Views from the Northwest Bronx

On July 28th, UNHP held its annual Building Indicator Project meeting. Jacob Udell, Data and Research Coordinator, presented for UNHP about trends in the housing market. Elizabeth Oakley and Kim Darga from HPD discussed the importance of preservation and different tools HPD has to bolster affordable housing in NYC. Click to read a summary of UNHP’s presentation.

In this post, we will focus on financing trends among owners and investors in private, rent-stabilized housing in New York City. Below is an attempt to capture some of the changes in the housing finance landscape over the past number of months and particularly since the beginning of the current public health crisis. Without predicting the future, we hope to raise a number of questions as to where that market is headed and how tenants might be affected, with an emphasis on data and  examples from the Bronx. 

Among the many health and economic concerns facing New York City during the Covid-19 Pandemic is the ability of affordable housing projects to continue to provide the safe and quality housing that residents deserve. With massive unemployment requests and businesses closing indefinitely, rent collections are projected to drop significantly.

We always understood that some people had a hard time with the Community Reinvestment Act, which passed in 1977.

The NWBCCC Reinvestment Project and UNHP are featured in this essay by Gregory Jost, a former UNHP staff member, and valued colleague. The essay was originally published by Urban Ominibus and developed out of Greg's research for a book on redlining in the Bronx. It demonstrates how data was an important organizing tool in the early days of the Community Reinvestment Act and remains important today as displacement and speculation threaten the Bronx and other low-income neighborhoods in NYC.

UNHP is still buzzed from our Reclaiming Our Community Thru Affordable Housing, Art and Services Day on June 19th. The trifecta of events included a luncheon and information session for building operators, a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the mural created by The Royal KingBee and a well-attended Community Resource Fair.

UNHP was one of the sponsors of the 10/29/18 CRA at a Crossroads Forum; Understanding the Impact and Ensuring the Future of the Community Reinvestment Act. The well-attended Forum was held at the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University and featured a speech by FDIC Board member Martin J. Gruenberg and a community development panel.

On June 28, 2018, UNHP hosted a well-attended forum on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) as it moves towards modernization, 40+ years after it was first legislated.

“For immigrants - undocumented, new arrivals and even foreign-born citizens – access to banking is the first step to making sense of financial systems in the US”

Alternative Financial Services (AFS) – check cashing, rent-to-own stores, pop-up tax prep sites and pawn shops - are about equal in number to banks branches in the Bronx. The high interest rates and excessive fees, associated with these services, make it challenging to stay out of debt, let alone build wealth.