Views from the Northwest Bronx

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.

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.

Well-documented long-standing income, racial and ethnic disparities as well as health issues in the Bronx led to a disproportionate number of cases in the borough. 

The COVID 19 pandemic has shown that community health is national health is global health. Community-based healthcare networks, like Bronx Community Health Network, Union Community Health Center, and Morris Heights Health Center, offer both medical care and services that Bronx families need to stay well and treat chronic illnesses, like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and HIV.

UNHP is sharing the northwest Bronx views of neighborhood residents, community leaders, Bronx community development professionals and UNHP board members.

The Bronx is under construction: cranes, excavators, scaffolding, and green demolition fences are everywhere. For long-time community staffers and residents in the northwest Bronx, the building and demolition we see as we walk to work, lunch, or the train is unprecedented.

​Judi Kende, Vice President and New York Market Leader for Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., authored this post. Enterprise creates and preserves quality affordable homes, incubates programs, and scales these solutions through policy change.

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.

On Wednesday, November 30th, UNHP organized a Tenant Housing Fair providing information and assistance with eviction prevention, legal services, rental subsidies and other services to help Bronxites remain in their apartments, understand their rights and available resources.

For most Bronx residents, affordable housing means the housing that they live in now, but many Bronx residents are on the verge of becoming homeless; struggling to get by, facing high rent burdens and compensating through overcrowded living situations.