Do you know anything about Tilden Towers 2 or the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx? (New York: low income)
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There is a Mitchell-Lama building in the Williamsbrideg Section of the Bronx called Tilden Towers 2. Anyone know anything about it? Nice place to live? Decent area? I am considering applying and I hear the wait list is very short. Makes me wonder why?! Anyone ever been there?
I only took the trip once and wouldn't term it "dangerous" - in fact people were very polite - but I felt like the "2" train was a long slog to Midtown.
This article has some interesting opinions about the "why" of the short wait list, though I have not evaluated the claims in person:
Consider Tilden Towers II, a beautiful Mitchell-Lama building in a nice Bronx neighborhood. It is ethnically and economically diverse and the people who live in this building consider themselves to be family. It was built in 1971 with taxpayer funding and has been crime free ever since. It’s a wonderful place to raise a family. It’s the cleanest and one of the best Co-ops in the Bronx. It’s a jewel in the Mitchell-Lama portfolio. Some of the amenities include: 3 elevators, a laundry room, a community room, a full sized adult swimming pool, a large kiddie pool, pool shower facilities, a picnic area, a covered garage, and a 24 hour guard service. A typical 3-bedroom apartment goes for about $1300/month (including gas and electric), has a full kitchen, a dining room, a living room, 2 bathrooms, a foyer with a large storage closet, a 21 foot terrace, all the sunlight you can use, and a fabulous view of the Bronx. This middle income, Mitchell-Lama building is an oasis, a paradise in the Bronx. It used to have a 5, 10, and 15 year waiting list. Now, it has a substantial number of empty apartments waiting to be sold!
How is it that a beautiful 3-bedroom apartment, in this well kept building could go for more than a year without being sold?
The answer to the above question is obvious and crystal clear. HPD has a “Catch 22” program in place that does goes like this: HPD does not allow middle income people to purchase formally middle income apartments; and, HPD does not permit low income people to buy apartments if, a) they do not have the required equity to purchase the apartment or, b) they cannot afford the maintenance or, c) there are too few people in their family (for a 3-bedroom apartment). Typically low income people would not have the required equity or be able to afford the maintenance. So, predictable that leaves mostly Section 8 candidates for the apartment.
I live in Tilden Towers II and it is truly one of New York City's hidden gems. I moved here earlier this year, and was only on the waiting list for a one bedroom for several months. The building is safe (24/7 security) and I pay $803.00 a month with parking, gas, electric, and pool membership included in that rent. Purchasing the place was about $12,000, and it was worth every dollar. The building is clean, and has a large maintenance staff that attend to everything. The building boasts beautiful views, cheap maintenance, a laundry room, community room, pool, biggest most spacious apartments I've ever seen, playground, courtyard, large parking lot, private balconies, and we are now working on creating a community garden. The people are very friendly, and everyone talks to each other on the elevator up. The neighborhood is kind of average, and is very carribean. There are a decent amount of places to eat, shop for basics, and there is a soccer/football field with a good league that people go and watch in the summer evenings. I do find myself often driving to Bay Plaza to do shopping as that's only 10 minutes away, and I go to City Island for restaurants. Neighborhood used to be rough, but now its alot better.
I don't know where that article posted earlier go it's information, but the reason why there is a short waiting list is because the building voted for a rent increase for the first time in 15 years about 2 years ago, and alot of the people receiving social security or SSI who've lived here for 20-30 years moved out to nursing homes or with family because it put a strain on their fixed income. From what I here my unit was about $550 and jumped to $753 (the rate without parking $30 and my two air conditioners $16). Unfortunately others passed away, and because the building has strict income guidelines, it is hard to find working class families that are interested in limited equity coops anymore. Many would rather rent.
FYI: Maximum income for my apartment was $85000 for two people and minimum was like $30,000 and we earned only $45000. They told us that there is a small surcharge if we go over (you have to recertify your income every year to get the Section 236 subsidy), but that we would get a $20,000 credit if both of us held jobs. So in otherwords, it's more like if we go over $105,000 that we hit a surcharge.
Last edited by BoogeyDownDweller; 10-09-2015 at 04:22 PM..
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