For the past six months, the small band of tenants at 267 E. 202nd St., a 2-story apartment building, have dealt with an uncertainty that hasn’t quite been resolved: are they staying or going?

It’s a question that’s been on the minds of these tenants who’ve built lives there for as long as 30 years.

“Everybody’s been living in that building for so long,” said Cynthia Garcia, a tenant and single mother of two children. “Everybody’s like family.”

The piece of property, resting at the tip of Briggs Avenue in a sleepy part of Bedford Park, remains a source of attention for a lawyer looking to keep tenants in their homes, a lawmaker who’s kept an eye on developments, and housing advocates who balk at the ongoing urbanization of the neighborhood.

Together they’ve all set their sights on the new owner, Peter Fine, a housing developer who spent some years building homes in wealthy parts of Florida state. He’s since been taken to court, propagating a situation that, at its core, is arguing the future look of Bedford Park. It’s since inspired petitions demanding lawmakers downzone the district.

Fine is now answering a lawsuit originally filed against Genesis Realty, which had sent 30-day eviction notices to tenants in February. The original suit, filed by the tenants’ attorney, Andrew Darcy, demanded repairs inside the building be made. The suit doubled as insurance to keep the tenants in their homes. The two sides are expected in court in July to conference with the court over repairs.

For tenants, their fears seem rooted with one conclusion: Fine wants to clear the building so it could be bulldozed, making way for new housing. Just what kind of housing remains unclear.

The building occupies an R8 zone, a designation allowing any developer to build as high as eight stories or more. Should Fine succeed in acquiring the building, Fine could build even higher, thanks to the increase in the lot’s available square footage.

Double-Edge Sword
With adequate living conditions waning, tenants such as Nina Archeval, one of the more outspoken tenants against Fine, have given up. In a case of extraordinary timing and coincidence, Archeval was approved for Mitchell-Lama housing following years of waiting. Tenants thought Archeval and her family accepted a buyout, a position Archeval vehemently disputes.

Leadership duties have since gone to tenant Marisol Jimenez, who routinely sends out updated emails on any hints of harassment. Those include a claim that employee vehicles continually block an emergency exit by Jimenez’s apartment. Jimenez grew so fed up over cars blocking her entrance, she had a vehicle ticketed. Meantime, unsanitary conditions gone uncorrected by management include a layer of rust that covers her bathtub’s ground space and the existence of mold. Jimenez has so far stayed positive even in the face of uncertainty.

A check on the New York City Housing Preservation and Development agency’s website shows 146 violations have been filed against the building. Seven of those are considered C violations, the most heinous, ranging from lead paint to no window guards.

Who is Peter Fine?
The son of immigrants, Fine was born in Queens, spending his early years living in public housing. After working in the nonprofit sector in the early part of his career, Fine formed the Atlantic Development Group with partner Marc Alheim. Created in 1996, the company focused squarely on affordable housing development throughout the city. He also owns luxury properties in Miami, Florida.

An article by the Norwood News pointed to Fine’s pattern of campaign contributions to political candidates and legislators as a method of garnering influence and clout. When former Governor George Pataki, a Republican, was in office, Fine and his spouse, gave $65,341 towards his 2004 campaign. New York governors have executive privilege to appoint members to the state Housing Finance Agency, which offers financing to affordable and Mitchell Lama housing.

In the last few years, those contributions to local politicians, which at one point had been in the thousands of dollars, have waned. A look at campaign finance records shows that Fine has donated a mere $250, quite a low figure, to Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. In 2015, he donated heavily to “We the People, Not Washington,” a super PAC that donates to Republican races.

For now, no legislator has stood on the side of Fine. Councilman Andrew Cohen, whose 11th Council District covers the neighborhood, told the Norwood News, “We are prepared to do whatever it takes to preserve the scale and character of Bedford Park.”

In a response to questions from the Norwood News, a spokesman for Fine was not clear over whether Fine would ultimately seek to tear down the property in favor of a high-rise. Fine, through his company, Better Days Development, admitted he is “considering options to develop the vacant portion but it’s too soon to provide specifics.”

Editor’s Note: The published version of this article mentions Nina Archeval accepted a buyout. This account was misinterpreted. 

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.