Mott Haven

Mott Haven is a section of the South Bronx that at one time was extremely dangerous. It is still not the most desirable part of New York City to live or visit but I am happy that I decided leave the island known as Manhattan to move here.

For starters, it's one stop out of Manhattan on the 4-5-6. Having spent a good amount of time living and renting in Manhattan, I can tell you with complete and total confidence, you can get twice the space for half the price by just hopping that river. It's ideal for someone that wants more space in their apartment, a place to park their car on the street and live in New York as it was a generation ago before the super wealthy destroyed it.

There are some cons to living here though: a bit unsafe, though I have never had an issue, I know of friends that have been mugged or beat up. Granted, that is few and far between but that happens [and could happen anywhere in New York, really]. There are limited number of good restaurants within walking distance, but that is changing. People tend to keep to themselves for the most part, but I have never felt unsafe, but I do make sure I am aware of my surroundings whenever I go out, especially at night.

Some notable items are that we have a Farmers Market every Saturday morning on the corner of 138th and Alexander. We have The Bronx Terminal Market [Target, Home Depot, Costco's, just to name a few] which is convenient. There is talk about creating a green space walking area by the river which will certainly add value to the area. I am curious to see what this place will be like in 5-10 years. Some say it's the next Williamsburg, but I wouldn't go that far, but who knows?

Mott Haven is located in southwest Bronx, New York. It's a small community and one of the poorest in America. The schools are heavily secured and the streets are not safe to walk on at night. Mott Haven also has a good side, east of Mott Haven there is a public library called the Mott Haven Branch. There in the library you could find a positive outlook on the poor community. Mott Haven's Teen Advisory Group (TAG)'s Anime Council does various group activities for ages 13 to 18.

Like the majority of the neighborhood in the South Bronx, this one is a low income residential district that has had its share of crime and poverty in the recent past. The high schools here suffer from high dropout rates and violence on their campuses – not the ideal place to send your child, unless for some unfortunate reason you have no choice in the matter. Like many of the Bronx neighborhoods that suffered from the plague of arson in the seventies, much of the tenement housing has been rebuilt and distributed to low income residents. This is not exactly a nice place to visit – there isn’t much going on here.