BRONX, N.Y. - It might not seem that way, but a tree-lined street with colorful brick houses in Hunts Point was once plagued by crime. In the 1970s, when they said the Bronx was Burning, it was one of the neighborhoods they were talking about. 

"We had gangs, drug addicts, prostitution. That’s how it was so we started cleaning it little by little and it started changing," said Norberto Sola, a longtime Hunts Point resident.

Manida Street survived those dark times largely unscathed thanks to residents like Sola who moved there in 1969 and takes pride in his block. He and his neighbors are hoping the city will preserve it for future generations, by designating the section of Hunts Point a Historic District. They say there is a lot of history there.

"Dukee Johnson, his father was a friend of MLK. He came here a couple times and they went around the country preaching," Sola said.

Maria Torres runs her youth development program, the Point, from a converted warehouse on Manida Street. She also lives and raised her sons there.

"Everybody knows each other. When you walk your dog you say hello to each other. You don’t get that in a lot of places and you get it here on Manida Street," Torres said.

She too signed the petition requesting that their local councilman Rafael Salamanca Jr. ask the city to grant the street landmark status to preserve the early 20th century architecture that has remained, for the most part untouched, despite the rapid development taking place in parts of the borough. 

Residents began pushing the historic district idea after a developer bought two houses on the block and the city began a re-zoning study for nearby Southern Boulevard.

"They’re building on every single vacant lot they can find. And so trying to preserve this block in this way, is one step towards trying to keep people here, especially folks that live here now," Torres said.

She says she’s encouraged that the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar a historic district in Hunts Point. A spokeswoman tells NY1 that is the first formal step in the designation process. At a future date, the commission will vote on whether Manida will keep its charm for future generations.