Views from the Northwest Bronx

Sheila Garcia, Deputy Director at Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA), authored this post, with contributions from UNHP staff. CASA’s mission is to protect and maintain affordable and safe housing through collective action. The Bronx Coalition for a Community Vision believes rezoning and development on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx is possible without displacement, if guided by four principles: real affordable housing, real community engagement, union jobs and local hire, and strong anti-harassment and anti-displacement policies.

​“Why here? Why not in your neighborhood?” Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan or the Bronx, the anger over the opening of homeless shelters in communities is in part related to the lack of transparency from the City, questions about the equitable placement of homeless shelters, and the role of communities in the placement of shelters.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently released a plan for tackling the rise in homelessness in New York City. While the City’s shift in approach may manage to reset expectations and encourage communities to shoulder their fair share of shelter housing, it glosses over the high concentration of homeless housing in low-income communities, especially in the northwest Bronx.

John M. Reilly, Executive Director at Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation (FBHC), authored this post, with contributions from UNHP staff. FBHC strives to provide safe and sound housing at affordable rates for low- to moderate-income families.

Appraisals are sometimes viewed as just another item on a development deal’s to-do list. But far from being innocuous and inconsequential, appraisals based on recently overvalued properties and questionable net income projections can have a major impact on rental prices, ownership incentives, and housing affordability.

​The history of community development in the Bronx offers many lessons on the crucial importance of the deep involvement of community members in charting a path forward for their own communities.

Over the years, UNHP has contributed to the conversation about what’s actually happening in the Bronx—in particular the Northwest Bronx. We are planning to do that in this space over the next few months through a series of blog posts. The new 2017 blog series will be subtitled "Views from the Northwest Bronx." We hope you will read and share.

Frank Tramontano, longtime Bronxite and 12 year resident of Rose Hill Apartments passed away on Friday, February 3rd at the Bronx Veterans Hospital.

The 2017 Tax season is here! UNHP’s first tax day will be February 1st, but preparation and trainings are already well underway for the tenth anniversary of our Bronx Free Tax Prep program.

Along with a new name, The Wilton, etched above their front door, the 32 families who reside in the buildings at Anthony and Tremont Avenues have also received new windows and public improvements in time for the holidays.