In the Bronx

Literary buffs might also want to visit the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, the final home for the brilliant but troubled author of The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and other masterworks.

A Trolley in the Bronx -- Proving that the Bronx is not the bad-boy borough it has often been portrayed as in movies, the Bronx Tourism Council (tel. 718/590-3518; www.Ilovethebronx.com) sponsors free tours in a quaint trolley-replica bus. The Bronx Trolley operates on weekends and holidays from April through October and nighttime during the Christmas holiday season and makes stops at Arthur Avenue, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Botanical Garden, On the weekends, the trolley departs at 9:30am from the NYC Visitors Information Center at Seventh Avenue & 53rd Street in Manhattan and makes hop on/hop off stops throughout the day. On the first Wednesday of every month, the trolley is transformed into the Bronx Cultural Trolley and is sponsored by the Bronx Council of the Arts (tel. 718/931-9500 www.bronxarts.org). The trolley takes you on a cultural tour of the lower Grand Concourse area of the South Bronx.

Seeing the Bronx with a Native

If you join up with Bronx Tours (tel. 646/685-7725; www.bronxtours.net), Bronx native Maurice Valentine, aka Mo, will personally escort you around a Bronx you never knew existed. The Bronx that Mo will show you is a culturally rich, proud borough and far more than just the home of a great zoo and baseball stadium. His tours last about 3 hours and cost $40.

Mo's Bronx Hit List -- Below are some of Mo's personal favorite spots to visit in the Bronx and some of the ones he includes in his tours.

1. The Point Community Development Corporation (940 Garrison Ave.; tel. 718/542-4139; www.thepoint.org; subway: 6 train to Hunts Point Ave.). The Point Community Development Corporation, or just "The Point" as the locals know it, is a community space to keep the young people of the neighborhood out of trouble. It has grown from its humble beginnings in the early 1990s into a cultural mecca. At The Point you can check out photographic exhibitions of works produced by talented young people under the tutelage of the International Center of Photography (ICP); the Edge Theater, where there's a menu of movies, plays, musical performances, and other art-related activities; performances and tutelage by the Rock Steady Crew, whose break-dance style grew out of the late-1970s movement; and graffiti art by none other than Tats Cru, whose work has been featured in movies, commercials and on the streets of NYC. At The Point you'll also find Angel Rodriguez, one of NYC's most important Puerto Ricans, with over 40 years' experience in performing salsa and mambo music, not to mention his legendary conga sessions, which you can catch at the Edge Theater.

2. Pelham Bay Park. Most tourists think the largest park in New York City is Central Park. Surprise! The Bronx's own Pelham Bay Park is. In the northeast corner of the Bronx, Pelham Bay Park was created in 1888 and covers over 2,700 acres. It is also the playground for residents of nearby Co-op City, the biggest private-housing development on the East Coast. The park boasts an equestrian center where you can take lessons or go on guided horseback tours, lagoons where you can canoe, and extensive trails along which you can bike or hike. You are also only a short bus ride away from the Bronx's only beach, Orchard Beach, which was created by New York City's infamous commissioner of parks, Robert Moses, in the early 20th century. Subway: 6 to Pelham Bay Park.

3. City Island (www.cityisland.com). Take the no. 6 train to its last stop, Pelham Bay Park. Then transfer to City Bus Bx29 towards hidden-treasure City Island. During colonial times City Island was known as Minneford Island, which reflected the area's connection to its traditional owners, the Sinawoy Minneford tribe. Today City Island is connected to the mainland by a 600-foot-long bridge that literally takes you from parkland to fishing village. The island itself is a little over a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide and houses native Bronxites, whose heritage on the island can be traced back more than 150 years. On City Island, marinas dot the tiny coast. The marinas played an important part in the war effort during World Wars I and II, playing host to the construction of minesweepers and costal patrol craft. In more recent times, however, City Island has been involved in the construction of yachts that have won several America Cup titles. City Island offers an abundance of top-quality seafood restaurants, including the late great Salsa musician Tito Puente's own spot.

4. The Bronx Museum of the Arts (1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th St.; tel. 718/681-6000; www.bronxmuseum.org; subway: B, D to 167th St.-Grand Concourse). The Bronx Museum of the Arts was founded in 1971 and specializes in contemporary art produced by talented New Yorkers of Latin, Asian, and African-American descent. The museum displays a number of works inspired by the Bronx itself with over 700 pieces in the permanent collection. The artwork was made public in 1986, and exhibitions over the years have included "One Planet Under a Groove Hip-Hop, Contemporary Art" (2001), and "Urban Mythologies: The Bronx Represented Since the 1960s" (1999). For those travelers on a budget, admission to the museum won't set you back much at $5 for adults and $3 for children. The museum is a 15-minute walk from Yankee Stadium and a good complement to a day watching the Yankees play there.

5. Woodlawn Cemetery (Webster Ave. and 233rd St.; tel. 718/920-0500; www.thewoodlawncemetery.org; subway: 4 to Woodlawn Station). Woodlawn Cemetery is no ordinary cemetery. It was created in 1863 and is best known for its ornate and imaginative mausoleums and monuments. The grounds stretch over 400 acres and house the country's first community mausoleum, which opened in 1967. Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the city's most famous, and you'll find a number of notable people laid to rest here including salsa superstar Celia Cruz, jazz geniuses Miles Davis and Duke Ellington, former mayor of New York City Fiorello La Guardia, Joseph Pulitzer, songwriter George M. Cohan, and theater impresario Oscar Hammerstein. Weekend guided tours are available.