Soundview is a neighborhood on the Clason Point peninsula in the southeastern section of the Bronx in New York City. Its generally recognized boundaries are the Cross Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plains Road to the east, Lacombe Avenue to the south and the Bronx River to the west. The Bruckner Expressway bisects the neighborhood, while Westchester Avenue and Soundview Avenue are major commercial and transportation corridors.
Originally rural, Soundview developed rapidly after the IRT Pelham Line was extended along Westchester Avenue in 1920 and large housing developments were constructed during the mid-20th century.
Soundview is part of Bronx Community District 9. Its ZIP Codes are 10472 and 10473. The neighborhood is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 43rd Precinct, while its public-housing developments are served by Police Service Area 8.
History Origins and 19th-century development
Before European settlement, the Soundview peninsula, formed by the Bronx River, East River and Westchester Creek, was inhabited by the Siwanoy. A large Siwanoy settlement known as Snakapins was located near the present-day intersection of Soundview and Lacombe avenues at Clason Point. Archaeological investigations of the site documented dozens of pits and shell middens as well as pottery, tools and burials, and the settlement has been estimated to have supported approximately 300 inhabitants. In 1646, Dutch Director-General Willem Kieft granted the neck of land now known as Clason Point to English colonist Thomas Cornell, and the area became known as Cornell's Neck. After Cornell left the area, the property eventually passed through his family to the Willett family. In 1793, the Willetts divided Cornell's Neck, selling the western half to Dominick Lynch and the eastern half to merchant Isaac Clason, from whom Clason Point takes its name. The 1800 federal census recorded seven enslaved people of African descent in Clason's household, indicating that enslaved labor was used on his property before slavery was abolished in New York in 1827.
During the 19th century, much of the area remained rural and was occupied by farms and large estates. In 1830, the western portion of the former Cornell's Neck estate was sold to the Ludlow family, who became substantial landowners on the peninsula. The family's name was preserved in Ludlow Avenue, an early roadway through the area that was later incorporated into Eastern Boulevard. By 1872, William Watson owned a 225-acre estate extending through the area near the Bronx River and Westchester Avenue; his mansion stood near the present-day James Monroe Educational Campus, and a wooded section known as Watson's Woods extended east toward Morrison Avenue. Several local street names preserve the names of people associated with the area's development. Watson and Gleason Avenues were named for prominent local landowners William Watson and Joseph J. Gleason, while Fteley Avenue was named for civil engineer Alphonse Fteley, who oversaw the draining of swamps around Clason Point. The portion of the Bronx east of the Bronx River remained part of Westchester County until it was annexed by New York City in 1895; it became part of the newly established Borough of the Bronx in 1898 and Bronx County in 1914. Portions of the area north of Westchester Avenue were historically associated with Park Versailles, which originated as the Mapes Farm. One of the Mapes family's sons adopted the name while subdividing the property for development, and by 1920 all of the former farm's lots had been sold.
Early 20th century During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the waterfront developed as a popular recreational destination. Higgs Beach operated as a bathing and camping ground from 1900 to 1916 in what later became Harding Park, which subsequently developed as a bungalow colony. Clason Point became known for its beaches, excursion facilities and amusement venues, including Clason Point Amusement Park, which operated from 1910 to 1935. A municipal ferry connected Clason Point with College Point, Queens from 1919 until 1939, when the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge opened. The former Clason Point Amusement Park site was redeveloped in 1949 as the Shorehaven Beach Club, which operated until 1986, when the property was redeveloped as Shorehaven Estates.
While the waterfront supported recreational uses, much of Soundview remained undeveloped farmland in the early 20th century. Residential development increased after the IRT Pelham Line was extended along Westchester Avenue in 1920, followed by construction of one- and two-family houses. Soundview Avenue was also served by the Sound View Avenue streetcar line, originally known as the Clason Point Line, which operated from 1909 until 1947. Jewish settlement also increased during this period; by 1930, Jews made up approximately 30 to 39.9 percent of the population of the broader Soundview–Parkchester area. The migration was reflected in the relocation of Chevra Linas Hazedek, an Orthodox congregation whose members moved from East Harlem to Soundview during the 1920s. Construction of its synagogue at 1115 Ward Avenue began in 1928 and was completed in 1932. Another local synagogue, Emanu-El Synagogue at 1310 Elder Avenue, was active by 1934, when it hosted a meeting of the United Jewish Appeal. In 1979, Chevra Linas Hazedek sold its Ward Avenue synagogue to Green Pasture Baptist Church, which retained much of the building’s historic interior and Jewish iconography. The former synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 19, 2014.
During the 1930s through the 1950s, Robert Moses and the city's Committee on Slum Clearance pursued large-scale redevelopment of the Soundview waterfront. The proposals included demolition of the bungalow community at Harding Park, which Moses characterized as part of the "Soundview slums". Residents opposed the clearance plans, and Harding Park ultimately survived the redevelopment effort. After years of disputes over rents, evictions and ownership, residents reacquired the land from the city, and in 1981 Harding Park became New York City's first cooperatively owned low- and moderate-income community.
Public housing and urban renewal In 1941, Clason Point Gardens became the first public housing development constructed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) in the Bronx. Eastern Boulevard was renamed Bruckner Boulevard in 1942 in honor of former Bronx Borough President Henry Bruckner. In 1947, additional land in the neighborhood was used for a temporary NYCHA housing project consisting of 947 apartments in 473 Quonset huts.
One remaining Quonset hut is still visible on the south side of Seward Avenue at Croes Avenue. Numerous additional public housing developments were constructed throughout the Soundview peninsula during the 1950s and 1960s, contributing to substantial population growth. During the early 1950s, the Bronx River Parkway was extended southward into Soundview, while the Bruckner Expressway was later constructed along and above portions of Bruckner Boulevard.
P.S. 100 Isaac Clason was constructed between 1958 and 1960 to accommodate the population growth associated with Soundview’s mid-century housing developments. Designed in the Modern style by city school architect Michael L. Radoslovich, the building has been found eligible for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Soundview also developed a significant defense-electronics industry during the period. By 1958, Loral Electronics was manufacturing electronic equipment for U.S. Navy contracts at 825 Bronx River Avenue, and during the 1960s the company also operated a facility at 1440 Story Avenue.
Civil rights and late 20th-century change During the 1960s, racial prejudice and discrimination remained evident in and around Soundview despite the racial integration of its postwar public-housing developments. In July 1963, the Bronx chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized demonstrations against White Castle’s racially discriminatory hiring practices, including at its Bruckner Boulevard location. Participants included Soundview Houses resident Rosemary Brown, a member of the politically active and integrated Sound View Presbyterian Church; David G. Singleton, who was assigned to the church that year and worked with the Sound View–Bruckner Community Development Corporation on discrimination, housing, employment and government assistance; and the church’s pastor, Bruce Calkins. Singleton and Calkins were violently targeted by counterdemonstrators, including members of the neo-Nazi National Renaissance Party. White mobs at the Bronx demonstrations waved Confederate flags and attacked picketers with eggs, rocks and hot coffee. Police subsequently discovered racist literature and a cache of weapons in a National Renaissance Party vehicle, and eight members of the organization faced criminal charges. Despite the violence, the campaign ultimately succeeded, and White Castle changed its hiring policy.
In 1967, Bronx Borough President Herman Badillo selected Sound View as the name for the broader area. The name itself predated Badillo's designation. According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, when Soundview Park was developed, local residents opposed Parks Commissioner Robert Moses's proposed name of Lafayette Park and favored a name reflecting the surrounding area; "Soundview" was inspired by historical maps on which the East River was identified as part of Long Island Sound. Before Sound View became the broader neighborhood designation, the area contained several distinct communities and place names, including Clason Point, Bronx River, Bruckner and Park Versailles. Distinct local identities have persisted; Bronx Community Board 9 currently recognizes Bronx River, Clason Point, Harding Park and Soundview/Bruckner as separate communities within the district.
Soundview also saw substantial Mitchell–Lama development during the 1960s and early 1970s, including Lafayette-Morrison, Carol Gardens, River Plaza, Lafayette-Boynton and Stevenson Commons.
By 1970, Soundview was undergoing a significant demographic transition. The New York Times reported an increasing number of Puerto Rican families settling in the neighborhood, including working- and middle-class families purchasing homes, while many longtime Italian residents were leaving the area. During the 1970s, Soundview was affected by economic disinvestment, growing poverty and the broader New York City fiscal crisis, while its population became increasingly Black and Latino. However, residential abandonment was less extensive than in many neighborhoods west of the Bronx River; a later planning study found that the Bronx River–Bruckner–Soundview area experienced "relatively little abandonment" during the 1970s and early 1980s and became a haven for struggling Latino middle- and working-class families.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, Soundview became an important center of early hip-hop culture. Several pioneering local DJs, including Kool DJ Dee, Tyrone the Mixologist, Disco King Mario and Afrika Bambaataa, had connections to the Black Spades, which originated at the Bronxdale Houses. Kool DJ Dee and Tyrone operated an early sound system in the neighborhood and performed at outdoor parties and housing developments. Mario became known for parties around the Bronxdale Houses and at Rosedale Park, while Bambaataa organized parties at the nearby Bronx River Houses and later founded the Universal Zulu Nation.