In the 1970s, Crotona Park East and many other low income sections of the New York City were being ravaged by arson.

[6] On October 5, 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter visited Charlotte Street, declaring the South Bronx to be the worst neighborhood in the United States.

[10][11][12] They played a pivotal role in the construction of subsidized multi-family homes and apartment buildings in most of Crotona Park East.

[2] Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Crotona Park East was 20,277, a change of 2,205 (10.9%) from the 18,072 counted in 2000.

[18] In 2018, an estimated 31% of Crotona Park East and Morrisania residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City.

[15]: 7 Crotona Park East is dominated by public housing projects and newly constructed subsidized attached multi-unit townhouses and apartment buildings, although tenement buildings, older multi-unit homes, and vacant lots are also present.

Most of the original housing stock was structurally damaged by arson and were eventually razed by the city.

[19] Crotona Park East and Morrisania are patrolled by the 42nd Precinct of the NYPD, located at 830 Washington Avenue.

[15]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Crotona Park East and Morrisania is 0.0078 milligrams per cubic metre (7.8×10−9 oz/cu ft), more than the city average.

[15]: 13  In Crotona Park East and Morrisania, 36% of residents are obese, 22% are diabetic, and 32% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.

[15]: 12 Eighty-one percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is less than the city's average of 87%.

[26] Crotona Park East and Morrisania generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[15]: 6  The percentage of Crotona Park East and Morrisania students excelling in math rose from 19% in 2000 to 41% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 28% to 32% during the same time period.

[27] Crotona Park East and Morrisania's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is more than the rest of New York City.

[16]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [15]: 6  Additionally, 63% of high school students in Crotona Park East and Morrisania graduate on time, lower than the citywide average of 75%.

[28] The white flight of the 1970s and the increasingly low socioeconomic profile of the neighborhood impacted the school.