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@JBronxite, I see we have very similar concerns. I worry about ur questions 3/4 the most considering I have people who live in the Northrose/Shakespere residents and I hear stories of vandalizm and break in and no use of the ammenties.
Everything you addressed is very vaild but I'm sure these questions need to be answered by the development. I too am on the fence about owning here as well considering we are picking the unit but it won't be the actual unit you will be moving we're choosing based on the floor plan which makes me a little skeptical. But I have been told its best to own anyday, but have concerns and a 2weeks is not enough time to make such a decision.
Melrose’s ‘village’ of elders hangs on
By Giovanny Fausto Pinto in Housing
Posted on 16. Oct, 2011 by By Giovanny Fausto Pinto in Housing
On a late summer evening a crowd of fifty-and-sixty-something Puerto Ricans and Dominicans gathered to unwind over drinks, cards, and dominoes.
Nearby, under a tree made to resemble a palm tree, a DJ spun classic salsa with a few reggaeton songs mixed in.
A vendor prepared alcapurrias, a Puerto Rican delicacy made from fried smashed yucca or green bananas filled with seasoned meat, along with other cuchefritos, or fried appetizers.
All around, new construction projects were going up, including a towering silver complex with new condos. In their shadows, the 55-and-over crowd had come to relax.
What seemed like a scene out of a flourishing Florida retirement community was in fact the intersection of Brook Avenue between 156th and 157th in Melrose.
The men and women who gather here call their sliver of sidewalk Villa Cuerno, translated as “village of horns.”The name harks back to a steamy past, the details of which vary depending whose interpretation you hear.
“I come here every weekend,” said 63-year-old Jose Santoviey as he sat with four friends on a makeshift wooden bench.“In Puerto Rico you go out into the streets to socialize and enjoy. It feels like Puerto Rico here.”
The loose-knit group of friends, which still numbers in the dozens, has been kicking back at this street corner on spring and summer weekends for decades, but now finds its longevity threatened by the heated local housing boom.
Long before the Melrose Court Condos were built in the mid 1990’s, the space the buildings now occupy was an empty dirt lot, recalled Altagracia Ozuna, 40, the group’s youngest member. Residents had built shacks and stores on the lot in the early ’80′s and dubbed the small shantytown Villa Alegre, or happy village.
Players from local softball teams and other residents started coming to Villa Alegre to drink and listen to live Latin music back then. Even Latin jazz legend Eddie Palmieri once graced a makeshift stage on the field, recalledOzuna.
But the happy village’s reputation soured. Members of the softball teams would get drunk. There were frequent trysts in an outhouse on the grounds. Soon Villa Alegre became Villa Cuerno, cuerno referring to devil’s horns in colloquial Spanish.
The fire department came and condemned Villa Cuerno. The pejorative name stuck. But the group stayed together, moving around frequently before settling back near their original spot.
Many recall the glory days of Villa Cuerno when the party would last until 3 a.m.
While the rendezvous have diminished, there is still plenty of flirting among the group members, many of whom are grandma’s and grandpa’s. Some walk with the aid of canes.
Grandchildren of regulars occasionally come to visit, but young people are not a part of Villa Cuerno.
“There’s no young people because they fight, do drugs, they bull****. Here we are about family,” said Santoviey angrily. “Here we relax. We talk about family, about Puerto Rico.”
In recent years the group has kept a low profile, but Villa Cuerno regulars worry that tenants from the newly built Via Verde and Procida Houses complexes will want them out.
“This is the last year,” said one woman.
Azuna suggested they could merge with the nearby community garden Rincon Criollo, and use their base as a future hangout but, Rincon’s founder Jose “Chema” Soto worries about clashing objectives.
“We are a garden culture, fruits and plants. Over there they sell beer. That’s a place of business. I just don’t want that in here,” said Soto.
While there is a sense that this my be Villa Cuerno’s last year in its current location, some, like 63-year-old Edwin Ayala, remain defiant.
“While we are still alive we will be here. This was and is my life,” said Ayala.
“This is where I left my wife and this is where she left me.”
This article really spins quite a tale. If this is the corner I am thinking about, it is a putrid/dirty sliver of land which is littered with garbage, and has what appears to be bums (older ones) hanging out there, and doing nothing for the neighborhood.
I walk by here all the time, and this particular corner is full of these bums, and though this article glorifies them now as elders, they were doing the same thing 40 years ago, except with more alcohol and drugs. This isn't anything I find to cherish about the block, unless they actually spent less time sitting around throwing beer cans on the ground, and more time cleaning it up and making it a nice place.
Hogtooth have you been to this corner? Before posting you should visit and see those "village elders" for yourself. They are simply the destitute/homeless which congregate, and have been congregating all their lives, and not doing much else. This is as far removed from "a flourishing Florida retirement community "as you could possibly be....it is more like an outdoor homeless shelter.
With any luck the new residents will complain to the local precinct and get these people removed. If they want to hang out, go to a park or a community garden. Why occupy a street corner and trash it? Which is exactly what they do.
I agree with SobroGuy. Since I put in my application for Via Verde, I've been driving past the neighborhood every chance I get. I have many concerns about the neighborhood and that corner is one of them. They party in the summer all weekend long with CROWDS of people and loud music. When I get approval to move, that corner business will be one of the things on my list to give to the local precinct to clean up.
Yes..it is the NorthEast corner of 156 and Brook Ave..or the SouthWest corner of Melrose Commons. If you are driving towards 156th from the North along Brook Ave (it is a one way street so its the only way to get there), it would be on the left side.
I cannot believe the fairy tale story that article is trying to sell. You should be warned though, that the community board is FULL of these sorts of people, and will not take kindly to "transplants" telling them what to do/not to do. I would first go to the precinct and complain, then the community board after. The community board is "old school" to put it nicely.
Thanks. I will definitely complain to the precinct and community board.
I did speak with two police officers on patrol one night while driving pass the area. He warned me that there is a lot of criminal activity in the large building behind Via Verde. Therefore, I know I have to be diligent in conveying my concerns to the precinct and board about cleaning the area of all degenerate people.
The large building behind Via Verde is a housing project, so there will be all the social issues that come with that. That being said, the community has been reborn, and the changes happening are nothing short of impressive, so don't be dissuaded about the neighborhood. It is an evolving community and receiving massive investment, so I strongly believe, despite the challenges the community still faces, it has a bright future.
I agree with you. I lived in the Bronx all my life. I use to live in walking distance from Via Verde and currently, I only live a short drive further.
This is why I submitted my application to Via Verde. I do see the vision of the revitalization of the Bronx. And, I do want to invest in the neighborhood and contribute to it's growth.
I randomly ran into Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr at NYSC in Morris Park. I asked him about the development since he is quoted in many of these articles and expressed my concern about the crime around there. He explained that there has been some rezoning in the area and a lot of initiatives to turn the area around.
Anyone heard from them yet? No offering plan or meeting has been scheduled for me yet.
Is anyone else looking to receive the first time home owners grant? Anyone working with a bank already, specifically with Chase who they have been promoting.
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