Editor’s Note: The latest edition of the Norwood News is out now, and its our annual Year in Review issue–-a recap of the biggest stories that took place in 2011, in the Bronx and beyond. Over the next week or so, we’ll be rolling these top stories out here on Breaking Bronx. Enjoy, and a happy and healthy New Year to all of our readers!

The following are some of the top housing-related stories that appeared this year in the Norwood News.

Milbank Buildings Sold, Repaired
After years of living in rundown, dilapidated apartments, tenants at the infamous Milbank buildings got relief this year, after a new owner bought the foreclosed portfolio of properties and repaired thousands of housing code violations.

The Milbank tenants, with the help of housing advocates and organizers from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, had been campaigning to have buildings fixed, and their plight drew the attention of a number of City Council members, HPD and even Mayor Bloomberg. After months of negotiations, the city brokered a deal to sell the debt-riddled buildings in May to Steve Finkelstein, a Scarsdale-based landlord, for $28 million.

This summer, several months after Finkelstein took over, Milbank tenants gave him a good review.

“The new owner and his workmen are fantastic,” said Gloria Thomas, who has lived at 2505 Aqueduct Ave. for nearly 30 years. “I’m very, very pleased with everything going on with Finkelstein. They’re working on all the apartments diligently.”

City Cuts Homeless Assistance Program
A Manhattan judge ruled this September that New York City could legally cut a popular but controversial affordable housing program, despite efforts by homeless advocates to keep it afloat.

The Advantage program, introduced in 2007 by Mayor Bloomberg to transition homeless shelter residents into more stable housing, provided monthly rent vouchers to participants for up to two years. The city stopped providing the vouchers, which were being used by about 12,000 people, this fall, saying it could no longer afford to maintain the program because of state budget cuts.

Tracey Towers Residents Fight Rent Hikes
Residents at Tracey Towers, the twin concrete high-rises on Mosholu Parkway, spent much of the year battling proposed rent increases that would raise their payments by more than 60 percent over the next three years. RY Management, which has run the complex since the early 1980s, said the increase was necessary to cover the cost of repairs, fuel, insurance, and labor contracts, while tenants argue that the buildings have not been properly maintained. Negotiations between both sides are still underway.

State Legislature Passes Rent Reform Package
In an over-time legislative session in June, the New York State Legislature renewed the state’s rent laws—long a priority for housing advocates and many Bronx elected officials, who for months had been campaigning to have the state’s existing laws not only extended, but strengthened in favor of tenants.

Though the laws, which were set to expire this year, were renewed, many housing advocates were disappointed with the final agreement because it failed to include a total repeal of vacancy decontrol—the rule that lets landlords raise rents of regulated apartments once the tenant there vacates and if the monthly rent exceeds $2,000 and the household’s yearly income is higher than $175,000.

The legislature did, however, agree on raising both of these thresholds to $2,500 and $200,000, respectively. It was the first time since 1993 that rent laws have been renewed without additional weakening amendments. The new regulations will stay in effect until 2015.