Story and photos by Lennin Reyes
The Bx55, which replaced the 3rd Avenue El in April 1973, will be renumbered the “Bx15 Limited” later this year. We look back at how the 3rd Avenue corridor has evolved over the last 40 years.
The Bx55 replaced the 3rd Avenue El, which carried the No. 8 subway line in 1973. The 8 (thin line in center) ran between Gun Hill Road and 149th Street in the Bronx. Prior to 1955, the line continued south into Lower Manhattan.
Two years after the demolition of the 3rd Avenue El, the Bronx Borough Courthouse closed its doors and relocated to 161st Street and Grand Concourse. This came at a time in which arson fires to apartment buildings caused thousands to leave the South Bronx.
In 2003, the largely-industrial 3rd Avenue corridor between 163rd and 168th Streets was rezoned to allow for residential development, resulting in nearly 10,000 residents migrating into this neighborhood between 2000 and 2010.
Even The Hub, the southern terminus of the No. 8 line in 1973, received a facelift. A longtime empty lot on 156th Street was filled with several stores in 2007.
Despite the new development, longtime residents like Rolando Almanzar, 50, worry that the rent will push him out of his longtime neighborhood. “The Bronx is getting too crowded and the rent is too high,” Almanzar said.
Part of the Bx15/55 restructuring plan is to cut Bx55 service north of Fordham, forcing residents such as Jennifer Santiago, 20, to take the Bx41 to access Gun Hill Road. “It’s not a good idea,” Santiago said while standing at a bus stop on A bus stop on Webster Avenue and East Fordham Road. “A lot of people get on here to get to Gun Hill and catch the 2 train. There are times in which the bus is frequent, but too crowded.”
According to the MTA, the reason for the restructuring is the reconstruction of Fordham Plaza, which will be turned into a pedestrian-friendly plaza and eliminate car access on 3rd Avenue north of East 189th Street. Here, a traffic guard guides traffic at 3rd Avenue and East 189th Street.
A crowd of commuters wait for the Bx55 at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Claremont Parkway.
Forty years after the 3rd Avenue El has been demolished, old remnants, like the old trackbed of the No. 8 line seen underneath the existing No. 2 line at Gun Hill Road, still remain.
Cornell Strayhorne | September 19, 2013
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As a long-time resident of NYC, one of the most stupid acts that city administrators have made over the years was to not have the foresight to see that demolishing the once revered 3rd ave el in the North Bronx was was a “VERY BAD MOVE”…
rididing on the #55ltd and the #41 LTD is a joke;
The El woud in-fact carry the much needed over-burdened population during hours that all of the bus lines are all jammed with passengers along the same route (especially during the school hours and shopping areas over the holidays).
not enough seats on the buses, street crossings are always jammed and they are never on time!
The buildings that were once vacant are now thriving with new mom and pop busineses not to mention the big box stores that are now located all along 3rd ave and close the 149th street hub.
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!!
As everyone nows who has been in the area for a while,knows that Change has come to the Bronx….
Emil Mottola | March 25, 2018
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Demolishing the 3rd Ave El in the Bronx was a truly insane decision. Even in Manhattan the 2nd and 3rd Ave Els should not have been demolished until there was a replacement. New Yorkers were promised that replacement in the 1940’s. Now, nearly 80 years on, an absurdly expensive 2nd Ave subway has been built–but with only a few stations, and it stops at 96th St and doesn’t even reach the Bronx. With proper maintenance and modernization the Els, particularly the 3rd Ave El in the Bronx were good for another century.
The lack of viable efficient rapid transit in the central Bronx continues to hamper its post-industrial redevelopment, the way the Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg and Greenpoint are developing–because rapid transit into Manhattan exists there. Bronx residents should stand up and stop being treated as third world peasants. The 3rd Ave corridor needs a subway line or rebuild the El.
Emil Mottola | March 25, 2018
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Demolishing the 3rd Ave El in the Bronx was a truly insane decision. Even in Manhattan the 2nd and 3rd Ave Els should not have been demolished until there was a replacement. New Yorkers were promised that replacement in the 1940’s. Now, nearly 80 years on, an absurdly expensive 2nd Ave subway has been built–but with only a few stations, and it stops at 96th St and doesn’t even reach the Bronx. With proper maintenance and modernization the Els, particularly the 3rd Ave El in the Bronx were good for another century.
The lack of viable efficient rapid transit in the central Bronx continues to hamper its post-industrial redevelopment, the way the Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods are developing–because rapid transit into Manhattan exists there. Bronx residents should stand up and stop being treated as third world peasants. The 3rd Ave corridor needs a subway line or rebuild the El.
Charles Wunderman | July 8, 2018
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The Third Ave El in the Bronx had been allowed to fall into a terrible state of decay in an era when elevated trains, and mass transit in general, were viewed very negatively.
Had the El survived till today, it could’ve been refurbished and linked to the Second Avenue subway, offering fast transit to an area that has now been completely transformed and houses tens of thousands of new residents — without providing adequate transit. Sorry, but buses cannot and do not replace trains.