Throggs Neck

Throggs Neck
Neighborhood of the Bronx
Throgs Neck Bridge
Throgs Neck Bridge
Map
Location in New York City
Coordinates: 40°49′23″N 73°49′12″W / 40.823°N 73.82°W / 40.823; -73.82
Country United States
State New York
CityNew York City
BoroughThe Bronx
Community DistrictBronx 10[1]
Area
[2]
 • Total
4.93 km2 (1.903 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total
21,009
 • Density4,300/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Economics
 • Median income$69,003
ZIP Codes
10465
Area code718, 347, 929, and 917

Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek on the west, and Baisley Avenue and the Bruckner Expressway on the north.

The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community District 10, and its ZIP Code is 10465.[1] Throggs Neck is patrolled by the 45th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.[3]

Geography

Throggs Neck is a narrow spit of land in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It demarcates the passage between the East River (an estuary) and Long Island Sound. "Throggs Neck" is also the name of the neighborhood of the peninsula, bounded on the north by Baisley Avenue and the Bruckner Expressway, on the west by Westchester Creek, and on the other sides by the River and the Sound.[1]

The neighborhood is at the northern approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge, which connects the Bronx with the neighborhood of Bay Terrace in the borough of Queens on Long Island. The Throgs Neck Lighthouse formerly stood at its southern tip. The northern approach to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge is also within the Throggs Neck area. The large Ferry Point Park is divided by the Bronx/Whitestone Bridge into a 110 acres (45 ha) west side made of soccer and cricket fields, NY Ferry stop‚ and a 420-acre (170 ha) east side featuring a promenade, golf course and waterfront restaurant.

Name

Originating from the surname "Throckmorton", the spelling of the area has been historically variable, with a mix of spellings with one "G" or two, with the traditional spelling being with two Gs.[4][5] There is an urban legend that during development of the bridge that would bear the neighborhood's name, NYC Parks Commissioner and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Chairman Robert Moses officially shortened it to one G after deciding that two would not fit on many of the street signs, though many long-time residents continue to use the traditional spelling.[6][7]

History

The geographic feature Throggs Neck, shown in red, in the Bronx

The peninsula was called Vriedelandt, "Land of Peace", by the New Netherlanders. The current name comes from John Throckmorton, English immigrant and associate of Roger Williams in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Dutch allowed Throckmorton to settle in this peripheral area of New Amsterdam in 1642, with thirty-five others.[8][9] At this time, the peninsula was also known as Maxson's point as the Maxson family (Richard, Rebecca, John, etc.) lived there. Many of the settlers, including Anne Hutchinson and her family, were murdered in a 1643 uprising of Native Americans. Throckmorton returned to Rhode Island.[8] In 1668, the peninsula appeared on maps as "Frockes Neck". The peninsula was virtually an island at high tide.

In 1776, George Washington's headquarters wrote of a potential British landing at "Frogs Neck".[10] At the bridge over Westchester Creek, now represented by an unobtrusive steel and concrete span at East Tremont Avenue near Westchester Avenue, General Howe did make an unsuccessful effort to cut off Washington's troops in October 1776; when the British approached, the Americans ripped up the plank bridge and opened a heavy fire that forced Howe to withdraw and change his plans; six days later he landed troops at Rodman's Neck to the north, on the far side of Eastchester Bay.[11] A farm in the area owned by the Stephenson family was sold in 1795 to Abijah Hammond, who built a large mansion (later the offices of the Silver Beach Garden Corporation).

In the 19th century, the area remained the site of large farms, converted into estates. In about 1848, members of the Morris family purchased a large parcel of land there. They built two mansions and many cottages and service buildings. The Morris estates had a private dock in Morris Cove, at the end of what is now Emerson Avenue, where they had nearly a mile of shoreline.[12] After the Civil War, Collis P. Huntington, the railroad builder, owned an extensive parcel,[13] which his heirs held until they were almost the last estate on Throggs Neck. Huntington's property was previously owned by Frederick C. Havemeyer Jr., a sugar magnate,[14] and the Havemeyer-Huntington mansion is now home to Preston High School, New York.

Throgs Neck Park, a 0.44-acre (0.18 ha) public park[15] that faces Throggs Neck from the opposite shore at the end of Myers Street, was acquired as a public place in 1836.[16] From 1833 to 1856, the construction of Fort Schuyler brought in laborers and craftsmen, many of whom were immigrants from Ireland, to settle in the area with their families. By the late 19th century, the area had developed into a fashionable but more public summer resort, which also contained large German beer gardens,[17] to which the residents of Yorkville arrived by steamboat service up the East River. The 19th-century steamboat landing at Ferris Dock on Westchester Creek stood at present-day Brush Avenue north of Wenner Place; the road to it bore the name of the steamboat Osseo.[18] The Ferris family were 18th-century residents, whose Ferris Point at the south-east corner of the Throggs Neck neighborhood now supports the Hutchinson River Parkway (formerly Ferris Lane)[19] overhead ramp to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and Ferry Point Park.

In the decades after the 1898 incorporation of the Bronx into the City of Greater New York, transit lines were extended to the neighborhood, bringing in many Italian farmers and tradesmen. In the 1920s the large estates largely became converted into smaller row homes and densely built bungalow lots.[12] The Peters and Sorgenfrel families formed Silver Beach Garden (named for the color of the beach at low tide), a summer colony of bungalows that were later adapted for year-round use; most of the streets were named for flowers and trees found on the Hammond estate. Residents owned their houses but rented the land when they joined to buy it. Nearby to the north, a campsite for church youth transformed into a bungalow colony later named Edgewater Park.

In 1932, Fort Schuyler closed as an active military installation and became the campus for cadets of the State University of New York Maritime College. A 1929–39 pair of plans to expand the subway system with a Second Avenue Subway branch to Throggs Neck did not come to pass. By 1961, with the construction of the Throggs Neck Bridge, as well as the adjacent parkways, the neighborhood lost its comparative isolation. However, Throggs Neck was largely exempt from the severe urban decay that affected much of the Bronx in the 1970s.[20]

The last two of several large and handsome 18th-century Ferris houses in the neighborhood lasted until the 1960s, when the James Ferris house overlooking Eastchester Bay was hastily demolished in 1962 and the Watson Ferris house was demolished in 1964 by its occupants, the Tremont Terrace Moravian Church. The James Ferris house had been commandeered by Admiral Richard Howe as his headquarters in October 1776, when James Ferris was sent to the prison hulks in New York harbor, where he died in 1780.[21]

Demographics

Map of the income distribution in Throggs Neck[22]

The neighborhood has several beach clubs and a diverse housing stock, including middle-class homes, up-market waterfront condominiums, as well as the Throggs Neck Houses, built in 1953 as one of the first low-income public housing projects in New York City and later expanded twice. In 1984, the New York Times described Throggs Neck as one of the last middle- and upper-middle-class areas in the Bronx, noting the area "seems like a well-kept suburb".[20] Even in the mid-1980s, after the city failed to pave neighborhood streets properly, waterfront condominiums were selling for as much as $416,468 in 2005 dollars.[20] As of the 2000 Census, the median household income for census tracts within the neighborhood ranged from $18,000 to $85,000 in the less affluent tracts and well over $100,000 for the waterfront tracts near the Throgs Neck Bridge.[22]

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Schuylerville, Throgs Neck, and Edgewater Park was 44,167, a change of 455 (1%) from the 43,712 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 2,068.82 acres (837.22 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 21.3 inhabitants per acre (13,600/sq mi; 5,300/km2).[23] The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 46.1% (20,348) White, 7.9% (3,479) African American, 0.2% (93) Native American, 3.2% (1,430) Asian, 0% (15) Pacific Islander, 0.5% (238) from other races, and 1% (450) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 41% (18,114) of the population.[24]

The entirety of Community District 10, which comprises City Island, Co-op City, Country Club, Pelham Bay, Schuylerville, Throgs Neck and Westchester Square, had 121,868 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.1 years.[25]: 2, 20  This is about the same as the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[26]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [27] Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 20% are between the ages of between 0–17, 26% between 25 and 44, and 27% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 18% respectively.[25]: 2 

As of 2017, the median household income in Community District 10 was $59,522.[28] In 2018, an estimated 14% of Community District 10 residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City. One in eleven residents (9%) were unemployed, compared to 13% in the Bronx and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 45% in Community District 10, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 58% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Community District 10 is considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.[25]: 7 

Police and crime

Aerial view of Throggs Neck

Community District 10 is patrolled by the 45th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 2877 Barkley Avenue in Throggs Neck.[3] The 45th Precinct ranked 28th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010.[29] As of 2018, with a non-fatal assault rate of 53 per 100,000 people, Community District 10's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 243 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.[25]: 8 

The 45th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 67% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported five murders, 13 rapes, 235 robberies, 265 felony assaults, 108 burglaries, 609 grand larcenies, and 323 grand larcenies auto in 2022.[30]

Fire safety

Throggs Neck is served by two fire stations of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).[31] Engine Co. 89/Ladder Co. 50 is located at 2924 Bruckner Boulevard,[32] while Engine Co. 72/Satellite 2 is located at 3929 East Tremont Avenue.[33]

Health

As of 2018, preterm births are more common in Community District 10 than in other places citywide, though births to teenage mothers are less common. In Community District 10, there were 110 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 10.3 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[25]: 11  Community District 10 has a low population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 7%, lower than the citywide rate of 14%, though this was based on a small sample size.[25]: 14 

The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Community District 10 is 0.0075 milligrams per cubic metre (7.5×10−9 oz/cu ft), the same as the city average.[25]: 9  Fourteen percent of Community District 10 residents are smokers, which is the same as the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[25]: 13  In Community District 10, 24% of residents are obese, 13% are diabetic, and 37% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.[25]: 16  In addition, 25% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[25]: 12 

Eighty-seven percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is the same as the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 77% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", about the same as the city's average of 78%.[25]: 13  For every supermarket in Community District 10, there are 7 bodegas.[25]: 10 

The nearest large hospitals are Calvary Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center's Jack D. Weiler Hospital, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in Morris Park. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine campus is also located in Morris Park.[34]

Post office and ZIP Code

Throgs Neck is located within ZIP Code 10465.[35] The United States Postal Service's Throggs Neck Station is located at 3630 East Tremont Avenue.[36]

Education

Looking northwest at Monsignor Scanlan High School, 2008

Community District 10 generally has a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018. While 34% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 16% have less than a high school education and 50% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 26% of Bronx residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.[25]: 6  The percentage of Community District 10 students excelling in math rose from 29% in 2000 to 47% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 33% to 35% during the same time period.[37]

Community District 10's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is slightly higher than the rest of New York City. In Community District 10, 21% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, a little more than the citywide average of 20%.[26]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [25]: 6  Additionally, 75% of high school students in Community District 10 graduate on time, the same as the citywide average of 75%.[25]: 6 

Schools

The New York City Department of Education operates the following public schools in Throggs Neck:[38]

  • PS 10 (grades PK-8)[39]
  • PS 72 Dr William Dorney (grades PK-5)[40]
  • MS 101 Edward R Byrne (grades 6–8)[41]
  • PS 304 Early Childhood School (grades PK-5)[42]
  • Hospital Schools (grades K-12)
  • Mott Hall Community School (grades 6–8)

The following private schools are located in Throggs Neck:[38]

  • St Frances De Chantal School (grades PK-8)
  • Preston High School (grades 9–12)
  • Monsignor Scanlan High School (grades 9–12)
  • St Benedict School (grades PK-8)

Library

The New York Public Library (NYPL)'s Throg's Neck branch is located at 3025 Cross Bronx Expressway Extension. The branch has operated since 1954 and moved to its current one-story building in 1974.[43]

Transportation

The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve Throggs Neck:[44]

Throgs Neck Landing was opened as part of NYC Ferry's Soundview route on December, 28th 2021.[45][46][47][48]

The Throgs Neck Bridge and the Whitestone Bridge provide access to Queens and Long Island. Due to the proximity of the Bruckner Interchange, the crossroads of the Hutchinson River Parkway, the Bruckner Expressway, the Hutchinson River Expressway, the Cross-Bronx Expressway, and also the Throgs Neck Expressway and the New England Thruway, there is convenient highway access to Throggs Neck from many parts of the New York area.

Numerous roadways near the southern end of Throggs Neck are named in honor of Union generals from the American Civil War, including Philip Kearny, John Reynolds, Carl Schurz, Thomas Meagher, and Benjamin Prentiss. Another roadway is named for James Longstreet, a Confederate general who, once the war had ended, embraced Reconstruction and consequently became the object of intense Southern opprobrium.

Several television shows and movies have been filmed in Throggs Neck, including these films:

Television shows include:

Notable people

References

  1. ^ a b c "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Throgs Neck neighborhood in New York". Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "NYPD – 45th Precinct". www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  4. ^ "The Winner by a Neck", The New York Times, January 4, 1998.Accessed February 17, 2021.
  5. ^ "Spell It Throg(g)s Neck And Give or Take One G". The New York Times. January 17, 1955. p. 18. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  6. ^ Mitchell, Alex. "One'‘g' or two? Throggs Neck has a longstanding identity crisis", Bronx Times, November 3, 2019. Accessed February 17, 2021. "Then Robert Moses came along. According to Ultan, the power broker, wanting to save money on road signs, began the one G spelling of Throggs Neck while planning the Throgs Neck Bridge and its subsequent expressway."
  7. ^ Video: Throgs Neck or Throggs Neck?
  8. ^ a b Sitherwood, Frances Grimes (1929). Throckmorton family history : being the record of the Throckmortons in the United States of America with cognate branches, emigrant ancestors located at Salem, Massachusetts, 1630, and in Gloucester County, Virginia, 1660. Bloomington, Ill.: Pantagraph Printing & Stationery Co.
  9. ^ Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, a History of New York City to 1898 (1999, p. 37, giving "Throgmorton").
  10. ^ "In Revolutionary Days; Third Installment of the Interesting Tilghman-Duer Letters". The New York Times. April 21, 1895. p. 25. Retrieved August 25, 2008. Frogs Neck and Point is a kind of Island, there are two passages at the Main which are fordable at low Water at both of which we have thrown up Works, which will give some Annoyance should they attempt to come off by either of these Ways... The grounds leading from Frogs Point towards our Post at Kingsbridge are as defensible as they can be wished...
  11. ^ WPA Guide p. 547
  12. ^ a b "Auction Throg's Neck lots: Morris estates will sell 1,600 waterfront bungalow properties". The New York Times, August 6, 1922 accessed November 23, 2010.
  13. ^ The WPA Guide to New York, (1939, repr. 1982), p. 546.
  14. ^ "Land Records". Office of the Westchester County Clerk. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  15. ^ NYC Parks: Throgs Neck Park
  16. ^ McNamara, s.v. "Throgs Neck Park".
  17. ^ WPA Guide p. 546.
  18. ^ McNamara, s.v. "Ferris Dock".
  19. ^ McNamara, s.v. "Ferris Lane".
  20. ^ a b c Dolan, Dolores (June 3, 1984). "If You're Thinking of Living in Throgs Neck". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2006.
  21. ^ McNamara, s.v. "Ferris House (1-7)"; WPA Guide, East Bronx map p. 545.
  22. ^ a b "US Census Bureau, Income Map". Archived from the original on November 2, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2006.
  23. ^ Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
  24. ^ Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Throgs Neck and Co-op City (Including City Island, Co-op City, Country Club, Pelham Bay, Schuylerville, Throgs Neck and Westchester Square)" (PDF). nyc.gov. NYC Health. 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  26. ^ a b "2016-2018 Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan: Take Care New York 2020" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  27. ^ "New Yorkers are living longer, happier and healthier lives". New York Post. June 4, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  28. ^ "NYC-Bronx Community District 10--Co-op City, Pelham Bay & Schuylerville PUMA, NY". Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  29. ^ "Throgs Neck: City Island, Pelham Bay, Co-op City – DNAinfo.com Crime and Safety Report". www.dnainfo.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  30. ^ "45th Precinct CompStat Report" (PDF). www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  31. ^ "FDNY Firehouse Listing – Location of Firehouses and companies". NYC Open Data; Socrata. New York City Fire Department. September 10, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  32. ^ "Engine Company 89/Ladder Company 50". FDNYtrucks.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  33. ^ "Engine Company 72/Satellite 2". FDNYtrucks.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  34. ^ "Best 30 Hospitals in Bronx, NY with Reviews". Yellow Pages. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  35. ^ "Throggs Neck, New York City-Bronx, New York Zip Code Boundary Map (NY)". United States Zip Code Boundary Map (USA). Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  36. ^ "Location Details: Throggs Neck". USPS.com. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  37. ^ "Throgs Neck / Co-op City – BX 10" (PDF). Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  38. ^ a b "Throggs Neck New York School Ratings and Reviews". Zillow. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  39. ^ "P.S. X010". New York City Department of Education. December 19, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  40. ^ "P.S. 072 Dr. William Dorney". New York City Department of Education. December 19, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  41. ^ "M.S. X101 Edward R. Byrne". New York City Department of Education. December 19, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  42. ^ "P.S. 304 Early Childhood School". New York City Department of Education. December 19, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  43. ^ "About the Throg's Neck Library". The New York Public Library. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  44. ^ "Bronx Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  45. ^ "NYC Ferry is adding 2 new routes". Amnewyork. January 10, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  46. ^ Plitt, Amy (January 10, 2019). "NYC Ferry will launch service to Staten Island, Coney Island". Curbed NY. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  47. ^ "2020-2021 Expansion". New York City Ferry Service. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  48. ^ "Mayor de Blasio Announces Opening of new NYC Ferry Landing in Throgs Neck, the Bronx". The Official Website of the City of New York. December 28, 2021.
  49. ^ a b Freedlander, David. "Break Out The Cipro: It’s Anthrax Day in the Bronx", New York Observer, September 14, 2011. Accessed September 23, 2016. "Both Benante and Bello grew up in Throggs Neck, while Caggiano is a native of Pelham Parkway."
  50. ^ About the Library, East Bronx History Forum. Accessed September 23, 2016. "The library was officially founded in 1892 by Collis P. Huntington, a Southern Pacific Railroad magnate whose summer home was in nearby Throgs Neck."
  51. ^ Docter, Richard. Becoming a Woman: A Biography of Christine Jorgensen, p. 13. Routledge, 2013. ISBN 9781136576287. Accessed September 23, 2016. "George William Jorgensen Jr. was born May 30, 1926, at the Community Hospital in Manhattan and raised in the Throggs Neck district of the Bronx, a few miles north of his birthplace."
  52. ^ Raissman, Bob. "For Kay, Return is Fall Circle", New York Daily News, October 3, 1995. Accessed September 23, 2016. "Especially a guy like Kay, a homeboy out of Throgs Neck."
  53. ^ Logan, Greg. "Stadium bowl makes Bronx's Marrone nostalgic", Newsday, December 27, 2010. Accessed September 23, 2016. "Marrone lived nine miles from old Yankee Stadium in Throgs Neck. To get to his house, you took the last exit before the western entrance to the bridge, Harding Avenue."
  54. ^ Mineo, Sal. Sal Mineo: A Biography, p. 7. Three Rivers Press, 2011. ISBN 9780307716675. Accessed November 6, 2020. "In a couple of years, the Mineos managed to repay some of their debt to friends and family, and the coffin business began to turn a small profit. In an effort to get their family away from the bad 'city' influences, they found a dilapidated, three-story, wood-shingle house in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx at 2485 Wenner Place near East 217th Street and the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge."
  55. ^ McCarron, Anthony. "Mets like what they have in T.J. Rivera, who comes with Mackey Sasser’s endorsement", New York Daily News, March 10, 2016. Accessed September 2, 2017. "Rivera, 27, is looking at his non-roster camp invite the only way he can — as a chance to 'show what I've got and compete.'... That's what he did growing up in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, playing in Little Leagues there and in Parkchester."
  56. ^ "Representative Ritchie Torres". Congress.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
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