The Fire Next Door - The Bronx, Part-1 of 2

CBS reporter Bill Moyers looks at the arson problem in The Bronx from 197- and with the FDNY 19th Battalion.
***Sorry about the audio****worth the watch though
From the Bendick Collection, visit nycfire.net

[@AmGJaG829]

People were so real back then.. they not on video to go viral is the difference. This is just real life. No put on. I love this!

[@Amidat]

That Bronx police commander was also interviewed on The Police Tapes... I remember his words. Very intelligent and insightful guy.

[@MondoBeno]

That's Tony Bouza, he was interviewed on The Police Tapes. It's funny, because nowadays no cop with rank would give such a frank and candid interview. He left the NYPD in the 1980's and became the police chief in Minneapolis, where he still lives today.

[@fewsaid]

I've been looking for this video for over 5 years

[@R1SmokeEater]

Sorry that the audio was in bad shape, but I thought it was still worth putting up.

[@seanmurray976]

we’re happy you did! thank you!

[@231gnx]

So happy to see this true,gritty reality of the Bronx in the 1970s.I grew up in the Bronx around this time(fortunately the Gun Hill Road area,near Co-op City).Riding the train to Manhattan I could count the burned out buildings that were occupied a week before.Morris Ave.was always burning!Thanks so much for posting.

[@tjlovesrachel]

Lolll I could only imagine…. Morris ave is still a shithole

[@Bratzybarbiee]

That’s my grandma pearl , Rest In Peace grandma ☹️🕊💓

[@WitchidWitchid]

I like the kids helping the fireman with the hose. Growing up I had relatives who lived in the South Bronx. Most of the kids in the neighborhood (like you see in this video) were good decent kids who wanted to become firemen, police, or go to college and become doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, teachers, etc. Sadly the chances for them to succeed were slim. Many wound up on dope or got involved in trouble. The cards were stacked against them from the day they were born.

[@iamnotamushroom2880]

The Bronx was what Detroit is today.

[@chrisbarr1359]

This is a very good video. It really helps explain why Da Bronx burnt so horribly during the War Years. As an FDNY buff I find it very informative. Thanks for posting it R1SmokeEater!

[@bigbirdvinny]

This is well worth the sound issue. Rare footage of this show from 1976. Great job finding this and posting it. For those of us who grew up in the Bronx during this time, it is quite the memory.

[@Britishness1]

I like the poor audio quality of this documentary. Makes it sound nice n old

[@giofyr]

Chief Bouze was so ahead of the times . He is actually talking about where we are heading now in 2015.

[@pauljames5914]

And where we are now in 2022! No better, much worse. This was all done.by design.

[@Amidat]

Too the person who asked why there were so many fires back then... There was thing called "red lining" that existed in many cities. Anywhere minorities lived en masse - banks refused to lend money to invest. That's what created ghettos. The South Bronx became the worst of the ghettos. The city of NY "boxed in" black and Puerto Ricans between Harlem and the neighborhoods that made up "The South Bronx". Some fires were just because of reckless behavior - but MANY of the fires was because of corruption. Most landlords knew the city would stop investing in the area so they had the buildings burned down to collect insurance while they lived in the suburbs.

[@MusicLoverPearson]

Amidat That is so true.

[@Amidat]

MusicLover Pearson unfortunately many don't know history... but then there are others who refuse to acknowledge it because it makes them feel better about themselves to put down others.

[@azul8811]

Were the landlords pulling false alarms at the fire alarm boxes? Were they pelting the responding firefighters with projectiles? Were the landlords booby-trapping the vacant buildings that caused injuries to firefighters? Were the land lords vandalizing the firefighters personal vehicles and breaking into firehouses when they were out on a call? Who was shooting and stabbing people? Who was breaking into stores? Who was dealing drugs? Who was spray painting the graffiti on the subway cars? Who was throwing the trash in the vacant lots?

[@MR1977.]

Care to share what religious minority group the landlords were a part of?

[@azul8811]

@@MR1977. Latter Day Saints?

[@FDNY101202]

Imagine being a fire marshal back then in the Bronx...

[@kathyoberle9093]

I love that vintage sink and stove.

[@Rickyrab]

Interestingly enough. 123 Sesame St. (on the kiddie show, yes, the one I saw as a kid) is probably intended to emulate the architecture of a mid-late 19th century brownstone.

[@christiandugdale]

Thank you so much. This is an important historical document which has really helped me with my research of the Bronx.

[@Schlipperschlopper]

Most interesting times ever!

[@Sehaj3]

HIP HOP WAS BORN OUT OF THESE FIRES.

[@giofyr]

Great vid. Man I wish I was a firefighter back then.

[@TNsher776]

Smart Police Chief, He is exactly right what he was talking about. It's like the liberals these days.

[@noahora277]

that grit noise only makes it more creepy.

[@panthershock]

No, it was caused by massive socio-economic and demographic changes. These changes killed the market value of inner city apartment housing. Landlords wouldn't have been able to charge the amount of rent needed for proper upkeep while also making a profit. The demand just wasn't there anymore. The fires were an inevitable liquidation of the housing supply. Urban renewal policies didnt help, but weren't the root cause

[@231gnx]

Its the 5 train going through the South BX.

[@teetot5276]

Lady with red scarf speaking facts!

[@SethHesio]

Watching Bill Moyers interview David Simon brought me here :)

[@angeloruiz8730]

wow my wife grew up in 1995 Davidson av after this

[@nomadicsoul34]

That police officer was decades ahead of his time , no surprise his views were unpopular. His insisghts around 6;30 are still true today.

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

Not only can't you own a gun, (they don;t issue permits at Police plaza anymore!) you can;t own a rifle either within NYC limits. They seem to justify anything now in this city as legal to fit their ends. No guns, no cameras, no video, no anything. No smoking! No loitering, no handbills, no street vendors without permits displayed on specific streets, no homeless where they can be SEEN. Freedom is a word--not a reality in this city. So Yes--in that way the 70's were BETTER.

[@mcbrotherhill]

Whats the difference between poor blacks and Puerto Rican living in the so call south Bronx.and the poor jewish and Italians living in the lower east side during the early 1900s and during the great depression.poor is poor

[@never4212]

The only real difference is that in recent years, so many jobs have been moved overseas.

[@DAngelo136]

Past is prologue; 40 years later the Bronx was rebuilt. Only now it's under corporate landlords and the FIRE (Finance, Insurance & Real Estate) interests. Couple that with gentrification and now you have rents that are too high for middle class incomes. The city give tax abatements to companies which create budget shortfalls and leads the city to make up revenues by poor people taxes (tickets, user fees and excise taxes). This is whats coming with the "austerity" budget of the Republicans.

[@TheSpogNYC]

You hit the nail right on the head my friend.

[@FeraltheEarthworm]

Is there ANY possible way to watch without the poor audio quality? I tried searching online but couldn't find a physical copy ... This seems to be the only existing footage. The audio quality is just unbearable. Is there any way to acquire it in it's original form? How could this possibly be the only copy? It won awards!

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

As I said..built around 1890 or so... The interesting thing is this documentary actually AIRED. Today this would be a 'distasteful" special offensive and racist as well as NOT the happy type of story they do these days...when was the last time anyone did a documntary on television on real povery...EXACTLY

[@231gnx]

Funny...Co-op city is currently "fortunate"to still be around.It was built on a weak land fill.

[@jgillen155]

Didnt see a scott pack in the whole video. My Dad was at 28 Engine in70-71. Then was the Lou @ 6 truck after. A rare breed those men

[@steveweiss3552]

I saw one truckie with one at around 12:39.

[@steveweiss3552]

Steve Weiss Another at 14:12.

[@Dragonballguy270]

Yeah there were a couple, Captain in the corridor coughing a lung up, different time, you wouldn’t want to breath the shit in houses these days

[@stefwatters477]

the Fire Boys do a great job considering the strain theyre under with so many fires a month,even a week,that'd have most services having low morale and on the verge of collapse,respect to the FDNY and the top work they do,greetings from Scotland! 👍😉

[@deneenjeffries2768]

How anyone could survive this with any semblance of sanity is only by God's grace. The constant fires and sirens would dry anyone insane. No peace of mind.

[@231gnx]

Most of the apartment buildings in the South Bronx were built between 1880-1920.Excellent,strong and well built.Then after WWII they had another housing boom with projects.Now,these buildings in this '70's docu,were either destroyed or renovated with $2,000-3,000 per month luxury apartments.Something aint it.

[@asimah07]

We've come a long,long,long waaaayy. And still booming, East and South Bronx

[@christiandugdale]

It says the sound quality is bad in the description for the video. It's your fault if you didn't like it.

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

wikipedia is WRONG..I was also THERE when Death Wish 3 was being filmed The outdoor street scenes WERE filmed ON LOCATION on East new Yprk Brooklyn...if you watch the film you can clearly read street signs which are the real streets. NOT fake. The last 15 minutes of the film they switched "on location" to the Bronx E177th St area due to being kicked out of Brooklyn. Only the interriors were shot in London. I also left out COney Island which in the very early 70's was one big run down slum.

[@R1SmokeEater]

Accidently removed that post...... Wecome! Bronx Boy here too.

[@Zlervo]

Thx for putting up the vid. Very interesting

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

Street gangs are still all over the NY area. they just taren't seen in midtown--but they are larger in number, they are all over Upper Mnanhattan, Queens (areas mostly right over the Queenboro bridge), alot is organized drug dealing--TRUE. Yo uwill see police round up and searching teens on any friday or Saturday night in The Bronx, brooklyn, Queens and Upper Manhattan. I don't know where they shuffle the homeless--they just make sure they aren't SEEN in midtown manhattan or any tourist area.

[@lookitsapanther]

12:30 is that little kid smoking a cigarette? or is it a lollypop? knowing the south bx its gotta be a smoke

[@mincraftdad12]

Mommy Why were their always vans moving furniture out of apartments just before the fire gets turned on.Shut your mouth and run.

[@jesselivermore2291]

south bronx-30.000 buildings on fire in 1 year...

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

There really are no movies either you can watch that show what a run down slum MORE than half of Brooklyn was around 1973..areas that were giant slums : Fort greene, Red Hook, Sunsey Park, bed-Stuy, East new York, Bushwock, Williamsburgh, greenpoint, and Brownsvile. Only movie that ever showed was DEATH WISH 3 and the MAYOR forced the movie to STOP filming in East new York because it was "offensive to the govt to show the city REALITY of slums. Most of those buildings torn down or renovated now

[@R1SmokeEater]

miseriavolare 3 days ago Thanks for sharing your amazing archives R1. Terrifying to see so much of this history that I was a child during -- I remember many of these programs airing on WGBH and the like in the 70s -- playing out all over again right now in Detroit. We have learned so much since that time in police, fire and EMS work and yet so little in social management, and all this new tech and science can't protect us from that. Stay safe, stay smart, stay alive

[@231gnx]

It said 1977,but was filmed in '76.

[@garethbarrington7488]

This is a brilliant ducomentray

[@sanitar-otti320]

How many people died in the flames? And how many arsonists were sent to prison? And how many landlords? The prisons must have been full of them. 30 arsons per day means minimum 10 new prisoners per day.

[@hoopdancer417]

Love this video, open coat, no B.a's no hoods chief has no gear on. Now that's old school.

[@BrehriGames]

Crazy that some of the guys appear to have SCBA gear but then there's dude's behind them who are unprotected and just sucking in smoke.

[@Dennis4abril]

this is old video not the same know

[@travelbug1019]

That's the first time I've ever seen "fortunate" and "Co-op City" in the same sentence.

[@R1SmokeEater]

It's rare footage! I put it up with the sound problems, or it never been able to be shared.....

[@hernandezn1976]

That's The Bronx I grew up in!!!

[@Rickyrab]

So, did the lightning daven in a shul on Yom Kippur?

[@dianecristina9201]

and in the 60s the fire was the burning of medical waste despite EPA standards.

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

How old were the apartment buildings--very old 100 yeara old or close to it...those buildings were bult around 1890 or so a lot of them cand d) NY Police had a serious budget crisis as well as all public services in ths 70's ..the State asked the Federal government for help and pres. Ford said to NY "Drop dead". After that the city was a mess through the early 80's. Also--starting a fire started by someone under 16 was treated as a "juvenile " offense almost NO repercussions. FUN CITY lol.

[@josecitomadera]

Which train is that? I want to know as I am going to see how that area looks now. I'll be there at year's end.

[@kellymendez]

4train

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

That;s a more complex situation. Yes-Guiliani had te whole 42nd Street prostitution and porno areas demolished and concerted into the Lion King and Disney district while drug deals go on there 24/7. Yes developers turned low income SRO occupanies into renovated yuppie condos or they remodeled and raised rents. The VHS/ DVD in the 90's reduced the need for Porn theaters Hookers moved South to the Lower E20's and lex. Ave and then 'disappeared" ? The Homeless also were "removed" to Wash heights.

[@Piggy-Oink-Oink]

Staten island now is trying to overcome the problems of Hurricane sandy. Staten island has some really nie places and some NOT great places (rent the movie BIG FAN with Patton oswald). Central park W is afine , so is Cenreal park South..but that;s for millionaires only. I dont know what you want-an apt-a condo---the upper West side is overcrowded in nYC..theUpper East side is too expensicve..i wouls say try downtown--battery park apartments on west Side highway .

[@Bond.girl.007]

And again here we are in 2023. Rinse and repeat. A little different this time but it's still quite sad. Even the areas that were doing well until now are losing long time tenants. Nobody wants to deal the crime and illogical policy here. Understandable.

[@bxdale83]

Don't feed the troll classylady. I grew up in the projects myself in the southeast bronx (soundview area) might i ask what projects are u from?

[@tjlovesrachel]

Monroe houses?

[@mycurrentevents]

Junkies. Boy, they were scary. I'm a So Bronx baby. 1960's

[@emt5330]

Ladder 31 getting it done at the beginning

[@MondoBeno]

When the NYPD were cooping on the job and taking huge bribes, these guys were risking their lives.

[@wolfy1987]

Perfect example of what happens with a combination over-regulation, welfare, and misplaced empathy. Rent control insures apartment owners will never make money on their investment, thus encouraging them to burn their own buildings for insurance. Welfare encouraged tenants to burn their own building in order to get better accommodation. Redlining forced poor and minority residents into ghettos, and the rest is history. If Puerto Rico wasn't part of the US I'd blame immigration too, as that's a huge problem today, perhaps even more so than back then.

[@georgecoons6872]

Remember this shit started at adam and eve. God has never ruled this planet earth. He is no ware. But he is ruling another earth. Kepler 186 the 2nd earth.

[@chevyt454]

rough back then

[@sliberato62]

what year is this?

[@vintagetvandexciting]

1977

[@tjlovesrachel]

2021

[@kellymendez]

​@vinta1getvandexciting 1976

[@FrankeeFraud]

All this was caused by rent control. Not only couldn't landlords raise rents to cover their always rising expenses, but they couldn't even evict the shitheads if they paid no rent whatsoever. So "Jewish lightening" was the only way for landlords not to lose their shirts.

[@MultiScooter68]

Yes, and as the blacks & PR's moved in the jews (liberal-reform) moved out and BURNED the buildings down as they left. I mention reform because the orthodox/Hasidics didn't move out - if anything the Hasidic population has exploded in NYC in recent decades. Another area that suffered greatly in the 70's/80's was the Brooklyn community of Bushwick. It looked very similar to the South Bronx - but unlike the Bronx - Bushwick has gentrified a LOT in recent years. The South Bronx certainly looks a lot better now than it did in the 70's/80's - but unlike Bushwick (and Brooklyn in general) the South Bronx still has the same issues (and people) like it did back in the day. On a side note - if anyone has "PRIVILEGE" it's the LR Jews - not whites or Christians. LR Jews are also the biggest racists (by far) but they love to blame working class whites for their shortcomings.

[@kairanmatthews8901]

And that creepy sound is annoying

[@ender_dragon3753]

Me: Hi Grandpa

[@jamesberlo4298]

Bouza should have been President then.

most of those fires set were done by the landlords theselves for insurance money..they were sick of seeing the vomit they lived in and wanted out..so theyd pay some kids to set a fire..that was mostly the case..all that other shit they talkin bout in this is very few..

[@Rickyrab]

come to think of it, maybe the lightning should have, given that it chased most of the other Jews out of the South Bronx, my dad included.

[@HelloooThere]

Where did he go?

[@dolape7002]

that happpen when a country exports its jobs to asia.

[@cheswic]

Bottom line. Everything they touch turns to shit.

[@Shield.148]

Sadly, some things never change. Poor people, victims of Liberal Demorat politics. If these buildings were CONDOs, and people had their own money invested, they wouldn't be destroyed.

[@jumper282]

I was born in the wrong era!

[@baileyranks5661]

Upload a better quality video.

[@kulturfreund6631]

I ´ve seen footage of the 30s with better quality than the 80s camcorder stuff.

[@leecooper9911]

Warsaw 1945? Oh no Its Bronx ;-) hihih

[@Rickyrab]

go to Detroit!

[@kathyoberle9093]

I am very miserable living in my mother house,she is so controllable with the house, I feel trap. I wish I could burn my mothers house so I can get help! I feel my mother loves her house more then me.

[@TrillBill]

Over 2,000 fires reported during "The Great NY Blackout" :(

[@Rickyrab]

...I just happen to think antisemitism is funny, sometimes. (At other times, it's not so funny. You wouldn't want to be a genocide victim, for example.)

[@kathyoberle9093]

I feel like burning my mother’s house,she love her house to a point of my misery.

[@daystar4909]

Had to give a thumbs down. :-( normally I do not do this that often, but the sound quality was horrible. maybe the second part is better. I will watch it now.

[@kairanmatthews8901]

I hate that camera, get a better camera.