Orchard Beach: The Bronx Riviera
ChiChi, 2010
rom its earliest years, the Bronx has been a hotbed of immigrant working class families, but its image has largely been defined by the urban blight of the late 1960?s through to the 1980?s when arson, drug addiction and social neglect decimated many of its neighborhoods. For the families who have called this scarred landscape home, Orchard Beach, the only beach in the borough, was and remains a treasured respite from the sweltering confines of the concrete jungle. Built in the 1930s by urban planner Robert Moses, the beach carries the stigma as being one of the worst in New York and is commonly known as Horseshit Beach or Chocha Beach.
I began shooting portraits of Orchard Beach?s summertime regulars in 2005 shortly after moving to New York, realizing that the stigma attached to this oasis was largely unjustified – I felt compelled to engage with this community of working class families and colorful characters. The photographs in ?Orchard Beach ? The Bronx Riviera? celebrate the pride and dignity
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