Neighborhood Success Stories ─ Creating and Sustaining Affordable Housing in New York

This book illustrates examples of successful community development on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and in the Bronx, using seven different methods of finance, only one of which is still available today. The buildings were developed between 1975 and 1997.

Part one of the book is the "West Bronx Story," which tells about the eighteen buildings that comprise New Settlement Apartments in the Bronx. The "Story" illustrates the dramatic transformation of a devastated neighborhood into a thriving community. The owner is a nonprofit affiliate of Settlement Housing Fund, a citywide nonprofit organization of which the author was Executive Director between 1983 and 2014. There were enough funds provided through thoughtful New York City programs. Equally important, there was and remains a great team on site. But it was not easy. "West Bronx Story," describes the details, painful and exhilarating.

Part two of the book, "A Tale of Two Bridges," illustrates a different path to success. The redevelopment of this area in the Lower East Side of Manhattan involved six different Federal housing programs, and all the buildings remain in great shape today, forty years later. The Two Bridges Urban Renewal Area consisted of six residential sites, a running track, and a large scale supermarket. Settlement Housing Fund played the lead role in development of the six sites and the supermarket, all of which involved unique challenges. The community partner was Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, one of the original antipoverty organizations established in the Great Society days.

The last chapter of the book spells out the author's policy recommendations, based on developing over 50 sites and visiting many others. Settlement Housing Fund's model is to create mixed-income developments, integrating low income families with middle income families in need of housing, while serving the needs and goals of various communities.