Little Puerto Rico (Harding Park, Clason Point, Bronx)

Harding Park, a subsection of Clason Point in the Bronx, is comprised of many former bungalows. Puerto Rican families moved to the area in the 1960s and it acquired the nickname “Little Puerto Rico” by the early 1990s.
 
 
Wikipedia: Clason Point, Bronx)
Clason Point is a peninsula geographically located in the south central Bronx. The area includes a collection of neighborhoods including: Bronx River, Harding Park, Soundview-Bruckner, and Soundview.
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Subsections
Harding Park
Harding Park is a subsection of Clason Point. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: Lacombe Avenue to the north, Pugsley’s Creek to the east, the East River to the south, and the Bronx River to the west. Harding Park includes “Little Puerto Rico”. The area is also referred to as Clason Point.
       
New York (NY) Times
Hispanic Settlers Transform Harding Park in Bronx
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: December 31, 1996
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It took a more recent wave of blue-collar settlers, led by Mr. Mena, to flesh out their notion of a poor man’s paradise, as the residents called this 20-acre community of about 250 small homes near the Soundview section of the Bronx. Like modern-day homesteaders, Puerto Rican families, and a smattering of Dominicans and Cubans, bought up most of the 225 to 250 rotted shacks over the last 10 years, and, many of them using their own tentative hands, rebuilt them from foundation to roof. They have made it their Little Puerto Rico, one of many in New York, but none as genuine.
     
New York (NY) Times
He’s Advocate, Pal, and Boss, Too
By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: February 15, 2006
Don’t call Elbin Mena the mayor of Harding Park. That title he forever reserves for his uncle, Pepe Mena, who died at age 91 last year.
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In Harding Park, the binding force is Mr. Mena, a wiry 54-year-old former New York City police detective. In the early 1960’s, his uncle was the first Puerto Rican to buy a bungalow in what was once a largely white and blue-collar community on 20 acres of Clason Point.
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Harding Park’s residents include carpenters, teachers, sanitation workers. More than half are Hispanic, and some have long called their patch of the quintessentially urban Bronx “Little Puerto Rico” for its fishing village feel, complete with a scurrying chicken or two.
 
topix—The Bronx
List of bronx neighborhoods nicknames
Bronxite
Nov 25, 2012
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Mott Haven - “Little Puerto Rico”
   
Scouting New York
The Strangest Neighborhood In New York City
Posted by Scout on July 30th, 2013
Last week, I was driving around in a southeastern area of the Bronx…
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COMMENTS
Angel
JULY 31, 2013 AT 10:04 AM · REPLY
They call this area of Harding Park little Puerto Rico. The majority of families that live there are Puerto Rican. I had two friends growing up that lived there, you actually got her old house in one of your pictures. The Bronx is a great place, just be cautious about visiting places like this at night.
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Glenda
AUGUST 1, 2013 AT 1:59 PM · REPLY
We call this Little Puerto Rico, there is lady there that sells really good pasteles. I love this neighborhood, I wish it wasn’t so run down in some places.
     
Bronx (NY) Times
NOVEMBER 1, 2013
One year later Superstorm Sandy’s impact still felt in the Bronx
By David Cruz
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Harding Park
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The area once known as “Little Puerto Rico” has not been the same since, as Judy Bonnano sees it.