The Bronx That Raised Me

Currently a Florida resident, when I tell people that I grew up in the Bronx borough of New York City, they all get the same strange look in their eyes. It's a mix of fear, confusion, and pity. Truth: it takes a certain kind of person to live in New York. You have to be thick-skinned, ready for anything, and quick thinking or else the entire world can pass you by in a literal New York minute.

Stereotypes are rampant. Because of them, no one who lives outside of the Bronx ever wants to come and visit. They are too scared! I am 5' 5" and very slight at 105 pounds, but when I tell people I'm from the Bronx, they seem to think that I have a gun in my purse and a blade in my hair. "Don't mess with her, she's from the Bronx!" Of course, I just laugh, like “Don’t be dumb.” In all honesty, once you break down the defensive wall that every New Yorker builds, you may find a very kindhearted, honest, and lifelong friend. You become family, and that means you will always have a place to stay and be fed when you are down on your luck, and trust me, you will love the food.

Let me tell you, I will take a corner store coffee with a bacon-egg-and-cheese over Starbucks, Denny's, or IHOP any day of the week! The bodega cat stares at you and smiles like Cheshire, and she’s magical too because no one ever seems to be allergic to her. Street vendors sell sweet ices, piraguas, honey-roasted peanuts, dirty water dogs, pretzels, and if you are lucky, tamales, right there on the curb. You can always get something to eat, even if it's 4 a.m. on a Tuesday in the dead of winter. That's the New York I know and I've never feared it.

The one thing that does get under this native New Yorker's skin is that people assume I’m not very intelligent because I come from those inner-city parts of New York. They say things like "You're from New York? But you speak so well!" or "You're too nice to be from New York." The most ignorant, by far, was a person who said "You can't be from the Bronx. You don't have an accent and you're not Black or Hispanic." ‘Scuse me? I do have a “Spanglish” accent, and I'm Puerto Rican, whatchu talkin about?! My ability to speak proper English is just a testament to the great teachers I had growing up in the public school system. If you ever meet someone from the Bronx, ask them what ethnicity their neighbor is and you will get a myriad of responses because New York is truly an educational wonderland, a melting pot, and a cultural phenom. So why don't I live there? Well, New Yorkers ain't 'fraid uh nothin', right? I chose to branch out after 33 years, I'm sick of the snow, but that changes nothing. I will always call the Bronx my home.

As a Bronx native, people often pity my upbringing because they assume that I lived a tough life of rampant gang activity, drug dealings on every street corner, and everyday violence. I’m not going to lie and say there was none-uh-that, but in truth, I lived in a pretty quiet neighborhood overlooking Bronx Park and the Bronx River. Culture is everywhere and everyone wears their own culture proudly. Edgar Allan Poe's tiny cottage was a stone-throw away from home. The Cloisters and the Bronx Historical Society were interesting places to venture, and the graffiti that was once a terrible eyesore and plague in the 80's is now a part of the art world in the form of wonderful, colorful, meaningful murals. Woodlawn Cemetery is a beautiful place to tour or just to walk through if you want some peace and quiet. This is the Bronx that people never hear about. This is the Bronx I know. This is the Bronx that raised me.