Talk Bronx New York

Digital TV Conversion Draws Closer 

A count by The Bronx Beat shows that 150,000 homes in the Bronx could lose access to basic television programming, which generally covers Channels 1 through 13 and includes the major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. Those households represent 418,500 Bronx residents who will lose television access if they do not purchase a converter box for digital network service, sign up for cable service or buy a new television.

Since its mass production began in the late 1940s television has always been based on a free access system as long as the customer purchased the television set. On Feb. 17, 2009, however, a Federal Communications Commission, FCC, mandate requires a change to digital broadcasting from the long-used analog technology. This will open up the air waves for use by emergency responders and create greater access to wireless Internet service. With the changeover, most people who do not currently subscribe to a cable service will be left without television until they purchase a converter box or a new television.

“The people that are affected by this are only getting broadcast channels with older television sets,” said Michael Knobbe, the executive director of Bronx Net, a cable channel in the Bronx. “Anyone with cable service doesn’t have to worry about it. Broadcast is changing, not cablecast.”

To subsidize the cost of the converter, the FCC has created a coupon program. Each coupon is worth $40, and there is a limit of two per household. The cost of a converter can range from $40 to $70. The coupons can be found online at www.dtv2009.gov, a Web site set up by the FCC with all information pertaining to the conversion.

To date, there is no data available for how many households in the Bronx have Internet access so it is unclear how they will learn about this option. To receive a coupon, people may also call 1-888-DTV-2009 and request a form.

Although more than 400,000 Bronx residents are directly affected by the conversion, spokeswoman Lisbeth Perez Almeida at Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr.’s office said that they do not have plans to do anything because there have been no complaints. Community Board 1, representing Mott Haven, Port Morris and Melrose, said the same thing. Read more..

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Growing Co-ops Where the Rubble Reigned 

EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ, a 51-year-old with an athletic build and a garrulous manner, used to play stickball amid the burned-out buildings in Hunts Point. He never dreamed that four decades later he would seek to return to live in Hunts Point, the South Bronx neighborhood of his youth.

“Are you kidding?” Mr. Rodriguez said the other day. “It was a horrible place. Much of it was abandoned. You’d see dope addicts on every stoop and rooftop.”

The story of the rebirth of the South Bronx has been slowly unfolding for three decades, but only in recent years have developers turned their attention and resources to this particular community.

In a sign of how far Hunts Point and neighboring Longwood have come since the early 1970s, when more than 100 murders a year were recorded in the local precinct, compared with 8 last year, construction on what according to the borough president’s office is the area’s first new cooperative apartment building is poised to begin this month. Mr. Rodriguez, who manages 80 parks and playgrounds in the South Bronx for the city’s Parks Department, plans to apply for one of the 50 apartments.

“Hunts Point has made a 180-degree turnabout,” said Mr. Rodriguez, who lives in Highbridge, a couple of miles to the west. “It’s much cleaner. The murder rate is way down. It’s completely different.”

The new co-op, a sleek, seven-story building sheathed in glass, is set to rise on the site of an abandoned park at Fox Street and Leggett Avenue. While the site is actually in Longwood, many residents and natives, among them Colin Powell, have long referred to the area as Hunts Point. The building, which is to open in the summer of 2009, will offer energy-efficient appliances along with a fitness center, a landscaped roof, a community room and parking.

With support from the city and the state, apartments will cost $89,000 to $242,000 and be available to families with annual incomes of $37,000 to $91,000. The first 25 apartments will be sold to neighborhood residents.

John Robert, district manager of Community Board 2, anticipates no lack of prospective local buyers, even though the median household income in the area is only $18,000, below the federal poverty level of $20,650 for a family of four.

“We’ve heard stories for the longest time of families moving out of the area because it’s all low-income and they earn too much to get subsidized housing,” Mr. Robert said. “This is perfect for working-class people who can afford a little more than the area average so they can stay in the community where they grew up.”

Les Bluestone, a partner in the company developing the co-op, envisions the new building as an encouraging signpost pointing to the neighborhood’s future.

“If this shows that there’s a market for units at these prices, it will encourage other affordable housing,” said Mr. Bluestone, whose Blue Sea Development Company built housing for moderate-income families in nearby Melrose and Morrisania. “We’re hoping this will be a catalyst for other projects in the area, showing developers that ‘Come on in, the water’s fine.’ ”

SOURCE: NYTimes.com Read more..

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