(Crain’) — If there was any doubt that the Bronx has put its infamous past behind it, consider this: Queens native Bill Long decided to call his new Maspeth, Queens-based company Bronx Toys. “I’m not from the Bronx, but what’s more New York than the Bronx?” he said. “It just rings of New York.” The launch of Mr. Long’s company, which makes NYPD- and FDNY-licensed toys, is just one sign of the Bronx’s shifting fortunes. The borough that lost 21% of its population in the 1970s added 52,458 people last decade, topping each of the other four, census figures show. Much of the growth occurred in southern sections of the Bronx that once were devastated. “There was a time when people were running away from this borough,” said Radame Perez, president of Mastermind Development. “But that’s an old story.” The story of today’s Bronx has been overshadowed by fallout from the City Council’s rejection in 2009 of a plan to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory. The mall project would have created 2,200 jobs, but its developer would not agree to “living wage” mandates.
