By Joseph Morales

The Lambert Houses is a large affordable housing development with several hundred units in the West Farms section of The Bronx just blocks from the Bronx Zoo. The development is owned and operated by Phipps Houses, New York City’s largest and oldest nonprofit developer, with developments across the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Phipps also operates a social services affiliate, Phipps Neighborhoods, which facilitates youth, community, and economic development in the South Bronx. The Lambert Houses are also located adjacent to the West Farms Sq-E Tremont Av(2,5) and E 180th St subway station, as well as near the Bx9, Bx21, Bx36, and Bx40/42 buses, providing residents with ample access to communities across the Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan via public transit. The complex is also a short walk from the E 180th St(2,5) station, where the rush hour 5 express trains stop, allowing for even faster commute times to and from the South Bronx and Manhattan.

                         The development was constructed between 1970 and 1973, so the Lambert Houses have been a staple in the West Farms Community for about 50 years. However, given the development’s age, it’s been known for many issues that adversely affect one’s quality of life, including, according to a description by the Bronx Times, “outdated structural and mechanical systems, poorly designed open space within a superblock layout, and security issues created by a maze-like series of buildings, many interconnected by narrow hallways, with 14 separate addresses.” 

                         Thus, Phipps Houses is currently working on a 15-year, $600 million redevelopment of the complex to replace all of the buildings in the Lambert Houses complex with larger and more modern buildings to make for a better housing complex for residents. The number of affordable homes in the Lambert Houses will increase by nearly 1,000 to 1,665, and current Lambert Houses residents will be relocated to new buildings as well as throughout the development as the construction process continues. 728 of the units will be reserved for households that qualify for Section 8 rent assistance, while the rest will be available for those at various levels of the area median income(AMI). The first phase was already completed in August 2019 with an 18-story, 163-unit building at East 180th St between Boston Rd and Vyse Avenue at 988 E 180th St. The building includes 113 units reserved at the time by previous Lambert Houses residents and another 49 for other low-income households selected by the Housing Connect lottery. According to an NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development(HPD) press release, this building was financed through the HPD and the NYC Housing Development Corporation(HDC)’s ELLA program for extremely low-income households in addition to the  Mandatory Housing Inclusion program so that the homes will be permanently affordable to residents.

                       Now, Phipps Houses is working on the second phase of the project, which includes the construction of a 16-story, 321-unit residential building on Boston Rd between E 179th and E 180th Sts at 2080 Boston Rd with 279 units for current Lambert Houses residents and 42 units for those who have recently homeless. The building will include several amenities such as a gym, children’s room, bike room, and more. The first phase of the project, along with this phase, is, being designed by Dattner Architects, who have designed several notable Bronx buildings such as the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Rd, the state-of-the-art research building known as the Manne Institute at the Bronx High School of Science and the Second Farms residential building just blocks from the Lambert Houses. Monadnock Construction, Inc, which has been operating for 48 years and considers affordable housing “a cornerstone of our work” according to its company profile, was responsible for building phase 1 and will also be responsible for building phase 2 of the project.

                        In addition to providing better homes for residents, the project aims to better integrate the development into the streetscape and make the environment as a whole better for both residents and visitors. This will occur through the inclusion of new retail and community facilities. However, it has yet to be specified as to when, how, or where in the redevelopment most of this will take place. The only non-residential facility that space has been allotted for the construction of is a space for the School Construction Authority(SCA) to build a school should the need come to fruition.

                   Streetscape improvements will help to improve mobility around the neighborhood, not only for residents but for anyone who traverses the area. This is because it would help people feel safer and increase the neighborhood’s economic vitality should new retail facilities attract customers. In addition, the improvements would help area businesses to take better advantage of the benefits of being close to a mass transit hub and a major cultural institution in the Bronx Zoo. Additionally, if more people feel safe and comfortable walking in the community, they may be more inclined to visit the Bronx Zoo using mass transit. This might lead to increased zoo patronage and less congestion since the zoo is visited by people from across the city and region. 

                     This project has the potential to not only be an incredibly critical social infrastructure project, but it has the opportunity to be a model to other cities around America as to how to construct affordable transit-oriented development that people from a diverse range of incomes can benefit from. Transit-oriented development is a form of development that is centered around public transport and can consist of residences, businesses, and other destinations that can all be accessed within walking distance of each other. Affordable transit and commodities are critical for residents of New York City and especially The Bronx, where there is a poverty rate of 26.4%, according to U.S Census figures. In addition, since many Bronxites and other lower-income New Yorkers work blue-collar jobs with inflexible and odd hours, having transit and basic needs within walking distance of home is critical to ensure that these New Yorkers can access necessities and mobility given their busy schedule. 

                     While other locations in New York offer convenient access to a subway or bus line or even both, most locations are not accessible by multiple lines, express subway services as well as multiple bus routes that traverse different parts of the city, including a limited stop and select bus service route. The select bus service route available in West Farms is unlike other routes as the  Q44-SBS travels well into Queens from The Bronx, providing residents with access to another borough in which one other bus route travels to and from The Bronx. That route, the Q50-LTD, travels to Queens from the Eastern Bronx and would likely not be a practical commuting option for West Farms residents. 

                   The premium transportation access offered near the Lambert Houses compared to similarly affordable neighborhoods is not only premium, but it is also almost unheard of as a lot of housing offered near subway stations featuring even one line is often higher than rents in other places. According to SpatilityBlog, median rents decrease between 9-15% in all boroughs when one lives at least a 10-minute walk from a subway station. It is important to consider data for all boroughs, as when one is looking for affordable housing, the process is often selective. This is because often, there are thousands of applications for affordable units at any given location, making affordable housing difficult to obtain regardless of transit access in the area. When looking up options to apply for any affordable housing lotteries on the NYC Housing Connect website, I found that only 38 rental properties were available to apply to, with 11 in The Bronx, 18 in Brooklyn, 3 in Manhattan, 6 in Queens and none in Staten Island as of June 30th, 2023.  Competition in reference to purchasing an apartment is also typically stiffer in Real Estate for apartments closer to the subway. Thus, it would not be surprising if it was even more challenging to find affordable housing in these areas. 

                     Many(but not all) NYCHA(New York City Housing Authority) developments are located in close proximity to subway stations across the five boroughs. However, not only are they also difficult to get into with the Coalition For The Homeless saying on their website, “…it is impossible to predict how long an applicant might be on the waiting list before being reached for an apartment offer,” but they are notorious for poor living conditions such as leaking issues, dilapidated heating systems, mold, unreliable elevators and countless other issues throughout residences.

                     The only thing that some residents might dislike that will be different in the new development, with the exception of taller buildings, will be that there will be 265 fewer parking spots in the new development than there are currently. As 36% of residents in the PUMA(Public Use Microdata Area) in which the development is located have a car, and new residents may be entering from throughout the borough and the city, they may have a variety of mobility needs and thus parking may be hard to come by, particularly with the new and existing businesses, schools and the Bronx Zoo leading to a high demand for parking in the area. Despite the plethora of transit access in the community, many might still use private vehicles to get to places inaccessible by transit, such as much of New York’s suburbs, to run errands or to transport younger children and older people, among other purposes. The complex is also located in close proximity to several major roadways, such as the Bronx River Pkwy, Cross Bronx Expwy, and Sheridan Blvd, which provide ample access to many regional destinations via automobile. However, both current NYC Mayor Eric Adams and former mayor Bill De Blasio’s affordable housing plans “Get Stuff Built” and “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan,” respectively, both call for reductions of stringent parking requirements that increase construction costs and often go unused, particularly in areas with convenient transit access. Hence, it will be interesting to see what happens to the new parking spaces and whether this will lead to parking issues as the construction of the development continues. 

                    The Lambert Houses redevelopment is one of multiple significant affordable housing developments that have or will take place in the West Farms area. The Second Farms Building, also known as 1932 Bryant, is a 15-story, 319-unit affordable housing building located on a large land parcel directly between Bryant Ave, E Tremont Ave, and Boston Rd. The building also includes a Pioneer Supermarket and shared co-working space for tenants, which can be useful during the era of working from home. 50% of the housing units are for neighborhood residents, while 5% are reserved for those with mobility disabilities and municipal employees, respectively, and 2% are for the visually impaired. While it is good that housing is reserved for those with mobility disabilities as many apartment buildings are without elevators in NYC, unfortunately, the West Farms Sq-E Tremont Av station is not ADA-accessible, and there is no immediate plan to make it accessible as part of the MTA’s 2020-24 capital plan. However, these residents are still a short 10-minute bus ride away from the ADA-accessible E 180th St station, which is one subway stop away via the Bx40/42 or Bx21 buses, which still provides them with more convenient access to an ADA-accessible subway station than many locations. There is also storage in the building for up to 160 bicycles, making it convenient bike storage for anyone who wants to take advantage of the numerous bike trails in the area, such as the nearby Bronx Park, Crotona Park, and Starlight Park, which provide connections to other communities throughout The Bronx. The building also includes outdoor recreation spaces for the enjoyment of residents. Several other developments with over ten stories, 100 affordable housing units, and resident amenities similar to the others mentioned have also opened in the area in recent years, such as 1923 West Farms Rd and 913 E Tremont Avenue. 

                        The West Farms neighborhood has come a long way since affordable housing developments began to be built in droves throughout the community. As an indicator, these Google Street View images show the neighborhood as seen from the Cross Bronx Expwy in August 2016 compared to March 2022. When comparing the images, you can see several notable structures such as P.S 6X The West Farms School, a portion of the 1010 E 178th St NYCHA Development, and even the elevated subway line above Boston Rd where the 2 and 5 trains run are no longer visible. As the neighborhood population increases in density due to the influx of affordable development, the neighborhood can become an example where residents can enjoy convenient access to transit, quality residential amenities, and the benefits of a walkable community at an affordable price. It may even be possible that more developments like the Lambert Houses and the other developments in the West Farms community can be the key to solving New York’s housing crisis.

Works Cited

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