Data Dump: New On-Line Info Tells Us Where and How We Live and Rent

New data sources highlighting housing and population trends in our borough and city are now on-line, including a great new database and interface from the Furman Center. The NYU housing research center recently debuted their brand new Subsidized Housing Information Project, also known as SHIP, that has a wealth of information about more than 2,500 properties in the city that have some form of subsidy that keeps rents affordable for tenants. The New York Times Real Estate Section recently profiled the new database.

Properties generally fall into at least one of four categories, including HUD Insured (e.g., a Section 202 Senior Housing project), project-based Section 8 (as opposed to the voucher program), low income housing tax credits (responsible for much of the affordable housing created in NYC the past two decades) and a state moderate and middle income program known as Mitchell Lama that includes buildings such as Tracey Towers and Keith Plaza.

About 675 subsidized properties fall in the Bronx, though more than 80 of these have already opted out of their affordability requirements and now offer market rents. (You can find out this type of information pretty easily on their website.)

One of the main purposes of the SHIP database is to help advocates identify properties where affordabilty requirements will expire in the coming years and develop strategies to preserve these homes as affordable for current and future tenants. Citywide, 329 properties with 66,000 units have already opted out of their affordability programs. While new affordable units are created every year and counted as part of the mayor's 10-year 165,000 unit plan, it is much more cost effective and efficient to preserve an apartment as affordable than to build a new one.

Rent stabilized properties are not included in the SHIP database as they are not subsidized, merely regulated. (Indeed, any apartment where a family pays half of their income on rent cannot be considered affordable, as is the case for nearly 40 percent of Bronx renter households.

You can get this data on the same Furman Center site under the "Neighborhood Info" tab.) Yet the loss of cheaper rent stabilized apartments greatly exceeds the loss of subsidized units, and the Bronx is ground zero for families struggling to make rent each month in a nation where real wages for the bottom 50 percent declined by 12.6 percent between 1980 and 2007, and have managed just an 0.7 percent annual growth for those in the 50-95th percentiles (see page 18 of this research paper by the Fiscal Policy Institute).

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office just released a report on the growing income gap that is fueling the sentiment behind Occupy Wall Street and related movements. The Census Bureau has also been releasing a steady stream of data on this hot topic and the Pew Center has done a great job analyzing and condensing this data while posting a series of articles including this one on the growing poverty rate numbers. A similar report delves into the topic of multi-generational households, and how more and more relatives are doubling up to reduce housing costs. They break this data down by household type, age, gender, ethnicity and place of birth, and populations that predominate in the Bronx are those whose rates of doubling up are the highest nationally.

Finally, for more Bronx-specific Census 2010 data, don’t miss Lehman College’s Bronx Data Center page. Professor William Bosworth has begun to map the new data on race and ethnicity at the micro level in the Bronx (census blocks) and at the neighborhood level for the City.

Bronx News Roundup, Aug. 24

Good morning, lovely readers! Your weather forecast for today, luckily, does not include an earthquake (did you feel it?) but does call for sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s. Enjoy.

Something else you can enjoy: the latest issue of the Norwood News , which as we speak is being delivered to its usual spots, and will be up online shortly. It's a special back-to-school edition, chock full of great local school stories (with other news in there too, of course.) Make sure to pick up your copy.

Story of the Day: Bronx Mom Killed Over Petty Bodega Line-Fight
Jeffry Ramirez, the 19-year-old whose stray bullet struck and killed 24-year-old Yaritza Pacheco on E. 174th Street early Sunday, told police that he fired his gun during an argument that started when his friend cut another man in line at the bodega.

Some thoughts on Census 2010 Population Changes

I was eager to get into the 2010 Census data at the tract level, but am a bit disappointed that the new American Fact Finder website has been down since Friday. Instead, I was able to download a limited amount of new data from the Department of City Planning website and look at the most basic of statistics, namely population change since 2010 (though the Mayor is officially challenging them).

The map below (click on the image to enlarge) shows changes in population by census tract since 2000 for NYC, not as a percent but by the actual number of counted residents. Much of the city shows in light yellow meaning the population stayed mostly the same (up or down by less than 150 residents). The reddish areas show decreases in population while the greenish areas show increases, with the intensity of the color matching the larger decline/increase.

While I can't back this up with the actual data until the AFF site gets back up and running, it will be interesting to see how strong the effects of gentrification in Washington Heights, Inwood, and Astoria were on the large drops in population there. Was the replacing of larger families with children with young single folks and smaller families a big factor in driving down the population in those neighborhoods?

Also, there are smaller but noticeable drops in parts of Brooklyn and Queens (and even a few tracts in Wakefield) where there have been large numbers of foreclosures. There could be some kind of correlation.

I've also been reminded of an older post of mine on how more people move out of NYC annually than move in, and that the growth in population has been spurred on by international immigrant and more significantly, a high birth rate.

A few other news sites have also brought up some of these questions:

In this article on DNAinfo.com, Queens College demographer Andrew Beveridge agrees that the cost of housing has had an impact on the drop in population in upper Manhattan, but also thinks an there was likely an undercount of undocumented immigrants.

WNYC investigates the first documented drop in the City's black population, mostly in Brooklyn.

AMNewYork believes that residents, especially in Queens, are partly to blame for not returning their forms. 

And Greg David of Crain's briefly discusses the lower-than-expected results here, though I am wondering his thoughts on the Bronx adding more people than any other borough this decade after he led off his "Who will save the Bronx?" piece in August by pointing out that we are the only borough to not eclipse our peak in population from 1970.

Bronx Adds 52,458 People: Census Data

The interactive map below, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, charts the population change in New York. According to Census data collected last year, the Bronx gained 52,458 people over the last 10 years to bring the borough's population total up to 1,385,108, an increase of 3.9 percent.

The Bronx's growth outpaced that of Queens (+0.1%), Brooklyn (+2.1%) and Manhattan (+3.2%). (Totals for Staten Island weren't readily available.)

New York City as a whole saw an increase of 2.1 percent to put the total number of Big Apple residents at 8,175,133.

In reaction to the report, Bronx Congressman Jose E. Serrano said he thinks -- no, he's "certain" -- the Bronx population wasn't completely accounted for due to the fears and non-participation of the borough's many undocumented residents.

In a press release, Serrano said: "I am pleased to see that New York City is growing including a healthy increase in the numbers of people in the Bronx. I am certain that there was a slight undercount in the Bronx, as there are still many undocumented who are fearful of visits by government officials. I’m also concerned that other areas of our great city were undercounted in the Census, and that this will have an impact on our federal funding going forward.

“That said, the increase in our Bronx community by more than 50,000 people shows that our borough is on the rise and is a desirable place to live and do business."

New from the Norwood News

Thanks for your patience. As a reward, and if you haven't already read them in print, check out all the latest stories from the Norwood News, which are online now. Here's a quick preview:

More than 14 months later, the Valentine's Day murder of Norwood native Michael Lorge remains unsolved. In our narrative, we take you from the events leading up to the early morning execution-style slaying through the investigation and aftermath.

As State Senator Pedro Espada fends off charges by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, two Democratic challengers have thrown their hats in the ring.

A local immigration help center says it is doing its best to educate immigrants on the value of filling out their census forms.

Montefiore Medical Center is vocally joining city and state health officials, unions and advocates, in the  push to implement the so-called "soda tax."

We take a look inside the half-built $3 billion Croton Filtration Plant project in Van Cortlandt Park.

Dozens went on a bike ride in the memory of health advocate Megan Charlop who died in a March bike accident. 

Plus, our high school baseball preview and much more.

Enjoy!

Bronx News Roundup, April 19

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, now for some Bronx news!

Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo's grandson remains chief of staff even after pleading guilty to embezzling $115,000 from a Bronx nonprofit organization. Richard Izquierdo Arroyo was president of the organization at the time and is due for sentencing in June.

MS 399, located on East184th Street, is among the list of 19 middle schools and high schools Bloomberg has plans to "phase out" due to poor performance. Many of the schools have new principals and have improved but that doesn't take them off the list and it doesn't stop new schools from coming into their buildings to replace them. (This Village Voice piece was written by former Mount Hope Monitor intern Rob Sgobbo.)

Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, who is currently the head of the White House Office of Urban affairs is rumored to be interested in running for lieutenant governor. Liz Benjamin says Carrion is bored with his job and has more details here.

The head of the Bronx Detective Bureau has been accused of sexually harassing a detective with unwanted messages and texts.

Bronx community leader Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter has announced that she will challenge State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Jr. in the Democratic primary in the 33rd District. (We were at the announcement and will post more details soon.) Meanwhile, Stuart Appelbaum, head of the retail workers' union, which partnered with Hunter and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition to defeat the city's plans to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a mall, is poised to endorse Pilgrim-Hunter.

Two men were found shot on Friday in the Edenwald section of the Bronx. Both were rushed to Jacobi Medical Center where one was pronounced dead and the other is in critical but stable condition.

Latinos Wanted! The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has enrolled 2,000 Bronx participants and is looking for 2,000 more for its Hispanic Community Health Study. The Bronx is among the four sites chosen by the NIH.

As of last Wednesday the Bronx census mail-back rate was third in the city.

Bronx News Roundup, April 6

A Massachusetts man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of having his teenage girlfriend murdered. Carlos Cruz, 40, paid his cousin $700 to shot dead Chelsea Frazier on a quiet street in Castle Hill last spring, and make it look like a robbery.

A 65-year-old Bronx man is dead because a surgical sponge was left inside him during open-heart surgery at Montefiore Medical Center, his children charge in a lawsuit.

Daily News columnist Patrice O'Shaughnessy says Gov. Paterson's proposed soda tax "isn't fair" because it would hurt low-income families.  Last Wednesday, New Yorker Against Unfair Taxes, a coalition of businesses opposed to the tax, held a protest and petition-signing at a Fordham supermarket. In response, State Health Commissioner Richard Daines expressed shock that the "beverage lobby has the audacity to bring their fight against the sugary beverage tax to a borough that has the city's highest obesity rate and highest rates of sugar beverage consumption." Daines believes the tax would improve Bronxites' health.

A 27-year-old mother has been arrested after allegedly leaving her three young children unsupervised inside the family's Westchester Square apartment.

Fair-beating is still common-place on the Bx12 Select Bus Service, which runs along Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway.

Four members of a violent drug-trafficking gang, the so-called DeKalb Avenue Crew, have been found guilty of murder, robbery, racketeering, and other charges.

Robert Salerno, the Bronx cop badly injured in a gun-fight on March 22, has been released from hospital. He will spend the next two months or so at a physical-rehabilitation center in White Plains.

A look at the challengers Assembly members Carl Heastie, Naomi Rivers, Nelson Castro, and Peter Rivera, may face in the fall.

BoogieDowner wonders: Has Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson been taking her parking cues from Pedro Espada? Yesterday, a reader of theirs snapped photos of Gibson's car parked in a bike lane on the Grand Concourse. In the window was a police placard. 

So far, Hunts Point, Morrisania, West Farms, and Wakefield are among the neighborhoods with poor Census participation rates. You can see how your neighborhood's doing here.

A look at how Puerto Ricans came to dominate Bronx politics.

In Van Cortlandt Park, work is ongoing to clear up hundreds of fallen trees that came crashing down in last month's storm.

Bronx News Roundup, March 30

A  New York's Court of Appeals ruled today that Mazin Assi, who attempted to bomb a Bronx synagogue in 2000, is guilty of a hate crime. The court said that the stricter penalties of a hate crime applied to Assi, even if his crime was directed towards a building and not a person.

All this heavy rain caused a mudslide near the Riverdale Metro-North station early this morning, disrupting service on the Hudson line. Train times were back to normal a little after 11 a.m.

Some seasonal exhibits at the Bronx Zoo will officially reopen this Saturday.

The Daily News reports on a the popularity of hydroponic gardening--growing plants in liquid instead of soil--and how it's perfect for Bronxites who don't have the space for a traditional garden.

New low-income housing near Union Grove Baptist Church, on Hoe Avenue, broke ground on Friday. The buildings will be named after long time pastor Rev. Dr. Fletcher Crawford, who conceptualized the development.

Some Bronx politicians, like Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, are supporting--and even calling for expansions of--the proposed tax on sugary sodas, according to the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter.

Sen. Eric Schneiderman and other City officials are fighting to have prison inmates who are originally from New York City counted as city residents in the census. Current practices count inmates as residents of the regions where they're incarcerated, often upping census numbers for smaller towns upstate that house large prisons.

Starting April 10, the Parkchester 6 train station will be partially closed for repairs and renovations, which will take about three months to complete.

More on "Whatever it Takes," a documentary that chronicles Edward Tom, principal at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, in his goal to have all of his students graduate and go to college. More details on the film, which premieres tonight at 10 p.m., here.

Diaz 'Disturbed' By Poor Census Return Rate

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. just released this statement:

I am disturbed by media reports indicating that, so far, only two percent of Bronx residents have returned the 2010 Census questionnaire. I cannot stress this enough, if we do not count, we will miss out. It’s only ten questions, and it takes only ten minutes. The census results play a major role in deciding how much funding is made available to programs in our borough. Bronxites, please fill out the form and send it back before April 1. It’s our responsibility, stand up and be counted!

In parts of Soundview not a single questionnaire has been returned, according to The Times. We're assuming Diaz, who happens to live in the neighborood with his wife and two children, has already completed his and dropped it in the mail.

To track your neighborhood's participation rate, visit the Census' Web site.

UPDATE 5:30 p.m. - State Senator Pedro Espada is holding a Census outreach event on Saturday morning outside the Mosholu post office on Jerome Avenue. Details here. 

Bronx and the Census

Check your mailboxes; census forms arrive this week! If you’re wondering whether or not you should take time to answer the 10-question survey, city leaders and community groups are saying you should—there’s $400 billion on the line.

That’s the amount of federal funding given to state and local governments each year, and how much each area gets is based on population numbers gauged from the census. The city’s been stepping up efforts to get New Yorkers, especially in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations, to mail in their forms for the most accurate counts. (Ken Small, director of BronxWorks, wrote an op-ed in this month’s Mount Hope Monitor on the importance of the census for the Bronx).

During the 2000 Census, 56% of Bronx residents responded, according to the Census Bureau. This was slightly more than the city overall (55%) but well below the national response rate of 67%.

Bronx News Roundup, March 2

A man has died after falling down an elevator shaft in an apartment building on the Grand Concourse.  (UPDATE 12 p.m. - the incident happened at 1749 Grand Concourse, also known at the Lewis Morris.  This building, it seems, is rarely out of the news. In 2008, a man was shot dead in the lobby. A year before, one person died and 40 were injured when a fast-moving fire swept along the corridors and up and done the stairs. The building is owned by SG2 Properties, a private equity firm that was taken to court by the Urban Justice Center for failing to make repairs in the apartments. SECOND UPDATE 8 p.m. - SG2 no longer owns the building.  Thanks to Marie Toribio, a tenant, for pointing that out.  The new landlord is Lemle & Wolff, Inc.)

One of Assemblyman Peter Rivera's aides is calling on Gov. David Paterson to resign.  Bronx Democratic Party Chairman Carl Heastie, meanwhile, says the governor should be allowed to serve out his term.

March 7 is Oscar-night, but Cablevision subscribers in the Bronx may have to watch something else, following a contractual dispute between Cablevision and WABC.

A church is the north Bronx is helping undocumented Haitian immigrants apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) so they can stay here legally, rather than return to their earthquake-ravaged homeland.

For the past two decades, a Bronx man who works for the city's Department of Planning has been helping the Census Bureau track down elusive populations.

Nearly 270,000 Bronxites don't have a bank account. A new program, NYC SafeStart, is hoping to change this.   

With service cuts imminent, the MTA is hosting a public hearing at the Loew's Paradise Theater tomorrow night.

A talented boxer from the South Bronx will return to the ring next week, after taking time out to have a baby.  Nisa Rodriguez is hoping one day to compete in the Olympics.

The Bronx has a new community newspaper.  The Bronx Free Press is an off-shoot of the Manhattan Times, a Washington Heights weekly published by David Keisman, who used to run the Bronx Times, and Luis Miranda, who along with Roberto Ramirez (the one-time Bronx Democratic Party boss) heads up the MirRam Group, a political consulting firm.

Bronx News Roundup, Feb. 4

It's a beautiful and sunny day in the Bronx this morning. I actually broke a sweat riding my bike to work, which isn't really news, but hey, it's a slow day. In other news:

A Bronx cop was has been indicted after trying to earn a little extra on the side by fleecing drug dealers. Miguel Burgos of the 52nd, who's been police since 2004, was arrested on Tuesday. He allegedly supplied friends with a police scanner and ramming device, which they then used to rob drug dealers.

The Times's David Gonzalez has an interesting piece about a Bronx woman searching for a Bronx vet so she may return a family photo album to him.

The BBC reports on efforts to promote census participation in the Bronx. In 2000, only 56 percent of Bronxites returned the census survey. Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is pushing to raise that percentage significantly. "We need to be counted," he said.

Knicks hall of famer and Bronx native Dick McGuire passed away at 84 late Wednesday. McGuire was a Knickerbocker legend; he the team to three NBA finals victories in the 50s and later went on to serve as the team's coach.

Bronx Immigration Seminar to Focus on Haiti and 2010 Census

State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, along with the Bronx Americaribbean Chamber of Commerce will be holding an informational seminar this Friday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Haitian Congregation of the Good Samaritan Church at 661 E. 219th Street (corner of 219th Street and White Plains Road).

The seminar will discuss how to understand temporary protected status (TPS) and how Haitians can receive TPS.

The seminar will also have a Haiti update and a session on Census 2010. TPS applications can also be filled out at the meeting (passport or resident alien card required).

Questions? For more information call Carolyn D. Jones at 718-547-8854, Krystal Serrano at 914-497-1931, or Rev. Nathaniel Saint Pierre at 718-881-3779

Serrano: "Stand up and be Counted"

Congressman Jose Serrano has release a statement on Latinos being counted in the upcoming 2010 Census. Since political representation and many forms of funding are based on the Census, it's worth repeating his comments from his most recent newsletter here:

"Stand up and be Counted"

Last week, Congressman Serrano urged all Latinos, regardless of immigration status to participate fully in the 2010 Census. He was responding to a recent series of statements by Latino activists calling for a boycott of the Census, which Serrano condemned as “extremely counterproductive.”

“These calls for a boycott of the Census by Latinos are just plain wrong, and do not serve our community’s best interest,” said Serrano. “We have worked so hard for so many years for our Latino voices to be heard, so these ideas are particularly troubling to me. The message for all Latinos across the nation – regardless of immigration status – is you must stand up and be counted.

“While I understand the frustration of many Latinos over the need for immigration reform, any attempted boycott will simply be misguided. Anti-immigrant advocates have already advocated attempting to exclude undocumented immigrants from census counts and from redistricting. By excluding ourselves, we give them a victory they don’t deserve.

“In addition, any type of Census boycott by Latinos will disproportionately harm Latinos, both documented and undocumented. By forcing an undercount of the Latino population, any boycott would end up hurting the Latino population. Resources and representation are apportioned to communities by population as recorded by the census, so a census boycott would only serve to strip funding and political power from our communities. We need more Latino representation in all levels of government—but the ability to do that ultimately comes from high numbers of Latinos accurately filling out Census forms.

“I can remember that prior to the 1990 Census, the Catholic Church urged undocumented immigrants not to participate in the Census. In the subsequent 10 years the Church realized the harm that this had caused, and they had no such message for Latinos in 2000. I hope that those advocating a boycott of the 2010 Census by Latinos take less time than that to figure out the true harm that would be caused.

“Our community needs all the support that it can get. We do that by taking part in the civic duties of the United States. If you are undocumented, you should be showing that you want to take part in all the rights and duties that a citizen would. Sending a message that you only want the benefits is the wrong idea. It is extremely counterproductive to our efforts to bring comprehensive immigration reform.”

Bronx News Roundup, April 8

First of all, as I'm writing this, it's snowing in the Bronx!

A handful of Bronx high schoolers, including Bedford Park resident and Bronx Youth Heard reporter Andrew Boryga, were named Times Scholars, which comes with a $30,000 college scholarship, a new laptop and a summer job at the world-renowned paper's office in midtown.

Congratulations to Andrew (who attends Mt. St. Michael), Carrie Montgomery (Bronx School for Law Govt. and Justice), Alenadreale Banton (Bronx High School for Medical Science), Phan Ha (a Bronxite who attends Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics), Oluwanifemi Mabayoje (Bronx Health Sciences High School). It doesn't say where Angel Contrera, another scholar, is from, but his mother works at Yankee Stadium. That means half of the 12 scholars have a connection to the Bronx.

Bronx girls and women are gearing up for the Puerto Rican Day Parade, which is a way to reconnect with their culture, they say. For more on the parade (which will march down the Grand Concourse on May 17) and other related events, click here.

A cab driver was charged with assaulting a Bronx woman after she puked in his cab.

We've written a lot here about state lawmakers recently, with the MTA rescue plan stalling there and the budget getting bashed. Well, a new Quinnipiac poll says nearly three out of four New Yorkers believe the state legislature is dysfunctional.

Bloomberg is ramping up efforts to have every New Yorker counted in the 2010 Census.

A juror in the Black Sunday trial who contacted a witness via some kind of electronic message (asking them to keep in touch via Facebook) could be problematic. Defense attorney's for the building's property manager and owner want their convictions overturned.

It's still snowing!