Mott Haven, New York – In the small community of Mott Haven, located in the Southwest Bronx, often thought to be one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the Bronx lies an anomaly: A Dog-day care center that might not be out of place in Williamsburg, but seems crazy to exist in a place like the South Bronx which was once synonymous with arson, violent crime, and decay. It is emblematic of the sweeping changes happening in the Bronx. With beer gardens, hip-hop themed restaurants, the borough’s first and only independent book store it can be said that the Bronx is experiencing its own urban renaissance.
Borne out of a summer night in 2015, over a couple of beers, owners Renzo and Steven envisioned expanding their local dog walking/boarding service into an actual Brick-and-Mortar establishment. Renzo, originally from Peru, had an enduring passion for dogs; his best friend growing up was a rescue animal. Originally starting a dog walking service in Queens, after deciding college wasn’t for him, they moved back to Steven’s native hometown of the Bronx in 2016 where they quickly realized there weren’t any options for them to have their dogs taken care of. It was then they realized that they could make their dreams a reality. Since then they have built Bronx Barx to be the very first full-service dog business in the Bronx.
Bronx Barx is illustrative of the sweeping changes happening in the Bronx, where young creative entrepreneurs are investing in small businesses, helping to create opportunities for people in the communities, providing access to different resources and helping to make the Bronx more inclusive. In June 2019, Renzo and Steven held the Bronx LGBT Expo in Bronx Barx which consisted of black and white photographs and first-person narratives of people of the LGBT community from the Bronx who have struggled with mental health issues.
But Renzo is worried that with the new attention that the South Bronx has attracted, big businesses and real estate developers may start pouring in and induce more gentrification, making it hard for small businesses to survive.
“I get worried sometimes, we don’t want to see another gentrification happen, that we’ve seen in Brooklyn. We need to value those small businesses. There are people in the Bronx with great ideas, we see in the South Bronx so many restaurants, so many places to go. From a coffee shop in Hunts Point to the first Bookstore here in the Bronx. It’s exciting. This is why it’s so important to support the people who are trying to make it out here.”
With new businesses popping up and investments being made into the community, the South Bronx is definitely being revitalized. But will the residents who already live there be able to benefit from the economic upturn? Only time will tell.