Read About Things to Do in The Bronx

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There's so much to see in The Bronx

The beloved Bronx Zoo (the largest urban zoo in the country) home to more than 4,000 animals representing more than 600 species in specialized environments. The charming, historic, water-side community of City Island. The mile-long Grand Concourse, envisioned as New York’s Champs Elysees, lined with elaborate Art Deco buildings (some of which still remain). And, Little Italy -- Arthur Avenue. Read Bronx Attractions, Things to Do, And More!

Did You Know?

The Bronx is the only borough of New York City on the North American mainland. Queens and Brooklyn are both located on Long Island, and Manhattan and Staten Island are both their own islands. But the Bronx isn't land-locked. It's on the Long Island Sound, and even has some islands of its own.

The Bronx takes its name from Bronck's Farms, after Jonas Bronck, who settled in the area in the mid-1600s. It's not clear why this borough is called the Bronx while no one says the Queens.

It's also not clear why the Bronx Cheer is derisive buzzing sound often called a raspberry. However, according to Wikipedia

One of the most famous uses of the Bronx Cheer is in the 1942 recording "Der Fuehrer's Face" by musical comedian Spike Jones, which shows disdain for Adolf Hitler with the repeated refrain "We'll Heil! (Bronx cheer sound) Heil! (Bronx cheer) Right in Der Fuehrer's Face!"

Finally, according to NYC&Company, The Bronx has a greater percentage of green space than any other urban area in the country: 24% of its 42 square miles is parkland.

The Paradise is Back, Kinda
Once upon a time there was a chain of movie theaters that was truly grand. The Loew’s Valencia in Queens was my childhood special treat. It cost extra to see a show there, but ceiling was a starry sky and there were carpets and fountains and ponds with goldfish. It was my first taste of an opulence I had never known. That wasn’t the only grand theater, the Paradise in the Bronx, which opened in 1929, provided the residents of that borough a similar feel for the grandeur that was not in our daily lives.

The Paradise, whose five-story facade on the Grand Concourse at 188th St. has been declared a city landmark, is back. Not as a movie theater but as a performance hall, and complete with statuary of cherubs, lions, and gargoyles. The theater will now be used for concerts and special events. Loews Paradise Theater is being refurbished through the joint efforts of First Paradise Theater Corp. which owns the premises and whose parent company is a major real estate developer in the tri-state area and Paradise Theater Productions, Inc., which company will run the day to day aspects of the theater.