New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and homeless services nonprofit Project Renewal, opened the first phase of Bedford Green House — a project that will bring 117 affordable and supportive homes to the Bronx.
Article continues below
>
The project includes 71 apartments set aside for New Yorkers who previously experienced homelessness, families impacted by mental illness and substance use disorder, and people living with HIV/AIDS; with the remaining 46 apartments for low-income households earning up to 60 percent of area median income.
Project Renewal is providing on-site wraparound social services, including horticultural therapy utilizing the greenhouse and aquaponic urban farming system on the building’s roof.
Project Renewal’s multidisciplinary team will provide wraparound, on-site services, including case management, occupational therapy, horticultural therapy, and entitlements support.
Later this year, construction will begin on a second phase with 116 additional apartments, nearly half of which will be reserved for low-income seniors; a 5,000-square-foot medical clinic; a gym; and The Molly B. Kronick Library and Learning Center for residents.
The medical clinic in phase two will offer primary care, pediatrics, podiatry, digital radiology, and other health care services to the whole community.
Integrated throughout the LEED-certified building are innovative design elements, amenities, and services that support residents’ health and long-term stability. A 1,500-square-foot rooftop greenhouse and aquaponics urban farming system allows residents to grow fresh vegetables year-round.
A green exterior façade features plantings that will grow to cascade from the top floors to the ground, reducing the building’s energy use and removing airborne pollutants in a borough where children are hospitalized by asthma at a rate 21 times higher than more affluent areas of New York City.
Bike storage and a playground encourage active lifestyles for all ages. ■