AIDS Epidemic in the Bronx

Sex and AIDS: a Study in Contrasts

AIDS is one of the most hotly debated topics of modern times. Whether it is a question of what should be done to help those who have the disease, what may be done to prevent others from contracting it, or of the many moral arguments pro and con regarding the lifestyle or lifestyles that results in its spread, it is definitely a subject that is viewed from many, often widely-differing angles. What one newspaper or magazine can cover as a matter of science, another can describe as a cultural inspiration, or a religious sin. Film, television, radio, and the arts all play their role in constructing what we see as the impact of this dread disease. For the purposes of this paper, we shall take a look at AIDS and how it is depicted in one geographically small urban area: the New York City borough of the Bronx.

Immediately, even before one considers the impact or image of AIDS, one must consider the fact that the Bronx itself conjures up certain mental pictures. For many these consist of visions of dilapidated buildings, graffiti, burnt-out cars, and other signs of urban decay, while for others, there is the daily drama of a vibrant multiracial community, the cultural accents of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, and African-Americans. In the case of still others, there may be the scent of the Italian restaurants on Arthur Avenue, or the memories of long past evenings at the Loewe's Paradise, watching movies beneath the stars. Just as which Bronx you have in mind colors your view of today's Bronx, so too does it inform different media's depictions of AIDS in the Bronx.

On the culture front, we need only turn to the Bronx Beat, a weekly newspaper produced under faculty supervision by the students of Columbia University's School of Journalism. In an article dated May 10, 1999, the paper discusses the ads, familiar to all New Yorkers, that appear in the subway cars. They represent the continuing saga of Marisol, Julio, and a host of others; a "realistic" collection of young Gothamites who, discuss "...issues of romance, drugs and sexually transmitted diseases in subway car ads to promote public health and greater awareness about AIDS, particularly among Hispanics." (Kramer, 10 May 1999) Like the ads themselves, Bronx Beat's approach to the subject of AIDS is colloquial and matter-of-fact, intended to appeal to a young, mostly Hispanic audience. A Hispanic girl is interviewed to gauge her reaction the public service campaign.

I was once in Marisol's position," said Julisa Correa, a 19-year-old student at Bronx Community College. "Men want you to prove your love to them, but don't want to wear condoms. They don't think it's real. Marisol's example helped me stand up for myself later." (Kramer, 10 May 1999)

And though this article does quite some pretty frightening statistics, it tries hard to put a human face to the misery, reaching out to its readers just like those ads on the subway.

Also directed toward a fairly well-defined, local audience is another weekly, the Gay City News, which is published by Community Press and is concerned specifically with issues of interest to the New York City Gay Community. In an article from the Feb. 14 - Feb. 20 issue, HIV in the Bronx is discussed against the backdrop of the City Council race between Ken Padilla and Pedro Espada.

Padilla is portrayed as a true child of the area he will represent - the neighborhoods of Soundview, Parkchester, and Castle Hill. Padilla supports awarding city contracts only to companies that provide equal benefits to same-sex couples. The topic of AIDS is explored further in the context of his opponent, Mr. Espada's expressing wariness over the spike in recent HIV cases and the opening of several new Gay bars in the neighborhood. He is also impugned for a brewing scandal over an HIV Clinic that is under his oversight. Espada was chosen as his successor by the man, Ruben Diaz, Sr. who formerly occupied the City Council seat. Diaz is described as having been, at times, opposed to the Gay Community, "[He] was roundly denounced by gay leaders when he called for the cancellation of the Stonewall 25 celebrations and the Gay Games held in New York, saying that the influx of gay men would increase HIV infections and send the wrong signal to the city's youth." (Meenan, 14-20 Feb. 2004) On the whole, Gay City News' handling of the issue of AIDS in the Bronx is from the standpoint of the Gay Community, and highly defensive of its rights and traditions.

In contrast, an October 3, 2003 article in the New York Times, AIDS and the Bronx come together as a pair of very scientific and very cold statistics. In a piece concerned essentially with the dividing up of the City into forty-two statistical areas with a lsiting of the chief causes of death in each, AIDS as a leading killer in certain Bronx neighborhoods is linked directly with the area's depressed, low income reputation. Diseases of old age, "... rarely make the list of top causes of death in poor neighborhoods like East New York in Brooklyn and Mott Haven and Highbridge in the Bronx; in those areas, the leading causes include AIDS, diabetes and homicide." (Perez-Pena, 5 Oct. 2003) Note the linkage of AIDS with homicide. Clearly, to the New York Times, both appear to be scourges not only of Low Income neighborhoods, but also preventable afflictions evidently tied to some sort of lifestyle choice, or living environment. It is an obviously negative statement on AIDS and its Bronx victims.