1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910456564603321

Autore

Rosenblum Constance

Titolo

Boulevard of dreams [[electronic resource] ] : heady times, heartbreak, and hope along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx / / Constance Rosenblum

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : New York University Press, c2009

ISBN

0-8147-7740-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (280 p.)

Disciplina

974.7/275

Soggetti

Jews - New York (State) - New York - History

Electronic books.

Grand Concourse (New York, N.Y.) History

Bronx (New York, N.Y.) History

Bronx (New York, N.Y.) Social conditions

Bronx (New York, N.Y.) Social life and customs

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 “A Drive of Extraordinary Delightfulness” -- 2 “Get a New Resident for the Bronx” -- 3 “I Was Living in ‘a Modern Building’” -- 4 “Something That Everybody Had in Awe” -- 5 “An Acre of Seats in a Garden of Dreams” -- 6 “By the Waters of the Grand Concourse” -- 7 The Grand Concourse of the Imagination -- 8 “The Borough of Abandonment” -- 9 Who Killed the Concourse? -- 10 “Bends in the Road” -- Sources -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

Stretching over four miles through the center of the West Bronx, the Grand Boulevard and Concourse, known simply as the Grand Concourse, has gracefully served as silent witness to the changing face of the Bronx, and New York City, for a century. Now, a New York Times editor brings to life the street in all its raucous glory. Designed by a French engineer in the late nineteenth century to echo the elegance and grandeur of the Champs Elysées in Paris, the Concourse was nearly twenty years in the making and celebrates its centennial in November 2009. Over that century it has truly been a boulevard of dreams for



various upwardly mobile immigrant and ethnic groups, yet it has also seen the darker side of the American dream. Constance Rosenblum unearths the colorful history of this grand street and its interlinked neighborhoods. With a seasoned journalist’s eye for detail, she paints an evocative portrait of the Concourse through compelling life stories and historical vignettes. The story of the creation and transformation of the Grand Concourse is the story of New York—and America—writ large, and Rosenblum examines the Grand Concourse from its earliest days to the blighted 1960's and 1970's right up to the current period of renewal. Beautifully illustrated with a treasure trove of historical photographs, the vivid world of the Grand Concourse comes alive—from Yankee Stadium to the unparalleled collection of Art Deco apartments to the palatial Loew’s Paradise movie theater. An enthralling story of the creation of an iconic street, an examination of the forces that transformed it, and a moving portrait of those who called it home, Boulevard of Dreams is a must read for anyone interested in the rich history of New York and the twentieth-century American city.