UNHP Awarded Neighborhood Grant

Congratulations to the University Neighborhood Housing Program, which was just awarded a $40,000 Neighborhood Revitalization grant to expand its housing and homeowners assistance programs, foreclosure prevention databases, free tax-preparation services and financial literacy workshops. The money is part of $520,000 in grants given out by the the New York Community Trust; UNHP is the only Bronx group to receive one of the awards.

Check out their website for more information, and a number of housing-related resources.

Housing Expert and BxNN Blogger Greg Jost on BronxTalk Tonight

Gregory Lobo-Jost, a frequent contributor to this site who is deputy director of University Neighborhood Housing Program, will be interviewed tonight at 9. a.m. on BronxTalk (Cablevision channel 67) with Gary Axelbank.
They're sure to discuss critical Bronx housing issues such as foreclosures and the looming crisis with over-leveraged buildings purchased at unsustainable inflated prices with private equity.
I should also note that Greg and the folks at UNHP deserve a lot more credit and attention for the important work they're doing and have done since the 80s. Jim Buckley, the groups's executive director, was an organizer with the NWBCCC in the 1970s, and has been working for better housing in the Bronx ever since.
No other organization keeps such a close eye on the health of the borough's housing stock, and raises alarm bells when necessary.
These folks do the tough research and know what they're talking about. More of us should listen and make certain elected officials, bankers and other decision makers do the same. And citywide reporters should check in with them more often, rather than just the usual Manhattan suspects.
Watch Greg tonight if you can. The show will re-air at the same time all week long. We'll post the show on the blog when it's up on-line.
Oh, here's a recent op-ed by Greg in Norwood News on vacancy decontrol.

Shining Some Light on Ocelot

The Bronx Ink, an online publication written by students at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, recently published an extensive piece investigating Ocelot, a real estate investment company that owns multiple apartment buildings throughout the Bronx.

All of Ocelot's buildings in the Bronx are littered with trash, graffiti, rats, and hazardous structures, and neither Ocelot nor their investors are willing to clean up the mess that they created, according to the article. Ocelot is looking for a buyer to get them out of their chaotic financial mess, but in the meantime, families living in their buildings are still living in dangerous conditions.

On the Housing Front

Here are a few Bronx-related housing stories for the beginning of summer:

The main topic for 2009 that will likely continue on for the foreseeable future is the issue of foreclosures in apartment buildings, especially those owned by private equity investors who gambled on increasing rents dramatically.

In the Gotham Gazette, Bronx-based freelance reporter Eileen Markey documents the Foreclosure Threat that Looms Over Thousands of City Apartments, including many in the Bronx.

Included in her piece is the worst-case scenario being played out a number of Bronx buildings owned by private equity investor Ocelot Properties, where the owners have walked away, the buildings are in complete disarray and a number of them have gone vacant.

Earlier this month, City Limits reported on the situation in these buildings and the efforts by the City and housing advocates to get the lender, Fannie Mae, to "take a more active role in ensuring upkeep of the properties."

University Neighborhood Housing Program has warned about these types of scenarios for years at our affordable housing forums. Two years ago at our forum on Shrinking Affordability, panelist Frank Anelante of Lemle & Wolff warned about the condition of much of the City's housing stock and that we would be seeing more and more buildings falling down, such as what happened in Brooklyn yesterday.

(The report from this year's forum on Envisioning the Future of the Red Zone contains an extensive collection of maps and charts focusing on the west Bronx including new housing, demographic, economic and real estate data.)

Finally, NY1 has a segment on how the City's housing department (HPD) is buying foreclosed homes to rehab and sell them at below-market prices.

South Bronx news

"Hunts Point's house of horrors" is the lead headline on the new issue of The Hunts Point Express, published last week. A Manida Street apartment complex has racked-up more that 2,000 violations, and tenants are living in squalor, as junkies, thieves and prostitutes invade and trash vacant apartments.
Less drastic, but more surprising, are conditions in an apartment building on E. 162 St. that led to a tenant protest against one of the city's biggest developers and managers of affordable housing.
The Express also tells readers what the next Bronx Borough President plans for their neighborhood and profiles the South Bronx Food Co-op. It's available free throughout Hunts Point and Longwood, as well as on-line at www.huntspointexpress.com.
And The Express now has a sibling. The Mott Haven Herald, staffed by students at the CUNY Graduate School of journalism and covering Mott Haven, Melrose and Port Morris, is on-line at www.motthavenherald.com and will publish its first newspaper soon.

Bronx News (other than term limits) Roundup: Oct. 23

NY1's Dean Meminger reports on how the DOT plans to help alleviate confusion and congestion at one of the busiest intersections in the Bronx -- 3rd Avenue and 149th Street.

A judge ordered that a Bronx building owner has 30 days to fix 269 outstanding violations or he will be forced to forfeit the property to the city.

Stella D'Oro workers are striking in protest of a wage cut imposed by the company's new owners.

The Daily News profiles Eva Bornstein of the Lehman Center for Performing Arts.

Native Bronxite and performer David Gonzalez (not to be confused with the NY Times reporter of the same name) is gaining notoriety for his show, which features "classic tales with a lot of funk."

The new Metro-North Station at Yankee Stadium is moving along swimmingly.

Latest Highbridge Horizon now on the web

The latest issue of the Highbridge Horizon is now available online. Among the stories featured this month:

*The High Bridge branch of the New York Public library has closed down for renovations and is not expected to reopen for 2 years. Many community members, while excited by the building's extensive makeover, are unhappy about the length of time the building will be unavailable to local residents. Of particular concern to local residents is the affect the libary closing will have on area children.

*In April the Highbridge Horizon visited 1055 University Avenue (W. 165th Street) to find numerous apartments with collapsed ceilings, water leaks, mold, no hot or cold water, and crumbling walls. This month, the Horizon returned to find that, if anything, conditions have only gotten worse.