TENANTS AT MOUNT EDEN BUILDING SUE FOR LACK OF COOKING GAS, REPAIRS
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Tenants at a Bronx apartment building that had no cooking gas for Thanksgiving and will have none for Christmas are suing the landlord they call “The Grinch.”
More than 30 angry tenants gathered outside 1520 Sheridan Ave. in Mount Eden on Tuesday to protest their treatment by Jonathan Wiener, principal of Chestnut Holdings. The Riverdale-based landlord didn’t respond to requests for comment.
BIRTHPLACE OF HIP-HOP IN BRONX GETS NEW LANDLORD
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The birthplace of hip-hop has a new lease on life.
The Bronx apartment building where DJ Kool Herc emceed the world’s first hip-hop party was sold at foreclosure auction last Monday to a reputable investment group backed by the city.
Workforce Housing Advisors has vowed to fix up 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in Morris Heights, keep it affordable and build an arts and culture center in the recreation room where Herc famously pioneered the “break beat.”
The graying deejay returned to 1520 Sedgwick Ave. last Thursday with John Crotty and John Fitzgerald of Workforce to reopen the rec room and celebrate.
The room was locked and used for storage under the old landlord Mark Karasick, who bought the 102-unit building in 2008 and then went bust.
Now tenant power, government pressure and music history have saved the Bronx landmark.
IRATE TENANT ACCUSE BLUESTONE GROUP OF FLIP JOB
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
When the Bluestone Group bought the debt of six Bronx slums 15 months ago, it promised to fix up the rotten buildings and make life bearable there.
But tenant advocates warned that the Manhattan-based company had overpaid and was looking to make a quick buck.
Last week, Bluestone sold the debt for a handsome profit and walked away.
TENANTS AT DIEGO BEEKMAN HOUSES STAND UP AND FIGHT
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
They stood up to a slumlord, ruthless gangsters, predatory investors and the federal government. Now tenants at the Diego Beekman Houses are standing up to be recognized.
WILL BANANA KELLY MAKE SOUTH BRONX BLOCK MORE APPEELING?
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Banana Kelly is making a comeback. The famed community organization - named after a banana-shaped block in the South Bronx - will help renovate five dilapidated Kelly St. buildings ravaged by years of neglect.
MORRIS HEIGHTS TENANTS SLAM HOUSE OF HORRORS
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
When Hazel Bedford was undergoing radiation treatment for stomach cancer last winter, all she wanted after returning home from the doctor was a warm shower.
But her apartment at 150 W. 179th St. in Morris Heights chronically lacked heat and hot water.
“I had to bundle up and go to my son’s house or boil big pots of water for my bathtub,” said Bedford, 42. “It was horrible.”
BRONX APARTMENTS SLATED FOR RENOVATIONS UNDER NEW PARTNERSHIPS
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
New landlords are sprucing up 1,400 Bronx apartments with help from a Maryland-based nonprofit, the group announced last week.
Enterprise Community Partners recently worked with three Bronx housing firms to snag $32.9 million in tax credits and loans for the purchase and rehabilitation of 47 buildings.
TRACEY TOWERS TENANTS FEAR 77% RENT HIKE
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Sam Gillian moved to Tracey Towers in 1980 because the futuristic concrete complex on Mosholu Parkway promised affordable rents for the long-term.
But that pledge could unravel this summer if the city approves an eye-popping rent hike proposed by the complex’s management: 77% over three years.
POLS, TENANTS BAND TOGETHER TO DEMAND REPAIRS
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
Sometimes a bad landlord just needs a kick in the pants. Take the owner of 2251 Holland Ave., a 44-unit apartment building in Pelham Parkway now undergoing major repairs.
MORTGAGE DUMPS PUT BRONX BUILDINGS IN FORECLOSURE DANGER
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
From Bronx slums to City Hall to Washington, it’s bank-bashing time.
Tenants and elected officials are begging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to crack down on a local bank that recently dumped the mortgages on eight Bronx apartment buildings in foreclosure.
