Thanks to our friend Olga we got a chance to explore a new part of the Bronx, a part which is so amazingly different from the rest of the borough: City Island. It's a small island of approximately 2,5 x 1 km, with a little over 4000 people living on it. Since it's not easy to get there by public transport we were happy to be driven and got an idea about traffic in the rush hour in NYC at the same time ...
The islanders are named for their origin: there are the "clamdiggers" – descendants from families which were originally settlers of the island – and the "musselsuckers", who came later to take profit of the quaint, peaceful, idyllic atmosphere.
Formerly a hub of boat building and fishing it's now mainly a popular (and expensive) address to live, with galleries, little shops, a museum, a church and a couple of (mostly) seafood & fish restaurants rowing up along main street. The population consists of people who like the proximity to the Bronx, but prefer being "out of town" and choose the "seaside atmosphere" over the huzzling and bustling in "SoBro" (South Bronx) - the up-and-coming neighborhood - or Little Italy on Arthur Ave. From first view it's a hotchpotch of intellectuals and former hippies, artists and teachers, old-money folks and nowadays hippsters.
The Ale House on City Island, where we had dinner and great local brews with Olga and two of her friends, living on the island, seemed to be the place where the locals gather whereas the huge seafood restaurants with ocean view are mostly packed on weekends and during vacation time when day-trippers flock in. What a peaceful, quiet part of NYC and the Bronx - no wonder, that the locals refuse to have a hotel or more touristic infrastructure on the island!!!
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