Bob Sacamano

All-Pro
Messages
26,436
Reaction score
3
http://news.yahoo.com/bronx-ghetto-tours-stop-amid-residents-outrage-064653409.html

NEW YORK (AP) — A company that promised sightseer tours to the Bronx that included a New York City "ghetto" has stopped the bus rides under protest from an outraged neighborhood.

Real Bronx Tours, which took mostly European tourists from Manhattan to see life in the South Bronx "from a safe distance," issued a statement this week saying it would immediately cease all tours there.

Three times a week, the $45 ride took visitors past food-pantry lines, a housing project and a park a guide described as a pickpocket hangout.

Tourists were told they'd get a look at the Bronx that reflects one of the darkest chapters of the city's history, the 1970s and '80s, when the tour website said "this borough was notorious for drugs, gangs, crime and murders."

The Bronx lost hundreds of buildings to fires intentionally set by landlords to collect insurance money, hence the phrase, "the Bronx is burning."

But residents say the tours are a misrepresentation of the area where former Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor lived in as children.

"Those days are over, the Bronx is being rebuilt, it's rising again," said Bronx resident and Grammy-nominated musician Bobby Sanabria.

On Monday, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito sent an open letter to the company owner, Michael Myers, saying they were "sickened by the despicable way" the borough was being portrayed to outsiders.

"We strongly urge you to stop profiting off of a tour that misrepresents the Bronx as a haven for poverty and crime, while mocking everything from our landmarks to the less fortunate members of our community who are availing themselves of food assistance programs."

The tour company did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment. It was not clear whether they would resume any of their tours. And by Thursday, the website of the company was no longer accessible.

Other companies in the city still offer regular guided trips to the Bronx.

Three weeks ago, NYC & Company, the city's tourism bureau, launched a promotion of the South Bronx as "one of our safest, most exciting boroughs," with highlights including Art Deco architecture and the Yankees.

Real Bronx Tours has been booted from the bureau's membership list as a result of the language they've been using, NYC & Company spokeswoman Kimberly Spell said.

Elena Martinez, an anthropologist and Bronx resident, offers visitors walks through the same neighborhood that was on Real Bronx Tours' itinerary.

The human struggles on these still gritty streets have produced urban styles and sounds copied around the world, from hip hop music and outdoor murals to clothing.

"Many young Europeans come here as a pilgrimage," Martinez said. "This was the incubator for hip-hop, salsa, jazz, Afro-Cuban music, R&B."

She points to theaters, lavish dance halls and clubs where salsa came alive, along with some of the biggest names in music. Sanabria, a famed drummer, says he comes from a borough "that has an incredible, majestic music culture."

And although many of the buildings now house stores and offices, or were demolished or burned down, new ones mingle with restored historic ones "and people are helping to bring the neighborhood back," Martinez said.

"We've had enough of the gawkers who come to ghettoize us," says Al Quinones, caretaker of a community park that features a garden with fruit trees and a stone outdoor amphitheater. "Their timing was bad. The Bronx is not burning, not now! Now, it's resurgence."

On the door to his shack on the grounds is a sign that reads: "Don't dump on the Bronx."

Sanabria, Martinez and other Bronx residents are meeting Friday to kick-start a counter-campaign to what they call the Bronx's "negative image."

They've calling their action "Bronx Rising."
 

Theebs

Quality Starter
Messages
8,534
Reaction score
0
I remember my first trip to the Bronx to see the Yankees in 85.

Place was a damn war zone. I was actually scared walking around.

When u stopped on the streets down near the stadium there were all these guys who would stand in front of the car and offer to wash your windows, if u said no they wouldn't move and would spit on the windshield.

There were broken down cars all over the road with basically just the frame left.

Frigging war zone.
 

cmd34(work)

Draft Pick
Messages
4,342
Reaction score
0
was there less than 24 hours ago. Yankee stadium for my brother's NYU graduation ceremony. Saw Kurt Warner (again), just randomly in the crowd. I thought maybe one of his stepkids could be old enough to graduate but didn't see his wife anywhere.

The stadium is incredibly nice but just crossing the street to the subway (4 train) was a challenge. The urine smell everywhere was tough too.
 

superpunk

Pro Bowler
Messages
11,003
Reaction score
0
why does anyone take guided tours of a city or w/e? explore it your own damn self you lazy, terrified-to-wing-it loser.
 

Theebs

Quality Starter
Messages
8,534
Reaction score
0
why does anyone take guided tours of a city or w/e? explore it your own damn self you lazy, terrified-to-wing-it loser.

I can not wait to do this in LA next spring.. I am not going to want to come home.
 

cmd34(work)

Draft Pick
Messages
4,342
Reaction score
0
Right. Kurt Warner was just standing there randomly in a crowd.

He was there. I searched his name on Twitter when I saw him and there were pictures of him at NYU's other graduation ceremony at Lincoln Center on Monday, so he was definitely there for someone's graduation. There were a lot of celebs there but they were part of the ceremonies. Warner was there as a regular joe.
 

cmd34(work)

Draft Pick
Messages
4,342
Reaction score
0
the LA tours are usually "homes of the celebs" or other Hollywood stuff. Too much traffic to have a proper tour. If you are seriously going to LA just go down to Santa Monica pier and make your way towards Venice. Lots to do without having to drive or more accurately, sit in your car.
 

superpunk

Pro Bowler
Messages
11,003
Reaction score
0
Yup. Drive up and down Malibu and then hit SM pier at sunset. And you've seen everything that I think is worth seeing in LA. I think theebs meant he's not doing tours.
 

Theebs

Quality Starter
Messages
8,534
Reaction score
0
Yup. Drive up and down Malibu and then hit SM pier at sunset. And you've seen everything that I think is worth seeing in LA. I think theebs meant he's not doing tours.

Yea I am not taking no tour.

I already know what I want to do and where I want to go.

Going to Marty mcfly's house first. Maybe on a skateboard.
 

superpunk

Pro Bowler
Messages
11,003
Reaction score
0
@WarnerNChrist 48m Just back from Safeway milk prices out of hand $4.32 a gallon? smh...Come Lord Jesus.

mids story checks out
 
Top Bottom