Hunts Point

Longtime New Yorkers know the Bronx has come a long, long way in the last 50 years. No place symbolizes that renaissance more than Hunts Point. Once a symbol of the urban blight and social problems of the 1970s, grassroots community organizations have slowly turned this neighborhood around. In the last few decades, local politicians and municipal, state and even federal governments have come alongside community efforts to expand public spaces and economic development. The opening of the New Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point is an illustrative example of the new energy and hope shining across this once-neglected borough. With new investment from the federal government in parks and seawalls after Hurricane Sandy, Hunts Point is only getting better. William Beltran, a licensed real estate salesperson with Douglass Elliman, has watched the borough revitalize from his own window in the Bronx. "There are a lot of changes happening in Hunts Point. Investors are purchasing buildings for more retail. The city's redoing the sewer system and preparing for more growth."

Renovated prewar Greek revival rowhouses feature open floor plans and ceilings with interior brick walls and outdoor spaces. Rowhouses with four bedrooms are listed for under $700,000. Investment opportunities for owner-landlords are also available. Two-family Italianate brick duplexes with separate apartments and several bedrooms are listed for under $900,000. Other detached brick rowhouses with original porticos and gated patios are listed for over $1 million. Hunts Point is a great place for home improvement aficionados, with original details in nearly every prewar home. Beautiful ornamentation like wainscotting and stained-glass doors have survived for a century.

Bringing 650 jobs to the neighborhood, the New Fulton Fish Market is open to individual buyers who can pay a small entry fee to buy fish straight from wholesalers for two-thirds less than what you'd pay at the grocery store. But you may want to go when it's still dark. It opens at 1 am, and most vendors sell out by 6 am. The fish market is one of three food co-ops that comprise the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center. The Hunts Point Produce Market is also open to the public. There are also several small independent grocers in the neighborhood. However, the Bronx has been traditionally underserved by grocery stores. Eater Magazine recommends Venice Restaurant, just a few blocks past the Bruckner Expressway that hems in Hunts Point. This Neapolitan restaurant has been in business since 1951. Hunts Point institution Mo Gridder's BBQ has been featured on the Food Network more than once. Boogie Down Grind Café celebrates the legacy of Bronx Hip Hop and the community that birthed it and is a local hangout in the neighborhood. New green spaces, such as Riverside Park, and refurbished older ones, such as the waterfront Baretto Point Park, are part of the renaissance of this section of the Bronx.

Several promising charter schools have opened throughout the Bronx to address disparities in the educational system. The Bronx Charter School for the Arts is a fine arts-focused elementary school in Hunts Point. Girls Preparatory Charter School of the Bronx is a kindergarten through eighth-grade institution ranked in the top quartile of city schools by the New York City Department of Education. Longwood Preparatory Academy is an excellent high school ranked in the top 15% citywide. While Hunts Point has its own subway station for the 6 train, it's just on the northwestern edge of the neighborhood, so residents living closer to the water may be better served by the expansive bus system of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Energetic residents will be glad to know that thanks to a burgeoning new network of bike lanes, cyclists can be in Harlem in under 30 minutes. There are great water views on the ride.

Written By

Abbot Street

Photography Contributed By

Leon Cato

Video By

Stewart Taveras