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Call it gentrification or revitalization. The terms are certainly not interchangeable but in the case of housing and urban development the true visionaries care more about the end justifying the means then the labels used to identify change.
Here are the facts:
(1) Mott Haven and Port Morris will see an increase of 600-900 apartments within the next 3 years. 419 apartments will be occupied by Low-Income Families ( defined here under “LAMP” Programs (http://www.nychdc.com/program/program_page.htm - broken link)) within the next 6-9 months. These apartments will have waterfront views of NYC, parking, and close proximity to the train.Visit www.brucknerbythebridge.com
(2) In the past 5 years, a mix of artists and Yuppies began to move into the area along Bruckner Blvd like the Clocktower (see here:
Units in the building now range from about $1350-2600 depending on size and specs.
(3)Families have been priced out of the area because of the availability of affordable units. Artists have been moving in.
419 apartments will now become available for Low-Income families to move back to the area.
Questions:
Will “Bruckner by the Bridge” discourage the continued influx of artists who have been priced out of the LES and Williamsburg?
Will Low-Income Families bring down the value of buildings like “the Clocktower”?
Should developers pursue Middle Income Housing programs like New HOP (described below) along the Bruckner Blvd or programs like LAMP (described above)?
“New HOP was created in response to the need of offering affordable housing opportunities to people that make modest, middle-income wages. The below-market mortgages provided to developers for the construction of this type of rental housing are made through the proceeds of taxable bonds as well as though HDC’s corporate reserves which are used to make second mortgages at a 1% interest. Typically, apartments created through New HOP are reserved for households earning a range of $53,800 for an individual, up to $134,000 (175% AMI) for a family of four.”
Is the development of “Bruckner by the Bridge” a good or bad thing for “SOBRO” ?
I'm from the communuty of mott haven ab I have seen revitalization in some parts, the areas south of 138 is being gentrified and some parts still have blight and deep heavy pockets of crime,poverty and other social problems like broken families. I have seen many new faces such as blacks coming across harlems, mexicans coming from east harlem, dominicans coming down the concourse and hipsters coming across the rfk and willis avenue bridges. The old faces of the puerto ricans are decling and steadly leaving mott haven like the irish and germans before them. Many hipsters got priced out of astoria and now harlem so the next stop was mott haven. Low income people need a place to live too, but they have to be working to live in a decent complex and not in the pjs or section 8 building. My thing about low income is the youths and peep pressure which can and could bring down a community and that goes as well for middle income youths.
Will low income people bring down the clocktower? I really don't know low income people usually eat at the mcdonalds on willis and bruckner and don't usually go to bruckner bar and grill and alexander cafe. Nut many low income people use the mexican tatto parlor. But I'm sure lowincome dollars are equally welcomed as middle and yuppie dollars in that area.
The massive building by the bruckner looks intimidating even thugs and welfare people who live in the mitchell pjs are scared of it. When thet built that condo I lost my beloved view of the manhattan skyline. I was wondering the samething if that massive condo will scare away hipsters and so far no. More hipsters are moving in and many old tenements and lofts are currently being renovated for needs of artists and hipsters.
As for the programs there should be other alternatives for people of working class back grounds like cops and teachers to accounts who shold be able to move in. I would need to do some research on lamp and hop.
Its sad that not all of the south bronx is not seeing development and its only selected areas like concourse, hunts point, mott haven, and port morris. I'm afraid that poor people will be pushed more into morrisania or leave bx and nyc all together.
There is no doubt that there will be some martyrs among the early hipster crusaders looking to annex this area. If the South Bronx hipster crusade is successful -like the Williamsburg crusade of the 1990's- a beachhead could be established for future yuppies to claim another neighborhood as their own.
If they meet success and defeat the the welfare hordes a triumphant procession of Prius' and organic vegetable delivery trucks is sure to follow this initial invasion of young hipsters looking to expand upper class holdings.
My personal thoughts is that this new attempt to expand hipster/yuppie New York will be a failure. Sort of like England fresh of the success of murdering hundreds of Catholic Clergy in England were hopeful to purge Ireland of Catholicism in the 16th century. Tudor England planted scores of protestant English in Ireland to destroy the Catholic Church there but it did meet success for cultural reasons. Even as the English tried to starve the Irish hundreds of years later the Irish hung on to their faith. In the same way I think the hipsters are going to find the culture of the Bronx a little too tough to supplant. The Bronx is not Brooklyn. The hipsters likely will turn and tuck from growing causalities, disappointing the procession of Prius' and whole foods delivery trucks which will never get the chance to complete the victory parade over the Willis ave bridge.
There is no doubt that there will be some martyrs among the early hipster crusaders looking to annex this area. If the South Bronx hipster crusade is successful -like the Williamsburg crusade of the 1990's- a beachhead could be established for future yuppies to claim another neighborhood as their own.
If they meet success and defeat the the welfare hordes a triumphant procession of Prius' and organic vegetable delivery trucks is sure to follow this initial invasion of young hipsters looking to expand upper class holdings.
My personal thoughts is that this new attempt to expand hipster/yuppie New York will be a failure. Sort of like England fresh of the success of murdering hundreds of Catholic Clergy in England were hopeful to purge Ireland of Catholicism in the 16th century. Tudor England planted scores of protestant English in Ireland to destroy the Catholic Church there but it did meet success for cultural reasons. Even as the English tried to starve the Irish hundreds of years later the Irish hung on to their faith. In the same way I think the hipsters are going to find the culture of the Bronx a little too tough to supplant. The Bronx is not Brooklyn. The hipsters likely will turn and tuck from growing causalities, disappointing the procession of Prius' and whole foods delivery trucks which will never get the chance to complete the victory parade over the Willis ave bridge.
Hipsters sometime complain about hauling whole food bags on the L train to Brooklyn which majority of them do. The win for the hipstes will be a wholefood establishment in Harlem which tehy will be able to haul food across the bridge. So far the Hipsters have fairway which is located on 125 under the West Side hideway and my hipsters shop thier as an alternative. I seen white one guy actually hauled fairway on the bx15 to 136 and willis.
In Bushwick AKA East Williamsburg residents are fighting against gentrification of thier beloved niegborhood which has spilled over from Williamsburg. Sometimes Bushwick reminds me alot like Mott Haven. So far its going to be a battle of apoclyptic porportions. While many poor and low income who try to flee thier niegborhoods through out the city and come to live in Mott Haven many hipsters are also fleeing thier nests in Astoria and Harlem and also trying to take over Mott Haven. It might end in a stalemate between the poors and hipsters. My thing was this I did not wanna see expatriate residents from Washington hieghts and Harlem move into Mott Haven they should have stayed in thier own hoods and try to champion the right to stay and remain, at the sametime I did not wanna see hipsters either move into Mott Haven but now I welcome them both. It seems the Hipsters in Mott Haven are not going anywhere soon and same goes for the blacks in public housing and the Dominicans and Mexicans in the tenements while the Puerto Ricans begin to trickle out and leave the area. What I do see for Mott Haven in the near future is segregated income communities, Hipsters and Yuppies in thier enclave, the working class in thier enclave, the poor hispanics in thier enclave in the tenements and the poor and improvished blacks in thier enclave in teh housing projects.
Last edited by Bronxguyanese; 10-07-2010 at 06:46 AM..
Im not sure if you guys know on 136 street between willis and Brook avenue there is a revitalized building which was once a tenement housing project but it was once earmarked for affordable housing to own and not for low income folk. The property was supported by Mayor Money Bags Bloomberg. The apartsment inside are real big and spacious, because I remember when people used to live there before the city abandoned the property and visited people in that building. Back of the building has court yard with plants lined up every 30 feet. Sadly no one has not moved into this building yet and remains vacant with furnished bathroom and kitchens. Im not sure if they want low income people to move in or middle class people. As of today not a single soul has moved in and collecting dust like an ancient tape deck.
Alright since people like to talk facts, I thought we should actually USE facts in the discussion. The reality of this project is as follows:
-The income restrictions are as low as a studio for 1 person $26,000, and a maximum of a married couple with 2 children (for example) in a 2 bedroom for $48,000 (approx).
-The average household income in community board #1 is about $18,000 (or thereabouts), so this development is easily double what the average household income is in the area.
-Although designated low-income, you must also not have assets of more than $250,000 EXCLUDING designated retirement accounts like IRAs and 401ks. So in theory we can have lower wage residents earning $30,000, but with $200,000 in bank accounts, and infinite amounts in retirement accounts. This was surprising.
-This development does not hurt the area but greatly helps the area because the average household income is MUCH GREATER than the area as a whole. In addition, the residents will have to have good credit, good work history, pass criminal background checks, etc, which ensures a good quality tenant/resident regardless of income. If the same requirements were used for the rest of the buildings in the area, the community would be 10,000% better. Besides the quality of resident, it is also visually appealing, provides a good use for a formerly blighted site, and the success of this development will create further working and subsequently middle class developments in the area, which will improve, not hurt, the community.
If you think luxury condos are the answer, you have not been paying attention over the last 3 years. This working class development is the springboard to repositioning the area to a working/middle class community, which is part of Bloomberg's vision of the Southern Bronx. If you stand back and look at the developments that have been built south of 163rd, you would note that working/middle class housing has been growing substantially, along with the amenities and services to meet that growing population.
I wonder who will move into the bruckner by the bridge condo? For the most part its a very nosey intersection. Its right by the Willis avenue bridge and in front of the Condo thier is a rail yard frieght depot which makes alot alot of noise, I can even hear the noise from the frieght trains and I'm 4 blocks away from the rail yard. I actually managed to take a tour of the building inside and I can say it has a nice view of Manhattan skyline.
It's definitely an area in transition. A lot of it is still pretty rough other parts are industrial, and desolate at times. It's encouraging to see the development and the improvements but it still has a long way to go...
Alright since people like to talk facts, I thought we should actually USE facts in the discussion. The reality of this project is as follows:
-The income restrictions are as low as a studio for 1 person $26,000, and a maximum of a married couple with 2 children (for example) in a 2 bedroom for $48,000 (approx).
-The average household income in community board #1 is about $18,000 (or thereabouts), so this development is easily double what the average household income is in the area.
-Although designated low-income, you must also not have assets of more than $250,000 EXCLUDING designated retirement accounts like IRAs and 401ks. So in theory we can have lower wage residents earning $30,000, but with $200,000 in bank accounts, and infinite amounts in retirement accounts. This was surprising.
-This development does not hurt the area but greatly helps the area because the average household income is MUCH GREATER than the area as a whole. In addition, the residents will have to have good credit, good work history, pass criminal background checks, etc, which ensures a good quality tenant/resident regardless of income. If the same requirements were used for the rest of the buildings in the area, the community would be 10,000% better. Besides the quality of resident, it is also visually appealing, provides a good use for a formerly blighted site, and the success of this development will create further working and subsequently middle class developments in the area, which will improve, not hurt, the community.
If you think luxury condos are the answer, you have not been paying attention over the last 3 years. This working class development is the springboard to repositioning the area to a working/middle class community, which is part of Bloomberg's vision of the Southern Bronx. If you stand back and look at the developments that have been built south of 163rd, you would note that working/middle class housing has been growing substantially, along with the amenities and services to meet that growing population.
Yes I would agree most of the development in the Bronx is actually aimed at lower middle class to middle class people which is a good thing!! People in this groups have been getting squeezed out of the city for far too long.
Yes I would agree most of the development in the Bronx is actually aimed at lower middle class to middle class people which is a good thing!! People in this groups have been getting squeezed out of the city for far too long.
Yep especially since the lower to middle class are a huge tax base to the city.
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Not even a plantain famine will work
