Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 23

There's an oil barge currently sinking in the Long Island Sound off Hart Island, but the Coast Guard says it isn't releasing any oil into the water.

Residents at 1530 Sheridan Ave in the South Bronx (near Claremont Park) are suing private equity firm SG2 Properties for leaving them without cooking gas for six months, along with more than 400 other housing violations, the Daily News Reports. SG2 Properties bought 75 buildings in the Bronx in 2007 and has already had to settle with tenants in at least two of them for failing to make repairs and provide gas.
This isn't the first time SG2 Properties has been in the news; you can find more Bronx News Network coverage of SG2 here.

Both 311 and local Councilman Joel Rivera are reporting an increase in calls from tenants who claim landlords aren't providing heat.

A Dean at Cardinal Hayes High School has been charged with sexual abuse for allegedly groping a 19-year-old student at the all-boys Catholic school.

Two Rikers Island corrections officers were charged yesterday in State Supreme Court in the Bronx for allegedly having Rikers inmates intimidate and beat other prisoners in a unit for teenagers, leading to the death of an 18-year-old.

Today is the four year anniversary of the deaths of two firefighters forced to jump from a fourth-story window after becoming trapped in a fire at E 178th St. A mass was held this morning at St. Joseph's church in memory of the two. Testimony in the manslaughter trial pertaining to the case picks up this afternoon.

And the Yanks are officially moving across the street today.

More on SG2 and Private Equity

Opinion by blogger Gregory Lobo Jost:
In addition to Private Equity landlord SG2's buying and selling, the Daily News Bronx Section reports on the continued lack of cooking gas at 1530 Sheridan Ave. Tenants have been making due with electric two-burner counter-top stoves since the end of December, with many tenants reporting problems.

This potential sale of two dozen properties represents more than a third of SG2's portfolio; according to our own research, the firm owns about 70 buildings with 4,700 apartments in the Bronx. Overall in 2007, private equity groups paid a significantly higher price per unit ($83,300) for their Bronx apartment buildings than other buyers ($76,000), expecting higher returns through "maximizing income potential" (read, raising rents through various means).

It's curious that SG2 is trying to flip some of their buildings so quickly. It may be that they are trying to cash out while there are still buyers willing to pay extremely high prices despite soaring operating costs (fuel and water being prime examples). It could be that they are realizing that the "upside potential" in these properties isn't meeting expectations, as tenants are already paying half of their income on rent and the gentry fails to arrive in the Bronx.

Unfortunately, the extremely high sales prices being paid for west Bronx rent stabilized properties means many tenants will be forced out to cheaper parts of the City. (Oh wait - there aren't any parts of the city that are cheaper!) Of course, the possibility exists that tenants able and willing to pay the higher rents won't materialize in our neighborhoods, but that isn't good news either: buildings may likely fall into disrepair and may even end up in foreclosure. (Read more on this here and here.)

Meanwhile, I just found out last week that my building is also for sale for more than $120,000 per unit! Hopefully no one, especially a private equity firm, will buy it.

The Monitor's Out

The latest edition of the bilingual Mount Hope Monitor has been published. Stories include a look at how repairs are coming along (or not coming along as the case seems to be) at 1749 Grand Concourse, following a deadly fire in the 278-unit apartment building on April 8. Nilsa Rivera, the president of the building's tenant association, says the tenants feel like they've been forgotten.