NIDC DIRECTOR MIURA SPEAKS AT PPNA MEETING
Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corp. Housing and Community Development director Hazel Miura
was the guest speaker for Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association’s meeting on Tuesday, April 9 at
Bronx House.
(Above) Housing and Community Development director Hazel Miura (2nd from l) with (l-r) PPNA board
member Ruth Mirenberg, vice president Steve Glosser and president Edith Blitzer. Photo by Silvio Pacifi co
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PRIL 19-25, 2019 69
BY STEVEN GLOSSER
The Pelham Parkway Neighborhood
Association held its
monthly meeting on Tuesday,
May 9 at Bronx House.Our featured
guest speaker was Hazel
Muira, director of Housing and
Development for the Neighborhood
Initiatives Development
Corp. Before Muira spoke we
had announcements from our
elected offi cials representatives.
Christian Amato from
Senator Alexandra Biaggi’s offi
ce.
He gave us a few updates.
There will be an east Bronx
satellite offi ce opening soon for
Biaggi, hopefully in the vicinity
of Lydig and Cruger avenues
to take care of our community
issues and concerns. Sarah Rubin
from Councilman Mark
Gjonaj’s offi ce informed the attendees
there will be a Housing
Rights mobile outside his offi ce
on Tuesday, May 7 and on Tuesday,
May 14t there will be a Legal
Services van outside his offi
ce. His offi ce is located on 1478
Williamsbridge Road.
The PPNA has an update
on the empty building at the
corner of Barnes and Lydig avenues,
the one across the street
from P.S. 357. Someone is interested
in buying the building
to turn it into permanent
housing for substance abuse
and individuals with mental issues.
The PPNA will be in close
contact with our elected offi -
cials regarding this issue. The
PPNA will advocate the use of
the building for senior citizen
housing.
Muira gave the captive audience
a history of NIDC. As a
staple in the community, NIDC
works with tenants, landlords,
precincts, schools, health centers
and congressmen to address
a broad variety of issues
facing the Bronx.
NIDC has worked to stabilize
and revitalize the northeast
Bronx since 1982. In the
early 1980s many areas of the
Bronx were in severe disrepair.
Poverty was on the rise.
Housing stock was plummeting.
Longtime residents began
moving out in droves, while
younger, lower income families
began moving in. Neighborhood
Initiatives Development
Corp. was formed out of
this concern to preserve the
neighborhoods of the northeast
Bronx. NIDC began by helping
landlords secure the much
needed funds to renovate and
improve the quality of their
buildings, while advocating on
behalf of tenants dealing with
negligent landlords. As the situation
began to stabilize, NIDC
turned its attention to the community’s
need for quality youth
services. After school programming
began at P.S. 96 in 1988.
NIDC has since expanded to
serve youth ages 4 to 18 in several
schools and sites through
the northeast Bronx.Over the
course of three decades, NIDC
has played an important role in
the development of the northeast
Bronx through year-round
educational, housing, advocacy,
community development,
crime-prevention, career-readiness
training, recreational,
and commercial revitalization
services.
Their goal is to increase access
to a safe, decent, and affordable
housing, a platform on
which a successful life can be
established.
They offer free assistance in
the following areas
Tenant Counseling and Advocacy
- Their housing specialists
provide a broad array
of tenant services, including
building inspections, arranging
repairs, resolving landlord
tenant disputes, correcting
rent overcharges, and applying
for benefi ts and entitlements.
They also serve as ‘tenant advocate’
in housing court for
those without legal representation
facing eviction;
Landlord Assistance - NIDC
gives owners the information
and assistance they need to ensure
their properties are well
maintained and legal obligations
fulfi lled. They help landlords
secure loans, conduct
preventative maintenance, address
security issues plaguing
their building, and mediate
tenant disputes;
Tenant and Community organizing
- NIDC helps residents
take control of their communities
by forming tenant/community
associations. They provide
the technical assistance
needed to develop effective,
action-oriented associations
ready to tackle issues facing
the community;
Community Events
-Throughout the year, NIDC
co-sponsors events to bring
together residents of the surrounding
neighborhoods in
positive ways, such as Movies
Under the Stars, National Night
Out Against Crime, Summer
Street Fair, Holiday Toy Giveaway,
and much more;
Crime Preventation Initiatives
- The crime prevention
initiative seeks to raise public
awareness of local crime
issues, teach vital preventive
and safety skills, and act as
a liaison between police, tenants,
elected offi cials, landlords
and other organizations.
They work with Community
Affairs, Crime Prevention police
offi cers, and other law enforcement
agencies to reduce
robbery, burglary, car thefts,
and conduct building security
surveys;
Merchant Organizing - Engaging
local businesses is a
crucial part of the community
revitalization process. To that
end, NIDC leads strategic planning,
outreach, and organizing
efforts in the creation of new
merchants associations or the
solidifying of existing ones.
Muira educated us on the
topic of preferential rent.
Preferential rent is any rent
charged to a rent stabilized tenant
that is lower than the legal
rent. If you are one of the 250,000
tenants with preferential rent
your rent can be raised anywhere
up to the legal rent when
you renew your lease, which is
some cases could mean a hike
of hundreds of dollars.
While there are some protections
in place to ensure that
New York’s renters have access
to fair housing, there are
also loopholes that can undo
those protections if they’re interpreted
the wrong way, or
utilized by unscrupulous landlords.
Take, for instance, preferential
rent landlords who
manage rent stabilized apartments
have the option of offering
units to tenants for a price
that’s lower than the legal regulated
rent, which is determined
by the apartment’s rental history.
In theory, this sounds like a
good idea; renters get a cheaper
apartment, and landlords may
be able to keep apartments full
for longer, so everyone wins,
right? Not exactly,what ends
up happening is in most cases
the preferential rent can be revoked
whenever the lease is renewed,
and the landlord can
start charging the higher ‘legal
regulated rent’ plus other
allowable increases. Or, Increases
in preferential rents
aren’t subject to city-set limits
governing other rent-stabilized
apartments. Landlords can revoke
the preferential rates, and
hike rents to the legal maximum,
whenever leases come
up for renewal. That can mean
spikes of hundreds or even
thousands of dollars.
Tenants must also do their
homework on ‘so-called’ improvements
that landlords
also claim they are doing to
apartments. Which is a Major
Capital Improvement (known
as an ‘MCI’) rent increase is a
permanent increase in rent for
a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled
tenant, based on money
spent by the landlord on building
wide improvements or on
replacing a major building system.
If you suspect there is a
false MCI in your building
please report this at once to
Hazel’s offi ce at the NIDC telephone
(718) 231-9800 or by email
to hmiura@nidcny.org the
DHCR. Some landlords are taking
advantage of MCI’s and tenant’s
cannot pay or afford the
increases.
Next Hazel spoke to the attendees
on the topic of safety
for the summer. Always close
and lock your windows when
you leave your apt. or house.
Tenants always open windows
and forget to close them when
leaving their apartment especially
in the summer. If you
have an air conditioner in your
window always make sure its
secured and that the top window
can’t be pulled down. Regarding
personal safety, always
use your intercom to buzz
people into your building and
only when you are absolutely
sure you know who they are.
Always have your keys out before
before approaching either
the building or the door to your
apartment. If you live on the
top fl oor make sure that the
roof door is closed and the landing
is empty and well lit.
On the subject of your entrance
door to your apt, make
sure the door hinges are secure
and not loose.Also, make
sure you have a wide-angle
viewer and that it is correctly
placed. Using a dead bolt with a
one inch bolt or a heavy duty
drop bolt work well in securing
your door. Properly installing
an edge guard on the
door and a metal plate over
the outside cylinders also protect
your door and deter burglars.
On auto safety,always
lock and secure your car and
activate your alarm system.
Never leave property in the car
such as loose change,bags or
cellphones or laptops. Enroll
in one of the many anti-theft
NYPD programs.
We thank Hazel very much
for her appearance and also for
giving out a multitude of informational
handouts to the
audience. Please join us for
our next community meeting
at Bronx House on Tuesday,
May 14 at 7:15 p.m. for a very
special guest. Scheduled is the
Commissioner of the NYC Department
of Consumer Affairs.
Please join us for this meeting.
The PPNA works around
the clock and year round to improve
the quality of life in our
community. We can always
be reached by email at pelhamparkwayNA@
gmail.com.
Please follow us and like us on
face book for all current happenings
in our neighborhood.
Get involved in your community.
It’s time.
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