Bronx Beginnings
Local Legends
What's in a name?
Parks & Pavements
Bronx Bites
100
Opened in 1899, this world-famous 265-acre attraction houses over 6,000 animals, making it the largest metropolitan zoo in the U.S.
What is the Bronx Zoo?
100
This world-famous singer and actress frequently references her upbringing on Blackrock Avenue in the Bronx’s Castle Hill.
Who is Jennifer Lopez?
100
Named after Swedish immigrant Jonas Bronck, this borough was the site of his first European settlement in 1639.
What is The Bronx?
100
Covering over 2,700 acres, this largest NYC public park is more than three times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park.
What is Pelham Bay Park?
100
Centered around Arthur Avenue, this neighborhood is world-famous as New York’s "Real Little Italy," known for the borough’s best authentic pasta, cheese, and pastries.
What is Belmont?
200
On August 11, 1973, DJ Kool Herc’s party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue famously birthed this global musical and cultural movement.
What is Hip-Hop?
200
This legendary Marvel co-creator of Spider-Man and the X-Men was a proud graduate of the Bronx’s DeWitt Clinton High School.
Who is Stan Lee?
200
Dating to 1663, this neighborhood was named for a settlement of ten families whose "plantations" were situated in this cardinal direction from the Bronx River.
What is West Farms?
200
Located in a small Fordham park, this tiny white house is where Edgar Allan Poe spent his final years and wrote some of his most famous poems.
What is Poe Cottage?
200
Because of its large Dominican and Puerto Rican population, the Bronx is the best place to find this dish made of mashed green plantains, garlic, and chicharrón.
What is Mofongo?
300
Before launching his global "Polo" empire, this Bronx-born designer started by selling wide neckties out of a drawer in the Empire State Building.
Who is Ralph Lauren?
300
In 2009, this Bronx native became the first Hispanic and third female Justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Who is Sonia Sotomayor?
300
Named after a Dutch phrase meaning "Spouting Devil," this neighborhood refers to the treacherous currents where the Harlem and Hudson Rivers meet.
What is Spuyten Duyvil?
300
What is the New York Botanical Garden?
300
This 1.5-mile "pavement" is the main drag of City Island, famous for having a higher concentration of seafood restaurants than almost anywhere else in the city.
What is City Island Avenue?
400
Despite its Scandinavian name and branding, this luxury ice cream was founded in the Bronx in 1960 by Reuben and Rose Mattus.
What is Häagen-Dazs?
400
This Bronx Science alumnus and Hayden Planetarium director led the 2006 effort to demote Pluto to dwarf planet status.
Who is Neil deGrasse Tyson?
400
This neighborhood’s name translates from Old English as "Houses at the Ford," referring to a shallow crossing point on the Bronx River.
What is Fordham?
400
While the original was demolished in 2010, the "New" version of this landmark features a white lattice-work "Frieze" that mimics the 1923 architectural original.
What is Yankee Stadium?
400
Located on Broadway across from Van Cortlandt Park, this legendary shop is world-famous for a "vegetable-based" dessert using a secret family recipe with five pounds of its namesake ingredient per batch.
What is Lloyd’s Carrot Cake?
500
In 1907, the Bronx Zoo sent 15 of these animals to Oklahoma to repopulate the American West, an event credited with saving the species from extinction.
What is the American Bison (or Buffalo)?
500
This Bronx-born musical theater major was the first solo woman to win the Best Rap Album Grammy and is a noted amateur historian of U.S. Presidents.
Who is Cardi B?
500
In the 1800s, a local postmaster coined this neighborhood's name by combining Latin words meaning "Three Mounts" to describe its geography.
What is Tremont?
500
Modeled after the Champs-Élysées in Paris, this 4-mile-long thoroughfare features separate lanes for horses and "pleasure vehicles" and is famous for its Art Deco apartment buildings.
What is the Grand Concourse?
500
Opened in 1930 at East 188th Street and Fordham Road, this was the first New York City location of the chain. It remains a designated landmark, still featuring its signature white porcelain crenelated towers and medieval-inspired "castle" architecture.
What is White Castle?