Bedford Park stepped closer towards legitimate neighborhood preservation after the Historic Districts Council (HDC) placed it in its ‘Six to Celebrate’ designation. The move will provide community stakeholders free consultation in how it to preserve the neighborhood’s historic side.

“This was one way that we could bring publicity to the neighborhood, there will be a lot of work involved but we’re on top of that,” said Barbara Stronczer, president of the Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA).

“Unless we preserve some of the best of the past we’re going to be left with no future,” said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of HDC.

For years, Bedford Park residents have attempted to ward off over-development in the neighborhood. Bedford Park is home to a mix of private homes and multi-story properties in its tiny streets that’s also surrounded by mass transit. As of late, more development has ticked up, prompting efforts for preservation.

‘Six to Celebrate’ gets its name from the six neighborhoods HDC chooses to help throughout one year. It’s unclear what strategy HDC looks to employ, though Bankoff tells the Norwood News it will leave it up to groups like Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) to decide.

“I hope people can start taking a pride of where they live and hopefully we will be able to, if we work hard enough at it, some type of a historic district designation,” said Stronczer.

BMCA submitted a ‘Six to Celebrate’ application in December after gathering information on the neighborhood’s historical and present background. This came following more and more development projects in the neighborhood. Speculative buyers would routinely make lucrative buy-out offers to existing homeowners that took them.

Over the last decade, developers have developed a keen interest in the neighborhood following the 2011 rezoning of 88 blocks of Webster Avenue, which cuts through Bedford Park.

“I would say once they talked about the rezoning of Webster Avenue things changed drastically,” said Stronczer. “It was obvious the city and the state were going to give subsidies for affordable housing and low-income housing things seemed to change because people looked not only at the designated rezoned area but also at the streets we always thought was six-story zoning streets and it turned out to be ten to twelve stories that had been zoned years ago and we were not away of that.”

Several homes have recently been bulldozed in Bedford Park to make way for developments that fall within zoning limits of 13 stories. One of those major projects is happening along East 202nd and East 203rd streets, where Brooklyn-based CAMBA looks to build an 11- and 8-story buildings.

“They’re concerned about the zoning, which allows for speculative developers to come in small houses and build enormous buildings that are really out of context with the area,” said Bankoff.