Tenants at Tracey Towers are tired of rent increases putting their affordable rental housing at-risk, and will be rallying on Saturday at the complex’s playground area on Mosholu Parkway South. Local politicians and some of their representatives are also slated to join the tenants in solidarity.

Last month, the Commissioner of the Departmetn of Housing Preservation (HPD)approved a rent increase of 65 percent, cumulative over the next four years. The first increase in rent charge, including utilities, of 16% per room per month is set to go into effect September 1st.

According to the Tracey Towers Tenant Organization, however, feel that the building owners, RY Management, and property management agency have been irresponsible in their management of the buildings and should not increase rents.

“We have a lot of questions as to why they should be granted these increases,” said Jean Hill, Presidents of the Tracey Towers Tenant Organization.

She points the well-documented history of the Tracey Towers management applying for millions of dollars in loans for capital improvements, which are never completed. Most recently, HPD and RY Management applied for a $34 million capital improvement loan.

“The building has multiple violations — nothing ever gets fixed,” said Hill. “How many times do you get paid to do the same work?”

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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.