UNHP supporters had a great time at our Bronx Beer Hall fundraiser and it gave us a boost to enter the last quarter of the year with renewed commitment and energy! We've got a lot of items on our agenda: affordable water, improving BIP, working with the City and banks, the Neighborhood Resource Center and the 2016 tax program, to highlight a few.
Historical Data on BIP
Updating, improving and sharing our Building Indicator Project (BIP) database remains an integral part of UNHP’s work to preserve and improve multifamily rental housing in New York City. We now disseminate data to over 30 multifamily lenders on an on-going basis to identify and intervene in troubled properties. In the period from February 2014 through April 2015, we witnessed higher levels of improvements in properties financed by lenders who reported integrating BIP data into their asset management. UNHP Data Analyst, VaNessa LaNier, is also tracking BIP scores in a building over time, offering a historic look at building conditions. Click here for more information on our BIP database.
History is important – keeping a record of the past tells the story of the building. The above chart shows the different histories of two buildings; 2179 Matthews Avenue (blue) has steadily become more distressed over time, while 150 West 179th Street (red) was in extreme distress in 2010 and has been improving ever since.
"NYC Open Data" Open to All
UNHP has been data mining NYC Open Data and finding it to be an excellent source of information from housing complaints to the locations of after-school programs. The New York City Open Data initiative, signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg in 2012, is a local law requiring that all city agencies publish data on a single web-based platform by 2018. Read UNHP’s blog on Open Data for more information about how to use the site or visit UNHP’s Community Resource Guide (CRG) to get started on your data journey. The CRG is UNHP’s one-stop source for local community based data, populated with data sources, maps, geography and resources.
The seminar for building owners, sponsored by Flushing Bank, included speakers from Neighborhood Housing Services, NYC Housing Preservation & Development, and UNHP. The seminar provided information about low-cost renovation and building improvement programs.
Flushing Bank Reaches Out to Building Owners
Building off the work of the Multifamily Assistance Center and the sharing of BIP data, UNHP has collaborated with NYC Department of HPD, Enterprise and individual banks to provide information on low-cost renovation programs to building owners. In addition to participating in two HPD Neighborhood Helpdesk events in the Bronx, UNHP attended a seminar for building owners sponsored by Flushing Bank. The seminar and the Helpdesk events provide information about violation removal, small building programs and low-cost renovation loans. The Flushing Bank seminar was the first meeting in what we hope to be a series of bank-sponsored meetings for their building owner-borrowers.
UNHP was selected, for the first time, as a NYC Civic Corp member site.
Welcome Jose and Ingrid!
New UNHP Fellows and Civic Corps Members
UNHP extends a warm welcome to our two NYC Civic Corps members! Ingrid and Jose will assist UNHP obtain volunteers for our Free Bronx Tax Preparation Program, assist with scheduling and outreach for the Northwest Bronx Resource Center and help neighborhood residents obtain financial education services. UNHP has long been a site for graduate students studying International Political Economy and Development at Fordham University. UNHP has two returning Peace Corps IPED fellows this fall, Richie Koch, who served in Indonesia and Adam Pearlman, a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia.
It's never too early to plan for tax season!
Niki Quiterio, Assistant to the Northwest Bronx Resource Center, and Adam Pearlman, IPED fellow, recruit tax volunteers at a Lehman College Volunteer Fair. Call UNHP at 718-933-2539 if you are interested in becoming a trained tax volunteer.
Thank You Bronx Beer Hall Fundraiser Supporters!
The UNHP 2015 Bronx Beer Hall fundraiser was a Bronx triumph! The Wednesday, September 16th event was attended by over 170 people and thanks to our sponsors, attendees, contributors and raffle buyers we raised over $50,000! All proceeds support our work to create and preserve affordable housing and bring needed resources to the northwest Bronx.
A special honor given to long-time UNHP staff member, Gregory Jost, Bronx-brewed beer from the Gun Hill Brewery, Coal-fired brick oven gourmet pizza from John’s Pizza on Arthur Avenue, Italian fare provided by Chef David Greco of Mike’s Deli and raffles prizes donated by a wide range of Bronx institutions were among the highlights of the evening.
Thank you for your support and participation in our work. More photos are available on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Please follow our work through our blog, Views of the Northwest Bronx.
Thank you to our 2015 UNHP Bronx Beer Hall Sponsors
Cask Supporters
- Apple Bank for Savings
- Dougert Management
- Enterprise
- Lemle & Wolff Companies
- Morgan Stanley
- Notias Construction
- Santander Bank
- The Richman Group
Keg Supporters
- Brian Byrne & Jean McBride Byrne
- BUILD, Inc.
- The Community Preservation Corp.
- Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh
- Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation
- Fordham University
- JPMorgan Chase
- New Settlement Apartments
- OCV Architects
- PWB Management Corp.
- UNHP Staff
- John Van Bomel, Esq.
Growler Supporters
- A.S.K. Construction, Inc.
- Benchmark Title Agency, LLC
- Jim Buckley & Joan Gasser
- Brooklyn Mechanical HTG Corp.
- Koch Group & Company, LLP
- Jim Mitchell
- New York Community Bank
- Edward O’Brien
- Signature Bank
- Skyline I LLC
- Tryax Realty Management, Inc.
- Workforce Housing Group
- Yougie Iron Works
Pint Supporters
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- BNY Mellon
- The Clarke Family
- DeLutri Landscaping
- Elegance Contracting Corp.
- Emigrant Mortgage Company
- Sandra Erickson Real Estate, Inc.
- Forsyth Street Advisors, LLC
- Housing Partnership Development Corp.
- LotInfo, LLC
- Joe Muriana & Annelen Madigan
- MKD Irrigation Corp.
- Monadnock Construction, Inc.
- Ridgewood Savings Bank
- Spring Bank
- USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus
- Elizabeth & Robert Strojan
Raffle Supporters
- Bronx Beer Hall
- New York Botanical Gardens
- Notias Construction (Mets tickets)
- Bronx Museum of the Arts
- Bronx River Alliance
- Monroe College
- Bronx Historical Society (Edgar Allan Poe Cottage)
- Turtle Cove Golf Center
- Caterpillar Inc. (Yankee Tickets)
Special Thank You to Our 2014-15 UNHP Funders
Apple Bank for Savings â— Astoria Bank â— Amalgamated Bank â— BNY Mellon â— Bank of America Charitable Foundation â— Capital One Foundation â— JPMorgan Chase â— Citi â— Esquire Bank Enterprise â— HSBC Bank USA, N.A. â— Metzger-Price Fund â— M&T Charitable Foundation â— New York Community Bank â— Ridgewood Savings Bank â— Charles H. Revson Foundation â— Santander Bank â— Signature Bank â— State Bank of India â— TD Bank â— Wells Fargo Foundation â— Woori Bank
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