The Bronx Borough in New York is a work of dichotomy. Wildlife surrounded by ruins, an area that has produced world class athletes and artists, as well as the Mafia and the corrupt forces of law. This has been a melting pot of all that is good and all that is bad. There are those that canoe down the rivers, and those that use the Bronx as a location when shooting movies about war torn foreign countries. American actor Chazz Palminteri grew up on the streets filled with gangster owned restaurants and hotels. New York, USA has been the American location that myths and legends are made. During the late 50′s and early 60′s Palminteri was growing up in a city that was becoming more crime ridden and deadly. The Bronx was in moral and societal decay. He had the opposing forces of a father that worked hard to make an honest living, and the wiseguys in his neighborhood making large incomes on such activities as gambling, drugs and prostitution.
However, there is one school in the Bronx, that has been attended by some of the greats such as Neil Simon, and Richard Rodgers, and is the school that Palminteri attended. The school has a reputation for supporting artistic endeavours. Palminteri created a play called aptly, “A Bronx Tale”, a story of a young man growing up in such an environment as the Bronx, just as he had. And through mutual acquaintances Palmenteri got his chance. A man, Peter Gatien, through interactions at a local disco in the 1980′s, came into contact with Palminteri, and agreed to bankroll his project of the play. By 1993 the play had met with commercial and critical success, and enough backing had been made to turn the play into a screenplay. Robert DeNiro signed on to direct the film and also to portray the hard working, honest father character. This film continues to be acclaimed and is a comprehensive story, one of the legends of the great city of New York.
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