Talk Bronx New York

New York Real Estate: Morris Park, Bronx

MAP/BOUNDARIES

Morris Park is defined by Pelham Parkway to the north, the Amtrak/Metro-North tracks to the east and south and Muliner Avenue and Bronxdale Avenue to the west.

INTRO

Morris Park’s thriving Italian community is often compared to the better-known Little Italy centered on Arthur Avenue, but that doesn’t mean the locals are any less proud of their neighborhood.

The number of pasticcerie, salumerias, and pizzerias crammed into the area is spellbinding, Italian is spoken in the shops, and even the parking meters are striped with the colors of the motherland’s flag.

But at the turn of the century, Morris Park was famous for something else: its racetrack, which was built by John Albert Morris.

Local development picked up in 1910 when a streetcar line was installed on Morris Park Avenue, and construction of new roads and housing continuing well past World War II. Soon, droves of Italian immigrants began settling in the area.

Though the area’s Italian qualities are prominent, some locals claim there’s more to Morris Park than the Italian community.

“It’s always been a family area, and that’s stayed the same, but now all types of people live here,” said Angela DaBenigno, who moved to Morris Park in 1992. “People move in, people move out, but the area constantly adapts to the changes.”

The neighborhood is now home to significant populations of Albanians, Latinos and Chinese.

“There are a lot of different ethnic varieties, different colors,” said DaBenigno. “Years ago it was much more Italian, but times change.”

Though Morris Park’s population has become more diverse in recent years, residents still have certain things in common.

“It’ll always be a good, regular crowd–down-to-earth, working class people,” said DaBenigno. “No matter how much it changes, it’s still a gem in the Bronx.”

TO EAT & DRINK

Morris Park’s restaurant scene is comprised largely of Italian eateries, with the pizza places considered among the best in the Bronx. Try Emilio’s (1051 Morris Park Ave.); Luciano’s Pizza (1005 Morris Park Ave.); Pasta Pasta (2023 Williamsbridge Rd.); and Federici Ristorante (980 Morris Park Ave.).

• Patricia’s

This extraordinarily popular brick pizza restaurant gets so packed during peak hours that squeezing through to your table can be quite trying indeed. The atmosphere’s unbeatable, and so is the food: sandwiches made with slices of rich and oily focaccia, breadbaskets accompanied by garlicky dips and arguably some of the best pizza in the Bronx (some even say the city).

1080 Morris Park Ave. 718-409-9069

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Bronx Neighborhood Shocked By Graffiti On 9/11 Mural 

Two women walk past defaced memorial mural to Firefighter Peter Bielfeld.

Over several nights this month, a graffiti vandal stared into the face of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld, who lost his life rushing into the World Trade Center - and coldly spray-painted right over it.

Now the Olinville community where Bielfeld lived, the South Bronx community where he worked and Bielfeld’s family are raging, and out to punish whoever defaced the memorial wall mural of Bielfeld.

“It’s ridiculous. It is very personal,” said Bielfeld’s father, Ernest, 73, who held memorial services at the mural in memory of his son on Olinville Ave., before his son’s remains were found. “It’s such an emotional thing for us. Angry? I’m pissed off.”

The defaced mural is at Thwaites Place, down the street from where the 44-year-old Bielfeld lived on Barker Ave., on the wall of a bodega where he regularly bought cigars.

Bielfeld’s face and much of the rest of the mural was obliterated by the bubble-letter tag - “SIPS.”

“How could you do something like that? 9/11 has touched everyone,” said Victor DiPierro, community affairs officer for the 49th Precinct, who has added his own $250 to the NYPD’s $500 reward to catch the defacer. “It’s just so disrespectful. It’s blatant.”

DiPierro calls graffiti his “forever arch nemesis.” He goes out on the street weekly, cleaning graffiti off walls. But, graffiti on a memorial mural? DiPierro compared it to defacing a tombstone.

He warned “SIPS” that he will most likely have the same fate as a similar defacer whose tag was “SNEZ.”

DiPierro spent a year hunting for SNEZ, who defaced a 9/11 mural in Morris Park. When he found the 14-year-old at the end of the spray can, he was punished by the law and his parents. DiPierro said he will similarly canvas the area’s schools to find SIPS.

DiPierro is also working with Eddie Rodriguez, who painted Bielfeld’s mural, and who has agreed to restore the image, which has a twin near Ladder 42, Engine 73, where Bielfeld worked. The firehouse, the 49th Precinct Community Council and DiPierro plan on splitting the cost of the restoration.

Ernest Bielfeld hopes the mural will be a permanent record of the story of his son, who had been injured the weekend before Sept. 11 and was visiting the fire department’s medical office when the planes hit.

He rushed downtown, borrowed equipment from a different firehouse and left behind a note for his family expressing his love in case he did not make it back.

“It tells a story of a good guy who did above and beyond the call of duty,” Bielfeld said. “When one of your kids goes, it’s indescribable. But it is not in memory of just Peter, but the 343 firemen who were murdered.”

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

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