City officials in the Bronx are making a push to turn the borough into a tourist destination on par with the rest of New York City, Crain’s reported, and they are enlisting the help of real estate developers to get the job done.
In addition to the marketing efforts of the city’s tourism bureau, NYC & Company, and the Bronx overall Economic Development Corporation, the borough has new projects premiering: the Castle Hill outlet mall, which the Lightstone Group hopes to receive approval to build, and Trump’s planned golf course at Ferry Point Park, set to open in 2014, Crain’s said.
But the major issue may be overcoming the perception that the Bronx is dangerous, officials told Crain’s.
“We are dealing with movies that make us look menacing and newspaper articles that talk about marauding dogs and rough streets,” Marlene Cintron, president of the BOEDC, told the magazine. “The Bronx has a major perception issue. We have to begin to show everyone what the Bronx is about now.” [Crain’s]