Introduction to Belmont
View Belmont’s the shizz in a larger map
The above map depicts the various food stop sites of the Belmont group members.
Boiano Produce at the Arthur Avenue Retail Market
Belmont is a neighborhood located in the western part of the Bronx, NY; it is often referred to as the ‘Little Italy’ of the Bronx. Generations of Italian-American families have worked and lived there while keeping up with their culture and history. Belmont is also home to many famous landmarks like the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Gardens and Arthur Avenue, which attracts tourists from all over the place.
Belmont is about a five minute car ride from Lehman College. One can also take the BX 9 bus or take the 4 train to Fordham Road and then walking for about ten minutes. Belmont has a population over 15,000. For decades Belmont has been one of the poorest communities in America. Over half the population lives below the poverty line and receives public assistance (AFDC, Home Relief, Supplemental Security Income, and Medicaid). The majority of residents in the area are of Italian, Albanian, Puerto Rican and African American descent.
The immigrants, first Germans and Irish, began arriving in the 1880’s. In the 1890’s and thereafter it was Italians, who began moving into the neighborhood when the Third Avenue elevated train was built as far north as Tremont Avenue. When newspapers that circulated in Little Italy and East Harlem, both of which were also served by the Third Avenue El, began advertising apartments for rent in Belmont, many immigrants made their way there.
Long before the immigrant influx, during the colonial days, the area was farmland that covered most of the western Bronx. When the land was divided into estates in the mid-19th century, the Belmont area was given to the Lorillard family, tobacco producers. They lived on a mansion on the hill where St. Barnabas Hospital now stands and named their area ”Beautiful Mountain” or the Latin version, Belle Mont.
Most of the neighborhood is made up of tenements buildings, which usually have between 15 and 25 apartments, sell for about $500,000 to $700,000. According to New York Times, in recent years, demand for housing in the area has escalated. Mr. Franz (a local real estate agent) said he received more than 40 phone calls from people asking about availability of apartments in a tenement building with nine apartments that he is rehabilitating. ”There never would have been that kind of interest 5 or 10 years ago,” he said. Finding real estate in the area is difficult because most buildings are sold through family and friends. The handful of real estate agents and building management companies in the area advertise mainly rentals. ”Everything that is sold here is sold by word of mouth,” said Frank Franz, president of the Belmont Small Business Association and a lifelong resident. Most of the apartments are rent stabilized, and as a result the rents are low.
