Talk Bronx New York

An embattled north Bronx neighborhood is being eyed as the site for a city-sponsored homeless shelter.

Project Renewal submitted plans to the city Department of Homeless Services and notified Community Board 12 last week of its plan to open the shelter at 4380 Bronx Blvd.

The 100-bed transitional shelter is to be located on a commercial strip mostly filled with automotive shops.

It is the second social services facility proposed for the Wakefield neighborhood.

Praxis Housing Initiatives last month said it intends to open a multistory building at 4339 White Plains Road with about 60 apartments for homeless people who have medical issues like HIV or AIDS or addiction problems.

Project Renewal’s proposal must now be reviewed by the DHS, a process that could take anywhere from weeks to months.

The DHS has recently opened several shelters and so-called “cluster sites” in the Bronx as it struggles to house large numbers of people rendered homeless by the sagging economy.

“We’re opening facilities all around the city to meet the record demand,” said DHS Commissioner Robert Hess, citing an “unparalleled demand” for homeless services across the nation.

“We’ll continue to do that to meet our legal obligations to house everyone who comes into our system every day.”

Project Renewal now operates four shelters in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Praxis defended its proposal for the White Plains Road development.

“This is not a shelter. It’s permanent supportive housing,” said spokeswoman Jolie Milstein.

“This could turn around the neighborhood and be the beginning of the revitalization of upper White Plains Road.” Read more..

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Department of Homeless Services adopts a new policy mandating that a homeless shelter provider must first contact the local community board before setting up shop.

 In the end, it was a half-victory.

A Manhattan judge tossed out a suit by a group of Bronx merchants that would have forced the city to conduct a comprehensive study of a neighborhood before opening a homeless shelter there.

The Westchester Merchants Association argued that the city Department of Homeless Services should conduct a “fair share” analysis of an area to see whether it already was saturated with social services organizations before a homeless shelter could open.

State Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright tossed the lawsuit Friday.

But the merchants did score a victory two weeks ago, when the department adopted new policies mandating that a homeless shelter provider must first contact the local community board before setting up shop. At the time, one Westchester Square merchant called the change in guidelines “a partial victory.”

A 38-unit shelter opened Aug. 21 on St. Peter’s Ave., just off the Westchester Square shopping district. The Westchester Square Merchants Association took up a collection among its members and filed suit against the city.

With the current economic crisis, the city is facing unprecedented demand for homeless services. Read more..

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A Bronx neighborhood lost the latest round in a legal fight against the city’s Department of Homeless Services for quietly putting a homeless shelter in a new apartment building.

Bronx State Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey D. Wright dismissed a lawsuit against the city agency lodged by the Westchester Square Merchants Association and local residents who wanted to shut down the homeless shelter. The lawsuit argued that the city had skirted the city charter by not notifying the community board about its plans for the shelter, and that other social service facilities already saturated the area.

The judge based his decision on past challenges to the law that questioned whether the city could legally provide and pay for homeless housing in the absence of a concrete lease — as is the situation in the Bronx building where the agency pays a $90 per diem rate for each occupied apartment.

The arrangement drew scorn from community board members, residents and elected officials when the building at 1564 St. Peter’s Avenue debuted as a shelter in late August. They also criticized the lack of notification from the city agency. Read more..

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What a great year. What a rotten year.

Okay, so maybe somewhere in between, even with the economy sliding into 2009.

It was that kind of year for the Bronx, with the highs hopefully edging out the lows. And let’s wish for it to be onward and upward in 2009.

Economy: Boom and bust

# On the upside, there was the new Yankee Stadium going full steam ahead - steamrolling over the local community in the process with a big loss of centrally located parkland - and the new Gateway Center mall to its south, both due to open in 2009. And the city finally chose a developer to turn the giant Kingsbridge Armory into a mall.

# The downside: the Bronx had the highest jobless rate in the state, registering 7.7% in October, while continuing to be the poorest urban county in the nation.
It was reflected in growing lines - with many turned away - at struggling local food pantries.

# A report in September by the Center for an Urban Future titled “Attack of the Chains?” found the Bronx has the fewest chain stores of any borough, with many not in the Bronx at all. Read more..

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Stephanie Womble, right, and her daughter, Joslyn, 13. Ms. Womble is studying to become a hairdresser.

Holidays Give Bronx Family Every Reason To Celebrate & Be Festive!

Stephanie Womble’s apartment is packed with Christmas cheer. Lights are strung through the living room, the tree plays carols, and the walls and doors are covered in wrapping paper.

“It makes me happy inside,” Ms. Womble says. “I wake up, I’m happy. Everything’s bright. It just does something to my mind. The places that we’ve lived have been so ugly and unbearable.”

After almost two years in homeless shelters, Ms. Womble has reason to celebrate. In February, she and her children, Joslyn Bourne, 13, and Jordan Bourne, 15, moved into this one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx.

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