so as long as we continue to look, there will be a chance it will be found. the worry i have is it may not solve the mystery. >> how does the joke again? three men in a bar? but it's not a bar. imagine the box. a corner bodega maybe a luncheonette, a diner. simply by consequence they find themselves in the same place at the same time. sitting at the counter, across the room, door opens and who

walks in d.j. he created the musical style that's the sound track to, well, the whole wide world. do they nod at each other? talk about how they all got screwed over and cut out of the big money? hip hop could have come from nowhere else but the bronx. ♪

this is the bronx. you've probably heard about it. you may even have a pretty solid image in your head of what it looks like. what it is like. our maybe you can't picture it at all. the south bronx sounds familiar as a bad thing. the bronx at one time was said to be burning, wasn't it? for the most part the bronx is overlooked. the never visited borough in new york city which is a shame because the bronx is a magical place with it's own energy, it's own food, vibe, and rhythm. you've been to brooklyn. maybe it's time you took a look at the bronx. >> in august of 1973 the sister was holding a birthday for herself in the basement of 1520

sedgwick avenue. as he was playing the music on his two-disc turntable he began to slow the music down and slow the record. people stood up and took notice and they began asking him to do it again. he did it again. they asked him to do it again and again. he did it again. he attracted more and more people to his performances and people began to imitate him. that was the beginning of hip hop music. it started in the bronx. >> moodies records, inside is the man, the legend, one of the very select few that started it all. that created the sound that hundreds of millions of people now claim as their own. google who created hip hop. go ahead, you get d.j. cool herk. >> it's a natural landmark? >> no, we're working on it.

>> i didn't start with guys in the club. i started with the residential business. we had a watchful eye over the recreation room and she would watch for any disturbance. it never happened. that's how it survived. good music sell itself, good drugs sell itself, good anything sell itself and this was something good. >> was there a moment when you realized, whoa, this is big, this is going to spread way beyond my neighborhood. >> i never looked at that. i saw it spreading but like jam master jay, the dmc fellas, when i see that, then i knew it was going. it was going to take a big lift. so i don't have money and all of that but i'm rich in other ways.

you have louis armstrong for jazz, you have elvis pressley for rock and roll and you have kool herc for hip hop. >> you're good? >> very good. >> historically from the last 3rd of 19th century into 1920 the second language spoken in the bronx was german. from 1930 to 1960 the second language was yidish. from 1965 onward the second language spoken in the bronx is spanish and that's the way it is today. >> it's got a reputation as a tough place, crime, street gangs, a lot of which goes back to the way it was and some of which -- well i say, it's got a reputation of being tough. the bronx is, let's face it, a

big blank space in a lot of people's minds. even people like me that live what? ten minutes away. we don't know anything about the big area between yankee stadium and the bronx zoo. what you should know is that the bronx is big. really big. and that it's a patch worth of ethnic enclaves. a cross section of the whole world. every immigrant group you can think of. ♪ >> barron ambrosia has taken it upon himself to serve as the bronx's culinary ambassador. he has a show on tv and he

throws party where he serves creatures that would make andrew zimmer turn grey and fall to the floor. explorer and gourmet. >> bronx is so multifaceted but for some reason it's the first place i always take people because this imnates that flavor of the bronx. >> and he knows what i like. places like this. 1 188. new york, old cool, puerto rican good stuff. get within 20 feet of this place and prepare to lose your find. >> it's basically fried pig. the ears, tongue, chopped up and deep fried. >> so off cut parts deep fried? what's not to like about that. >> we're going to get that in there. >> oh, yeah. >> the skin is just chopped up.

>> so skin and fat. >> skin and fat. >> yeah, it's almost like a little meat candy bar. >> it's amazing. it's amazing. >> always. >> and what else do we need? >> yeah. >> puerto rico, i miss you. >> the bronx to me became a place where i could really engage my sensibility. >> right. >> you could really just come here eat drink, wine, and just indulge. >> this is pretty much the center of the pork universe as i've ever seen it in new york. i don't know any place porkier than what i'm looking at. >> this is exactly the kind of thing i thought we lost in new york. that one after another faded away in the neighborhoods i lived in and all along it was there. right under foot. a gusher of porky goodness. >> there's a great line as they say in france, what do you think? this is the bronx?

and this idea that music is loud or someone is making a mess. to me i take that as a point of pride. to be the bronx, the bronx is where the music is loud. the brojs is where the men are tough the women are sexy and the food is spicy. if those things weren't true you wouldn't know what the bronx was. >> so it's bad reputation is what protects it. >> the perception of it being a place where the funk is alive. >> incredible, incredible spread. >> this is good. >> this is one of those places you'll just dream about. i'm going back. we'll go back just to make sure that place was really there. >> i've got to lay off this pork. i'm actually going to get a to go order. >> anthony bourdain parts unknown is brought to you by expedia. whatever trip you can imagine all in one place. expedia, find yours. turn the trips you have to take,

into one you'll never forget. earn points for every flight and every hotel. expedia plus rewards. but when we start worrying about tomorrow, we miss out on what matters today. ♪ at axa, we offer advice and help you break down your retirement goals into small, manageable steps. because when you plan for tomorrow, it helps you live for today. can we help you take a small step? for advice, retirement, and life insurance, connect with axa. ♪ for advice, retirement, want to change the world?, create things that help people. design safer cars. faster computers. smarter grids and smarter phones. think up new ways to produce energy.

♪ be an engineer. solve problems the world needs solved. what are you waiting for? changing the world is part of the job description. [ male announcer ] join the scientists and engineers of exxonmobil in inspiring america's future engineers. energy lives here. ♪ ♪ helps you find a whole range of coverages. no one else gives you options like that. [voice echoing] no one at all! no one at all! no one. wake up! [gasp] oh! you okay, buddy? i just had a dream that progressive had this thing called... the "name your price" tool... it isn't a dream, is it? nope. sorry! you know that thing freaks me out. he can hear you. he didn't mean that, kevin. kevin: yes, he did! keeping our competitors up at night.

now, that's progressive. yo, love for my haters forgiveness for my enemies.

i don't beg your pardon. i was 12 or 13 when hip hop was started. >> go and take a minute to listen to what these fools think. it's pure uncut garbage. >> let me pump. feel my energy. >> no logic a bunch of false prophets pushing a poisonous product. >> i'm not hard to find i'm in the zoo by the gorilla cage. hollar at me baby. >> watch it. ♪

>> first to call himself an mc. he and grand master flash wrote and recorded the message. an album that was a complete and ground breaking departure from the lyrics and content up to that point. >> before we started doing hip hop music there was none. we played disco, we played rock watched heehaw. that was one of the favorite shows and all of those things became the components of hip hop music. ♪ ♪ >> i was a break dancer. i used to break dance. my brother used to do graffiti

so was it only happening anywhere else? it was the only thing that could have gone on right in that area in the bronx. >> you might be thinking about what the sugar hill gang? they were an entry band like the mon ki monkeys or the archies meant to cash in. >> when did you say there's money in this? >> the first record i heard and the most popular record was rappers alike. i used to live on the 5th floor walk up. i walked out and somebody was playing it next door. playing it on the 4th floor, 3rd floor, 2nd floor, 1st floor. somebody had a boom box outside playing it. the car had it on. it was like a plague. it was like locusts and that's when i realized it was something that was beyond what we were doing out in the street. critically it's not a great record but if you play it right now it's still a good record. >> in this case at least history

has come around. today nobody looks back at the sugar hill gang as having good originals or innovators. people know who did what. >> as far as hip hop now like as far as the music now these guys are not trying to tell the story of their time at all. yeah, they popped a lot of bottles or they had sex with a lot of women and they drove a lot of expensive cars and nothing establish happened but you would never know there was a black president. you would never know there was two wars. you would never know those things because it's not reflected in the music and at some point somebody was supposed to step up and make those songs. 20 years from now they'll still be talking about the message and plann planet rock and all the classic records. you know what i mean? because that's what it is. >> robert has been dead over 30 years now and people in the bronx for the most part still hate him.

his role as master builder he rammed the bronx expressway and parkway system straight through dozens of working class neighborhoods seemingly uncaring about the destruction of whole communities. massive housing projects conceived as utopian solutions to stacking the poor in centralized vertical ghettos were also his bright idea. he did leave some pretty impressive works behind though like the tri borough bridge, flushing meadows park. the bronx happens to be the home of the two largest parks in new york city. you see stuff here you probably ain't seen in central park. >> they come from honduras, guatemala and belize and they trace their ethnic group back to a single slave hip that crashed off st. vincent. where is home for many of the

community living in the u.s.? you guessed it, the bronx. >> living in the bronx you're able to travel the world without leaving the borough. >> right. >> it's like an addiction. when you go to the other country and you are just looking around like where's that one thing i'm looking for? to be able to do that really in your own backyard it's -- >> cool. >> over here we had it -- banana, and coconut soup. >> well, that sounds good. >> yeah. neck bones yeah, let's do that. >> okay. so let's put some in here. >> mashed plantans come with every dish. >> that's part of it.

you never have it without them. >> yeah. same method. same right hand. same everything. >> there's fish in coconut soup. >> blue fish and nice smoked neck bones with bananas. >> that's officially awesome already. >> that's tasty. >> that's really good. >> underexploited fish. one of my favorites. >> do you know what i noticed already? the bronx is big. >> how ludicrous and shameful is it that i can see my house from here and i have no idea where i am. >> no fault of your own but that's what keeps the bronx so amazing is that you have all of these in touch ethnic enclaves. >> i didn't know there were hondurans here. >> right. >> no clue. >> have been saying the neck is the next big thing for years

now. still waiting. ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one.

people from all over the world reside in the bronx. as a matter of fact we have residents from every continent on the face of the earth and if you count the penguins in the bronx zoo, that includes antarctica. ♪

the well spring of hip hop is right around here. a mostly jamaican community of bronx river and south bronx. jamaicans began arriving here back in the 50s and still today jamaican food, the culture, the music is all over. >> sundial international

headquaters. a bronx institution since the 70s. >> this is one of the ingredients. this is the mahogany bar. this is used for any type of bodily weaknesses. >> pops baba as he's called a heeler. he uses recipes passed down from mothers, aunties, blends of herbs, spices, barks and woods. >> i don't care what is wrong with you, you're going to show improvement. >> whatever ails, he has a cure. wood root cure for the blood t body, the nerves and traditional african man back. help i don't say you get your manhood back among other things. >> about 1956 when i came to america. so i could make it in bronx

river. i would go in the car and i would sell it in the bronx. the bronx is the best place in america. nowhere like the bronx. >> in the yard out back freshly roasted jamaican coffee and this man. the t-rex of music. africa bombada. they go back together to the same housing projects. >> yes. >> his associations in the zoo nation were instrumental in shaping what became hip hop culture. break dancing, graffiti, dee

jaying and rap. >> you take the label off. >> yeah we put takes on it or we soaked the label off. you had spies in these other camps trying to find out what was that beat. so i used to soak it up. i used to put it on tape to cover the records and we were digging in the crates hard. >> you were a veracious in your musical taste. how did you come about it. >> i took it home and i heard the sound i said whoa. i said this is some funky. man, this is some futuristic type of funk here. whether they didn't know they was doing some kind of funk. the miami bay sound and since the beginning we always pay tribute to james brown, sly and

the family stone for bringing the funk and once the hip hop came and to all the pioneers of hip hop. >> in west jamaica another working class community where subway service is limited and people have to get up and go to work and often make the long hump to another borough. afterwards, the person could use a drink. and if you're a jamaican person you can use the every day go to drink of back home. any time day and night wray and nephew. >> it was a strong jamaican rum. you get it with cranberry juice, with milk, or water. water would be in any other borough is what wray and nephew

is in the bronx. >> he's 1-half of the team. it's a very fast free form rift of life in the bronx and what's happening on the news, in hip hop, or last night. >> growing up in the bronx you're isolated from the rest of the city. so the other city has like city bite. the bronx doesn't get any of that. we're kind of abandoned up here. people get in a boat and go to staten island before they ride up to the bronx. >> i have to be part of that problem. >> that's not happening any time soon. it's not. >> this is the man right here who made today possible. >> i am happy here and i will drink more of your wray and nephew regardless of what it might be doing to my brain but then i will eat. >> what is this?

>> pig tail. >> awesome. >> i love this. it wasn't burning anymore. >> this is the neighborhood where they perfected stop and frisk. >> do you remember your first time? >> i remember my first time. >> how did you feel first time stop and frisk? >> i cried. that summer 15 times stopped and frisk. thrown up against the gate. fingers through our gentliles. cops looking for guns. you remember it. >> i've never been stopped and frisked? >> i wonder why? is it because you have a cnn show? >> i've been arrested. >> if you hang around here long enough i can get you stopped and frisked. >> they talk about diy culture. about do it yourself and you better be able to do it yourself

in the bronx because often nobody else is going to do it for you. >> when you go to the bronx you're basically going back in time. there are certain problems that will happen here that aren't going to happen in manhattan and brooklyn. >> really so there's still crack heads? >> there's literally crack heads in front of that bodega over there and they're getting their cracks and not bothering anyone. they're respectable parts of this community. you see them every day. there's l there's literally a crack head that's been here for 25 years. >> that's determination. >> if i could be a crack head i would be the best ever. >> i was a crackhead. >> we've all been there. no judgments. >> hey, what's up. >> all right. >> look i'm thinking curry goat. >> his uncle vernon used to own this place. but that was three owners ago but now it's lammy's and they

took over from people who put too much cinnamon in their goat. which say sin against god. lammy fixed things. rice and peas and collards and yes, mac and cheese. i can't resist. >> i mean, correct me if i'm wrong, there's a lot of good food in the bronx. >> there is. there is. if people would get over their bias and come off 96 feet they would find out. >> if the bronx were a neighborhood in manhattan shrunk down you'd have hipsters crawling all over. >> if you live in the bronx you're not going to leave and go to manhattan. everything you want and need is in the bronx. so why would you? so all of that, the ethnic pod and all of that stuff people hold on to that and that's definitely true. even this neighborhood was all white until the 50s. it's very recent the whole

immigrant experience. >> who was here in the 50s? >> all white people? >> what kind of white people. >> we enjoy milk white, that kind of thing. we're kissing dogs on the mouth. but it's moved forward and now you have this and there's this whole i'm from 233rd, you're from 225th. every ethnic group has that and the next group that's going to take over here is definitely mexicans and it's an immigrant neighborhood. it's not a matter of who owns it. it's the time and i'm looking forward to it because i enjoy a good quesadilla. but i made a good decision and came to lammy's today. >> no, i'm here all the time. i'm always here. i live right there so i'm always here for the curry goat and mac and cheese. lammy's don't play man. ♪ the last four hours have seen... one child fail to get to the air sickness bag in time.

another left his shoes on the plane... his shoes! and a third simply doesn't want to be here. ♪ until now... until right booking now. ♪ planet earth's number one accomodation site booking.com booking.yeah! creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum, tum tum tum... smoothies! only from tums. you know, chin acne. number 1 of my 20 is for uh-huh. not to brag, but i have the chin of a teenager. here you go. dinges for everyone! when i get hangry anything within arm's reach could be part of my number 20. hm, this is potpourri. mmmm. the amex everyday credit card, with no annual fee.

it's not food. make 20 or more purchases in a monthly billing period, and earn 20% more rewards. and a coat. it's membership that rewards you for the things you already buy, everyday. what's your 20?

they go from bronx through manhattan all the way through brooklyn. so only lines that will give the burrows visibility. >> the bronx, still here. >> yeah, it's still here but you know like even that, i mean, that brings me back, that sound. >> do you remember the first time you put spray paint on a

wall? >> yeah. >> when was that? >> summer of 70. >> back then, seemingly overnight they were everywhere. princes of the city. their pieces stretching across city blocks whole trains ever more audacious. some like this man. some like this man were artists. >> in the late 70s to be on the roof top like this with a brew or hanging out we're waiting for something to cool through with a cool letter like look at that t. here it comes. here it comes. >> there's mine. there's mine. >> but what if you thought the train -- it was on the left side and then you messed up. oh, no, it's on the right side. no, you just wait until this train goes all the way to brooklyn and comes all the way back. >> so this was the audience that you had in mind? the audience that mattered. >> all of us spoke to each other back then. >> other artists. >> it was just the rush of the event and then the accolades you may or may not receive.

certainly not from the public but from your peers. >> his style and that of a few of his colleagues spread across the globe. i miss those trains. others not so much. it went on and on and there wasn't an untagged unseen, unmarked unscrolled upon bit of wall or window in new york but for awhile it was a golden time. >> the whole point of being here was to me what the bronx was about. not just the music and the scene and coming up for the parties with everyone of that era but it's watching trains. it's what we used to call benching. >> so you're watching each others work go by. >> absolutely. >> art lovers. >> this was his museum where he and his fellow artists would meet and exchange ideas and admire each others work and it's jarring coming to learn all of those years later that it was really all about this. about a few seconds as their pieces road by to be evaluated

by peers. there for a moment and then gone. like all of their work from that time long since removed or painted over. >> ultimately the legacy -- here's our legacy. we don't have a movement anymore. the movement has been given to the world and if you go to trains and milan and paris or certainly not the russian system but if you go to some of these cities around the world. their rail systems are destroyed. >> today if i could have a train running it would be epic and i think any artist from any generation if that concept was available here's public art guys. let it run through our country side.

take the 6 train to the end of the line and then do the same with the number 29 bus. technically you'll still be in the bronx but it kind of won't feel like it. city island is a fishing village

turned what? a parking lot for fishing boats and long established restaurant row for new yorkers. >> take the perfect day to come out here. >> he says this place and he's always right. >> how far from the neighborhood by car? >> maybe 15 or 20 minutes. >> 20 minutes. >> it seems like a world away. >> yeah. but this is new york city? >> this is cape cod and the bronx. many of my childhood memories are coming out and we get there and it's like the beach is closed. there's a day you go in the water and come out with a max ipad stuck to you. >> so you were here like when? yesterday? >> i was literally here yesterday. every time you have an event of note in the bronx you have to come celebrate. >> i notice all the big catering halls. >> if you get married, if you get arraigned, if the baby's not

yours. >> seashore restaurant. a type i'm very familiar with having started my cooking career in one just like it. >> oh, now see, yeah. >> i'm also a sentimental fool and i love this kind of thing. steamers, boiled sniper and snow crab and a nice cold beer, yes, thank you. >> it's like a knighting ceremony just take it all in. >> enjoy guys. >> thank you. >> i could have done that myself. >> but it's part of it. >> it's part of tit. >> it's a great food for a date. it's either a huge turn off or turn on. a little bib and sucking hour. let them know in an hour this

could be you. >> wow. what have i been missing all my life. that's where people are going. hello. heh. heh. heh-he-he... t-mobile's is the first national network to give you wi-fi calling. now every wi-fi connection works like a t-mobile tower. it's wi-fi unleashed. sir, we're loaded and getting ready to go... ...we're going to need you on the runway. (vo) don't let a severe cold hold you back. sir? (vo) theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. (vo) theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. (vo) theraflu. serious power.

the first european settler to come to the bronx came in 1936. his name was jonas bronk.

in 1874 all the area west of the bronx river was annexed into the city and in 1895 all the areas east were annexed into the city then in 1898 the city decided the two areas previously annexed should become a borough. but what to call it since it never had a name before. they look at the map and right through the middle of the territory ran the bronx river so they named it the borough of the bronx and that's why it's called the bronx and not just plain bronx. >> if you have a question about the bronx chances are lloyd has the answer. born and raised here he never really left for over seven decades. >> this is a disappearing act

for sure there used to be dozens of players you can get it. >> the lord series is going on and he's on the air and you see a flame up into the sky and he says this is the kind of thing that jimmy carter saw, ladies and gentlemen, the bronx is burning. the old image of the bronx survived up until 1977. shattered it. >> the bronx was burning like the story and that stuck. politicians making the south bronx a poster child. it would never get any better. >> we now have what you call a slum lord snapping up large numbers of buildings. >> yeah, first of all he takes out a huge fire insurance

policy. so he goes to these junkies and says you see that empty apartment on the top floor? i'm going to turn back. you take all the lead pipes that are in there but have one request please before you leave turn on the water. >> and the water comes down driving everybody and they collected all the money and they leave. >> i remember those years. things are bad. are things getting better? >> is the bronx better? absolutely. there was more than ever existed in history. that doesn't mean we have utopia. how long it will take? i'm a historian. i look in the other direction. i would say my crystal ball is cracked.

>> is it the best hamburger in the world? far from it friends. is it even strictly speaking a burger? it can be especially when you eat a lot of them as one tends to a hate yourself in the morning experience. but if you grew up with white castle like i did, this connects with some deep dinosaur part of the brain evoking a powerful emotional response. >> these are a great cultural part of my childhood. we come here 24 hours a day. there were guys on their dates. there was a bunch of punk rock kids so along with that humanity i just described you had these guys from the mental institution. >> that's community for you. >> that was the bronx man. that was great. >> maybe you know him from the

dictators. he grew up where sneelse? the bronx. and back in the day, like me, this was his special warm and happy place. >> i can go by and eat a full 2.5 hour meal and be stuffed and see someone eating white castle. >> you can forget burger king and all of those place. if you need a white castle scratch, none of the cheap places will do. i can't stop eating these.

the bronx academy of letters is something of a cause for me. an institution whose mission i see is absolutely vital if kids like these kids from a tough neighborhood often coming from tough family situations are going to do the things that they're capable of. of having the things they want. i believe that there is no way to realize your dreams if you can't articulate them. if you can't with words convince

others to give you the opportunities or chances you need to grasp. >> so i wanted to talk today. i'm going to tell you in a short period of time everything i know about writing. today i'm dropping by in my role as substitute teacher. i'm from manhattan and i don't know anything about the bronx really. i'm ridiculously shamefully ignorant. do you think people know about the bronx? what it's like to grow up in the bronx. >> everybody perceives the bronx as hip hop and all of that, the culture, but apart from that the bronx is lively at all times. at night. in the morning. you hear people screaming from outside your window. >> i have grown up with them since i was what? like six, yeah, you know. it just happened that way. since of community is the biggest thing. >> i've been teaching here for 8 years and people forget, we talked about this in class, they focus on lot of diseases, health issue, lack of education but i

can be out with them tawalking the train to go to the field trip and they say hi to at least 30 people. they know everyone. >> what other bronx special gattis should i be paying attention to? >> i'm a big fan of mcdonald's. >> that works for you. >> yes. >> i like bacon egg and cheese sandwich. >> that's a classic. that's a new york classic. >> it's like the weather gets nice. >> what is it -- what is chopped cheese? whanchts what is chopped cheese? >> where does this come from? >> this thing whatever it is, it will do just fine. as long as you're reading while your eating it kid.

>> somebody should just experience it in their house. it's such a simple thing but it tastes so different than like a cheeseburger which is what it kind of is actually. >> but way uptown or downtown you say can i get chopped cheese and they're like what? if you go here they're like come right up. >> so this is a regional specialty. >> it's newer too. it hasn't been around that long. >> i've been everywhere in the world and i mean just about everywhere in the world that you can think of as beautiful as the cities around the world are it's really in your blood. you're living in paris you'll want a chopped cheese sandwich and you'll be angry that you can't get one. >> so there it is. a peak. a narrow slice of an old, deep subject. >> relentless.

>> sitting right there relatively unexplored a cross section of the tasty original good stuff. >> a petri dish for talent, for culture, the great unknown. go look. i know you're a man who can help me. >> some time in mid 19th century 1850s my great, great grandfather immigrated to south america.