Back in the Bronx before smartphones, staying in touch with friends meant leaning out the window and yelling their name, picking up the landline, or walking over to knock on the door. We’d ask, “Can Angel have company?” and if the parents said yes, we were in—playing video games, watching MTV, or heading outside to hang on the block. Kids today won’t really get what it was like growing up in a Bronx without texts or social media.

Growing up in the Bronx, small things had a way of turning into big moments. One time, I got into a fight with a friend […]

Growing up on Walton Avenue in the Bronx during the 1980s, abandoned buildings and fires were part of everyday life. We didn’t take the trash to the curb—we carried it to the roof and threw it into an empty building across the street. One day, I looked down and saw hundreds of garbage bags piled inside like a dump. It’s hard to believe now, but that was normal life back then.