Location of Kingsbridge Heights in New York City

Kingsbridge Heights is a working class residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 8. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, Kingsbridge Road to the south, and the Major Deegan Expressway to the west. Sedgwick Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Kingsbridge Heights. Zip codes include 10463 and 10468. The area is patrolled by the 50th Precinct located at 3450 Kingsbridge Ave in Kingsbridge. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled by P.S.A. 8 at 2794 Randall Avenue in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx.

Demographics[link]

Kingsbridge Heights has a population over 35,000. The neighborhood has a high concentration of Dominicans especially in the southern and central sections of the neighborhood.^[1] In these two areas over 30% of the population lives below the poverty line. A small aging White non-Hispanic population is concentrated near Van Cortlandt Park or Van Cortlandt Village. In more recent years young professionals, mostly White non-Hispanic, have started to move into Van Cortlandt Village. The vast majority of households are renter occupied.

Local school

Recently the northern subsection known as Van Cortlandt Village has seen an increase in higher-end rental and co-op building construction. This subsection is bordered by the Major Deegan Expressway to the west, the Jerome Park Reservoir to the east, W 238th Street to the south, and Van Cortlandt Park to the north. On April 4, 2007, Business Week Online (MSNBC.com) called Van Cortlandt Village one of "America's next hot neighborhoods".[1].

The Fort Independence Street-Heath Avenue Houses are a one, 21-story NYCHA development in Kingsbridge Heights.

Land use and Terrain[link]

Kingsbridge Heights is dominated by multi-unit detached homes. There is also a significant presence of tenement buildings concentrated mostly in the central and southern sections of the neighborhood.

The Jerome Park Reservoir is the most dominant landmark in the area. It was originally part of the Bathgate Estate that was later purchased by Leonard Jerome and Associates, to build The Jerome Park Racetrack. The Jerome Park Reservoir replaced the racetrack and was built in 1906 to serve the Croton Aqueduct as part of the New York City water supply system. The perimeter of this reservoir is approximately 2.2 miles.

Kingsbridge Armory is on Kingsbridge Road.

History[link]

Historically, Kingsbridge Heights once had a predominantly Jewish and Irish population followed by a large working class African-American migration. However, White flight over the past few decades led to the neighborhood's demographics shifting to mostly Hispanic, with Dominicans becoming the largest ethnic group in the community. Puerto Ricans are also a prominent ethnic group.

Urban renewal[link]

Due to White flight some of the homes in the southern and central parts of the area have been left vacant. Many homes today are being rehabilitated and offered as rentals to the booming Dominican population found in the area. At the same time higher end construction is taking place in the northernmost section of the neighborhood.

Transportation[link]

• Bx1: to Kingsbridge or Third Avenue – 138th Street station (6 <6> trains) (via Grand Concourse)
• Bx2: to Third Avenue – 138th Street station (6 <6> trains) (via Grand Concourse)
• Bx3: to 238th Street station (1 train) or George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal (via Martin Luther King Blvd-University Avenue)
• Bx9: to Riverdale or West Farms Square – East Tremont Avenue station (2 5 trains) (via East Kingsbridge Road)
• Bx10: to Riverdale or Norwood – 205th Street station (D train) (via Kappock Street)
• Bx22: to Castle Hill (via Castle Hill Avenue)
• Bx32: to Third Avenue – 138th Street station (6 <6> trains) (via Morris-Jerome Avenues)
• BxM3: express to Yonkers or Midtown Manhattan
• Kingsbridge Road station (4 train)

References[link]

v t e Neighborhoods in the New York City Borough of The Bronx Allerton Baychester Bedford Park Belden Point Belmont (Arthur Avenue) Castle Hill City Island Clason Point Crotona Park East Co-op City Country Club East Bronx Eastchester East Tremont Edenwald Ferry Point Park Fieldston Fordham Harding Park Highbridge Hudson Hill Hunts Point The Hub Kingsbridge Kingsbridge Heights Locust Point Longwood Marble Hill Melrose Morrisania Morris Heights Morris Park Mott Haven North Bronx North Riverdale Norwood Olinville Parkchester Pelham Bay Pelham Gardens Pelham Parkway Port Morris Riverdale Silver Beach Soundview South Bronx Spuyten Duyvil Sychulerville Throggs Neck Tremont University Heights Van Cortlandt Village Van Nest Wakefield West Bronx West Farms Williamsbridge Woodlawn Community Boards: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Coordinates: 40°52′20″N 73°54′02″W / 40.8723220°N 73.9006916°W / 40.8723220; -73.9006916

This page deals with the town of Kingsbridge in Devon. For other references, see Kingsbridge (disambiguation)

Coordinates: 50°17′00″N 3°46′35″W / 50.2833°N 3.7765°W / 50.2833; -3.7765

Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge  Kingsbridge shown within Devon
Population	5,421 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SX7344
District	South Hams
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Devon

Kingsbridge is a market town and popular tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of about 5,800. It is situated at the northern end of the Kingsbridge Estuary, which is a textbook example of a ria and extends to the sea six miles south of the town.

History[link]

Clock on the old Town Hall building

The town formed around a bridge which was built in or before the 10th century between the royal estates of Alvington, to the west, and Chillington, to the east, hence giving it the name of Kyngysbrygge ("King's bridge"). In 1219^[1][2] the Abbot of Buckfast was granted the right to hold a market there, and by 1238 the settlement had become a borough.^[1] The manor remained in possession of the abbot until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it was granted to Sir William Petre. Kingsbridge was never represented in Parliament or incorporated by charter, the local government being by a portreeve. It lay within the hundred of Stanborough.^[3]

Kingsbridge is in fact a combination of two towns, Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke. Dodbrooke was granted its own market in 1257 and had become a borough by 1319. While Dodbrooke was originally considered to be the dominant of the two, Kingsbridge later expanded to include it. The town consists of two ecclesiastical parishes: St. Edmund's in the west and St. Thomas Becket at Dodbrooke in the east. St. Edmund's Church, in mainly Perpendicular style, retains some 13th-century features including a font, but was enlarged and reconsecrated around 1414 and was mostly rebuilt in the 19th century. The parish church of St. Thomas Becket displays a particularly well-preserved rood screen, restored in 1897.

The Prince Regent (the future King George IV) considered building his pavilion above nearby South Sands beach before finally settling on Brighton^{[citation needed]}.

In 1798 the town mills were converted into a woollen manufactory, which produced large quantities of cloth, and serge manufacture was introduced early in the 19th century. During the 19th century the town had an active coastal shipping trade, shipbuilding, a tannery, other industries and a large monthly cattle market. The chief exports were cider, corn, malt, and slate.^[3]

The town centre retains many 18th and 19th century buildings. The Shambles, or market arcade, was rebuilt in 1796 but retains its 16th century granite piers. The former grammar school, now a museum, was founded and built by Thomas Crispin in 1670.^[1]

The town today[link]

View of the town over the estuary

Kingsbridge has been the main market town in the area for centuries. Being situated within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and its proximity to the spectacular south Devon coast and sailing venues, such as Salcombe, Kingsbridge has developed into a popular tourist destination. Its attractions include several restaurants, pubs, a cinema housed in the town hall building, and a museum devoted to the chemist William Cookworthy, born in Kingsbridge in 1705.

There are two supermarkets in Kingsbridge; a Morrisons and a large Tesco Store - which opened on Valentines Day 2011. It also has a large secondary school, Kingsbridge Community College, which has over 1000 pupils and serves the surrounding area. 'Coast' is the only nightclub in Kingsbridge, with the next nearest being in Torquay

The town is linked to Plymouth and Dartmouth by the A379 road, and to Salcombe and Totnes by the A381. For seventy years Kingsbridge boasted a railway station until the branch line, via South Brent, was closed in 1963 as part of the reshaping of British railways, commonly known as The Beeching Axe. An industrial park now occupies the site of the former station yard. But evidence of the railway's existence can still be seen in the form of disused bridges dotted around the town.

Geography[link]

Neighbouring areas

	Ivybridge, Plymouth	Loddiswell	Dartmouth
	Buckland, Thurlestone		Slapton
		Kingsbridge    East
	Hope Cove	Salcombe	Start Point

Twin cities[link]

• Isigny-sur-Mer,  France
• Weilerbach,  Germany

2012 Olympic Torch Relay[link]

Kingsbridge has been selected as a town for the Plymouth to Exeter route of the 2012 Olympic Relay. The Olympic torch will pass through the Town on Sunday 20th May 2012 at around 0950.

Notable residents[link]

• William Cookworthy (1705–1780), the discoverer of English china clay and producer of the first English porcelain, was born in the town.
• John Wolcot (1738–1819), poet and satirist who wrote under the name of "Peter Pindar", was born here.
• Naturalist George Montagu (1753–1815), after whom the bird Montagu's Harrier was named, lived before his death at Knowle House, Kingsbridge, having been born in Wiltshire.
• John Scoble (1799– d. after 1867), anti-slavery campaigner in Britain and Canada, was born in Kingsbridge.
• Radio Legend Martin Mills, The pioneer of The Kitesurfing Organisation. He also one part of the Swedish House Mafia.
• Composer William Henry Squire (1871–1963) was educated in Kingsbridge.
• Architect Vincent Harris (1876–1971) was also educated in the town.
• Maurice Fox-Strangways, 9th Earl of Ilchester (1920–2006), RAF officer and nuclear weapons engineer, was educated here.
• Physicist Sir William Mitchell (1925–2002) was born here.
• England rugby player Julian White grew up in Kingsbridge and was the son of a local sailor.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.  (Some text may have been edited).

External links[link]

• Kingsbridge Tourist Information Centre
• Kingsbridge Community College
• Kingsbridge at the Open Directory Project

Coordinates: 50°17′00″N 3°46′35″W / 50.2833°N 3.7765°W / 50.2833; -3.7765

Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (born 1948) was New York senator and convicted Felon.

He was the Chair of the Minority Conference within the Senate, as well as Chairman Emeritus of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, Chair of the New York State Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force. He is President of the National Hispanic Policy Institute. Gonzalez also serves on the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas, (COPA).

Born in Coamo, Puerto Rico, Gonzalez's family moved to the United States shortly thereafter.

Prior to his election to the State Senate Gonzalez had worked as the Union Representative for the Transport Workers Union, and subsequently, the Union Representative for Local 820 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1969 until 1979 which was during his employment at Brinks Armored Car Service.

Senator Efrain Gonzalez was married on July 20, 1969 and has four children with his wife.

On August 25, 2006, it was disclosed that Senator Gonzalez had been indicted for mail fraud. He surrendered to federal authorities shortly after his indictment was unsealed, and was subsequently released on $25,000 bail following his arraignment.

According to the indictment, Gonzalez is accused of defrauding the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, by using funds donated to the organization in order to pay for over $37,000 in personal expenses. In December 2006, in a new Federal indictment that replaced the August indictment, he was charged with diverting over $400,000 meant for the community not-for-profit to personal expenses, including vacation homes in the Dominican Republic, homes for his wife, mistress, renovations to his mother-in-law's home, Yankees tickets and college tuition for his daughter. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. He was defeated on September 9, 2008 in the Democratic Party primary by Pedro Espada.

On May 25, 2010, Gonzalez was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts in May 2009. In April, Judge William H. Pauley III denied a request by Mr. Gonzalez to withdraw his plea.^[1][2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bronx State Senator Surrenders On Fraud Charges
• Inquiry Puts Bronx Senator in an Unfamiliar Place: Under a Spotlight
• Bronx State Senator Indicted In Job Scam
• Capitol Offenses