the wheel. Die 12-S. His obituary, its unfortunate history, probably lost in the commotion of a wounded city, but his teammates have not forgotten.
During filming, We explain, the police did not close. Most scenes were shot in the meeting room, and the other side of the door is still working normally.
Back in the minivan, we passed another school wrapped in bars, la Adams School. Very near Westchester, under the subway tracks passing through Simpson St., another mural tribute, one of the most famous, painting in memory of Amadou Diallo, died in a tirotero with police in 1999. A few streets up we bumped into two opposing graffiti. The first, to the greater glory of a missing drug. The second, pintado in memoria by Jonathan, a teenager who was killed by a stray bullet in a gun battle between police and a gang of criminals. The Bronx contrasts drawn on the walls.
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It is al Bronx Manhattan North. You can reach by subway (C lines, D, 4, 5 and 6). You can also choose to hire a tour. For Spanish speakers recommend Ar-col Travel (www.arcol.com) , an agency with South American guides with extensive knowledge of the city.
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-The Bronx struggle to shed the stigma of crime. It should be recalled that in the district there are seven universities, a fabulous botanical garden, the New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org) and one of the most renowned zoos in the world and the largest in the U.S., the Bronx Zoo (home 4.500 animals 500 species). More information www.bronxzoo.com.
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Comments (5)
Graffiti
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Graffiti has always been a way of expressing the irreverent street art. There are real works of art, with great message, painted on the streets of many cities. Congratulations on the article and give historical recognition, social and artistic form of expression.
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ricardo
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Thank you very much graffiti. Effectively, as you say art is not only hanging on the walls of museums.
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MereGlass
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Bronx Stories on bare brick, spray painted and written in blood. Thanks, Ricardo, for sharing with us an extraordinary testimony of hell in the streets
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bea
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How good! A very original look of the Bronx. I encourage readers VaP. see the story on the path of the mafia in Little Italy on this website. Highly recommended to visit NY. Greetings and congratulations for the work
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The Bronx: Apache District Graffiti
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[…] "CRITEO-300×250", 300, 250); 1 Wiggles The Bronx: Apache District Graffiti https://www.viajesalpasado.com/historias-del-bronx-los-graffitis-… by VaP. ago […]
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