The Bronx is a county in New York State that has gone through a series of transformations since its separation from New York County on January 1, 1914. It is a region that is at a racial and ethnic crossroads, and its political future is likely to be determined by this. In the mid-late 1960s, some parts of the Bronx experienced a sharp decline in population, habitable housing, and quality of life, which continued through the 1970s. The Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, also known as the “Jay Treaty”, was a point of contention between the president and Congress over funding for its implementation. This treaty had a major impact on the political landscape of the Bronx.
Factions or political parties began to form during the struggle for the ratification of the Federal Constitution of 1787. All currently elected public officials in the Bronx have first won the Democratic Party nomination (in addition to other supporters). The South Bronx has some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, as well as high-crime areas. Abigail Smith Adams (1744-181) was a staunch defender of women's political, educational, and marital rights and a wise and intelligent political advisor to her husband, John Adams, revolutionary leader and second president of the United States. Paul Brant, a Jesuit and founder of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, said that people in the area almost felt that political leaders were working against them rather than for them.
The Bronx is divided into seven Community Districts (CDs), with Districts 1 to 6 plus part of CD 7 located north of the Bronx River from its mouth to Bronx Park. The remaining Districts face Manhattan (on the other side of the Harlem River). The number, location, and boundaries of Bronx neighborhoods (many of them located on the sites of 19th-century towns) have become unclear over time and with successive waves of newcomers. The life of gangs in the Bronx was described in Richard Price's 1974 novel The Wanderers and its 1979 film adaptation.
After the arrival of beat match DJs, such as Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc, who extended the breaks of funk records, a new musical genre emerged that sought to isolate percussion pauses from successful funk, disco and soul songs. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, an avalanche of cases overwhelmed hospitals and the city's health system, making New York City's metropolitan area become the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States during its early stages. The Bronx had a powerful political leader at this time - a man with access to the city council and an absolute command of his community politics.
