Grand Concourse Historic District

STATUS Designated Historic District

Grand Concourse & McClellan Street

ARCHITECT: Louis Risse

DATE: 1916-41

STYLE: Neo-Renaissance, Art Deco, Art Moderne

Art Deco Art Moderne Bronx Louis ... VIEW ALL

Designated October 25, 2011

The Grand Boulevard and Concourse in the Bronx has a history as one of New York’s most dazzling, stylish thoroughfares. Opened to traffic on November 25, 1909, the Grand Concourse was at the center of the economic and population boom that transformed the borough in the following half-century.

The Grand Concourse was the concept of Alsace-Lorraine immigrant and civil engineer Louis Risse. Inspired by the celebrated boulevards of Paris, Risse designed the Grand Concourse as a four-mile long thoroughfare divided into three roadways by tree-lined dividers. Its broad sidewalks allowed for a lively street scene.

Today, the Grand Concourse is lined with an incomparable concentration of Art Deco and Art Moderne apartment buildings. Much of their elegance has begun to fade, but the neighborhood’s proud history is evident. The majority of the structures in the district were built between 1916 and 1941 in styles ranging from neo-Renaissance to the neighborhood’s renowned Art Deco. While the buildings represent a variety of styles, the apartment houses are closely related in materials, scale and use of ornamentation.

STATUS Designated Historic District

Take Action

Add the next LPC meeting to your calendar.

Let your local representative know you care.
nyc.gov

Share your photos of this neighborhood

Help preserve New York’s architectural history with a contribution to HDC

$10 $25 $50
Other >
The Neighborhood

Morrisania

The historic township of Morrisania became residential area in the late 19th Century. The development of Morrisania began in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, as a result of the New York & Harlem Railroad connecting Manhattan and the Bronx in the 1840s and the opening of...

Explore the Neighborhood >

Local Voices

“I don’t know what the City would be without HDC. [They] testified before LPC time after time and helped us focus on the right issues. We would not be an historic district without HDC! ”

Doreen Gallo: DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance

Local Voices

“Use HDC as a resource because they know what they are doing and can offer advice on how to go about creating a district from every front: architectural, political, LPC, and the media. I had floundered prior to my involvement with this invaluable organization.”

Fern Luskin: Lamartine Place Historic District; Friends of Lamartine Place & Gibbons Underground Railroad Site

Local Voices

“HDC provided guidance and shared information during that process—we knew which Council members were going one way or another and we changed a few minds. I don’t think NoHo would have had as cohesive a district had it not been for HDC’s aid.”

Zella Jones: NoHo Historic District; NoHo East; and NoHo Extension

Local Voices

“I remember Richard saying at a meeting, we have someone here from HDC, Nadezhda Williams, Director of Preservation and Research, to help us. She said to us, ‘You are not the only ones going through this.’ HDC included us in an enormous community”

Erika Petersen: West End Preservation Society

Local Voices

"HDC has begun a series of projects to highlight the Bronx's architectural and cultural history. From booklet's and research highlighting specific sites and historic districts to the HDC's symposium in October 2018 to the latest community-based committee to look into further possible sites to qualify for landmarking, the HDC has established projects that will serve the Bronx community well."

Elena Martinez
City Lore, Folklorist
Bronx Music Heritage Center, Co-Artistic Director

Local Voices

"Welcome2TheBronx is grateful for the advocacy done by the Historic Districts Council on behalf of the people of The Bronx. Through their deep connections and understanding of the importance of preserving our local histories, The Bronx has been able to have several spotlights shown on endangered communities as gentrification creeps into the borough."

Ed García Conde,
founder and Executive Director,
Welcome2TheBronx