The Bronx

One of the country's largest burial ground may become a city park. The New York City Council is considering making Hart Island, an island located off of the Bronx coast where roughly one million people have been buried since the Civil War, more accessible to visitors. Because the city's Department of Correction (DOC) currently maintains the site and hires inmates from Rikers Island to bury bodies there, access remains restricted. During a hearing Thursday, the City Council introduced a package of legislation aimed at improving Hart Island, including one bill that would transfer control of the land from the DOC to the city's parks department.
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Policy

This nitrogen ice cream parlor in the Bronx is a pastel-painted dream

All photos courtesy of Costas Picadas

May 1, 2019

This nitrogen ice cream parlor in the Bronx is a pastel-painted dream

Last December, Ice Scream opened at the Mall at Bay Plaza, giving the Bronx its first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlor. In addition to serving up futuristic frozen treats, the shop provides a fun and relaxing rest stop in between shopping. Founded by New Yorker Julien Albertini and Alina Pimkina, from Moscow, interior design firm Asthetíque specializes in luxury hospitality and residential design. Although developing a brand for a family business tailored to children was a totally new concept for Julien and Alina, the duo took on the design for Ice Scream and came up with a concept that "benefits society and makes peoples’ lives and businesses more beautiful and functional," according to the designers. Inspired by the 1980s Memphis design movement, Asthetíque has created a space for guests to have “plenty of Instagrammable moments.” From the ceiling's coordinated light show to the fun mantras written in neon script throughout the 24-seat store (ie: "Ice Scream is better than therapy" and "Count your sprinkles, not your problems"), Ice Scream's design not only provides a spot for families to make memories, but as a declaration that the "Bronx can contribute to the world of design." For its innovative and playful ice cream parlor design, Asthetíque was a winner in the 46th annual IIDA Interior Design Competition this year. Ahead, see inside the eye-catching ice cream parlor and hear from Julien and Alina on the brand development process.
Get the scoop on Ice Scream

April 29, 2019

The Bronx’s first independent bookstore is now open

On Saturday April 27, National Bookstore Day, the first independent bookstore in the Bronx–and currently the borough's only bookstore–held its grand opening bash. As Curbed reports, The Lit. Bar bookshop/wine bar at 131 Alexander Avenue in the Mott Haven neighborhood is a long-anticipated labor of love brought to life by Bronx native Noëlle Santos, who first saw a need when the borough's last bookstore, a Barnes & Noble, threatened to close. The Barnes & Noble closed in 2016 despite community efforts, but a dream was born.
Find out more about the new literary addition

City Living

The Doe Fund is redeveloping a former army reserve center in the Bronx into affordable housing for veterans

Photo via Wiki Commons

April 24, 2019

The Doe Fund is redeveloping a former army reserve center in the Bronx into affordable housing for veterans

The Doe Fund has announced plans to develop 90 new units of affordable housing in the Bronx on the site of the former Joseph A. Muller Army Reserve Center at 555 Nereid Avenue in Wakefield. The New York City-based nonprofit organization acquired the long-dormant structure in 2013 and has since worked with Wakefield residents to create a redevelopment plan that responds to the community’s needs. As a result, the site will be converted into 90 studio apartments, 54 of which will be reserved for formerly homeless veterans.
More info

Affordable Housing

Bronx Commons via Danois

April 12, 2019

South Bronx development with new music hall opens affordable housing lottery, units from $328/month

A lottery has officially opened for 288 newly-constructed units at the Bronx Commons development at 443 East 162 Street in the Melrose neighborhood in the South Bronx. In addition to the affordable apartments, the mixed-use development offers retail, a landscaped public plaza–and the 14,000 square foot, 250-seat Bronx Music Hall, a concert hall with rehearsal spaces and an outdoor performance and recreational space among other amenities.
Find out more, this way

Affordable Housing

April 11, 2019

10 historic sites to discover in Mott Haven, the Bronx’s first historic district

By Historic Districts Council

This post is part of a series by the Historic Districts Council, exploring the groups selected for their Six to Celebrate program, New York’s only targeted citywide list of preservation priorities. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first historic district designated by New York City in the Bronx. Mott Haven was designated in 1969 by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for its architecture "representative of the best of the second half of the nineteenth century." Landmarks later designated the Mott Haven East Historic District and the Bertine Block Historic District, also in the neighborhood, in 1994. Designated the same year as the Greenwich Village Historic District, the Mott Haven Historic Districts Association is working to bring this historic neighborhood to the same level of local and national prominence as its Manhattan sibling. In honor of the 50th anniversary, the Association uncovered the story behind 10 historic sites in Mott Haven--from the ironworking factory that lent its name to the neighborhood to two incredibly intact stretches of rowhouses to an early piano factory.
More here

History

Archdiocese of New York reveals new affordable housing on the site of a former Bronx church

Photo courtesy of Magnusson Architecture + Planning

April 9, 2019

Archdiocese of New York reveals new affordable housing on the site of a former Bronx church

Magnusson Architecture + Planning (MAP) unveiled a new, mid-rise building known as St. Augustine Terrace that will provide 112 units of affordable housing for low-income families in the Bronx. The project was commissioned by the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York and is the first building in 50 years to be built on the site of a former church, what used to be St. Augustine’s Church in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx.
More info

Via Wikimedia

March 26, 2019

De Blasio’s plan for a borough-based jail system as Rikers replacement moves forward

Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to open four new jails as replacements for the Rikers Island complex has officially entered the public review process. The City Planning Commission on Tuesday certified the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application from the city's corrections department to open new facilities in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens as part of the city's 10-year plan to close Rikers. The rubber stamp from the CPC comes after the project's draft environmental impact statement, which was released last week, found no significant adverse impacts.
Learn more here

Lottery opens for 149 units at amenity-packed new construction in the Bronx, from $462 a month

Rendering courtesy of The Wilfrid

March 21, 2019

Lottery opens for 149 units at amenity-packed new construction in the Bronx, from $462 a month

Rendering courtesy of The Wilfrid 149 affordable units are becoming available at a newly constructed building in the East Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx. Located at 4181 3rd Avenue and 1888 Bathgate Avenue, the rental building, known as The Wilfrid, offers an impressive menu of amenities including an on-site resident super, a virtual doorman, an outdoor terrace, a fitness room, a residents' lounge in each tower, laundry, parking and bicycle storage. Qualifying applicants earning 40, 50, 60, 90 and 110 percent of the area median income can apply for units that range from a $462/month studio to a $2,136/month three-bedroom.
Find out how to apply

Affordable Housing

223 mixed-income units available at new South Bronx rental, from $389/month

Rendering via L+M Development

March 14, 2019

223 mixed-income units available at new South Bronx rental, from $389/month

A housing lottery has just launched for 223 mixed-income apartments in the new South Bronx building located at 1520 Story Avenue, known as Story Avenue West. The rental building is one of two new structures at the site, part of the Lafayette-Boynton residential complex in the Soundview neighborhood, developed by Nelson Management Group and L+M Development Partners. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 30, 50, 60, 90 and 110 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from $389/month studios to $2,066/month three-bedrooms.
Find out how to apply

Affordable Housing

March 13, 2019

‘It’s the Bronx’ arts and culture festival aims to be the ‘SXSW of the Bronx’

The creators of The Bronx Night Market will soon be launching a grand festival dedicated to "celebrating Bronx hustle." The It's the Bronx (@itsthebronx) festival will take place on March 22-24 at the Union Crossing building in Port Morris, featuring up-and-coming musicians, visual artists, discussion panels, video screening, a gallery exhibit and street performances plus plenty to eat and drink.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

March 12, 2019

16-room Tudor beauty in the Bronx, complete with pond, asks $5.6M

Situated on a hilltop above the historic houses of the affluent Fieldston neighborhood in the Bronx, this early 1900s stone and stucco Tudor home offers privacy, size and architectural beauty surrounded by expansive lawns, mature plantings and a pond. It's all 20 minutes from Manhattan.
Tour the Tudor

Distinctive Homes

Woodlawn Cemetery hosts LGBT history trolley tour in honor of Stonewall’s 50th anniversary

Via Doc Searls on Flickr

March 8, 2019

Woodlawn Cemetery hosts LGBT history trolley tour in honor of Stonewall’s 50th anniversary

By Lucie Levine

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a watershed in the struggle for LGBT rights. In honor of the anniversary, Woodlawn Cemetery and the LGBT Historic Sites Project will offer a two-hour trolley tour taking visitors to the final resting places of some of Woodlawn's most illustrious LGBT "permanent residents."
Get tickets here

Judge rules MTA must provide elevators in all stations it renovates

Photo via Flickr

March 8, 2019

Judge rules MTA must provide elevators in all stations it renovates

On Wednesday U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled that the MTA was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act for failing to install elevators when it renovated a Bronx subway station. The ruling is the result of a 2016 lawsuit initiated by Bronx Independent Living Services after the MTA refused to make a the Middletown Road elevated subway station in the Bronx wheelchair accessible, though the $27 million renovation included new floors, walls, ceilings and stairs to the street and the train platform, Gothamist reports. Ramos' ruling stated that the MTA is obligated to install an elevator, regardless of cost, unless it is technically infeasible.
Really, MTA?

Transit

Sale prices rose 125 percent between 2014 and 2018 around Bronx’s Grand Concourse

View from the Grand Concourse; photo courtesy of Dan DeLuca via Flickr.

March 1, 2019

Sale prices rose 125 percent between 2014 and 2018 around Bronx’s Grand Concourse

According to an analysis by Property Shark, the area surrounding the thoroughfare once known as the “Park Avenue of the Middle Class” has seen an elevated housing demand that has brought median home sales prices along with it, showing an increase in just 5 years that ranges from 56.2 percent in Bedford Park to a whopping 124.5 percent in Mott Haven.
Bronx rising, this way

Real Estate Trends

No weeknight service on parts of the B and D lines in the Bronx for three weeks

Photo via Flickr cc

February 19, 2019

No weeknight service on parts of the B and D lines in the Bronx for three weeks

Bronx residents who ride the B and D lines, take note: beginning today and lasting for three weeks, maintenance, cleaning, and repair work will cause the MTA to close stations between 161st Street-Yankee Stadium and Norwood-205th Street from 9:30pm to 5am as part of their larger Subway Action Plan.
All the details

Transit

First housing lottery opens at the Bronx’s $600M affordable redevelopment of the Lambert Houses

A rendering of 988 East 180th Street, courtesy of the office of Ritchie Torres

February 4, 2019

First housing lottery opens at the Bronx’s $600M affordable redevelopment of the Lambert Houses

It's been over two years since work got underway to demolish 14 building at the Bronx's 1970s-era Lambert Houses and replace them with taller towers that will hold 1,665 affordable apartments. In addition to doubling the site's number of affordable units, the $600 million project will have a public school and three times the amount of retail space. Though the entire overhaul won't be complete for another 11-12 years, applications are now being accepted for the first new residential building (h/t Welcome2TheBronx). The 49 below-market-rate residences are reserved for those earning 60 or 100 percent of the area median income and range from $761/month studios to $1,600/month two-bedrooms.
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Affordable Housing

Apply for 174 mixed-income units in the Parkchester area of the Bronx, from just $462/month

The Parkchester Oval, via Wiki Commons

January 31, 2019

Apply for 174 mixed-income units in the Parkchester area of the Bronx, from just $462/month

Last week, it was announced that the Parkchester section of the Bronx, served only by the 6 train, would be receiving a new Metro-North station, connecting it to Penn Station. And for those New Yorkers who qualify for the city's newest affordable housing lottery--earning 40, 60, or 100 percent of the area median income--there's a chance to get into the neighborhood on the heels of this news. There are 174 mixed-income apartments up for grabs at the new, two-building development Westchester Mews, and they range from $462/month studios to $1,888/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

January 23, 2019

For just $279K, this classic Bronx co-op is renovated, bright, and across from Yankee Stadium

Baseball fans take note: In addition to being surrounded by parks in a classic pre-war building with renovated interiors and plenty of amenities, this one-bedroom at 811 Walton Avenue in the Bronx is just across the street from Yankee Stadium. Asking $279,000, this cozy co-op in the aptly-named Yankee Arms been refreshed, renewed, modernized and architecturally optimized while retaining its pre-war bones.
Have a closer look

Distinctive Homes

The Bronx is getting four new Metro-North stations

Aerial view of Co-op City via Wiki Commons

January 22, 2019

The Bronx is getting four new Metro-North stations

According to Governor Cuomo, the MTA, Empire State Development, and Amtrak have reached an agreement to build four new Metro-North Railroad stations along an underutilized rail line in the east Bronx, giving this very much underserved area access to Penn Station. The "transit desert," as the press release calls it, will receive stations at Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park, and Co-op City. And considering the Bronx had the most approved residential units last year, the news couldn't come at a better time. The buried news here is that this will also be the first time Metro-North will come into Penn Station.
What's the timeline?

Transit

Bronx icons radiate light in Rico Gatson’s murals at reopened 167th Street station

Beacons (2018) © Rico Gaston, NYCT 167th Street Station. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Audre Lorde portrait derived from a photo by Jack Mitchell

January 22, 2019

Bronx icons radiate light in Rico Gatson’s murals at reopened 167th Street station

A series of bright mosaic murals created by artist Rico Gatson was revealed last week at the 167th Street B, D station in the Bronx, which recently reopened after months of repair work. The artwork, "Beacons," features eight portraits of figures who have contributed to culture and society and who also have a special connection to the broader New York City community. Figures honored include Gil Scott-Heron, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Reggie Jackson, and Sonia Sotomayor.
See the artwork

January 14, 2019

Four-bedroom City Island home with huge backyard and private beach access asks just $680K

Built in 1901, this adorable four-bedroom home at 11 Fordham Street on idyllic City Island could be a great option for those looking to live farther away from the typical hustle and bustle of NYC. Currently on the market for $679,000, the 1,779-square-foot home comes with a huge backyard, waterfront access, and a private beach. With hardwood floors throughout, it features amazing bones that could easily be modernized. The property has been featured in several commercials and was one of the main locations for the 2006 movie "The Groomsmen," and it’s ready to step into action again.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

January 3, 2019

Snag an affordable apartment in the South Bronx, from $590/month

A housing lottery launched this week for 32 affordable apartments in the Morrisania neighborhood of the South Bronx. The new building located on the corner of Third Avenue at 545 East 166th Street sits on the same block as the recently-expanded Estella Diggs Park, which has greenery, pathways, and new play equipment. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 50, 60, or 80 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, ranging from a $590/studio to a $1,643/month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

Images (L to R): ARO, Bridgeline, Paris New York, Paramount Tower and in center, Denizen Bushwick

December 15, 2018

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC rental news

By Annie Doge

Images (L to R): ARO, Bridgeline, Paris New York, Paramount Tower and in center, Denizen Bushwick Denizen Bushwick: The Best Rental of 2018 [LINK] The Paris New York: Upper West Side Rentals Offer 2 Months Free on 18-Month Lease [LINK] Paramount Tower: Murray Hill’s 51-Story Tower Leasing 1 to 3 Bedroom Layouts from $3,995/Month [LINK] […]

Real Estate Trends

50 years at Co-op City: The history of the world’s largest co-operative housing development

All photos included in this post were taken at Co-op City in the early 1970s and are courtesy of Co-op City

December 10, 2018

50 years at Co-op City: The history of the world’s largest co-operative housing development

By Lucie Levine

When Governor Rockefeller, Robert Moses, Jacob Potofsky of the United Housing Foundation, and Abraham Kazan, known as “the father of US cooperative housing,” broke ground on Co-op City in the Baychester section of the Bronx on May 14, 1966, they were doing something truly groundbreaking. In fact, Rockefeller called it a “completely sound investment in a better society.” Co-op City is the world’s largest co-operative housing development. Built on 320 acres just north of Freedomland, the sprawling, self-contained development provides homes for over 15,000 families across 35 buildings, and supports its own schools, weekly newspaper, power plant, and planetarium. Originally built by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the United Housing Foundation as cooperative, affordable, middle-income workers’ housing, Co-op city has remained dedicated to open membership, democratic control, distribution of surplus, and diversity for half a century.
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History

City scraps controversial plan for a new 40-story jail on top of the Manhattan marriage bureau

80 Centre Street via Wiki Commons

November 29, 2018

City scraps controversial plan for a new 40-story jail on top of the Manhattan marriage bureau