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Radio Rookies - Hunts Point

From February 2001 to May 2001, a Radio Rookies workshop was held at The Point, Community Development Center in the Hunts Point area of the South Bronx. The Point CDC is dedicated to youth development and to the cultural and economic revitalization of Hunts Point. They work with their neighbors, especially their young people, to celebrate the life and culture of the South Bronx. The Radio Rookies workshop was held at the low power radio station at the Point where some of the Hunts Point Rookies host their own radio shows. Rookies Janesse and Carmen came to the workshop from the Rosedale Achievement Center which helps young people achieve their academic and personal goals.

David "Superstar"	Carmen "Virginity"	Eric "Mom"

Judith "Poetry"	Nesse "Heroin"	Pun "George W. Bush"

About the neighborhood:

Zoned primarily for industry, Hunts Point is the home of waste transfer states, warehouses, autoshops and an enormous Food Distribution Center. In 1980, it was identified as the southern tier of the poorest Congressional district in the nation. In the 1990s, it got poorer, with more than two thirds of people under 18 living below the poverty line and one of the highest asthma rates in the country. Over the past few years, though, Hunts Point has begun to blossom. Once boarded up storefronts on Hunts Point Avenue are now occupied by restaurants, groceries and drugstores. There's a new park along the Bronx River, a new primary care center, and artists are moving into relatively cheap converted buildings. The Point Community Development Corporation houses a theatre, the Arthur Aviles dance company and the Tats Cru, a group of internationally known graffiti artists.

Radio Rookies on their neighborhood:

Jiovan "Big Pun" Ortiz: Hunts Point is where all the auto parts are.
Hunts Point is one of the best avenues in the world. It's one of the best places in the world to hang out. There's a lot of people here. We're like family.

Eric Wilson: Living in Hunts Point is fun when it wants to be. But when there are no friends around to play with, it's just boring. The block is dead. That's why I want to move. The best part about Hunts Point is the girls.