The Bronx

While New York City's brief autumn speeds by in the blink of an eye, the New York Botanical Garden can help make the most of the season's glory. The old-growth Thain Family Forest at the NYBG offers one of the region's best opportunities to view autumn's majestic hues via a live fall "color cam." Even better, you can experience the largest uncut expanse of New York’s original wooded landscape, walk long-ago Native American hunting trails and see marks left by glaciers shaded by trees that date back to the American Revolution with events happening on the NYBG's fall forest weekends this month.
More Autumn attractions and fall fun, this way

Events & Things To Do

Historic Bronx General Post Office is for sale again after food market plans dissolve

Via Wikimedia

November 1, 2018

Historic Bronx General Post Office is for sale again after food market plans dissolve

The historic Bronx General Post Office on the Grand Concourse is once again for sale, Welcome2TheBronx reports. The familiar neighborhood landmark was purchased from the postal service in 2014 by developer Young Woo & Associates and the Bristol Group for $19 million, as 6sqft previously reported. After suggesting a new life for the 80+-year-old building as "a crossroads for community, commerce and culture" including a food market that could become a dining/drinking/shopping destination, the developer has put the building up for sale for an undisclosed price.
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Steps from the Bronx Zoo, 58 affordable apartments for seniors up for grabs

1880 Boston Road rendering via SLCE Architects

October 1, 2018

Steps from the Bronx Zoo, 58 affordable apartments for seniors up for grabs

A lottery launched this week for 58 affordable units of senior housing in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx. Located at 1880 Boston Road, the development contains 167 affordable apartments with amenities including a yoga room, community room, art studio, library, and a rooftop terrace. The building is just a few blocks south of the Bronx Zoo and sits next to the Bronx River. Available studio and one-bedroom apartments are set aside for seniors who are 62 years or older and who earn a maximum of $31,750 annually. Each eligible resident pays 30 percent of their income and will need to qualify for Section 8.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

Lottery opens for 95 affordable units in the Bronx’s Kingsbridge neighborhood, from $860/month

Kingsbridge Armory via Flickr cc

September 17, 2018

Lottery opens for 95 affordable units in the Bronx’s Kingsbridge neighborhood, from $860/month

It's no wonder the city has spent the better part of the past decade trying to redevelop the former Kingsbridge Armory into the country’s largest ice skating complex--it's less than a block from the 4 train and three blocks from the D and B trains and a quick walk to the Fordham University campus. And for residents moving into the area, it's just a few blocks from the large Jerome Park, St. James Park, and Poe Park. With all this in mind, a new development has sprung up across from the Armory at 2700 Jerome Avenue. The 13-story, 134-unit building is a mix of affordable and supportive housing and retail, and as of today, New Yorkers who earn 60 or 90 percent of the median income can apply for 95 units that fall into the first category. The available apartments range from $860/month studios to $1,940/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

With most approved residential units in NYC, the Bronx building boom continues

Via Nelson Mejia Jr. on Flickr

September 17, 2018

With most approved residential units in NYC, the Bronx building boom continues

Out of the 20 New York City neighborhoods with the most residential units approved within the past year, seven of them are in the Bronx, more than any other borough. According to a new report from Localize.city, a group that analyzes data related to housing, 13 percent of all approved apartments between 2010 and 2015 were in the Bronx. In the first half of 2018, the Bronx had 27 percent of the city's share of approved new units. While a majority of new buildings in the borough are affordable, increasing land prices could mean more market-rate projects are on the horizon, the New York Times reported.
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Real Estate Trends

New Bronx affordable housing lottery tries to make ‘Mott Haven North’ a thing

Rendering of 764 East 152nd Street via UA Builders Group

September 14, 2018

New Bronx affordable housing lottery tries to make ‘Mott Haven North’ a thing

We've seen it all over Manhattan and Brooklyn--brokers come up with bizarre acronyms and new directional cues to hip-ify (aka gentrify) a neighborhood. Most recently, they tried their hand at SoHa--South Harlem, which certainly didn't stick. And now the trend has spread to the Bronx, though this time it's the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development behind the new moniker. In their defense, "Mott Haven North," was probably chosen for the latest affordable housing lottery based on their 1994 Mott Haven North Urban Renewal plan, but with this South Bronx neighborhood rapidly gentrifying, it's a slippery slope. Regardless, there are eight $1,379/month one-bedrooms up for grabs at 764 East 152nd Street, which, according to maps, is in the Woodstock area.
More info ahead

Affordable Housing

September 12, 2018

City Island cottage has two bedrooms and a big backyard for $385K

This cheery City Island cottage may look tiny, and while it's definitely not big, it manages to fit two bedrooms, a bonus loft space, several closets, and a high-end kitchen into its petite frame. Plus, it has a large backyard and is just blocks from a private beach. First spotted by Curbed, who notes that the yellow-shingled charmer is on "one of the heavily-residential side streets" of the Bronx island, the house is asking $385,000.
Get a look inside

The most expensive development site in the Bronx will be 30 percent affordable

A previous rendering of 101 Lincoln Avenue via Hill West Architects

September 7, 2018

The most expensive development site in the Bronx will be 30 percent affordable

The most expensive transaction on record for a development in the Bronx officially closed Wednesday, after Brookfield Property Partners picked up the two sites for $165 million from Somerset Partners and Chetrit Group. Originally, Somerset and Chetrit planned for all of the development's 849 residential units to be market rate, and while Brookfield intends to keep the same number of apartments, they are designating 30 percent of them affordable, according to the Real Deal.
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August 31, 2018

New Mott Haven development opens lottery for 133 mixed-income units, from $464/month

In 2016, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. allocated nearly $3.3 million to create 851 affordable housing units across eight projects in the borough. One of these, MLK Plaza Apartments at 869 East 147th Street in ever-developing Mott Haven, received $500,000, and as of today 133 of its 165 units are up for grabs through the city's housing lottery. The mixed-income units range from $464/month studios to $1,289/month three-bedrooms and have access to the building's laundry room, fitness room, library and computer room, bike storage, and outdoor rec space and terrace.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

August 31, 2018

Upcoming walking and bike tours explore NYC’s historic and hidden waterways

Being the concrete jungle it is today, it’s hard to believe New York City was once a maritime powerhouse, its surrounding harbor waters serving as a vital trading port for the rest of the country. Before paved over and developed, Manhattan boasted forests and wildlife, supported by many freshwater ponds and streams. Today, some of the city's oldest waterways remain hidden in plain sight, their pathways relegated underground. NYC H20, a nonprofit who aims to educate New Yorkers about the city's water, is hosting five walking and bike tours of historic waterways throughout the month of September, giving New Yorkers a chance to get their feet wet with knowledge about NYC's water.
Learn more

Via Wiki Commons

August 28, 2018

Apply for 83 affordable units in the South Bronx, starting at $929/month

Via Wiki Commons The second housing lottery to open today in the South Bronx's Longwood section is at Thessalonia Manor, a two-building affordable project adjacent to the Thessalonia Baptist Church. The 120-unit development, from Urban Builders Collaborative and CMC Development, was announced two years ago, and now households earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for 83 of the units, ranging from $929/month one-bedrooms to $1,289/month three-bedrooms. Like the earlier lottery, the buildings at 960 Prospect Avenue and 961 Reverend James A. Polite Avenue are right near the family-friendly Bill Rainey Park and the 2 and 5 trains at Intervale Avenue. The buildings offer on-site laundry, a community room, courtyard, and roof top terrace.
See if you qualify

Affordable Housing

August 28, 2018

Nine middle-income apartments up for grabs in a family-friendly South Bronx corner, from $1,404/month

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