The warning Bells are going off Bronxites. Warning, warning…
The recent headline from the University of Wisconsin study stood out to me like finding a crisp brand new 100 dollar bill on a sidewalk of Fordham Road, White Plains Road, or maybe 149th and 3rd Ave.
“Bronx is the least healthy county in NY – obesity, early death, teen pregnancy plague borough.”
Anyone that has ever lived in the Bronx has to know all the traffic from the Cross Bronx Expressway can’t be good for you environment wise, or all those cars on the Brucker. By the way, we can thank Robert Moses for that, having been the mastermind behind many of our highways and helping to create modern suburbs like Long Island.
But 62 out of 62. Come on folks, we are dead last.
To you folks that live in other boroughs you should be concerned as well. Brooklyn isn’t doing much better. Staten Island, Queens, and Manhattan are up there too.
The Bronx ranked 62nd out of 62 counties for the second year in a row.
Brooklyn 58th
Staten Island 28th
Manhattan- 25th
Queens- 20th
So are they telling us living in NYC is bad for your health?
I have actually traveled for a speech to Madison Wisconsin where it’s a mix of open farm land and a huge college town. We may not be able to compete with Madison health wise, but is the city of N.Y really that bad, with the Bronx topping the list. Look at these statistics:
The study by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation evaluated the counties' access to healthy food, air pollution, smoking rates, obesity, teen births and other factors.
In the Bronx, they found:
• 26% of adults are in poor or fair shape, compared to 16% statewide and 10% nationwide.
• 8,139 premature deaths per 100,000 people, compared to a state average of 5,933.
• 54% of women on Medicare get an annual mammogram; nationally, it's 74%.
So the borough I love, where I grew up is dead last in the state when it comes to health, with more people dying early, more people in bad shape, and not enough checkups.
If most people of the Bronx are like me, they will tell you they love the Bronx. The beautiful areas of Riverdale, and Pelham Bay. Let’s not forget the Fordham section, Belmont, and yes the redone South Bronx.
There’s the world famous new Yankee stadium. I used to drive down the Deagan and always wonder why the eyesore of the decrepit Bronx Terminal Market remained for years, but now even that area is booming with commerce. (Targets, and a number of stores for Bronx Residents just off the highway)
I have lived all over the Bronx, and eventhough I don't live here now, the Bronx will always be home. Some things become part of your blood. The 41 Bus along webster Ave. 12 Bus on Fordham. The 1 and 2 buses on the Concourse, and at least for me the "D" train was the one that really connected you to other boroughs the fastest.
I remember my old Bronx addresses well,and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Vyse Ave in the South Bronx, Carter Ave off the Cross Bronx, (one could do White Castles or back in the 70's near 174 and Webster, there was the best sandwich shop ever. There was Topping Ave/and P.S 70, The Paterson Housing Projects, 184th off of Webster Ave, the Throgg Neck Housing Projects and Burnside Ave.
As a kid, I played sandlot football in Van Cortlandt Park, and it’s nice to see the park remains clean and kids use it today. What can top a seafood meal/drive on a hot summer day to City Island? There’s the history of some of the best pro athletes coming from Bronx High Schools. Dewitt Clinton back in the day. There’s Cardinal Hayes H.S at one end of the borough, and Cardinal Spellman at the other. It looks the same, but even the area around Hayes is alittle different now, with fast food restaurants, and a 7/11 store.
One of the best kept secrets of the Bronx happens to be the Bronx Botantial Garden. Trust me, you haven't seen beauty until your deep inside the Botantial Garden or the location there where weddings are held.
I say all of this to state that the Bronx is in my blood. We may not be the healthiest place to live, but it’s ours, and we are proud of it.
A diverse borough where residents persevere and produce people like Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor whose’s mother struggled, and succeeded to put her daugther through Cardinal Spellman H.S. Her brother is an MD.
Even our colleges in the Bronx are very diverse and productive. There’s Fordham University, Manhattan College where former Mayor Rudy Giuliani graduated from, Monroe College & Hostos Community College on the Grand Concourse.
Those days of the Bronx is burning are over. Bronxites, residents of the big apple, we do however have to change our eating habits, and take better care of ourselves. I'm the first one in that category that needs to look in the mirror.
This study is not a joking matter, but bet on it, most Bronx Residents would rather not live anywhere else. I will never forget covering the 1988 Presidential Campaign. I had traveled for about 5 months traveling around the country without coming home. Christmas had been spent in the Persian Gulf. Guess what I did the moment, I arrived in New York City. Yes it's true, I bent down and kissed one of our our dirty streets. That's how happy I was to be home.
At least for me, NY will always be home. I couldn't say this on TV, but "The Boogie Down Bronx" will always be part of my DNA.
Folks please take care of yourself. Let's turn the results of this study around.