You don’t have to be a Bronx resident to appreciate and enjoy all the borough offers.  Several retired friends and I periodically visit various Bronx locations.

My wife and I also do the same on our own separate trips.  Our senior Metro Card discount $1.35 fare offers both a subway ride and free transfer to one of many NYC Transit buses in the Bronx.

Every year, we make several visits to both City Island for great seafood and Arthur Avenue for tasty Italian meals and incredible desserts.  After eating, we take a relaxing walk along City Island or Arthur Avenues. City Island reminds us of life in a small upstate town.  Arthur Avenue is like Little Italy in downtown Manhattan.

There are also visits to the Bronx Botanical Gardens for the holiday train show and the Bronx Zoo.  We also enjoy walking around Riverdale Park with its great Hudson River views.  There are visits to Yankee Stadium.

When sitting in Great Neck Steppingstone Park’s Pier, we can see the Bronx.  Too bad there is no ferry connection to the Bronx. It would probably take less than 20 minutes instead of an hour or more by public transportation via Manhattan.

While working for the Federal Transit Administration, I visited dozens of MTA NYC Transit subway, Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority bus, MetroNorth Rail Road and MTA Bus (former Liberty Lines Bronx Express and New York Bus private NYCDOT franchised bus operators) depots, yards, shops, stations and rode many of the routes.

This gave me an excellent understanding of the Bronx public transportation network. I always used mass transit when visiting.

At the end of the day, regardless if you live in the Bronx, another NYC borough, Nassau or Westchester County, we are all neighbors. We have more in common than what may divide us.

Our economic success and enjoyment of what life has to offer is interdependent.

Larry Penner