Excavation crew on East 165th Street, just west of Grand Concourse; November, 1928. The IND Concourse Line, which runs under Grand Concourse, was completed in 1933. The buildings visible in the background are all east of Grand Concourse. At right is the Ursuline Academy, described in 1915 as "a small boarding and day school" with an enrollment of "about eighty-five girls." The school occupied this site from 1910-1959, when it was razed and replaced with the high rise Executive Towers apartment complex. The apartment building furthest in the background is 1050 Carroll Place. The buildings at left, on the north side of East 165th Street, were razed by the 1950s. The Young Israel of the Concourse synagogue was completed on the site in 1961. In 1982, the synagogue, by then abandoned, was purchased by the city, and converted for use by the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

888 Grand Concourse, ca. 1985-2000. Designed by Emery Roth in 1937, the building has 84 apartments. According to promotional material, each apartment had a sunken living room, a bathroom for each bedroom and an abundance of closets. The Art Deco style checkered gold and black semi-circular entrance (a striking feature, dulled here due to the black and white film) remains.

Andrew J. Freedman Home Designated June 2, 1992 1125 Grand Concourse (Joseph H. Freedlander & Harry Allan Jacobs, 1922-24; wings by David Levy, 1928-31) – NYCHD, NYCIL Sitting prominently on the Grand Concourse, the four-story Andrew Freedman home was designed by Joseph Freedlander and Harry Jacobs in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance palazzo. This monumental building is defined by its symmetrical massing and architectural details, including a balustraded terrace and beautiful ironwork. After his death in 1915, Andrew Freedman, who was involved with the construction of New York City’s first subway and had close ties to Tammany Hall, left his fortune for the establishment of a home for the “care and maintenance of aged and indigent persons of both sexes…who have been in good circumstances but by reason of adverse fortune, have become poor and dependent.” This home for the once-wealthy was expanded between 1928 and 1931 and remained in its original use until 1983. Purchased by the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council, the rechristened Andrew Freedman Complex now serves as a lodging facility, cultural center and event space.

Lorelei Fountain, 1899 Constructed in the 1890s, the fountain was intended as a monument to German poet Heinrich Heine, to be put up in his hometown of Düsseldorf. The statue was based on one of Heine’s most well-known poems, “Die Lorelei,” about the German folktale of a siren who sits above the river Rhine, luring sailors to their deaths against a cliff face with her song. The fountain, designed by Ernst Herter, was originally commissioned by the Düsseldorf City Council and planned to be unveiled in 1897, for the poet’s 100th birthday. Unfortunately, this plan was met with resistance, due to rising antisemitism in Germany. The statue was proposed to city after city in Germany and was rejected by all. The plans for the fountain caught the attention of New York City's government, and Herter, the sculptor, came to America to work on it in 1893. An original proposal had the statue installed at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Central Park. The opposition to this prominent location was strong, and eventually, the fountain was given a home in the Bronx; it was unveiled in 1899. The statue has been moved short distances twice since 1899 and has suffered vandalism since its installation. In the 1970s it was considered the statue in New York most affected by vandalism (which is saying a lot).

888 Grand Concourse, entrance, ca. 1970-2000.

Aquarium mosaic at the entrance of 1150 Grand Concourse, ca. 1980-2000. 1150 Grand Concourse is a well-known Art Deco apartment house, locally referred to as the 'Fish Building' for its colorful entrance mosaic of tropical fish. Built in 1936-7, and designed by architects Horace Ginsbern and Marvin Fine, the building includes fantastic interior and exterior architectural details. The lobby has a red, green, and gold terrazzo floor and aquatic themed murals by Rene and CP Graves. The Art Moderne facade includes a horizontal metal canopy over the entrance and round corner windows that look out onto the Grand Concourse.

Where do the rich go when they lose all their money? To a mansion in the Bronx of course. This was the brainchild of millionaire Andrew J. Freedman.

Louis J. Heintz Sculpture, ca 1915. Louis J. Heintz was an early Bronx civic leader and the first Street Commissioner for the district of the Bronx. Heintz began his career in the beer industry, and for a time served as the president of the Brewers’ Board of Trade of New York. When sections of the Bronx were consolidated into the Greater New York City in 1898, Heintz was instrumental in the creation of a local board of improvements. The bronze statue of Heintz was designed by French sculptor Pierre Feitu and dedicated in 1909. It was placed on the Grand Concourse due to Heintz's work in advocating for the creation of that thoroughfare. The original statue had a female figure standing on the base of the pedestal who seemed to be inscribing the words carved there. She was removed after being vandalized.

Doorway of 860 Grand Concourse, ca. 1970.

All Hallows Institute, 1933. All Hallows was founded in 1909 as a Catholic boys elementary and high school by the Congregation of Christian Brothers. The institution moved from 124th Street in Manhattan to this Bronx structure in 1929 and in 1977 became solely a high school. Famous alumni of the school include former NBS players Olden Polynice and Shawnelle Scott, and James Donovan, the lawyer and military officer who negotiated the release of a captured American pilot from the USSR in 1962.

Andrew J. Freedman Home, October 1, 1924. Opening its doors in 1924, the Andrew J. Freedman Home's mission was a rather peculiar one: to serve as a retirement home for wealthy individuals who had lost their money. Having almost lost his entire fortune in the Panic of 1907, Andrew Freeman, a self-made millionaire, came up with this peculiar charity and, upon his death in 1915, left some of his substantial fortune to create the eponymous home. The four-story building in French and Italian Renaissance style cost a million dollars to build and was only to serve individuals who been in "good circumstances" financially. The recently impoverished were supposed to adhere to a set of manners and formal dress. In exchange, these residents were allowed to live rent free in the plush palazzo and were attended to by servants. Two wings were added in 1928 and 1931 just in time to accommodate the suddenly destitute stockbrokers of the Great Depression. Eventually during the 1960s, the trust that supported the home, much like the denizens of the Home, ran out of money and the Home's residents were forced to pay rent. It was eventually bought by the mid Bronx Senior Citizen's Council and turned into a retirement home for the destitute. The Andrew J. Freedman Home was named a New York City Landmark in 1992 and now serves as an event and art space as well as a day care center.

Melrose Branch, ca. 1914. Opened on January 14, 1914, the Melrose Branch was the 10th of 13 branches designed by Carrère & Hastings, who also created the NYPL Main Branch. This library is perhaps the mostly substantially altered Carnegie in city (not considering those which were razed). Once a four-story classically proportioned building, the top two stories were removed during a rehabilitation project in 1959. The two-story building now has almost a mid-century design. During that renovation window and door openings were resized and the main facade was also refaced, similarly adding to its mid century look. Despite the drastic reduction of size, the library has continuously functioned since opening in 1914.

Archived at NYC’s Department of Records, these never-before-seen images taken by photographers at the Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) dramatically capture the disinvestment and physical decay that afflicted the Bronx from the 1970s into the 1990s. During this period, many buildings were abandoned, others destroyed by fire, and yet others demolished for the sake of public safety. Melrose, where the majority of the tour takes place, suffered particularly acute devastation. Returning to these same sites today reveals a stunning transformation: vacant buildings have been restored and made habitable again, and empty lots have given rise to new affordable housing. Melrose has experienced a particularly remarkable renaissance, with thousands of affordable homes created by HPD under the rubric of the Melrose Commons revitalization plan, from the low-rise row houses of Melrose Court (1994) to larger-scale apartment buildings like Elton Crossing (2018). The tour also goes north along Boston Road to Morrisania before terminating further west in Hunt's Point. It's here that some of the most striking examples of affordable housing preservation can be found, like on Fox Street where turn-of-the-century row houses photographed on the brink of demolition have since been carefully restored and saved for future generations to inhabit. As you walk from site to site, use the Urban Archive recreate tool to see these transformations for yourself! They’re the result of tireless work by community organizations and government agencies, and the forerunners of the affordable housing that HPD is producing at a record pace under the Housing New York plan, ensuring that our neighborhoods are stronger and more equitable for future generations. All photos by Paul Rice, Leonard Boykin, and Larry Racioppo.

My Archive Spring 2019 "Family photo of future singing star Eydie Gorme (born Edith Gormezano) as a very stylish child on her rooftop in The Bronx. Eydie would go on to star on Broadway, in Las Vegas, at Carnegie Hall, The London Palladium, etc. and was frequently on TV's Tonight Show and Carol Burnett Show, with hit records and albums that topped both the pop and Latin charts." —Neil Cohen

1150 Grand Concourse, ca. 1980-2000.