Proposed Grand Concourse Historic District - Meeting Thursday March 11th, 2010

What has been long talked about may soon become a reality - preserving the beauty and historical significance of the Grand Concourse by the Landmarks Preservation Committee.  This is the first step of many that will discuss the pros and cons of landmark status and preserving the historically and architecturally rich buildings of the famed boulevard.  The proposed district which stretches from East 153rd Street up to East 167th Street and incorporates stretches of Walton and Gerard Avenues, which also has quite a few architectural gems, will be the largest historic district in the Bronx outside of the Fieldston Historic District in Riverdale.


Sam Goodman, a long time resident of the Grand Concourse as well as an Urban Planner at the Bronx Borough President's office recently sent an email which offered some valuable insight into what this means for us and those who live and or own property in the district.  Below is a copy of the email which is used with the permission of Sam Goodman:

"As long as you're all on line-I have to take this moment to inform you about a plan now being considered by the New York City Landmark Commission to designate the Grand Concourse and portions of Walton Avenue as well as Sheridan Avenue, from East 153rd Street to East 167th Street as an historic district.  My office is currently planning to invite everyone who may wish, to attend a public meeting now being planned for the evening of April 20th to introduce people to the specific details of what an historic designation means, if it were to be approved.  There are both good and bad points.

 

First, the good points:  No exterior work can take place on any facade or building that falls within the district without specific approval from the Landmarks Commission. Consider the recent facade work at 901 Walton Avenue where the decorative facade was destroyed in favor of simple brick.  This entire block of buildings will be in the new district and as such this designation would have prevented the ugly outcome we now must consider.

                                  No demolition of any building within the District can occur without the approval of the Landmarks Commission.  This virtually guarantees that a developer or the City of New York could not construct a new building that both violates zoning regulations, but also that would alter the overall profile of the existing, surrounding development.  Think about the EAU on Walton Avenue and East 151st Street-this would never be permitted if that area were so designated.

                                There are tax credits available to property owners who may wish to improve their buildings, but these are credits NOT cash-and they usually do not exceed a modest percentage of the overall investment (I believe the figure is 20%) but please don't quote me on that one.

                                The interior of buldings can be altered without review by the Commission unless such modification would impact the exterior of the building-as for example installing ugly steel doors.  

 As for the negative sides:  While I believe most cooperatives would favor this designation, landlords of rental properties are bound to vigorously oppose it.  If for example, you know that your property (a 5-story walk up that hasn't seen a dollar's worth of improvement in 50 years) cannot likely be demolished, you might be tempted to further exploit the property rather than improve it.  A classic case is on Park Avenue at 125th Street.

 If you wish to speak to me about this matter, please feel free to call-remembering that I personally support this effort because I believe what the Grand Concourse now offers is not possible to duplicate and would be far too costly to even consider unless many of our neighbors were forced to relocate in favor of transforming our community into something like East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue.  Still, we all need to consider this matter and take part in the process, which ultimately requires approval by the Landmark Commission, the Planning Commission and City Council.  

 Please also let me know how my office can reach out to the management agencies of many of our buildings to inform them of the meeting in April.  It will likely happen at the Bronx Museum or Andrew Freeman Home.  Finally, there is an historic designation on Morris Avenue between East Tremont and East Burnside Avenues-check it out.

 Thanks for reading the considering my comments.

 Sam"

For all interested in attending this very important meeting, it will be held on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 6:00PM at the Bronx Museum of Art (1040 Grand Concourse)

Also feel free to check out the book below, Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope along the Grand Concourse, which gives a beautiful history of the Grand Concourse.  I had the pleasure of meeting Constance Rosenblum, author of the book and editor for the New York Times at a book discussion at Hostos Community College back in October.

The Rubble of the 70's and 80's

Check out this amazing video montage of Melrose and the surrounding neighborhoods during the 1970's and 1980's.  It is a really powerful video especially for those of us who, like myself, lived through these times.  We lived in a war zone amongst rubble, rats, drug infested streets, garbage everywhere with no one caring for us except ourselves and our families. So many politicians forgot about us as did the landlords...the later who just cared about receiving their monthly rent and could care less that the residents lived in squalor and third world conditions.  Buildings that collapsed with the arsonist fires that were set by gang members paid by landlords to torch them just lay where they fell.  


Please take the time to see this video.  How could an entire geographic section of New York City be left to decay like that?  This almost 10 minute video is a rather personal and emotional journey for myself because having lived through this and the stigma that one felt for living there because the rest of the city and the world treated us like some sort of freaks of nature for living there but what they always forgot is that it was not that easy to leave there.  Some of us made it out and moved away, others died through the violence or old age and then there were those who chose to stay and try to make a difference. 

Next time you see someone who lived in Melrose and the South Bronx during the 70's, 80's and even early 90's you should congratulate them for making surviving such a horrific time which most certainly left an indelible mark on Melrose, The Bronx, New York City, state and country and most importantly on those of us who experienced it first hand.


Not sure who gets the credit for this video but it was posted by YouTube user TheBerlin09.


A big Melrose THANK YOU to all who endured it and survived as well as a moment of silence for all the lives lost.  

(All images are stills from the video)
 

Boulevard of Dreams - A Book Talk with Author, Constance Rosenblum

On Thursday, November 12th I had the privelage of attending Boulevard of Dreams Book Talk and Dramatic Reading at Hostos Community College.  The book, Boulevard of Dreams, Heady Times, Heartbreak, And Hope Along The Grand Concourse In The Bronx is the work of Constance Rosenblum, editor of The New York Times City section as well author of the beloved Habitats articles of the Sunday Times Real Estate Section.


After formal introductions by Lucinda Zoe, Interim Provost & Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Felix Matos Rodriguez, President, Hostos Community College and Sam Goodman, Urban Planner, Bronx Borough President's Office, Ms. Rosenblum took us on the journey of both the project of writing such a book as well as the tale of the Grand Concourse from its early years to the present day.  According to her when she first wanted to publish the book in the early 1980's she was rebuffed by publishing houses who essentially said that, "...no one wants to read about The Bronx".  Although she would have wanted the book published then, Ms Rosenblum has embraced the appropriateness that Boulevard of Dreams has been published now during both the 100th anniversary of our Grand Boulevard and Concourse as well as the rebirth of The Bronx.

During her talk, Ms. Rosenblum introduced Hostos students Salonia Cook and Ebony Ross who both beautifully read an excerpt from the introduction of the book which describes what was known as The Bronx Slave Market along The Concourse.  Ms. Cook and Ms Ross brought to life in such vivid detail with their readings of that particularly dreary period of the Concourse of African American men and women lining the streets, as modern day-laborers would, waiting for the Jewish women who would look for labor to clean their stately apartments along the Grand Concourse all for meager wages.  These conditions were brought to light thanks to, "...Marvel Cooke a black investigative reporter who went undercover to describe its operations for the Crisis, a publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People...", Ms. Rosenblum writes.

The evening ended with a brief Q & A session between the audience and Ms Rosenblum followed by a small reception where she autographed her book for the audience.


Welcome to Melrose highly recommends this book to both the lovers of The Bronx and to those not so fond of our great borough to the North or as we were referred to in yesteryears past - The Great Northside for it beautifully chronicles the history, struggles, dreams, sorrows, hope of The Grand Concourse which resonates throughout generations of families and people who lived on or in its shadow. 


A big Melrose THANK YOU is in order for Constance Rosenblum for writing such a wonderful book and showing her love for our great borough and our stories to be told and also for William Casari, MLS, College Archivist and Instruction Librarian at Hostos who tirelessly put together this wonderful presentation as well as getting a thank you from Ms Rosenblum in the book itself.