Gustavo Rivera Moves Senate Back To Neighborhood

Like every New York state senator, when 33rd District representative Gustavo Rivera moved into his local office, he received two flags — the stars and stripes of the United States of America and the goddesses of Liberty and Justice of New York state — as well as a copy machine and a dated set of rectangular office furniture. “They [senate administrative staffers] told me they only had rectangular furniture,” said Rivera’s communications director Conchita Cruz, sitting in the new office on the fifth floor of the Poe Building on the Grand Concourse, across from the Loew’s Paradise Theater. “But they

The now-infamous Bronx Milbank buildings — including 2785 Sedgwick Ave., 2500 University Ave., and 2505 Aqueduct Ave., all in University Heights — were finally sold last month to a new landlord after months of local organizing and city involvement. Tenants, advocates and elected officials had fought to wrest the portfolio of 10 deeply troubled properties from irresponsible bankers and owners to a party who could afford to make them livable again.

Residents of a large apartment building complex on the north side of Mosholu Parkway were confused and upset when their mail stopped being delivered in late January. The mail stoppage, which has since been resolved, is another recent example of the logistical problems that crop up at apartment buildings where transitional and permanent residents mesh. Perry and other permanent residents at 15-19 have endured problems with noise, cleanliness and safety, but the mail problem was probably the most maddening to date.

Editorial: Some Hope Amid Housing Crisis

Over half a million people in the west Bronx live in residential apartment buildings. At least a third of these tenants pay half of their hard-earned wages on rent. Though Bronx residents are paying thousands of dollars a year on shelter, too many of these buildings are in a desperate – sometimes life-threatening — state of disrepair.

After Deadly Fire, Koppell Bill Back in Spotlight

Local elected officials are looking for ways to crack down on illegally subdivided apartments in the Bronx and across the city after a recent fire at one such dwelling killed three members of a Belmont family. One effort, a bill sponsored by Bronx Councilman Oliver Koppell, would require the Department of Buildings to seek a warrant to gain access to properties they suspect have been illegally converted if inspectors are turned away or unable to enter a building after two attempts.

Board Rejects Tax Break Bid by Controversial Landlord

Six years after construction began, and a few years after work stalled, an upscale Gun Hill Road building appears to be back on track with a controversial landlord now in the driver’s seat. Though the property, 301 E. Gun Hill Rd., is nominally controlled by a limited liability corporation called Gun Hill LLC, landlord Jacob Selechnik — dubbed “Jake the Snake” by tenant organizers for a long history of neglecting violation-plagued buildings — and/or his related business interests are behind a recent push to complete work on the building, which sits at the corner of Perry Avenue.

St. Brendan Boys Fall Just Short of State Hoops Title

With time running out in the first half of the biggest game of his young life, St. Brendan School hoopster Brian Ortiz launched a one-handed desperation shot from the other end of the basketball court. The Hail Mary-type shot, fitting for a boys Catholic league state championship match, was perfectly on target. Just a tad long. It bounced hard off the back rim.

Bronx Pols Push Cuomo On Rent Reform; Jeff Klein’s Name Absent

A number of local elected officials are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to renew and strengthen rent regulation laws, in favor of renters, as part of his budget negotiations with the legislature this month. Last week, about 90 lawmakers signed a letter to the governor pressing the issue. Every Bronx state representative put his or her name on the letter with the exception of one: State Sen. Jeff Klein, whose district covers parts of the Bronx.

Bronx Building Workers Reach Deal With Landlords

A union representing apartment building workers across the Bronx reached a contract agreement with their management last week, narrowly averting a strike that would have kept some 3,000 superintendents, janitors, handypersons, porters, firepersons, doormen, elevator operators and garbage handlers in the borough from heading to work.