Melrose was a village in the town of Morrisania, in the county of Westchester before being incorporated into New York City in 1874 as part of the Twenty-Third Ward. Originally a dense working-class neighborhood, the housing that was often hastily built to capitalize on the turn of the 20th century immigrant escape from Manhattan soon became unsuitable to all but the poorest. A mass exodus soon took place as New York City policy–induced arson soon ravaged the neighborhood throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the City of New York dismantled the Third Avenue El (an original draw to the neighborhood) due to low ridership. By the 1980s the neighborhood had decayed severely, and much of the original housing stock was lost. Vacant buildings and then lots became commonplace.