Residents of Bedford Park’s Tracey Towers gathered to commemorate the building’s 50th anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 3. Elected officials, local vendors, and community members also joined the celebration.

 

Tracey Towers opened in 1974 and comprises two high-rise structures offering a range of unit sizes, including one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Located on the border of Bedford Park and Norwood by Mosholu Parkway subway station, the towers stand tall against the local skyline, each comprising around 39 floors.

 

Part of NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development’s Mitchell Lama affordable rental and cooperative program for middle-income families, the Tracey Towers complex is a memorable and imposing landmark, and a symbol of the collective strength of community.

Jean Hill, president of the Tracey Towers Tenants Organization, and resident of the development since 1975, said of the occasion, “We wanted to celebrate for the people who are here now, to let them know how we started and what we are about. We just wanted to say thank you to everybody for sticking with us. Yes, we know we have issues, but even with having the issues, it’s still a really great place to live.”

 

As reported, around 50 frustrated tenants joined local elected officials for a rally at the towers on June 15 to protest what they said were poor living conditions in the 871-unit housing complex. Residents said they had been grappling with a slew of problems like frequent water leaks, a significant rat infestation, and perpetually malfunctioning elevators for several years.

 

A spokesperson for R.Y. Management Co, Inc. later said in part, “Lingering financial effects of the pandemic continue to plague the economic health of many properties, including Tracey Towers. Tenant arrears are at an all-time high. This fiscal constraint hinders management’s ability to do the kinds of capital-intensive upgrades and improvements needed at Tracey Towers.”

The statement continued in part, “Management joins the tenant association in calling on our elected leaders at all levels of government to help provide supplemental funding or other creative solutions necessary to address some of the short and long-term issues at Tracey Towers. We hope that by working together, we can continue to make Tracey Towers an affordable, attractive, safe and comfortable place for our residents to call home.”

 

Back at the birthday bash, Assemblyman John Zaccaro Jr. said, “It’s a beautiful day because today we’re celebrating 50 years of Tracey Towers in the amazing community that we’ve built here in Norwood and I’m just excited to be here.”

 

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson did not attend the celebration due to the death of her mother, Phyllis Gibson. A representative from her office who attended the celebration on Gibson’s behalf said, “For the last 50 years, these two buildings have represented a community. I just want to say that Tracey Towers represents a state of mind. Tracey Towers is these beautiful buildings that overlook the river, the park, and we’re here for another 50, 100, 150 years.”

The Morrisania Band Project performed numerous classic songs throughout the day, as residents danced and sang. Local vendors offered food and refreshments and nearby, children had access to bouncy houses.

 

When the late Sallie Caldwell, a former Tracey Towers resident and community leader, died in 2023, former District 15 City Council candidate Kenny Agosto, who now works for the Office of the Bronx Borough President, paid a heartfelt tribute to her.

 

Referring to the 84-year-old as the “Mayor of Tracey Towers,” he described Caldwell at the time as “the original, the indomitable, the unsinkable Ms. Sallie Caldwell, proud mother to all of our community, God-loving Christian, [a] bona-fide NYS legislative public servant, [a] super NYC municipal worker, [and] powerful Tracey Towers resident advocate.”

Aside from advocating for the rights of tenants in the building whereby, among other matters, she raised concerns around access to the Towers’ regular polling site in the lead up to elections, Caldwell also served on the 52nd Precinct Community Council for many years. A former commanding officer of the Precinct, Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps, along with then prevailing Deputy Inspector Jeremy Scheublin, recalled at her funeral how he would sometimes of an evening stand outside the stationhouse, located at 3016 Webster Avenue in Norwood, look out into the distance and wonder if Caldwell’s watchful eyes were looking back at him from her tower window, keeping an eye on everything. A plaque made in her image and in her memory hangs in one of the towers’ hallways [still keeping an eye on proceedings].

 

The towers’ residents have also witnessed their fair share of tragedy over the last 50 years with a Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak in 2019, and a fairly major fire breaking out on the 21^st floor of one of the towers in July 2021, causing near devastating consequences, as some residents questioned if the fire alarm had gone off.

 

In July 2022, beloved resident, Monica Akua, 52, was tragically murdered inside her apartment in an apparent domestic violence incident. “She had always had God inside her,” a friend previously told us of Akua. When she needed help resetting her password, reportedly Akua requested it to default to “God’s Love.”

Akua’s partner, Anthony Erzuah, 59, was charged with her alleged murder. He is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law. In 2023, as reported, Mikey Malave, 22, of Yonkers, also died in tragic circumstances at the Towers.

 

Back at the party, Deidra R. Moore, who is running for Civil Court Judge in The Bronx, said, “I grew up in Twin Parks [the Fordham Heights location of a tragic fatal fire in January 2022] so when I see Tracey Towers, it reminds me of the development I grew up in. I’m just here to support and to be supportive.”

 

One Tracey Towers resident told us, “It’s nice to see the community come out and come together to celebrate. It’s a really hot day, but people are still coming out which is nice to see.”

Designed by architect Paul Rudolph, Tracey Towers is home to both longtime Bronxites and a substantial Ghanaian community, among others. At a 2023 Black History Monthy celebration at the towers, Hill spoke of the common bond all residents share, despite their different origin stories.

 

“It’s about the everyday working man and woman who has to raise their children, bring their children up,” she said. “We live in a time with strife. A lot of time what people are trying to do is divide the soul, and we cannot exist as a house divided. We must work together. That’s the only thing that’s going to make America strong, and never perfect but a work in progress.”

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.