Bronx is a well-known district of New York which is often - stereotypically and under the influence of the Hollywood film production – associated with the dangers and crime in this US metropolis. Not many Non-Mariborians know that Maribor has its own Bronx. It is located on the right (southern) bank of the Drava river, between Ruška Road (Ruška cesta) and Valvasorjeva Street (Valvasorjeva ulica), and roughly between the Studenci railway station in the east and Sokolska Street (Sokolska ulica) in the west. The »main entrance« into Bronx is at the end of the Studenci footbridge, at the bottom of the ˮzig-zagˮ path ascending towards Ruška Road.
In the 1980s, to gain entrance into Bronx, mostly in the evening, one sometimes had to »pay customs« by buying a brick – »cigl« in Mariborian dialect (from German “Ziegel”). Normally, a ten-year old kid, a Bronx »native«, would be waiting with a brick in his hand at one end of the footbridge. Should a customer fail to take him seriously, a few of his older friends would quickly appear from their hiding place nearby. More often than not the mere sight of them sufficed to speed up the transaction, and only exceptionally, additional “encouragement” was required. Every now and again the customer was subject to a bit of »educational treatment« to prevent him from stupidly wasting money on expensive bricks in future.
On occasion, a particularly »lucky« customer had the privilege of having to buy a brick twice – at each end of the footbridge.
