Due to inclement weather, all New Settlement buildings are CLOSED on Monday, February 23, 2026. Please stay warm and stay safe! Debido a las inclemencias
Due to inclement weather, all New Settlement buildings are CLOSED on Monday, February 23, 2026. Please stay warm and stay safe!
Debido a las inclemencias del tiempo, todos los edificios de New Settlement permanecerán CERRADOS el lunes 23 de febrero de 2026. ¡Manténganse abrigados y a salvo!
Due to inclement weather, all New Settlement buildings are CLOSED on Monday, January 26, 2026. Please stay warm and stay safe!
Debido a las inclemencias del tiempo, todos los edificios de New Settlement permanecerán CERRADOS el lunes 26 de enero de 2026. ¡Manténganse abrigados y a salvo!
Originally published on By Yilber Vega | Telemundo47
Over 100 people turned out in the Bronx to march and rally in favor of a rent freeze before the Rent Guidelines Board’s public hearing on June 12.
The group, including some seniors using canes and walkers, marched from Bronx Borough Hall to Hostos Community College, where the RGB would hear five hours of testimony from the public.
Several local groups were represented at the rally, including the Bronx Defenders, the Bronx Leadership & Organizing Center (BLOC), New York Communities for Change, New York State Tenant Bloc, Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association and Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) New Settlement, all calling on the RGB not to increase rents for the city’s 2.4 million rent-stabilized tenants.
As they marched, the group chanted, “Fight, fight, fight! Housing is a human right!” and “People, not profit!” and some passing drivers in rush hour traffic honked their horns and waved in support.
The rally came as the mayor-appointed RGB is set to vote later this month on whether to increase the rent, and if so, by how much. The board’s proposed increases range from 1.75% to 4.75% for one-year leases and 3.75% and 7.75% for two-year leases, starting this October.
Many property owners argue that an increase this year is necessary to keep up with the costs of building operations, which have gone up 6.3% since last year.
To owners, a rent freeze is “unrealistic and nonsensical,” said Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York, in a statement last month. “The city doesn’t freeze our property taxes and water rates. Much of the rent-stabilized housing stock is already in severe distress, and operating, repair and maintenance costs are constantly increasing. A rent freeze will result in foreclosure and abandonment, and push tenants into housing instability.”
But tenants who rallied say that no increase is acceptable, arguing that landlords’ profits have been rising.
Mercedes Escoto, a retired city social worker who has lived in her rent-stabilized apartment in Highbridge for 16 years, told the Bronx Times that a rent freeze is her number one priority.
Escorto said between the high cost of food, medication and other necessities, she hasn’t been on a vacation in 15 years. She also said she has been forced to cover expenses that should be the landlord’s responsibility, such as replacing a broken refrigerator and exterminating bed bugs.
As the RGB has increased rents each of the past three years under Mayor Eric Adams, “What happened to all the money I paid?” Escoto said.
Another Highbridge resident, Nereida Figueroa, said she’s having a hard time making ends meet as a single parent of two children. She often works up to 60 hours per week just to cover expenses.
“It’s hard,” she said. “It affects me and my community.”
Figueroa is currently battling her landlord to fix water leaks in the bathroom ceiling, which she said has weak spots where the pipes show through.
But beyond her own situation, Figueroa expressed concern about how rising rents would affect her Bronx neighborhood as a whole. Increasing the rent would likely lead to more homelessness and displacement of people like her in favor of “fancy people,” she said.
Addressing the large crowd that assembled outside Hostos before the hearing, City Council Member Pierina Sanchez, who chairs the Committee on Housing and Buildings, said that building owners should seek funds from the government — not their tenants — if they face difficulty covering operating costs.
“When people are struggling, you don’t find the weakest and try to fix the problem on their backs,” she said.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said a rent freeze is “the morally right thing to do right now.”
Despite RGB rent increases under the Adams administration totaling 9%, he said many owners don’t seem to have used the funds to improve the condition of their buildings.
“The housing stock has only gotten worse,” only “adding insult to injury” for tenants, said Williams.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson spoke at the hearing and said the rent stabilization system is “one of the cornerstones of affordable housing that we have left in our city.”
Gibson called on the board to freeze the rent, saying the proposed increases would have a “devastating effect” on many Bronx residents, especially seniors, veterans and people with disabilities.
Gibson said the board should “absolutely reject these proposed increases so that we can keep all these residents living in the Bronx,” to applause from those in attendance.
She also asked the board to listen carefully to tenants throughout the hearing. Every day, “I get the calls” from people complaining about mold, pests, landlord harassment and discrimination, said Gibson. “The Bronx deserves better, and we need your help.”
Originally published on By Emily Swanson | Bronx Times
Bronx tenant advocates say the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) didn’t go far enough Tuesday when it slightly lowered proposed rent hikes for two-year leases but ignored calls for a full freeze.
The board, which sets allowable rent increases for nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments citywide, voted 5–3 to slightly revise its preliminary proposal for two-year leases—lowering the range from 4.75%–7.75% to 3.75%–7.75%. The proposed hike for one-year leases remains unchanged, between 1.75% and 4.75%.
RGB Chair Doug Apple said the revision came in response to public testimony about the widening gap between renters’ incomes and the city’s rising cost of living.
But Bronx housing advocates say the adjustment is too modest to make a difference for the borough’s struggling tenants. Groups like Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA)-New Settlement have held rallies, protests, and town halls calling for a total rent freeze amid New York City’s housing and affordability crisis.
“This decision does not go nearly far enough,” said CASA tenant organizer Joanne Grell in an interview with the Bronx Times. “People are already being forced to choose between paying rent or buying groceries and medication.”
Grell cited the RGB’s own 2025 Income and Affordability Study, which found that 36.7% of Bronx residents spent at least half of their income on rent in 2023.
On Sunday, CASA co-hosted a mayoral candidate forum focused on housing justice, alongside four other housing nonprofits and City Council Member Pierina Sanchez of District 14. The forum, aimed at highlighting tenant concerns in the Bronx, featured appearances from mayoral hopefuls State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Michael Blake—both of whom pledged to appoint RGB members who would support a rent freeze.
The mayor picks all nine members who sit on the board.
So far, candidates including Blake, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and State Sen. Jessica Ramos have publicly committed to appointing RGB members in favor of the freeze. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, and Myrie have also voiced support for the idea.
“Tenants are not going to have it anymore with the RGB or the mayor who has repeatedly raised our rents four times in the past four years,” said Grell. “We’re not going to accept anything less than a 0% rent increase.”
Council Member Sanchez echoed that sentiment in a statement to the Bronx Times, warning that even a scaled-back increase would place thousands of Bronx tenants at greater risk of displacement.
“Any rent increase will only further push New Yorkers out of their homes,” Sanchez said. “I urge the Rent Guidelines Board to continue listening to tenant feedback ahead of their June 30 vote and to prioritize stability for renters.”
The RGB will hold a series of public hearings across the city before its final vote. The Bronx hearing is scheduled for Thursday, June 12 at 5 p.m. at Hostos Community College’s main theater in the South Bronx. Residents must register and show up in-person to testify, but can watch the hearing virtually via the RGB’s YouTube channel.
Originally published on By Ethan Marshall and Sadie Brown | Bronx Times
New York City Council Member Althea Stevens presented a $100,000 check to New Settlement Apartments, which are located in the Mount Eden section of the borough, for enhancements to its YouthBuild program on Friday, Nov. 22.
YouthBuild is a community-based pre-apprenticeship program that provides job training and educational services for opportunity youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who did not earn a secondary diploma from school.
Notable attendees at the check presentation included YouthBuild Program Director Roman Woodson, New Settlement Executive Director Rigaud Noel and local YouthBuild participants.
During the presentation, Stevens, who also chairs the council’s Committee on Children and Youth, talked about how Bronx youth need different options and pathways to success. She pointed to YouthBuild as being one of these essential pathways.
Woodson discussed just how much of an honor it has been to be able to help youths overcome challenges to achieve an education. Additionally, he said the skills these kids are learning can help them accomplish great things.
Noel said Stevens’ check, funded by taxpayers, reflected her passion and dedication to helping the young people in the Bronx community. He thanked her for providing the community with the opportunity to provide much-needed resources through this donation.
Bronx native and YouthBuild participant Analis Nunez said her mother placed her in the program after she dropped out of school. She said the program has made her feel at home while also providing much-needed assistance.
Another YouthBuild participant, Christopher Williams, 18, talked about coming to the Bronx from Ghana and his mother sending him to YouthBuild. The program has helped shape him into who he is today and given him a vision of what he wants to do in the future.
Both Nunez and Williams expressed their thanks to Stevens for the contribution, which will help those in YouthBuild better themselves.
Originally published on By Ethan Marshall and Jewel Webber | Bronx Times
Due to inclement weather, all New Settlement buildings are CLOSED on Monday, February 23, 2026. Please stay warm and stay safe! Debido a las inclemencias
Due to inclement weather, all New Settlement buildings are CLOSED on Monday, February 23, 2026. Please stay warm and stay safe!
Debido a las inclemencias del tiempo, todos los edificios de New Settlement permanecerán CERRADOS el lunes 23 de febrero de 2026. ¡Manténganse abrigados y a salvo!
Due to inclement weather, all New Settlement buildings are CLOSED on Monday, January 26, 2026. Please stay warm and stay safe!
Debido a las inclemencias del tiempo, todos los edificios de New Settlement permanecerán CERRADOS el lunes 26 de enero de 2026. ¡Manténganse abrigados y a salvo!
Originally published on By Yilber Vega | Telemundo47
Over 100 people turned out in the Bronx to march and rally in favor of a rent freeze before the Rent Guidelines Board’s public hearing on June 12.
The group, including some seniors using canes and walkers, marched from Bronx Borough Hall to Hostos Community College, where the RGB would hear five hours of testimony from the public.
Several local groups were represented at the rally, including the Bronx Defenders, the Bronx Leadership & Organizing Center (BLOC), New York Communities for Change, New York State Tenant Bloc, Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association and Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) New Settlement, all calling on the RGB not to increase rents for the city’s 2.4 million rent-stabilized tenants.
As they marched, the group chanted, “Fight, fight, fight! Housing is a human right!” and “People, not profit!” and some passing drivers in rush hour traffic honked their horns and waved in support.
The rally came as the mayor-appointed RGB is set to vote later this month on whether to increase the rent, and if so, by how much. The board’s proposed increases range from 1.75% to 4.75% for one-year leases and 3.75% and 7.75% for two-year leases, starting this October.
Many property owners argue that an increase this year is necessary to keep up with the costs of building operations, which have gone up 6.3% since last year.
To owners, a rent freeze is “unrealistic and nonsensical,” said Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York, in a statement last month. “The city doesn’t freeze our property taxes and water rates. Much of the rent-stabilized housing stock is already in severe distress, and operating, repair and maintenance costs are constantly increasing. A rent freeze will result in foreclosure and abandonment, and push tenants into housing instability.”
But tenants who rallied say that no increase is acceptable, arguing that landlords’ profits have been rising.
Mercedes Escoto, a retired city social worker who has lived in her rent-stabilized apartment in Highbridge for 16 years, told the Bronx Times that a rent freeze is her number one priority.
Escorto said between the high cost of food, medication and other necessities, she hasn’t been on a vacation in 15 years. She also said she has been forced to cover expenses that should be the landlord’s responsibility, such as replacing a broken refrigerator and exterminating bed bugs.
As the RGB has increased rents each of the past three years under Mayor Eric Adams, “What happened to all the money I paid?” Escoto said.
Another Highbridge resident, Nereida Figueroa, said she’s having a hard time making ends meet as a single parent of two children. She often works up to 60 hours per week just to cover expenses.
“It’s hard,” she said. “It affects me and my community.”
Figueroa is currently battling her landlord to fix water leaks in the bathroom ceiling, which she said has weak spots where the pipes show through.
But beyond her own situation, Figueroa expressed concern about how rising rents would affect her Bronx neighborhood as a whole. Increasing the rent would likely lead to more homelessness and displacement of people like her in favor of “fancy people,” she said.
Addressing the large crowd that assembled outside Hostos before the hearing, City Council Member Pierina Sanchez, who chairs the Committee on Housing and Buildings, said that building owners should seek funds from the government — not their tenants — if they face difficulty covering operating costs.
“When people are struggling, you don’t find the weakest and try to fix the problem on their backs,” she said.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said a rent freeze is “the morally right thing to do right now.”
Despite RGB rent increases under the Adams administration totaling 9%, he said many owners don’t seem to have used the funds to improve the condition of their buildings.
“The housing stock has only gotten worse,” only “adding insult to injury” for tenants, said Williams.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson spoke at the hearing and said the rent stabilization system is “one of the cornerstones of affordable housing that we have left in our city.”
Gibson called on the board to freeze the rent, saying the proposed increases would have a “devastating effect” on many Bronx residents, especially seniors, veterans and people with disabilities.
Gibson said the board should “absolutely reject these proposed increases so that we can keep all these residents living in the Bronx,” to applause from those in attendance.
She also asked the board to listen carefully to tenants throughout the hearing. Every day, “I get the calls” from people complaining about mold, pests, landlord harassment and discrimination, said Gibson. “The Bronx deserves better, and we need your help.”
Originally published on By Emily Swanson | Bronx Times
Bronx tenant advocates say the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) didn’t go far enough Tuesday when it slightly lowered proposed rent hikes for two-year leases but ignored calls for a full freeze.
The board, which sets allowable rent increases for nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments citywide, voted 5–3 to slightly revise its preliminary proposal for two-year leases—lowering the range from 4.75%–7.75% to 3.75%–7.75%. The proposed hike for one-year leases remains unchanged, between 1.75% and 4.75%.
RGB Chair Doug Apple said the revision came in response to public testimony about the widening gap between renters’ incomes and the city’s rising cost of living.
But Bronx housing advocates say the adjustment is too modest to make a difference for the borough’s struggling tenants. Groups like Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA)-New Settlement have held rallies, protests, and town halls calling for a total rent freeze amid New York City’s housing and affordability crisis.
“This decision does not go nearly far enough,” said CASA tenant organizer Joanne Grell in an interview with the Bronx Times. “People are already being forced to choose between paying rent or buying groceries and medication.”
Grell cited the RGB’s own 2025 Income and Affordability Study, which found that 36.7% of Bronx residents spent at least half of their income on rent in 2023.
On Sunday, CASA co-hosted a mayoral candidate forum focused on housing justice, alongside four other housing nonprofits and City Council Member Pierina Sanchez of District 14. The forum, aimed at highlighting tenant concerns in the Bronx, featured appearances from mayoral hopefuls State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Michael Blake—both of whom pledged to appoint RGB members who would support a rent freeze.
The mayor picks all nine members who sit on the board.
So far, candidates including Blake, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and State Sen. Jessica Ramos have publicly committed to appointing RGB members in favor of the freeze. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, and Myrie have also voiced support for the idea.
“Tenants are not going to have it anymore with the RGB or the mayor who has repeatedly raised our rents four times in the past four years,” said Grell. “We’re not going to accept anything less than a 0% rent increase.”
Council Member Sanchez echoed that sentiment in a statement to the Bronx Times, warning that even a scaled-back increase would place thousands of Bronx tenants at greater risk of displacement.
“Any rent increase will only further push New Yorkers out of their homes,” Sanchez said. “I urge the Rent Guidelines Board to continue listening to tenant feedback ahead of their June 30 vote and to prioritize stability for renters.”
The RGB will hold a series of public hearings across the city before its final vote. The Bronx hearing is scheduled for Thursday, June 12 at 5 p.m. at Hostos Community College’s main theater in the South Bronx. Residents must register and show up in-person to testify, but can watch the hearing virtually via the RGB’s YouTube channel.
Originally published on By Ethan Marshall and Sadie Brown | Bronx Times
New York City Council Member Althea Stevens presented a $100,000 check to New Settlement Apartments, which are located in the Mount Eden section of the borough, for enhancements to its YouthBuild program on Friday, Nov. 22.
YouthBuild is a community-based pre-apprenticeship program that provides job training and educational services for opportunity youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who did not earn a secondary diploma from school.
Notable attendees at the check presentation included YouthBuild Program Director Roman Woodson, New Settlement Executive Director Rigaud Noel and local YouthBuild participants.
During the presentation, Stevens, who also chairs the council’s Committee on Children and Youth, talked about how Bronx youth need different options and pathways to success. She pointed to YouthBuild as being one of these essential pathways.
Woodson discussed just how much of an honor it has been to be able to help youths overcome challenges to achieve an education. Additionally, he said the skills these kids are learning can help them accomplish great things.
Noel said Stevens’ check, funded by taxpayers, reflected her passion and dedication to helping the young people in the Bronx community. He thanked her for providing the community with the opportunity to provide much-needed resources through this donation.
Bronx native and YouthBuild participant Analis Nunez said her mother placed her in the program after she dropped out of school. She said the program has made her feel at home while also providing much-needed assistance.
Another YouthBuild participant, Christopher Williams, 18, talked about coming to the Bronx from Ghana and his mother sending him to YouthBuild. The program has helped shape him into who he is today and given him a vision of what he wants to do in the future.
Both Nunez and Williams expressed their thanks to Stevens for the contribution, which will help those in YouthBuild better themselves.
Originally published on By Ethan Marshall and Jewel Webber | Bronx Times
