starlightny.html

The Starlight Amusement Park, near West Farms Square, had a huge swimming pool. Hundreds of people could be in it at one time.

As the city grew, however, the things that the city needed to put in the Bronx began to have more negative consequences. And it became obvious that the city and the private sector thought that other things, more attractive things, really didn't belong in the Bronx. The villas and estates were demolished for tenement lots (everywhere but in Riverdale), the Coliseum became a bus garage, the Starlight Amusement Park a vacant lot.

Railroads when they were constructed ended in amusement parks. In 1918 a world's fair was opened on John Jacob Astor's land -- Bronx International Exposition. But it was built during World War I and closed by 1919. It was reinvented as an amusement park -- Starlight Park -- at 177 Street and De Voe Avenue.

1930s the amusement park had a pool with waves but by then the rides had dissipated.

1942 the amusement park was closed when the government took it over as a truck facility. After the war there was a fire that destroyed the property. The cross Bronx Expressway now goes through that property. A bus terminal is now being built where the amusement park once stood.

By World War I, an International Exposition was erected on the river's east bank south of West Farms Square, which evolved into Starlight Amusement Park. Fishing boats and row boats were also available for hire along the shores. In 1925, to preserve the river's natural beauty, the Bronx River Parkway, extending northward from the Botanical Garden, was completed.

West Farms, Two miles to the North is a crossroads in the Bronx, with trolley, elevated train and suburban railroad terminals it is also a stop for the world famous Bronx Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The old Coliseum and Starlight Amusement Park were located here. the large enclosed Coliseum was shipped here from Philadelphia and sports events, midget auto races and circuses were held there.

Not far from where we lived was an amusement park called Starlight Park, bounded on one side by the Bronx River: it was really a creek with fairly steep banks. There was an admission fee, and it had a fence on three sides -- but not down by the river!

One day, this gang I was with said, "Let's sneak into the park by climbing along the banks!" We didn't have the admission fee. It had fairly steep banks, maybe ten or twenty feet. We walked along the inclined part, which was mainly mud and weeds, and found our way in. We had fun there. Then the leader of the gang insisted that we had to sneak our way out! This was a stupid thing, since we were caught by the police. All we had to do to begin with was go out the exit. The police took us to the station house. They conveniently left the stationhouse window open, and we all conveniently left. That was my life of crime.

The Bronx had its own radio station, it was WBNX. It broadcasted out of Starlight Park until it was forced to move when the depression hit and the amusement park closed its doors forever.

Station Information for WKDM-AM Frequency 1380 Station Address: 449 Broadway, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10013 Classification and Power B, 5,000W Transmitter Location Carlstadt, NJ Contact 212-966-1059 fax: 212-966-9580 Station Staff General Manager - Gene Heinemeyer Format Russian Owner Multicultural Broadcasting History This station can be traced back to 1926, when WKBQ began broadcasting from the Starlight Amusement Park in the Bronx. The station adopted the call letters WBNX in 1931, settling in at its current frequency, 1380kc, in 1941. Unity Broadcasting purchased WBNX in 1960 and phased in Spanish language programming, which continued until the station`s sale to Multicultural Broadcasting in 1993. The station`s call letters had been changed to WKDM on September 1, 1984. Multicultural ran brokered programming for Spanish and other ethnic producers until the station was sold to Mega Communications on June 30, 2000. The call sign was changed from WKDM to WNNY effective July 21, 2000. WNNY was off the air from June 30 until September 5, 2000, when a test signal began airing. The Spanish all-news format was launched on September 27, 2000. WNNY moved from all-news to news/talk on November 15, 2001, and adopted a "Regional Mexican" music format as "La X 1380" at 12 Midnight on Thursday morning, July 25, 2002. The call letters were changed to WLXE on August 8, 2002. Comments In March, 2003, Mega Communications sold WLXE back to Multicultural Broadcasting. The station`s call sign was changed back to WKDM on June 30, 2003, and a Russian language format was adopted in July, 2003.