Views from the Northwest Bronx

Thanks to roughly $500,000 of funding secured by UNHP through the NYS Weatherization Assistance Program, Edison Arms, a senior-citizen affordable housing development in Bedford Park will undergo a series of energy-saving renovations.

The UNHP Multifamily Research and Action Center has collaborated with the LISC Research and Evaluation team to investigate the effects of speculation in multifamily housing on tenants. Here we share a bit about the process and the role UNHP and our BIP played in this research.

For the third event in our virtual series and fundraiser, This is What We Do, UNHP brought together 31 Bronx housing operators from 12 organizations to discuss the issues that affect the housing they oversee to understand trends and emerging issues that jeopardize affordability. It is also What We Do to escalate these issues and seek to address the policies behind the issues. Read the full summary to learn more.

It has been a year since the pandemic hit the Bronx hard and early with consequences for families and individuals in all the parts of their lives. Third, in our A Year Into Covid series, this blog post takes stock of where Bronx residents stand now in terms of health, jobs, and housing.

As we all continue to deal with the fallout from the pandemic, UNHP has been monitoring the effects on the multifamily housing world. In April of last year, we published a few posts hypothesizing about what we thought might happen in the multifamily affordable housing sphere. Now, we are taking stock of how our portfolio has been affected - what has helped us weather unexpected financial challenges and what is concerning us as we move forward.

The UNHP Northwest Bronx Resource Center (NWBRC) is committed to bringing needed resources to our Bronx community. That commitment is renewed as we face this ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We know people need information about health, food, financial, and housing resources at this time.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the third and largest COVID-19 relief package since the pandemic, known as American Rescue Plan into effect. While further guidance is needed - there are immediate benefits for many Bronx residents and families!

In the midst of tough times due to the health and economic impacts of Covid-19, there is still much to be grateful for in the Bronx and at University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP). Almost a year into our transition to remote work and UNHP has managed to find a way to make significant strides towards our mission.

You may have heard about an Eviction Moratorium during Covid-19, that prevents tenants from being evicted during the Covid-19 crisis. It is true that there are many protections for tenants in place, but tenants must act to be protected. A moratorium places eviction on pause but does not cancel owed rent- so eviction proceedings can begin on renters who owe back rent when the moratorium is lifted.

Job losses and reduced incomes amid the Covid-19 crisis have placed many US families at risk of eviction when safe housing is more important than ever. In this blog post, UNHP looks at the various national and state eviction protections as well as data from the Office of Court Administration better understand what is going on with Housing Court and evictions in the Bronx and NYC.