HPD: Bedford Park Owner Must Rebuild

By DAVID CRUZ

The tenants of 267 E. 202nd St. no longer call that address home. At least not for now. It didn’t come as a result of their ongoing legal dispute with their landlord, Peter Fine, who long sought to aggressively evict tenants while apparently eyeing the property for high-rise redevelopment, but an overnight fire that tore through the entire two-story home, displacing four families and complicating their lawsuit. But Fine, a multimillionaire and real estate magnate whose portfolio includes Boricua Village in the Melrose section of the Bronx and several luxury homes in Florida, may still be on the hook

Dear Fellow Readers: How much does your neighborhood mean to you? For some, it’s a place to reside. For others, it’s a place to build a family. Whether transient or a mainstay, we are all products of a neighborhood, charged up by its tempo and space. In the Bronx, a kaleidoscope of communities east and west, north and south, give the borough a uniqueness unlike most of the city. If you look to the west, a bustling Fordham shopping district sees some 80,000 people overrun the ever-growing strip while City Island, resting at the eastern tip of the Bronx, offers

By DAVID GREEN

Paving the way to housing equality stood on the top of an agenda for a social justice group the last week of July. Hundreds of Bronx residents turned out for the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition’s (NWBCCC) unveiling of its Roadmap From Displacement to Abundance Community Resource Fair, held on Sunday, July 31 at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church on Andrews Avenue North in Fordham. The campaign, part of NWBCCC’s core mission tenets, offers information to combat displacement. The group took a broader look at fighting issues of tenant harassment in the Bronx. Invited guests included state Senator

By DAVID CRUZ

Amid a legal battle with their landlord, tenants of an apartment building were thrown a curveball when their Bedford Park home they’re fighting to stay in went up in flames. The fire at 267 East 202nd St. injured ten people and killed a family dog. FDNY initially said the cause of the fire was electrical, with a tenant’s air conditioner to blame. The home was left vulnerable, as no fire alarms were functioning. The fire marshal’s office is now conducting an investigation. News of the fire, resulting in the building deemed unlivable, complicates a bitter lawsuit filed by tenants who attempted

By DAVID CRUZ

A state agency that oversees administrative decisions for Mitchell-Lama cooperatives has told the Board of Directors of Park Reservoir to comply with rules when it comes to changing management firms. The latest comes as a majority of board members for the Van Cortlandt Village complex seek to officially replace its longtime management company, Amalgamated Housing Cooperatives, at a board meeting scheduled Sept. 11. The letter could delay the vote, resulting in board members starting its vetting process all over again and giving supporters of Amalgamated more time to hammer out any differences. In a two-page letter obtained by the Norwood News, the

With more than 2,300 housing violations and a muddled reputation, the time had come for New York City’s worst landlord to take his place on the hot seat. Ved Parkash, long dubbed the worst landlord in New York City by the Public Advocate’s annual worst landlord’s watchlist, finally met with some of his residents in a Q&A forum at the Concourse House at 196th Street and the Grand Concourse in Bedford Park on July 12. For his part, Parkash sat in the center by his lonesome, left to answer tough questions from raging tenants. The Parkash Tenant Coalition, a

Hello Faithful Readers, The month-long edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of Bronx community news you can use. With our July-August edition, are some interesting stories intended to pique your interest. We first begin in Bedford Park with a tenants meeting involving Ved Parkash, dubbed the city’s worst landlord. Hear what tenants living in his buildings had to say about conditions, which have drawn the ire of city officials. Also, hear what Mr. Parkash had to say of his buildings. Moving into the pages of the edition you’ll read up on Mosholu Montefiore Community Center‘s respected executive director,

The fate of a well-respected management firm that’s provided services to a Mitchell Lama complex in Kingsbridge was put on hold by the building’s board of directors who seek to replace them. For some 60 years, Amalgamated Houses has been tethered to Park Reservoir, the first Mitchell Lama cooperative in the Bronx. It offers amenities that include community get-togethers, and custodial services such as pre-dawn snow shoveling during the winter season. Tenants fear those services will be diminished should a new management firm be hired. “The board felt there was a lot of confusion and anger at them so they

By DAVID CRUZ

An enormous but barren parcel of land at the southwestern tip of the Bronx is one step closer towards development by the city, testing interest in the waterfront while advancing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s overall vision for the South Bronx. The 158,000-square-foot property, settled at the shadow of the Major Deegan Expressway and Bronx Terminal Market near 149th Street, represents one of the city’s larger available spaces in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. The city, through a Request For Expressions of Interest (RFEI), is envisioning a whopping 40-story, mixed-used affordable housing complex overlooking the Harlem River. RFEI’s are a precursor