The South Bronx Beckons
The New York Times
By Ronda Kaysen
In the eight years that Anne Stewart lived in the East Village, she rarely ventured north of 23rd Street, let alone to the Bronx. But in late 2013, when a friend began apartment-hunting in an industrial section of the South Bronx, Ms. Stewart paid the area a visit. To her surprise, she found a sleepy enclave just steps from the Harlem River, with rents low enough that she and Katie Rubright could afford to move in together.
Both Ms. Stewart and Ms. Rubright, 34, an artist who lived in Brooklyn and had been to the Bronx only once, were smitten. Last summer, the couple moved into a spacious two-bedroom in a new building on Bruckner Boulevard, paying around $2,500 a month.
“We have an actual room that people can come and sleep in and close the door,” said Ms. Stewart, 43, a hair stylist who had previously lived alone in a cramped studio. “It’s like living like normal humans.”
The couple’s story is becoming more common. In the never-ending quest for reasonable rents and tolerable commutes, New Yorkers are branching out in new directions. And the Bronx, it seems, is having a moment.
