10 Facts About The Bronx Even A Native New Yorker Might Not Know

The Bronx birthed breakdancing, hip-hop, and much more, and you can experience them all live at the Boogie Down at the Bronx Zoo! Entry is included in your Bronx Zoo ticket; get one ASAP!

1. The Bronx's very own High Bridge is the oldest in all of NYC!

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The High Bridge is basically an NYC relic. Standing over the Harlem River, it was built in the mid-19th century as part of the Croton Aqueduct system, and you walk over the original pipes when you cross this bridge!

2. New Yorkers often affectionately refer to this borough as the "Boogie Down Bronx," but not many realize that this is a nod to it being the birthplace of hip-hop.

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And it's all because of a man known famously now as DJ Kool Herc. At the fateful back-to-school jam hosted in the Bronx on Sedgwick Avenue on Aug. 13, 1973, DJ Kool Herc and a friend, Coke La Rock, started shouting out their friends' names over heavy percussive beats and isolated instrumentals, and thus was born the infectious sound that would transform popular music for decades to come.

3. And the Bronx boogies in more ways than one, as it's also the birthplace of breakdancing!

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The athletic dance style started on the streets of South Bronx in the 1970s and has since made waves internationally. You can catch B-boys and B-girls all over, from the Bronx to Seoul!

4. The Bronx is the greenest borough in New York City, with the highest percentage of land dedicated to parks.

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The Bronx represents more than 25% of NYC's total municipal parkland acreage, and it's home to NYC's largest park, Pelham Bay Park.

5. You can also find some of the OG landmarks of Italian-American culture in the Bronx. True New Yorkers recognize Arthur Avenue as home to the "real" Little Italy. Sorry, Manhattan!

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In a Bronx neighborhood called Belmont, Arthur Avenue is alive with authentic Italian restaurants, butcheries, pastry shops, pizzerias, and more, and has felt — and tasted — like home to Italians in New York for generations. Whether you want to salivate over a perfectly seasoned bowl of gnocchi or indulge in a robust bottle of wine, a trip to Arthur Avenue is your best bet for true Italian fare.

6. You'll have to go to the nation's capitol to see the Lincoln Memorial, but it was first carved in what is now a vacant lot in the Bronx.

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Honest Abe's gigantic marble memorial was just one of the works of the Italian-born Piccirilli brothers. They're also the sculptors behind the world-famous Patience and Fortitude lion statues, which you'll find at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street in Manhattan.

7. The Bronx is a mosaic of ethnic diversity bustling with culture, and it was in this rhythmic melting pot that mambo and salsa took root in the United States.

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It's no mystery how mambo and its evolution into salsa were able to flourish in a borough as culturally electric and full of spirit as the South Bronx. Though the dances originate in Cuba and are the lively products of African, Caribbean, and Latin sounds and movements, they rose to mass popularity after World War II when they were adopted by Puerto Ricans in the Bronx. Though the nightlife scenes for both mambo and salsa in the Bronx have ebbed from total domination to a more underground presence, it's still an integral part of the cultural integrity of this NYC borough.

8. All true golfing fans should pay a visit to the Bronx. This NYC borough is home to the nation's oldest public golf course, Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course.

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It was established in 1895, and just one year later St. Andrew's Golf Club hosted the country's first public golf tournament here!

9. The writer Edgar Allen Poe rented a cottage on Grand Concourse that’s still standing today.

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Now designated as a New York City Landmark, the well-preserved farmhouse standing since 1812 contains a museum open to the public.

10. There's a banana-ripening facility in Hunt's Point!

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Before landing in stores all over the city, bananas are basically tricked into ripeness in pressurized rooms at the Banana Distributors of New York warehouse.

Boogie Down at the Bronx Zoo!

Hop on the nearest Bronx-bound train to see special live performances by hip-hop legends Melle Mel and the Sugarhill Gang, take rhyming lessons from the iconic Grandmaster Caz, experience the magic of street art in action, and maybe even pick up some original artwork made by animals at the zoo (for real). Entry is included in your Bronx Zoo ticket, get them here!