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by Pedro Suarez
“Pedrito, you have to be careful, this area is ‘hot,’ ” warned my father in the car as we arrived to my new apartment on E. 148th Street and Brook Avenue.
I had been thinking about moving out of my parents’ place for some time, but the idea only became a reality when my girlfriend emailed me the information on The Brook from an ad on Craigslist. I just graduated from college last year in May and now will be the first time that I am really on my own.
Having been born and raised in the northwest Bronx neighborhood of Fordham Road, it says a lot about Mott Haven’s reputation that even a long-time Bronx resident like my father considers this area dangerous. But it always sounds weird to me when a Bronx resident considers another part of the Bronx dangerous. We’re supposed to be tough. Nothing is too dangerous.
But as soon as we turned the corner onto Brook Avenue, it was difficult to think it was the same place.
My new home, The Brook, is Common Ground’s first construction project in the Bronx. According to Common Ground’s Web site, the Brook “is a six-story residence that will play a key role in revitalizing the surrounding community.”
The 190-unit building has ground floor community and retail space and its mission is to provide permanent housing to low-income workers, people with HIV/AIDS, and chronically homeless individuals, including individuals with mental illness.
At first, my mom questioned why I was moving into such a building and I responded, “I’m considered a low-income worker.”
As far as the other problems people welcomed at the Brook have, we already live around people with these similar issues; it’s just easy sometimes to forget they’re there.
The building, which is all studio apartments, immediately stands out with its gray and blue colored façade.
Upon entering the lobby, you are greeted by the security staff where a person has to either sign-in or swipe an ID card at the turnstile entrance. Non-residents cannot enter the building unless accompanied by a resident or building staff. Once past security, the lobby holds a waiting area with a table, chairs and magazines. On the left are many doors – one leads to building staff offices and a fitness room, another leads to the computer room, a third to building management, and a fourth to the mailroom. Straight ahead are four glass doors that open to an outdoor garden. The same floor also holds a community room and laundry room. Common Ground has a focus on being environmentally-friendly, which is what really attracted me to applying.
The building saves energy by reducing water usage through special faucets and shower heads, a sign-out system that automatically turns off the lights when exiting the building, a green roof, and trash and recycling stations on each floor.
Who could have imagined a building like this at the center of the South Bronx?
But one does not just submit a name and hope to get an apartment based on the idea of “first come, first served.” The application, although simple to understand, was thorough. After filling out my personal information, including employment experience, assets and current housing status, I also had to send copies of pay stubs, my federal tax returns, bank statements, and two forms, one to be filled out by my current landlord at the time, my mom, and another to be filled out by my employer. After sending all the required materials by mail, I waited.
I guess they liked me because I sent the application out on a Friday and received a phone call, surprisingly, the following Tuesday. I scheduled an interview for the following week. The interviewer confirmed everything in my application and gave me a small tour of the building, where I got the chance to see the studio apartments.
While maybe small to some, the apartment was perfect for what I needed. After the interview, I was scheduled to choose an apartment the following week. I chose my apartment based on the view of the outdoor garden, since all the apartments were more or less the same in design. I then scheduled the lease signing for the following week. It turned out to be a group lease-signing, which gave me the opportunity to meet some of the new residents. The lease-signing took a little over an hour with the rent administrator reading out the most important parts of the lease and directing us where to sign. With that, residents got their pictures taken for ID cards and we were given a full tour of the building and our very own set of keys.
From that point on, residents decided when to move in. I moved in most of my belongings over the course of three days. In total, between applying and moving into my apartment, the process took me about four weeks.
In college, most people do not have to worry about bills. Room and board is included in tuition. Food is taken care of through meal plans and most services are provided. Now, however, I have to pay for rent, phone, cable and Internet, transportation, student loans, food and laundry. The costs pile up quickly and one starts to gain an appreciation for how others do it. When I first officially moved in, I created a budget outline with expenses on one side and income on the other. I also included room for leisure and savings. When I was finally done with writing my budget out on a piece of paper, I sat back and said out loud, “That’s cutting it close.”
But who cares? It is the price one has to pay for independence. It does not matter that I live in the South Bronx. When I walk into my new apartment building and swipe my own ID card, use my own keys to open the door, take off my shoes in the hallway, hang up my clothes in the closet, sit on my couch, and turn on my TV, I look around, smile to myself and say “Everything is right where I left it.”
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