Views from the Northwest Bronx

Housing, especially rental housing in New York City, exists with two purposes: to provide homes for people and families, and to be bought, sold and rented as commodities. Today in Part Two, we focus on prices and profitability of housing from the investor side, and a huge surge (perhaps another bubble) in the market.

Housing, especially rental housing in New York City, exists with two purposes: to provide homes for people and families, and to be bought, sold and rented as commodities. Most of the battles around housing arise in the tension between these two purposes.

​It's no secret that the housing stock in New York City is aging. Here in the Bronx, the median age of multifamily apartment buildings is 87 years. In Community Board 6 it's 98 years old.

Two Bronx students, one completing his Associates degree at Bronx Community College, and another returning to school to advance his career, took advantage of the UNHP Free Tax Preparation Program.

NYS Department of Financial Services recently issued Guidelines for Bank Lending to Multifamily Properties Under the Community Reinvestment Act that the Governor is also referring as Slumlord Prevention Guidelines for Multifamily lending.

City’s Cluster Program grows despite many flaws; the Center for Housing Policy creates a new tool to gauge affordability, and social movements still matter.

The press has been buzzing lately with stories about both sides of the affordability crisis -- rising rents and falling wages. While this is a larger national trend, we are at the forefront of the crisis in the Bronx, and much of the press makes note of this. We took on this issue in our May report, Nowhere to Go: A crisis of affordability in the Bronx.

Cuts to Section 8 would severely impact the Northwest Bronx.

Federal budget sequestration threatens Section 8 subsidies and, in turn, our neighborhoods.

There will be a Prayer Vigil for Unique Thrift Workers this Thursday, June 6th from 3:30-4:30pm at Unique Thrift Store in Kingsbridge (218 West 234th Street). This is an opportunity for the community to support the workers who are forming a union to ensure dignity and respect, wages they can live on, and improved benefits including paid sick days.