NYC Cultural Affairs releases Morrisania Cultural Study
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The NYC Department of
Cultural Affairs recently released
a report that detailed
a ‘cultural snapshot’ of Morrisania,
highlighting the south
Bronx nabe’s artistic and historical
value.
This cultural inventory
study was conducted partly by
speaking with 529 merchants
and residents of Morrisania
spanning as far north as Crotona
Park South and south to
East 161st Street , stretching
east to west between Prospect
to Park avenues.
It begins by recapping a
brief historical synopsis of
the area, detailing Morrisania’s
original occupants, the
Lenape people, followed by
the early Dutch settlers along
with Jonas Bronck’s settlement
in the 1600s, and then recounting
the impact the large
infl ux of Irish and German
immigrants had working as
shopkeepers and brewers in
the mid 1800s.
Morrisania’s demographics
have since shifted greatly
as CDA currently referred to
the neighborhood’s population
of 88,005 as one of the most diverse
in all of New York City.
During the height of Jazz
music movement in the 1940s
and 50s, Morrisania became
both an icon and hub for the
African American infl uenced
swing-style music.
Clubs like the Blue Morroco
then paved way for the spread
of musical genres like Latin
jazz, mambo and salsa, which
captivated both the Bronx and
city in following decades.
It was after Latin peaked
that rap and DJ legends Grandmaster
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 38 UGUST 2-8, 2019 BTR
Flash and Grand Wizzard
Theodore left their own
marks on their Morrisania
neighborhood during the 1980s
with some help from the fi rst
all female ‘MC Group,’ Mercedes
Young Ladies as well.
One underground club
venue, The Black Door where
Flash and fellow Bronx hip
hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc
would spin and mix was listed
as one of Morrisania’s Cultural
assets in addition to the
P.S. 63 Park.
Also listed as cultural assets
for the area were the
Clay Avenue Historic District,
which encompasses 32 residential
buildings between East
165th and East 166th Streets,
in addition to the McKinley
Square Theatre, which served
as a Yiddish theatre and later
a Latin club prior to its demolition
in 2002.
The study also highlighted
The Morrisania Band Project
as one of the neighborhood’s
richest cultural assets.
Currently, the group performs
around the borough and
city, putting a modern touch
on some south Bronx classics.
Renaissance Youth Center
was acknowledged for its musical
mission to “to empower
at-risk inner city youth to
fully maximize their potential
as productive and responsible
members of society, by offering
dynamic, teambuilding
education, music, and sports
programs, while instilling the
importance of building strong
communities,” while the
Bronx Music Heritage Center
was credited for its work in
“rich musical history and its
residents, the BMHC works to
restore pride of place, reverse
stereotypes, empower citizens,
and improve neighborhoods
through arts access.”
While other visual art institutions
and community organizations
were recognized
in the study as well, there’s no
doubt that Morrisania’s cultural
snapshot is most defi -
nitely a musical one.
An African musical performance at the Bronx Music Herritage Center. Cultural Affairs/ E.B. Gallardo