Mambo to Hip Hop Tours

If you need to book a tour please call The Point CDC @ 718-542-4139 a week in advance.



THE POINT offers cultural heritage tours that cover the Latin music heritage trail. Tours explore Latin music and hip hop sites in East Harlem and the South Bronx, as well as the cutting-edge approaches that are remaking South Bronx neighborhoods and open spaces. Van, walking, and canoe/kayak tours on the Bronx River are led by trained local guides, and will include THE POINT, its new artist studios in the American Banknote Building, fabled dancehalls, and other historic and noteworthy sites in the area. Tours may also include lunch, and special music and dance workshops at The Point. 

sample itinerary

MAMBO TO HIP HOP

Explore the musical landscape of the South Bronx. This tour highlights the locations of legendary clubs that made the South Bronx synonymous with Latin music in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Your guide will explain how many clubs and theaters once defined the neighborhood and created a rich heritage. Since the clubs are no longer operating and the buildings have new uses, the tour features recorded music and historical photographs of many of the visited sites to recapture the magic of the Mambo and Hip Hop heyday.

Customized Tours are available for 2 to 5 hours. A step on guide is recommended. The longer tour includes post-tour entertainment and food at THE POINT; food can be made available for the shorter tour; please arrange in advance.

Itinerary:
Teatro Puerto Rico
Formerly the center of vibrant variety shows and la farándula (Spanish-language show business) that filled this theater from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Bronx Casino/Caravana Club/El Cerromar and La Campana
Hear about the Caravana Club, where Charlie Palmieri recorded his Live at the Caravana, which popularized the pachanga dance craze in the Bronx. Next door, the little bar La Campana was where a night out started before heading to the borough’s larger clubs to dance.

Rincón Criollo
Casitas are little houses reminiscent of housing in the Puerto Rican countryside that are used for community gatherings and musical festivities. Rincón Crillo is one of the City’s largest and oldest. Visits and tours of the casita and gardens can be arranged by appointment.

Casa Amadeo
Visit Casa Amadeo, a place that offers a unique opportunity to explore Latin music. It is the oldest surviving Latin music record store in NYC. Started by Victoria Hernández and now owned by composer and musician Mike Amadeo, it was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Mike is open from Monday-Saturday and loves to welcome guests.

Continue on your tour by driving by and hearing about a variety of local landmarks that make this community unique.

La Giralda/Longwood Casino were two of the earliest Latin music establishments in the Bronx, and catered to the emerging Puerto Rican and Cuban communities. Casalegre, one of the most popular record stores and hang out spots for musicians in the 1950s, was started by Al Santiago, who also founded Alegre Records, a record label that became synonymous with the New York Latin music sound until the mid-60s. The Tropicana Club was inspired by the Havana Cabaret in Cuba; this was one of the ritziest and elegant of the Latin music clubs in the Bronx. See The Hunts Point Palace, formerly the largest dance hall in the Bronx and The Spooner Theatre, which housed the Tritons Club, the best after-hours place for jam sessions in the 1960s. It was also here that the pachanga dance was given its official Bronx moves. At La Placita local Latino b-boys and b-girls (breakdancers) would come here to dance during the 1970s. Club Tropicoro was a nightclub owned by two-time welterweight boxing champion Carlos Ortiz. In addition to Secretary of State Colin Powell, many of the biggest names in Latin music also attended P.S. 52, including Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri and Joe Quijano.

The American Banknote Building
Visit the American Banknote Building , a historic Hunts Point building that has been developed into studios for artists.

THE POINT
THE POINTis a cultural center that celebrates the art, music, and community life of the South Bronx and is the developer of the Mambo to Hip Hop tour. Stop here to shop, watch performances and eat.

For more information and assistance, call
THE POINT and ask to speak with Angel Rodriguez
718/542-4139
tiotimbales@yahoo.com

Above left, inside Casa Amadeo
Above right, Casa Latina
Left, Longwood