Allerton, The Bronx (History)

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(Neighborhoods In The Bronx)

Allerton is a working class neighborhood geographically located in the east Bronx borough of New York City in the United States. It consist of both the Bronxdale and Laconia neighborhoods. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 11. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East Gun Hill Road to the north, IRT Dyre Avenue Line to the east, Pelham Parkway south, and Bronx River Parkway to the west. White Plains Road is the primary thoroughfare through Allerton. The local subway is the 2 line; operating along White Plains Road. Zip codes include 10467. The area is patrolled by the 49th Precinct located at 2121 Eastchester Avenue in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.

Allerton Avenue was ethnically divided in the 1950s through the 1980s by a distinct separation of Jewish and Italian residents. Primarily a commercial avenue west of Laconia Avenue, the geographic boundary between the Jewish and Italians was Bronxwood Avenue and Boston Post Road. Bordering to the largely Jewish Pelham Parkway to the southern extreme of Williamsbridge, the area east of Boston Post Road was predominantly post-war immigrant Italian and to the west an older Jewish community. Mixed in were residents representing earlier 19th and 20th century migrations from Manhattan largely of Irish and English-Irish extraction. The arrival of West Indians in the 1980s marked the transition north of Allerton Avenue from a distincly Italian area to one West Indian. West of Bronxwood Avenue, the arrival of Dominicans concurrently marked the end of the Jewish community north of Allerton Avenue (Laconia). Today, the area south of Allerton Avenue and east of Bronxwood Avenue has a large population of Italian-Americans and Albanian-Americans, as well as Asians, Hispanics, West-Indians, and other groups.

Allerton has a population of almost 50,000. Bronxdale has a population over 20,000 and Laconia has a population under 25,000. The neighborhood is now predominantly Hispanic south of Allerton Avenue (Bronxdale) and Black north of Allerton Avenue (Laconia). A smaller longstanding Italian and immigrant Albanian population exist east of White Plains Road primarily in Bronxdale near Esplanade Avenue. The majority of residents rent. Under 20% of the population lives below the poverty line in Bronxdale while over 20% of the population lives below the poverty line in Laconia.

Due to White flight some of the homes in the area have been left vacant. Many homes today are being rehabilitated and offered as rentals to the growing low income population found in the area.


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