Marble Hill - 225th Street (1)

This is the first stop in the Bronx going north on the 1 train from Manhattan. There are some nice water views on the way. (Though, if views are your thing, skip this ride in favor of the skyline views that the Manhattan-Brooklyn bridge-crossing trains get.)

Marble Hill is architecturally divided; the train tracks mark the split. To the west you have Tudor houses and the shingled St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, with some Spanish services. To the east, you have a massive tangle of highways, the Marble Hill Projects, and Target, Marshall’s, Foot Locker, Applebee’s and the like, none of which, obviously, were established in the 1600s.

Compare the architecture of the church with the residential building to the left of the picture.

(A pro-tip for anyone living off the 1 Train: when you need to go a Target or Marshalls, choose the ones here instead of in Manhattan. They’re bigger, less crowded, and close to the train for an easy return home. And as a bonus, the Target and Marshall’s parking lots here have nice skyline views of Manhattan, which is best enjoyed from afar whenever you need to do household shopping.)

Don’t worry, the Target is way bigger than it looks. This is just the second floor that gives you access to the parking lot. Behind the camera is a distant view of the Manhattan skyline.

The clues of reverse gentrification are there if you put the pieces together. It’s in the Tudor homes occupied by people of color. It’s in the hustle of sidewalk sellers and drivers looking to get paid for a ride. It’s the stories of white people who grew up in the Marble Hill Projects in the 1980s and have since participated in white flight.

Overall, Marble Hill seems to be a typical Afro-Latinx area, with a lot of kids and a lot of hustle. And, given that I couldn’t find a bougie latte in the vicinity (except for the within-Target Starbucks, I guess), I’ll say it’s staved off reverse reverse-gentrification for now.

Bye for now, Marble Hill.