The Bronx

A recently completed 29-unit rental at 915 Dawson Street in the Longwood section of the South Bronx has opened up an affordable housing lottery for nine middle-income units reserved for households earning 130 percent of the area median income. The 1,404/month one-bedrooms and $1,575/month two-bedrooms not only offer the chance to live in a lovely new building, complete with a recreation room, laundry room, and parking, but the location just off Bill Rainey Park is the perfect enclave for families. The park has a baseball field, football field, and playground, and just a few blocks away are the 2, 5 trains at Intervale Avenue and the 6 at Hunts Point Avenue. Plus, the New York Public Library's Hunts Point branch is close, as are a myriad of schools, including Longwood Preparatory Academy, Success Academy Middle School, PS 333 The Museum School, PS 39, and PS 130.
See the income breakdown

Affordable Housing

August 21, 2018

Affordable housing lottery opens for new health-focused complex in the Bronx

A year and a half after breaking ground on the project, mental health nonprofit Community Access has opened the affordable housing for a new, $52.2 million supportive housing complex in the Mount Eden neighborhood of the Bronx. As 6sqft previously reported, "it incorporates sustainable elements such as solar panels and a co-generation plant, as well as health-focused amenities like a community garden and kitchen to encourage and teach about healthy eating, outdoor exercise equipment, and a bike sharing program." The building at 111 East 172nd Street has 126 units, 50 percent of which are set aside for formerly homeless New Yorkers or families with special needs. The remaining half is available as of today through the city's lottery and are reserved for those earning 60 percent of the area median income, including $864/month studios and $1,122/month two-bedrooms.
See the breakdown

Affordable Housing

August 17, 2018

For just $128K, a Bronx co-op with Deco details and more space than you’d expect

In a Bronx neighborhood known for comfortable living at reasonable prices and for its six-story pre-war elevator co-ops, this large alcove studio at 601 Pelham Parkway North is a fine example of both. The unit's $128,000 ask alone is worth noting; a glance at the floor plan shows that while the space isn't palatial, it goes beyond the usual one-room studio, and its kitchen and bath have more going for them than many we've seen in more expensive properties. The Art Deco building is, according to the listing, the neighborhood's "most sought after."
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

August 16, 2018

This $1.6M ‘European country house’ in the Bronx is stone cold foxy

With a beautifully-designed, renovated boho-chic interiors and a stone exterior that seems to grow right from the verdant landscape, this "European country" Tudor-style house at 2741 Edgehill Avenue in the northwest Bronx neighborhood of Spuyten Duyvil looks pretty good at $1.6 million even without three patios and parking for five cars. It's also minutes from Metro North and not far from the 1 subway line.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

Image of Rikers Island via Wikimedia

August 15, 2018

City proposes four jail sites with community amenities as Rikers replacement

Four new borough-based jails have been proposed for New York City as part of a plan to close Rikers Island, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday. The proposed facilities, which include building sites in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, will contain about 1,500 beds each and offer on-site support services. The new jails would include space for educational programming, recreation, therapeutic services and staff parking. There will also be community facilities and street-level retail space, providing amenities to the surrounding neighborhood.
Find out more

Policy

Via NYC Ferry

August 15, 2018

NYC Ferry now connects the South Bronx and Wall Street, cutting travel time in half

A new ferry route connecting the South Bronx and Wall Street launched on Wednesday, the first-ever ferry service between the two boroughs in the 21st century. The new route starts at Clason Point Park in Soundview and makes stops at East 90th Street, East 34th Street and ends at Wall Street's Pier 11. The entire trip takes about 45 minutes. "The new Soundview ferry will cut commute times in half for thousands of Bronxites," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "Our all-of-the-above approach to transit gives New Yorkers reliable options to get where they need to go."
Learn more

Transit

Queens shows how diversity is driving NYC’s economic boom

Elmhurst’s Chinatown. Image: Wiki Commons.

August 7, 2018

Queens shows how diversity is driving NYC’s economic boom

Recent economic snapshots issued by the state comptroller show that New York City has continued to experience record economic expansion in the past three years. This growth has been led by notable gains in the economies of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx (Staten Island's report is expected later this year), which since the 1990s have seen an economic boost from a large increase in their immigrant populations, Crain's reports. The revitalization of these immigrant-rich areas has led to an uptick in the number of businesses as well as sales and job growth. Unemployment is at its lowest rate since 1990. Queens, the borough that is home the city's most diverse population and becoming more so, is clearly one to watch.
More jobs, great food

City Living

The city is looking to bring Metro-North service to the South Bronx

Photo via Wikimedia

August 6, 2018

The city is looking to bring Metro-North service to the South Bronx

It's no surprise the Bronx ranks as the fastest-growing county in New York. In the last year alone, plans announced for the South Bronx have included the city's first soccer stadium, a 1,300-unit residential project on the waterfront, a development with Hip-Hop museum and food hall and a $10M revitalization investment from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Furthering the area's development boom, a study officially launched last week to look at the expansion of Metro-North service East and South Bronx communities, including Hunts Point, Parkschester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-op City.
Get the details

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

Images (L to R): One Flatbush, Bridgeline, BRiQ and The Windermere

August 4, 2018

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

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): One Flatbush, Bridgeline, BRiQ and The Windermere Greenpoint Landing’s One Blue Slip Readies for Leasing; 90% of Apartments to Have Water Views [link] Contemporary Upper West Side Rentals at The Windermere Leasing with 1 Month Free [link] BriQ Debuts in Downtown Brooklyn: No Fee Rentals with 1 Month Free [link] See […]

Real Estate Trends

Is there a 200th Street in Manhattan or the Bronx? Yes and no.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

July 31, 2018

Is there a 200th Street in Manhattan or the Bronx? Yes and no.

The official word is: There is no 200th Street in the Bronx or Manhattan; Manhattan numbered streets skip from West 196th Street straight to West 201st. But if you happen to be passing through the Dyckman Street station on the Eighth Avenue line, you wouldn't know it. What's up with the phantom 200?
Is there more to the story?

City Living

July 31, 2018

How six Italian immigrants from the South Bronx carved some of the nation’s most iconic sculptures

By Lucie Levine

When the Piccirilli Brothers arrived in New York from Italy in 1888, they brought with them a skill-- artistry and passion for stone-carving unrivaled in the United States. At their studio at 467 East 142nd Street, in the Mott Haven Section of the Bronx, the brothers turned monumental slabs of marble into some of the nation’s recognizable icons, including the senate pediment of the US Capitol Building and the statue of Abraham Lincoln that sits resolutely in the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. The Piccirillis not only helped set our national narrative in stone but they also left an indelible mark on New York City. They carved hundreds of commissions around the five boroughs, including the 11 figures in the pediment of the New York Stock exchange, the “four continents” adorning the Customs House at Bowling Green, the two stately lions that guard the New York Public Library, both statues of George Washington for the Arch at Washington Square, and upwards of 500 individual carvings at Riverside Church.
Chisel away at this tale

July 13, 2018

Live just a short drive from the New York Botanical Garden, from $1,375/month

Photo via Wikimedia A lottery launched this week for five newly constructed, middle-income units in the Bronxdale/Allerton neighborhood of the Bronx. Located at 2953 Barnes Avenue, the four-story building sits just over a mile from the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo, making the trip just a five-minute car ride or 20-minute bus ride. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from a $1,375/month one-bedroom to a $1,575/month two-bedroom.
Do you qualify?

Affordable Housing

Plans for New York City’s first soccer stadium focus on the Bronx, again

Yankee Stadium. Image: pingnews.com via Flickr

July 12, 2018

Plans for New York City’s first soccer stadium focus on the Bronx, again

New York City Football Club, the Major League Soccer franchise owned by the Yankees and an investment group led by Abu Dhabi billionaire royal Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahayan, who also owns Manchester City Football Club, may have found a site for its own home stadium after a five-year search. The focus is on a site in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium, which is where the team's owners had wanted to build the stadium in 2013, as 6sqft previously reported. This time around, the stadium would be part of a multibillion-dollar 20-acre development along East 153rd Street and River Avenue between Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Terminal Market and would also include a park, a hotel and soccer and sports-focused conference center, shops, office space, a school and as many as 3,000 affordable apartments, according to the New York Times.
More details, this way

As construction begins, cost of Bjarke Ingels’ South Bronx police station jumps to $68M

Image via BIG

July 10, 2018

As construction begins, cost of Bjarke Ingels’ South Bronx police station jumps to $68M

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday that construction has officially begun on the new police station coming to the 40th Precinct in the South Bronx. The Bjarke Ingels-designed station house, located in Melrose at East 149th Street and St. Anne's Avenue, will boast the first community event space ever to be at an NYPD facility. When Ingels was selected as the architect in 2013 (the project's second firm chosen after the first contract expired), the estimated cost was $57.7 million with a 2020 deadline. After the construction period was extended from two to three years, the cost of the total project jumped to $68 million and the station will now open in the spring of 2021. "This new precinct will strengthen the bond between community and police, which will ultimately help make the South Bronx and our City safer," de Blasio said in a press release.
More here

Three Harlem and Bronx subway stations to get upgrades for the first time in 114 years

Image via Wiki Commons

July 5, 2018

Three Harlem and Bronx subway stations to get upgrades for the first time in 114 years

The MTA Board has approved an $88 million contract to Citnalta/Forte with Urbahn/HAKS for work at three of the city's subway stations in Harlem and the Bronx after nearly a century of wear and tear. The 145 Street, 167 Street and 174-175 Street stations will be getting modernizing, structural and functional repairs beginning in July. MTA New York City Transit will be addressing needed upgrades for the nearly 20,000 subway customers on the Concourse B,D and Lenox 3 lines.
Find out when the stations will be closed for repairs

Transit

July 5, 2018

Uber is bringing dockless, electric bikes to the Bronx, Rockaways, and Staten Island

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

In May, 6sqft reported that outer-borough neighborhoods underserved by Citi Bike would get dockless bike-share programs this summer. On Tuesday, the city’s pilot officially kicked off in the Rockaways, the area around Fordham University in the Bronx, and the North Shore of Staten Island, and to make things more exciting, the city is also offering electric bikes (h/t NY Times). The Uber-owned Jump Bikes is providing dockless electric bikes that can reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour with little user effort. The bikes will cost only a dollar or two and can be reserved and paid for in the Uber app.
All the details

Transit

Cuomo announces $10M in infrastructure and arts upgrades for the South Bronx

Image via Wikimedia Commons.

July 5, 2018

Cuomo announces $10M in infrastructure and arts upgrades for the South Bronx

We've been keeping up with the booming development plans unfolding in the South Bronx, from a massive waterfront complex in the works to the city's first soccer stadium. Today Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced specific plans for a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) award that underscores the momentum happening in what he called "the heart of the bustling Bronx." The strategic investments are part of the governor's ongoing efforts to revitalize the Bronx and create more opportunities in the Bronx Civic Center Downtown neighborhood. The funds will be used for 12 transformational projects in the South Bronx.
Find out more

Policy

The Bronx Night Market opens this weekend with nearly 40 local vendors

Images via Bronx Night Market

June 29, 2018

The Bronx Night Market opens this weekend with nearly 40 local vendors

Starting at 4pm tomorrow, June 30th, the Bronx Night Market will officially be open for business in Fordham Plaza. The first of its kind in the borough, the free open-air market will have 40 vendors, 99 percent of which will be from the area, who will serve up “dishes and libations from all corners of the world with an unmatchable layer of authenticity and passion.” Not only will the items be priced reasonably, from about $3 to $7, but there will also be handcrafted items for sale and live entertainment from local performers.
Get the deets

Events & Things To Do

June 28, 2018

Nearly 200 affordable apartments up for grabs in the South Bronx, from $548/month

The Mulberry via PRCNY & Camber Property Group Across two brand new affordable housing buildings in the South Bronx, there are 191 units available. The Hemlock, at 1000 Fox Street, and the Mulberry, at 960 Simpson Street, have a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments as part of a newly launched housing lottery. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 40 and 100 percent of the area median income can apply for the units, which range from a $548/month studio to a $1,831/month three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

100+ affordable apartments up for grabs at a South Bronx passive house, from $702/month

Rendering via Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

June 18, 2018

100+ affordable apartments up for grabs at a South Bronx passive house, from $702/month

Located between East 151st and 153rd Streets, a 15-story affordable rental is now accepting applications for a whopping 107 units. Dubbed Park Avenue Green, the South Bronx building at 2980 Park Avenue is the second phase of a multi-phase housing project. Designed by Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, the building includes 154 apartments and a 4,300-square-foot community facility. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 50, 60 and 80 percent of the area median income can apply for the units ranging from a $702/month studio to a $1,823/month three-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

June 8, 2018

Live in the Bronx for just $1,100/month and get to Midtown in 40 minutes

Photo by Axel Drainville on Flickr Three middle-income units are up for grabs at a newly constructed building in the East Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx. Located at 1779 Weeks Avenue, the rental sits just steps from the B and D train, making Midtown commutes a breeze. Plus, residents can enjoy open space, playgrounds and a public pool at Claremont Park, which is just a few blocks south. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for one $1,100/studio and two $1,300/month one-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Torn off by a fan in 1973, a right field sign from the old Yankee Stadium just sold for $55K

Photo via Clean Sweep Auctions

June 7, 2018

Torn off by a fan in 1973, a right field sign from the old Yankee Stadium just sold for $55K

On September 30, 1973, during the last home game at Yankee Stadium before the historic arena underwent two years of renovations, diehard baseball fans came wielding screwdrivers and hammers. Not to fight fans from the opposing team of that night's game, the Detroit Tigers, but to dismantle any memorabilia from "The House That Ruth Built." One fan somehow got his hands on a right field sign wall that designates the 296-foot distance from home plate (h/t Forbes). A family member of the brazen fan put up the sign for auction last month and on Wednesday, after 18 bids, the 1960s era sign sold for a final sale price of $55,344.
Find out more

History

Why is Woodlawn Cemetery carving its trees into animals?

Photos courtesy of William Christ

June 4, 2018

Why is Woodlawn Cemetery carving its trees into animals?

By Stephanie Hoina

Opened in 1863, and long known as the final resting place of some of history’s most notable figures-- Irving Berlin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Robert Moses, F.W. Woolworth, and Herman Melville, to name a few--the Bronx’s Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservatory is also home to many treasures of the living variety. When one of Woodlawn's trees (of which there are a whopping 140 different species!) meets its ultimate fate, the cemetery doesn't merely bury it but rather celebrates its life by carving it into an animal that can be found on the grounds.
Find out the meaning behind this tradition

Apply for 3 middle-income apartments next to the Harlem River in Highbridge, from $1,200/month

Photo by Shinya Suzuki / Flickr

May 31, 2018

Apply for 3 middle-income apartments next to the Harlem River in Highbridge, from $1,200/month

A lottery launched this week for three middle-income apartments in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. Located at 1072 University Avenue, the newly constructed building sits just steps from the Harlem River, with views of the High Bridge, a 170-year-old bridge that offers a shortcut to Manhattan. As the oldest bridge in New York City, the High Bridge first opened in 1848 and was closed for 45 years before reopening after renovations in 2015. Qualifying New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income can apply for the three units: a $1,200/month studio, $1,500/month one-bedroom and a $1,800/month two-bedroom.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

The Bronx Zoo, courtesy of Julienne Schaer on NYC &C Company

May 29, 2018

13 middle-income apartments up for grabs right near the Bronx Zoo