Ahead of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s State of the Borough speech on Feb. 22, this week we asked readers what they think is the current state of the Bronx.

I haven’t really seen too much improvement, to be honest with you. Maybe it’s a little better, they’ve opened more businesses in the area and that brings more jobs. Housing is still a big problem too, you have two families living in a two-bedroom apartment, which causes overcrowding. When they distribute the funds, we get what trickles down and the Bronx doesn’t get much–it don’t. I believe they’re cutting more funds than anything and the kids don’t have any places to go. The borough president just shows up at different events, but he’s not really doing anything to help the people.
David Johnson
Parkchester

I think the state of the borough is not so good. They have to do a lot of building and a lot of fixing things, like the bridges and roads. The roads have to be redone all over the Bronx. If anything is going good in the Bronx, I don’t know about it. So we have to hope for the best. We need funding in the Bronx and the mayor has to ask for more money from the governor and the federal government. The city is not getting its fair share.
John Singleton
Van Cortlandt Park South

This area continues to fall behind year after year. The subways are running by candlelight and the buses are worse than the subways, yeah. The subways are almost completely closed down at night, it’s non-existent after [midnight]. I work night and early morning shifts and you wait 30 minutes for one train. Crime is starting to rise up again and the neighborhood is starting to change. There’s less police present; you never see foot patrols and only once in a while do you see a car patrol the area. I would not go out after 8 o’clock anymore. It’s that bad. The sun is out, that’s about as good as it gets here in Bedford Park.
Robert O’Shea
Bedford Park

I think things are going good. There is a lot of violence going on around here, but it’s not as bad as it was before. It’s more random, not all the time. I think the subways are good, I use the subway all the time and think it’s a great form of transportation to use. Things are definitely better than they were last year.
Kaylin Marie
Bedford Park

 

I would say I think it’s improved a little bit, but I think we need to fix a lot of things in our neighborhood. The crime rate is a little high, unemployment’s a problem and I’m mostly really very scared about ICE and their immigration enforcement in our communities. I’m a Dreamer to be honest and I’m attending Lehman College and every night I have to live in the shadow of the Bronx, because I don’t know what’s going to happen. We need to make a lot more improvements and work together as a community.
Blas Almonte
Norwood