Bronx company offers tour of “real” ghetto
Alfonso Casta, visiting the Bronx highway underpass where he shot drugs after fleeing the ministry.
On an archived version of its website, the Real Bronx Tours company sounds like it offers tourists a legitimate, non-touristy cultural experience. "Real Bronx Tours will take you on a three hour journey into this diverse and mysterious borough called the Bronx," it says.
"Sites on this tour will include: Yankee Stadium, Mott Haven Historic District, Bronx Zoo, Bronx Museum, South Bronx, Arthur Avenue (Little Italy), Grand Concourse and a ride through a real New York City 'GHETTO.'"
It's that last part–the promise of a ride through a "ghetto," that has left some people very offended.
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The New York Post rode on the tour, and said that the tour guide "pointed out a housing project," though the Post did not indicate whether or not the tour guide did so in a mocking tone. The Post also claims that a long line formed for food at a nearby church pantry at one point while the tour bus was stopped.
The Bronx borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr., and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito are angry about the tour and wrote an open letter to the company saying: “We are sickened by the despicable way in which you portray the great borough to tourists.”
Is the tour legitimately that offensive, or are politicians just having a knee-jerk reaction? For what it's worth, the New York Times found some positive reviews about the tour on Trip Advisor: "This tour really gives you a treat. It exposes you to a different part of the city. We had Lynn as our tour guide and she ROCKED it. Thank you for a great tour.”
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