We're still here: The rise, fall, and resurrection of the South Bronx [Hardcover]

Jill Jonnes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After Moynihan's perceptive foreword, freelance journalist Jonnes launches into a history of New York City's northernmost borough, starting with the arrival there in 1639 of Jonas Bronck and his wife. She details the expansion of the Bronx in the first half of the 20th century, as it lured many, especially Jews, from the ghettos of Manhattan and as its political leader, Ed Flynn, became instrumental in putting Franklin Roosevelt in the White House. Jonnes then focuses on the South Bronx of the 1950s, the beginning of the borough's declinein which, she asserts, city planner Robert Moses, white middle-class fears of blacks and Puerto Ricans, venal landlords and bumbling bureaucrats all played a roleuntil the South Bronx's Charlotte Street became a symbol of urban decay. Finally, the author shows how the area is being resurrected, largely through the efforts of the Catholic Church. An impressive and readable study. Photos. February 10
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The South Bronx epitomizes the Amer ican urban slum. How and why it be came that way is the subject of this book by a freelance journalist. Starting in the late 1950s, the white middle and working class began to leave. They were replaced by poorer blacks and Hispanics. In little more than a decade whole neighborhoods were destroyed. As Jonnes says, "In a frenzy of arson, greed, and destruction, many willingly reaped the gains . . . as a citizenry annihilated its own city for profit." The author spares no one: landlords, city government, tenants, financial institu tions, and the welfare bureaucracy. The final chapters deal with grassroots efforts to halt the destruction and re store the area. Though too loosely orga nized and lacking maps, this journalis tic examination of one of America's most famous eyesores is recommended for most public libraries. Kevin M. Rosswurm, Mt. Vernon P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 422 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1st edition (1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871130203
• ISBN-13: 978-0871130204
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,665,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important Lessons., December 30, 2000

By 

Christopher B. Jonnes (Stillwater, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We're Still Here: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of the South Bronx (Hardcover)

Jill Jonnes' debut book will be of interest to all residents of New York City, past or present. It also contains important lessons on failed welfare policies and insurance practices.

She delivers sweeping historical background on the creation and ethnic make-up of the Bronx, overloaded with names and statistics, showing her abilities as a researcher. The Bronx was once a well-kept borough, but over the decades the ethnic mix changed and with it, the average income level. The Bronx began a long decline, unchecked by politicians. By the mid 70s, fueled by rampant crime, drug abuse, and a welfare policy that paid out $2,000 to $3,000 in emergency funds to victims of fire, the city was set ablaze. In a ten-year period, a staggering 80% of structures in the South Bronx were damaged or destroyed by fire--predominantly by arson. This left a city landscape reminiscent of nuclear holocaust.

But as the title, We're Still Here, hints, the city still lives, and a motivated group of concerned residents and politicians fight to resurrect their home. It's worth trying to locate a copy of this out-of-print book for the fascinating and complex history of this storied borough. -Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.