This morning Bronx AM Links brings you yummy delights off Jackson Avenue, 13 buildings sold for $90 million, a Bronx hero who saved a woman’s life, holiday fun in The Bronx, and why The Bronx isn’t The New Brooklyn.
Eating Along the 2 Line: Jackson Avenue
The New York Daily News writes about some of the culinary delights found just off the 2 and 5 line at Jackson Avenue in the South Bronx neighborhood of Woodstock (yes, it’s a rarely used name and was once a village just east of Melrose. One of the only marks left of its existence is the Woodstock Branch of the New York Public Library.
The article talks about the diverse Latin American fare you’ll find with local favorites such as Mexicocina, La Pastora Bakery, and Seis Vecinos (6 neighbors in Spanish).
Asden-led investor group bought $90M Bronx portfolio
As the gentrification wars heat up in our borough, investors keep plowing through and snatching up properties at record breaking numbers. This most recent sale is just one of many steering 2015 towards a record-breaking year in activity for our borough.
Sadly, these sales rarely are benefiting folks who even live here and properties are traded like playing cards.
The Real Deal writes: “A group of an investors led by Asden Properties are the mystery buyers that scooped up a $90 million Bronx portfolio last month, in one of the borough’s biggest multifamily deals this year.
The portfolio, comprised of 13 buildings holding 612 rental units, hit the market this spring.
The sellers, JP Morgan Chase and Continental Properties, owned the buildings since 2007, when they paid $56.7 million. Ariel Property Advisors had the listing.
“They believe the Bronx is well positioned for continued growth and will add value by strategically investing capital into the buildings,” said Ariel’s Victor Sozio.
The properties are located in the Mount Hope, University Heights, Concourse and Wakefield neighborhoods of the Bronx.” Via The Real Deal
Holiday Fun: Things to do in the Bronx for the Holidays
BronxMama brings us a fun-filled guide for things to do in The Bronx for the holidays. What? You didn’t think there were things to keep you on the mainland?
Here Are A Few More Reasons Not to Call The Bronx The New Brooklyn
We’ve been called the last frontier and The New Bronx. There have been attempts to rebrand our neighborhoods as SoBro, The Piano District, and yes folks, even NoMa (Riverdale as North Manhattan…seriously folks?) People have even asked why can’t we be more like Brooklyn and the simple answer is: Because we don’t want to be!
BrickUnderground writes:
“Aside from common sense, that is.
The Bronx has been the source of much hype as of late (including one ill-advised, instantly-notorious, “Bronx is Burning” theme rave hosted by developers), prompting speculators to compare it to that other much-hyped borough farther south. But in spite of aggressive moves like the effort to rebrand the South Bronx as “the Piano District,” the Bronx has a long way to go before it reaches Brooklyn-level prices, status, and hype.” – Via BrickUnderground
MTA station agent risks life to save woman who fell onto Brooklyn train tracks
“MTA station agent Ralph Johnson’s professionalism put him in the right place at the right time to save a woman who fell from a Brooklyn train platform.
Johnson — working an overtime shift at the Franklin Ave. stop during the busy West Indian Day Parade in Crown Heights on Labor Day — showed up about a half hour early to his 3 p.m. shift to familiarize himself with the station.
But Johnson, 63, who’s been with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 18 years, ended up accomplishing something that seems impossible in order to save a life: stop a moving train.
“I could hear the train. I hear the wheels screeching, coming around that corner,” Johnson, who lives in University Heights in the Bronx, said. “My first response was to jump in the middle of the track and waive that train down.”
And it worked.” – Via The Daily News
