The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

 

Nearly 1,500 people are recorded as being homeless every month in The Bronx, according to City data, with many living in shelters located around the borough. According to State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) and one city agency representative we spoke to, various non-profits, government representatives, elected officials and some candidates running for office have been pushing over many years to reduce these numbers and raise awareness of the homelessness crisis in the city.

 

One positive result of these sustained local efforts was the opening of Bedford Green House, a supportive permanent housing project located at 2865 Creston Avenue in Bedford Park. With 71 units designated for people previously living in sheltered accommodation, 46 units house residents who applied through the usual affordable housing lottery and one unit is for the superintendent. The complex was formally opened on Thursday, July 14, following its conception in 2014.

 

Built by the nonprofit, Project Renewal, which serves the entire City, in conjunction with NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, Bedford Green House offers various support services to its residents. It also houses a community room, two elevators, a bicycle storage room, a laundry room, a 24-hour front desk concierge, a rooftop terrace, a rooftop greenhouse and a playground.

 

Eric Rosenbaum, CEO and president of Project Renewal, told Norwood News, “The site was acquired in 2014. We closed on the financing in 2015, and that meant that the demolition of construction could start then. The building got its temporary certificate of occupancy at the end of December of 2021, and we started moving our first residents in, in January.”

 

However, the project faced several challenges along the way, according to Rosenbaum, ranging from a conflict with the contractor to the giant boulder that is now a permanent fixture on the property’s façade.

Rosenbaum said one challenge was understanding the scope of the rock interface at the site, the second was on September 11, 2019, when the general contractor went bankrupt. “The building was, at that point, 90 percent completed, but they just stopped, and the clock is ticking for us, whether they’re building it or not,” he said, adding that their insurance policy only remained active as long as construction was ongoing.

 

Then, the pandemic hit. “When we brought a [new] contractor in, labor was a problem. Getting people to show up to work was a problem, and then the supply chain disruptions happened,” Rosenbaum said. “I remember there were 21 increases in the price of drywall while we were building the rest of the building. So, it took at least three years longer than it should [have] to bring the building to completion.”

 

Now, residents we spoke to appear to appreciate their new home, whether it be the playground out front or the rooftop garden which includes a fish tank. The apartments, too, are quaint and cozy, with a modern style to each of the hallways and living spaces.

 

Alexis Reid, one of the building’s residents who spoke at the opening ceremony, said, “It’s helped me make great strides in my mental health. It’s helped me get on a more stable, better foundation; it’s really been amazing here!” She added, “I really take advantage of the amenities. I love everything here from the occupational groups to gardening. I spend a lot of time in this front park with my son. He takes advantage of the amenities as well. We both love it here.”

 

Reid and her son lived at a women and children’s shelter in The Bronx prior to their move. Now, she said, she gets to live rent-free with her son in the new building. She said because there is only one bedroom, her son gets to use it, while she sleeps in the living room. Still, living in the building, she said, has been a dream come true.

 

Reid added that as she watched construction on the project unfold, she always wondered if she could eventually live there and luckily, she got selected. Because of the garden, she and her son get to eat the vegetables they grow, which she said makes grocery shopping a little easier. Now, Reid is starting her journey to become a nurse.

Among other City officials like Adolfo Carrion Jr., NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development commissioner and a former Bronx borough president, present for the grand opening were Mayor Eric Adams, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and Rivera, each of whom was presented with a piece of the Bronx boulder that forms part of the building’s façade.

 

Rivera said it was incredibly exciting to see the project come to life in the neighborhood. “I’m an enormous believer in supportive housing,” he said. “When I first began my tenure 11 years ago, I didn’t know what it was. When it was explained to me, when I started to talk to folks like Alexis, folks who have been served by it, these are folks that, whatever situation they’ve had in their lives, have never had real stability.”

 

The senator said housing like Bedford Green provides stability for people who have experienced a lot of instability. “It has absolutely demonstrated that not only does it provide stability to them as individuals but by extension, to their families and to the communities that they live in. Affordable housing structures like this one actually strengthen the community as a whole,” Rivera said.

He is also pushing for more State funding for more supportive housing in the district. “I think we need to do more at the state level, honestly. Not only will I come to things like this, and [will] talk endlessly about how essential it is, I will talk to my neighbors,” he said.

 

Project Renewal will soon start Phase II of the project, which includes the opening of an additional building on Jerome Avenue, and even more amenities. Rosenbaum said the new building will house 116 apartments, a 2,400 square foot primary care clinic and a children’s library, and the two buildings will be connected by a garden courtyard and pathway.

 

Rosenbaum also told Norwood News that the nonprofit is constantly scouting the borough for new sites that he said may have the potential to help the neighborhood and those living in it, and he encouraged residents to reach out to him if they know of any such sites.

 

The project was originally presented to Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) back on Sept. 16, 2015. According to the minutes of the meeting, “as this was a first presentation, the committee has made no declaration or commitment on this project and reserve the right to do so.”

 

Another Project Renewal housing project, located at Villa Avenue and 204th Street in Jerome Park, was also presented at the same CB7 meeting and according to the minutes, “There was intense opposition from the surrounding community to this building because of its proximity to an elementary school and other housing developments in the area, and the clients who will be housed there. Also, recently concern has been raised about another site of their projects, due to an incident by a former resident.”

 

We contacted Bronx CB7 to ascertain where the board stood today in relation to the Bedford Green House project. Ischia Bravo, district manager of the board said she is currently waiting on an updated presentation on Bedford Green House and preferred to wait until she receives this before commenting further. Generally, Bravo did say that, in her opinion, she believed the current board (CB7) are not opposed per say to the concept of supportive housing, but that there are, nonetheless, some specific concerns about how nonprofits manage developments and how City monies are used.

 

Norwood News also contacted Project Renewal for comment on how any needed medical support for residents would be managed pending the planned opening of an onsite medical clinic at the location.

 

Regarding the medical needs of residents, Zac Roy, a media relations representative for Project Renewal told us Bedford Green House’s health care staff currently includes a psychiatrist, a credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor (CASAC), and an occupational therapist who runs support groups for residents.

 

Additionally, Roy said, “Project Renewal is in the process of hiring a part-time registered nurse who will be on site three times per week. Residents have access to Project Renewal’s mobile medical clinic, which visits the site every two weeks. The case management team at Bedford Green House will work with residents to link them to services in the community. Some residents come to Bedford Green House already connected to health care and Project Renewal wants them to continue those services with their trusted providers.”

 

As reported, on Sunday, July 24, Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Health + Hospitals announced the launch of a new student loan forgiveness program for behavioral health providers, funded by a $1 million contribution from an anonymous donor. The new program is designed to help attract and retain doctors, nurse practitioners, and other clinicians who care for New Yorkers with mental health or substance use needs as the U.S. faces a national mental health professional shortage.

 

Norwood News also spoke to Carrión on the day of the grand opening and asked what assurances he could give to those community residents who had concerns about the project.

‘If you look at any of the project renewal sites around the City, you’ll see that they blend right into the neighborhood and the people who live there are people like the rest of us who have families, have issues that need to be resolved and we all try to work them out, whether it’s a health issue, physical health or mental health, these are issues that we need to help New Yorkers work through, whether they live in traditional apartments in homes that they own and their families own or in these types of supportive affordable housing developments,” the commissioner said.

 

He continued, “I think what’s very special about this is that the people who get to live here, like Alexis and her son, Cairo, they get the wraparound services that they need to then really propel their lives to success, right? She was homeless, she, then moved in, she’s now using vegetables from the rooftop on her kitchen table, you know, healthy living. She’s entering nursing school, and this is all with the supports that are provided and we need to do this all over the City.”

Carrión added, “There is a stigma and I’ve been in the public service arena for a long, long time and every time a new project like this comes to a neighborhood, regardless of the neighborhood, there is fear and there is resistance, and then, time passes and people realize.. sometimes they don’t even know it’s there and so, the responsible partners are really the guarantee here, right? Project Renewal does a great job, and I think this is going to be an asset for this neighborhood.”

 

In response to one of our follow-up questions, the commissioner also clarified that the new housing complex is not transitional housing, with different tenants coming and going, but permanent housing. “We call it permanent supportive housing,” Carrión said. “I think what it creates is the stability that people need in their lives. We all need support. We all need someone to lean on and it’s great to have folks be able to do that, right in their building, in their own home, so let’s do more of this. As we deal with the challenge of homelessness and getting people stable, and in homes, and productive in their lives, the only way to do that is this way, right? We know that a temporary situation in a shelter home is not the solution. A permanent home is the solution.”

 

In February, Norwood News reported on a shelter project run by another nonprofit, Acacia Network, in the University Heights neighborhood, for which there was also some community opposition when it was presented to CB7. In the context of that story and amid concerns by some community members that the borough is perhaps being saturated with supportive housing and shelters, we asked NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) for a breakdown and ratio of shelters / supportive housing projects in The Bronx relative to its population, compared to other boroughs.

 

We followed up with DHS several times to obtain the information. Not having received an answer, we highlighted our request with the mayor during a Saturday Night Lights event held in March at a Mott Haven public school and Adams instructed his colleagues to share the information with us. It was never received however despite several more follow-up requests. This week, we were informed by DHS that we have to FOIA the information.

 

Meanwhile, in reference to her new home, Reid summed up her feelings by telling Norwood News, “I feel like it’s an outlet and it gives so many of us a chance to experience things that we otherwise wouldn’t have experienced.”

 

Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this story, it was reported that at the 2015 Bronx Community Board 7 meeting, the intense opposition by residents of Bronx Community Board 7 was against the Bedford Green House housing project. In fact, it was actually in relation to a separate housing project also managed by Project Renewal. This has since been corrected and we apologize for this error. As noted above, as the Bedford Green House presentation was a first presentation to Bronx Community Board 7, the relevant board committee made no declaration or commitment on the project and reserved the right to do so.