Page 42 - Bronx Chamber of Commerce - 2019 Business Directory & Resource Guide

THE MODERN BRONX – IN PERSPECTIVE
RECREATION
Though the Bronx is the nation’s third-most densely populated county (after New York and Kings), nearly one-quarter of its total land area (7,000 acres) is dedicated to open space. Pelham Bay Park is the City’s largest park. Among its resources are golf cours- es, tennis courts and horseback riding and Orchard Beach, the only public beach in the Bronx.
Van Cortlandt Park is home to the nation’s first public golf course and the Van Cortlandt House, which is the borough’s oldest house. The Bronx is also home to Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden and cultural cen- ter, with views of the Hudson River and the Palisades.
The Bronx contains 75 miles of waterfront along the Bronx River, the East River, the Harlem River, the Hud- son River and the Long Island Sound. Over the past few
years, both the Bronx and Harlem rivers have under- gone major improvements, including new bike paths, beautification initiatives, oyster restoration projects and enhanced public access to parks and waterfronts.
Reopened in 2015, the High Bridge — the city’s oldest bridge and a national landmark — spans the Harlem River, allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to travel from University Avenue and 170th Street in the Bronx to Amsterdam Avenue and 173rd Street in Manhattan. The new South Bronx Greenway facilitates access to the waterfront, provides new recreational opportuni- ties, improves transportation safety and enhances the network of bike and pedestrian paths on the South Bronx peninsula. As part of this initiative, Hunts Point Landing, a 1.5-acre waterfront open-space, was opened in 2012 at the southern end of the peninsula.
Public Programs at NYC Parks, serving over one mil- lion New Yorkers each year, comprises four units: Education and Wildlife Recreation, Computer Re- source Centers and Aquatics.
Recreation: The mission of Recreation is to enable all New Yorkers to lead physically active and intellectually stimulating lives through sports, fitness, outdoor adven- ture, technology, education and the arts. Since 1910, the Department of Parks & Recreation has provided the most affordable and extensive network of recreational services throughout New York City. The Bronx has six recreation centers and one visitor center. Membership is free for youth seventeen and under.
HIGHER EDUCATION
The Bronx is home to an array of
higher-education institutions. Fordham
University, founded as St. John the
Baptist College in 1841, is the oldest,
with total enrollment of more than
15,000 students at its 10 schools.
Manhattan College and the College
of Mount St. Vincent are just a few
years younger, founded in 1848 and 1847, respectively. Monroe College offers degrees in business and tech- nology, and Boricua College offers programs to meet the demand for bilingual teachers and other profes- sionals. Other institutions, such as Mercy College and Metropolitan College of New York, also have campus- es in the Bronx. The City University of New York has two community colleges (Bronx Community College
and Hostos Community College) in the Bronx, and one senior college (Lehman College). In 2012, Lehman opened a new $70 million science and research facility. The State University of New York operates the Maritime College, which is located on the Throggs Neck peninsula and
grants degrees in naval architecture, engineering, marine transportation, and environmental science.
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is a research-intensive, private medical school, with more than 1,000 medical students and more than 2,000 full-time faculty. In 2012, it received nearly $160 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health.
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2019 BRONX BUSINESS DIRECTORY & RESOURCE GUIDE | THE NEW BRONX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
© Jim Henderson