Views from the Northwest Bronx

On June 15th, UNHP, over fifty guests and our panelists concluded our #ViewsNWBX blog series with breakfast, a presentation and discussion of the emerging community development and affordable housing issues raised in our locally-focused on-line essay series.

UNHP is sharing the northwest Bronx views of neighborhood residents, community leaders, Bronx community development professionals and UNHP board members.

Views from the Northwest Bronx is a blog series aimed at framing an inclusive and informed discussion on issues affecting the affordability and viability of Northwest Bronx neighborhoods today. While the topics addressed in the series are by no means exhaustive, the data presented and analysis offered sheds light on many of the key issues.

The use of preferential rents—negotiated rents that are less than the legal rent— has become more prominent recently as an issue for tenants, in the news and in Bronx set-up sheets for multifamily building sales. In this piece, UNHP aims to discuss how preferential rents, once considered a benefit to tenants, could undermine the financial stability of multifamily buildings and its lenders as well as threaten the tenancy of Bronx residents - 70 percent of whom are already vulnerable to displacement.