The eight-decade story of a New York neighborhood
In 1940, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company opened a planned community in the East Bronx, New York. A model of what the neighborhood would become was first displayed to an excited public at the 1939 World’s Fair. Parkchester was celebrated as a “city within a city,” offering many of the attractions and comforts of suburbia, but without the transportation issues that plagued commuters who trekked into New York City every day. This new neighborhood initially constituted a desirable alternative to inner city neighborhoods for white ethnic groups with the means to leave their Depression-era homes. In this bucolic environment within Gotham, the Irish and Italian Catholics, white Protestants and Jews lived together rather harmoniously.
In Parkchester, Jeffrey S. Gurock explains how and why a “get along” spirit prevailed in Parkchester and marked a turning point in ethnic relations in the city.
Gurock is also attuned to, and documents fully, the egregious side to the neighborhood’s early history. Until the late 1960s, Parkchester was off-limits to African Americans and Latinos. He is also sensitive to the processes of integration that took place once the community was opened to all and explains why transition was made without significant turmoil and violence that marked integration in other parts of the city. This eight decade history takes Parkchester’s tale up to the present day and indicates that while the neighborhood is today predominantly African American and Latino, and home to immigrants from all over the world, the spirit of conviviality still prevails on its East Bronx streets.
As a child of Parkchester himself, Gurock couples his critical expertise as leading scholar of New York City’s history with an insider’s insight in producing a thoughtful, nuanced understanding of ethnic and race relations in the city.

"Fascinating … Vintage photos of the neighborhood and its people enhance the narrative, and snippets of interviews and conversations with former and current residents emphasize the story’s human element." - Foreword Reviews

"Parkchester is a page turner, a history lesson, and a Bronx tale about a community and the various ethnic cultures who reside there." - Bronx Times

"Gurock’s research foregrounds tenant experiences and provides valuable data on the factors that contribute to community building. Parkchester is useful for collections specializing in New York City, housing, the formation of social classes, and the late 20th century, and also for anyone seeking support for the thesis that what benefits the working class benefits everyone." - Choice

"Jeffrey Gurock, who himself grew up in Parkchester, chronicles the evolution of Parkchester and its conflicts in considerable detail. His history of life in Parkchester is made interesting by the many profiles of its residents from the earliest to the more recent (many of whom are immigrants)." - Journal of Urban Affairs

"Parkchester is a worthy addition to the literature on efforts to create and keep affordable housing in New York City." - The American Jewish Archives Journal