A Look Back: "Our Block" - Kingsbridge

NEW YORK - In the 1980s, a community in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx was at the crossroads of racial change. 

Longtime CBS New York reporter Vic Miles brought viewers this story, as he visited this Central Bronx neighborhood to get reaction from residents on what was good, and not so good, about their community. This story was a five-part series featured Monday through Friday called "Our Block."

The focal point of the neighborhood was 194th-196th Street and Briggs Avenue. On 196th Street between Briggs and Bainbridge Avenue, Vic introduces us to P.S. 46, which was the most crowded elementary school in the city, and Our Lady of Refuge, a Catholic school across the street. It was a place where you could find children laughing, church bells ringing in the early afternoon.

However, Briggs Avenue from 194th-196th Street was a different story. There were some houses with boarded up windows, street performers, bar fights and a makeshift club that reflected some of the hard changes of the neighborhood. It forced older, longtime residents on that block to cope with racial and cultural changes that took place in many early 1980s city neighborhoods.

CBS2's Dana Tyler speaks with Vic's producer and creator of the "Our Block" series about that Kingsbridge neighborhood and Vic's legacy - the series aired into the 1990s. 

You can watch the full special in the video player above. 

WEB EXTRA: Check out additional episodes of Our Block - Kingsbridge in the videos below: