Step Out Bronx

TAWNYs to Step Out and Up in the Bronx

Bronx Walk Route and Map

We tried in July, but the weather prognosticators were against us. So on Saturday October 2nd, TAWNYs and other New Yorkers will meet to enjoy a healthy walk in the Bronx, with friendly people.

The walk, sponsored by: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Commission on Women's Issues, NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, Lifetime TV, American Cancer Society, Step Out NYC and Take a Walk, New York!, will pass many of spectacular Bronx sites.

The walk will start at the Bronx District Public Health Office, 1826 Arthur Avenue.

Leaving the DPHO, we will walk south (left out of the DPHO) to Crotona Park North and east on Crotona Park North to Crotona Avenue. We will enter Crotona Park from Crotona Ave. After walking in the Park (route TBD) we will exit on Claremont Parkway near Fulton Ave. We will follow Claremont Parkway into Claremont Park. Walking up into the Park, we will pause for our one mile segment stop. Leaving Claremont Park at Clay Ave. and Mt. Eden Parkway, we will walk north on Clay over the Cross Bronx Expressway to East 176th St. Making a right onto E. 176th and a left onto Anthony, we will proceed north to East 178th St., make a right onto E. 178th and a left onto Ryer Ave. for one block. At Burnside Ave. we will make a right, cross over Burnside and proceed north on Valentine Avenue to East 182nd St. Making a right onto E. 182nd, we will walk to Webster Avenue, left onto Webster to East 183rd St. and right onto E. 183rd St. We will walk across E. 183rd, left around St Barnabas Hospital to East 184th St. and into "Little Italy in the Bronx". This will be our three mile segment stop. We will walk along Arthur Avenue for one or two blocks to East 187th St., retrace our steps on the other side of Arthur and follow Arthur Avenue south back to the District Public Health Office.

Little Italy in the Bronx
It's a friendly place. Walk down the street and animated passers-by talk in their native tongue. Shoppers know merchants, and shopkeepers warmly greet their customers.


The demolition of neighborhoods that has made much of the city sterile has not affected the compact and vibrant area known as "Belmont." Hemmed in by Fordham Road, Third Avenue, Southern Boulevard and Tremont Avenue, this is a place where tradition has been preserved, and even those who have moved

out of turn-of-the-century apartment buildings and older frame houses where generations of Italians have grown up, come back, to visit their roots, feeling compelled to return to the place their ancestors build with energy, laughter, hard work, lots of love and a great deal of generosity.

Walk down Arthur Avenue and your senses are heightened by cackling sounds, blended aromas, striking colors, textures, and a variety of tastes fit for a king, or a common person, as long as he or she can wait till "Monday" to start that diet.

Fresh fruit and vegetables abound, salamis and sausages, pastries and breads just baked, cheeses...homemade mozzarella, parmigiani, provolone...prosciutto, pasta, thick and thin, dried red peppers, olives of all colors, fish, clams, mussels, chickens, meats, expresso...

And that's not all. Restaurants in the area are some of the best in the city; housewares spill over from the stores to the sidewalks; gifts can be bought for young and old, and sundries of every variety are offered.
In 1940, the first enclosed "Retail Market" in the Bronx was built on Arthur Avenue in an attempt by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to abolish peddling from pushcarts. Today, the Retail Market is considered the "heart" of Belmont. The soul, however, belongs to the Roman Catholic Church of Mt. Carmel, and the intellect to the Enrico Fermi Cultural Center/Belmont Library, where the area's rich Italian Heritage lives on through one of most complete collections of cultural resources available anywhere.

No story about "Little Italy" in the Bronx is complete without inclusion of The Belmont Italian American Theatre which produces the finest quality classical Italian and contemporary Italian-American theater, as well as new works from writers of all ethnic backgrounds.

"Little Italy in the Bronx" is less well known than "Little Italy in Manhattan," but that might be just the reason that the "flavor" of this charming neighborhood has changed so little over so long a time.

About Step Out New York

On March 24, 2004 the Commission on Women's Issues Health Committee announced its "Step Out New York City" (SO NYC) program. Step Out NYC is designed to encourage New Yorkers to increase their physical activities and keep track of their efforts on line. Step Out NYC's "Track Your Progress" online tool is designed to help you track progress with your individual physical activity goals. www.nyc.gov

The Best Physical Activity is the Kind You Enjoy!

For an average sedentary adult, engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week is enough to obtain health benefits. This activity can be spread out over the day, for example, in shorter periods of 10 to 15 minutes each.

Physical activity does not need to be strenuous to be beneficial, although increasing the time, intensity, and/or frequency of physical activity will result in even greater health benefits. If you have not been active in a while you

Take A Walk, New York! is
Sponsored by
The Neighborhood Open Space Coalition
The New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene

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