The Bronx has come a long way from the grim years of the 1970s and 1980s. Burned-out lots and urban blight have become bustling new developments in the South Bronx.
It’s only natural that the borough on the rise has led to a boom in entrepreneurism. In fact, The Bronx has survived the Great Recession better than New York’s other four boroughs, with new developments are popping up everywhere.
Many new residents and visitors are rediscovering the Bronx’s sometimes forgotten assets, from the wide-open spaces of Pelham Bay and Van Cortlandt parks, to the spectacular New York Botanical Gardens, to the world-renowned Bronx Zoo. And let’s not forget the iconic sports empire of the New York Yankees, which opened its $1.5 billion palace in 2011.
Here’s a look at some of the latest improvements that are making people sit up and take notice of the borough to the north.
SNAPSHOT
Business in The Bronx:
A Brief History
By Randy Woods
Bronx by the Numbers
• 7.7% growth in private sector employment, 2007-2012
• 11 accredited colleges within the borough
• 57% growth in median income since 1991
• 75% reduction in serious crimes since 1990
• 305% growth in new businesses, 2000-2010
• 33,687 new units of housing were built, 2002-2007
• 53,600 new jobs added, 2007-2012
• 240,000 new residents since 1980; 1.4 million total
• $4.8 billion invested in new housing, 2002-2007
A Legacy of Entrepreneurship
A list of some of the most famous business leaders and entrepreneurs who got their start in The Bronx:
• Lloyd Blankfein — CEO of Goldman Sachs
• Eli Broad — Co-founder Kaufman & Broad
• B. Gerald Cantor — Co-founder of securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald
• Millard "Mickey" Drexler — CEO of J. Crew; former CEO of The Gap
• Elaine Kaufman — Proprietor of Manhattan’s Elaine’s restaurant
• Harry Helmsley — Real estate magnate
• Victoria and Rafael Hernández — Co-founders of Casa Amadeo, the oldest music store in The Bronx
• Roger Hertog — Co-publisher of The New Republic magazine
• Collis Potter Huntington — Railroad and shipbuilding magnate; founder of the Huntington Free Library and Reading Room in Throggs Neck
• Calvin Klein — Clothing designer
• Ralph Lauren — Clothing designer
• Reuben and Rose Mattus — Founders of Häagen-Dazs ice cream
• Mark Penn — CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller
• Sol Price — Founder of the Price Club and FedMart
• Frederick Van Cortlandt — Head of one of New York’s most prominent mercantile families
Where Startups Are Born
Not only are businesses doing well in The Bronx, some are even being set up to nurture other companies. The Silicon Valley-style concept of the “business incubator” has recently taken hold in The Bronx in the form of two similar entities: Sunshine Bronx and The Concourse Group.
Sunshine Bronx is the first city-sponsored, privately operated business incubator, with space for up to 400 entrepreneurs from The Bronx and other boroughs. Launched in 2012 and located in the recently renovated BankNote building, Sunshine offers co-working spaces for $99 to $275 per month that are tailored to the needs of the startups, including conference rooms, multimedia equipment for presentations, high-tech building security and 180 modular workspaces. Tenants also have access to a network of 2,000 entrepreneurs that make up the Sunshine collective.
In a similar vein, The Concourse Group offers what they call “Three-Day Startup” events at the Fordham Foundry in the South Bronx, bringing entrepreneurs together for an intensive session of education, training and mentoring for a 54-hour period over a weekend. At the end of the free event, the startups can meet with potential investors to pitch their ideas. Those that show merit are given more technical assistance, strategic planning and working space at Fordham Foundry for a period of four months until they are ready to look for seed funding.
So far, some of the clients of The Concourse Group include the landlord rating service, Whose Your Landlord, handbag design company Moruka Designs and Caribbean-cuisine restaurant Brighteye & Shilling.
Arthur Avenue Retail Market – The Bronx