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Tag Archives: Parkchester
Battling for Parking Spaces in Parkchester
It is 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning. The stressful challenge to avoid a ticket and circling city blocks for a parking spot begins again for car owners in Parkchester in the Bronx. Monday through Saturday residents play the parking games. They rise early because they aspire to keep their current space which stands on the side of the street where alternate side is suspended the next day.
“The frequent street cleaning is hard on residents having to run down stairs to move their cars and find a park,” said Vanessa Lee.
If plan A fails, the next best thing is to find a spot on a street not governed by the meter. In the most desperate attempts, meter parking is heaven sent. After the morning parking wars die down at 9:00 a.m., the shopper have begun to arrive. They must now try to find a space among the uninhabited cars that rest in the streets of Metropolitan and McGraw Avenues. The solution to end this chaos has yet to be determined.
“Parking is a big issue and I’m not comfortable with it at all,” said Vanessa Lee a 15 year resident. “I feel that as a person who is an owner of a unit in Parkchester, there should be something designated at least for the owners.” Residents and business owners are divided over the parking issue. Business owners are looking for a solution to the problem that benefits the shopper. Residents are hoping for a solution that grants them a guaranteed parking space.
Parkchester is a residential community situated on 129 acres of land and is home to 12,000 apartment units. According to the Social Explorer, the estimated population is around 30,000 people. There are approximately 2,926 people who are unit owners and 10,024 people who rent in the area. Out of this total number about 3,082 people use cars as a means of transportation to work and school. “It’s congested over hear it’s crowded and the meters make it a lot worse,” said Lee. “There’s a lot of fighting and controversy with people trying to battle to park.”
According to Lee, the frequency of the street cleaning and different hourly limits on the meters in different parts of the area is creating a major hassle for the residents. “The parking culture in the neighborhood causes people to be careless when it comes to others property,” said Lee.
“One night I parked my vehicle across the street on McGraw Ave there was an empty space in front of my car. When I went out to the car the next morning someone backed into the front of my car,” said Lee. Situations such as this are the reason she believes Parkchester should reconfigure the parking setup.
Parkchester Preservation was not available for comment. According to the Bronx Times, back in May Central Parking which oversees the garages wanted to eliminate the assigned parking in for residents. The monthly rate for a parking space in one of the three garages ranges from $180-$220 based on the Central Parking website. The proposal was later scrapped because frustrated residents signed a petition in order to keep their assigned spaces.
“It’s too congested they configured it for max amount of revenue for themselves which means nothing for the store owners,” said George Scopolitis the owner of Step Ins Restaurant. He believes that a reorganization plan needs to be implemented by Parkchester Preservation. “If no one can park they are not going to get out of their car and buy something,” said Scopolitis.
He alludes to the many times customers call into the restaurant asking for a to-go-order because they cannot find a parking space to go sit down and eat. “If you are going to sit down and order T-bone steak that’s not what you are going to order to go,” said Scopolitis. “I might have made $20, but I could have made $80.” This type of decision making also makes customers think twice before returning because they know the difficult parking situation that exist, according to Scopolitis.
Scopolitis and his family spent many years trying to find a solution to the parking problem and the effects that it has had on the business. Step Ins opened in 1974 and tried to rent spaces from several lot owners to no avail. “I think they should reconfigure the isles in the middle of the street or at least build another parking garage with self-rising elevators to maximize space,” said Scopolitis. He believes this will increase profits for the area stores and Parkchester.
“The area behind Macy’s, if that was designated for renters and owners then we wouldn’t be fighting each other in the street,” said Lee in reference to the parking lot located in the South Condominium’s Yankee Mall. Parkchester is divided into two sections north and south. The dividing line is Union Port Rd.
The South Condominium is in the heart of Parkchester commercial zone and has the least parking for its residents. The North Condominium houses more parking lots with residents allowed to apply for permits to park in them. This practice gives residents as sense of ownership to the community. The larger issue remains with the large number of residents with cars out numbering spaces.
“It’s gotten so crowded and I don’t think Parkchester is doing all they can,” said Lee. In 2007, Parkchester was forced to demolish its parking garage that stood vacant five years prior due to structural issues. Since the demolition, the building has yet to be replaced. Despite this, the complex is doing what it can to accommodate its residence, shoppers and business owners. Over the past year the complex invested in renovations of the plumbing and landscaping. The Metro North is also scheduled to build a Parkchester Station on East Tremont Avenue which may push the organization to address the parking situation further.
“Parking is an issue for some people, but for me my business gets a lot of foot traffic from people in the area,” said Chris Moriatis the owner of Ellie’s Diner located at 58 Metropolitan Oval. He agrees that parking is an issue, but he sees it as a way for people to visit the area walk around and take in the recreational landscaping the complex designed.
More parking in the area would only cause the air to become more polluted. According to the NYC Environmental Protection web site, “every year motor vehicles contribute approximately 11% of the local PM2.5 and 28% of the nitrogen oxide emissions.” The city is trying to reduce the amount of air pollutants emitted into the air and water each year. A green effort such as this is sure to keep Parkchester Preservation from adding more parking to the community. “I don’t know how much more they could do. It’s up to the city,” said Moriatis.
Protected: Parkchester: Conflict Story Draft
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Parkchester Food Pantry Fights to Continue Service
Black shopping bags lay on the table in the middle of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church’s auditorium. Evelyn McCatty and her staff of three volunteers prep the last of the bags to place on the table before they open the doors. Outside the church, people started to form a line around seven am. They wait until the doors open at eight with the hope of leaving with one of the bags filled with food. This is one stop of many in the quest to feed their families.
Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church is located at 1891 McGraw Ave in Parkchester in the Bronx. The church’s food pantry began serving families in need in the mid-1970s. “Originally we were able to serve people based on their family size, but now because of our limited budget we only give out one bag of food which is really not enough for a family,” said McCatty. Funding for the pantry began to decline about three years ago. As a result, the number of families seeking service decreased as well.
McCatty began volunteering in the Food Pantry in 1986 when the funding was in its glory. At that time, the pantry underwent a restructuring that made it into the organization it is today. Since then, she has focused on taking the necessary steps to maintain service to the community. One of those steps included changing the way they assist those in need.
In order to insure continuous service, Saint Paul’s is a member of the Food Bank of America and is supervised by the United Way that assists them with managing their state money. Organizations like the Food Bank of America and United Way typically distribute the donations it receives to the food pantries. These alliances are necessary for the pantry’s survival because it is not an independent entity, but a part of the church.
“We can’t get to many private foundations directly because we are under the church’s 501C3. The pantry does not have an independent 501C3,” said McCatty. “Private corporations usually will not fund church pantries, but they do fund directly through the Food Bank or United Way.”
“If a person is here for the first time we service them. If the people have been here before we tell them to come every other month in order to give other families a chance to be serviced,” said McCatty. The volunteers log in the names and of address of each person given food in order to keep track. The staff began to do this because in the past they ran out of food within two to three weeks of a single month. This would cause them to close for one-two weeks out of the month because they only receive food deliveries once a month.
The volume of food received in a single delivery depends on their working budget. The church is a member of Thriving for Lutherans an organization that helps Lutheran churches secure funding. Through this association, McCatty obtains the budget from government grants such as, state grants received through the Department of Health and a city grant through the Department of Human Services; Food Group. Private donations make up a small portion of funding with Ridgewood Savings Bank being their major donator.
The food pantry uses the combination of public and private funding to stay in the best shape possible for the people they help. Saint Paul’s doses not exclude anyone and the pantry is open to all who come. “We don’t just provide for people in zip code 10462. We get a lot of people from zip code 10473 and, occasionally, we get people that do not reside in the borough,” said McCatty. According to the Social Explorer, zip code 10462, that includes the Parkchester neighborhood, has a median salary of $50,000. Zip code 10473, which is in community board 9 along with 10462, has a median salary of $40,000. A look at the housing set up supports this data because there are eight public housing projects for low income families in zip code 10473.
The number of total families coming to the pantry dropped because the resources available declined. Saint Paul’s now finds it is helping more singles than families. “You see there are more than one pantry around. So people go from pantry to pantry,” said McCatty. People are resorting to this tactic because much of the federal funding has gotten cut.
The cutback on the amount of federal funding caused a major dilemma for food pantries. “State grants three years ago totaled $18,000. Last year it got cut down to $8, 000,” said McCatty. She currently does not know what the future will bring for the pantry. The only hope she has in continuing to work and make the right decisions at the right time. She alluded to the fight her clients face and why they must go from pantry to pantry in order to eat. “We are currently operating on a budget of about $25,000. You can’t buy much food with $25, 000,” said McCatty.
Evelyn McCatty, Director of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church’s Food Pantry
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Keeping the Records Selling in Harmony
Harmony Records is located at 1625 Unionport Rd in the Bronx.
Bruno Mars’s soulful vocals greet customers as they enter into Harmony Records on Unionport Road in the Bronx. Inside, a musical oasis waits. Shelves are filled with vinyl records, A-tracs, cassette tapes, and CDs. Genres including, but not limited to, Rap, Reggae, Reggaeton, Rock, and R&B whet patrons appetites before they are officially welcomed by store owner, Glenn Velger. For music lovers, the store is much like a museum, showcasing the evolution of music technology and musical styles.
Harmony records first opened in 1956. It is a historic gem to the Parkchester community. Small record stores are a rare find because of the birth of the MP3 and music piracy. Velger hopes to maintain the business despite a dwindling market. “I am a music lover and have a passion for music; what you get here is great customer service and expertise,” said Velger.
His musical love affair began in the 1970s when he was about eight years old and used to frequent the store for the latest record. The original owner eventually offered him a job in 1985 after he graduated college. In 1997, Velger bought out the owner after a failed business venture with HMV records store. His love of music and his business savvy has kept Harmony Records afloat ever since. “I know my niche market and cater to those customers,” said Velger.
Glenn Velger has been the store owner since 1997.
“How do I stay afloat? Three words old school music.” His niche market consists mainly of adults roughly 30 and up. “The new generation believes they are entitled to music and don’t understand the concept of really appreciating the music and wanting to own it and collect it,” said Velger. His deep understanding of the tastes of music consumers keeps him highly selective about the music he carries. He gets his music from Alliance Entertainment. It has been his only distributor since he took over as owner. The upkeep of his record collection is the biggest expense for Velger, outside of rent.
He is the sole operator of the store and a member of the National Entertainment Retailers Association (NERA). Harmony Records is one of two New York stores left that is involved with the organization, which sets up promotional events for music artists. This alliance is part of his survival strategy. The way Velger prices his music catalog is another tactic he uses. He sells CDs at about $10-16. Vinyls sell between $20-80. The challenge lies in ordering records that will sell without having to return large quantities to his distributor for an additional fee.
To avoid returns, Velger carries classics at all times and places custom orders for clients looking for specific items. What impresses Juan Dejesus, a longtime customrer: “The originality of the store– everything is authentic and he still has vinyl that’s what intrigues me.” Dejus adds, “Digital music loses its authenticity. There is something about the original that is special –you feel connected.”
“When the CD came out, the industry was telling distributors to stop selling vinyl. I never did because I knew the true music lover would always make room for vinyl,” said Velger. According to Nielsen Sound Scan, vinyl sales were up 18 percent, selling roughly 316 million records and bringing the sales number back to a peak not seen since 1998.
Vinyl makes up about five percent of overall record sales for the music industry. Record labels have been releasing more vinyl over the past five years which accounts for some of the sales increase. According to Velger, the resurgence of vinyl will never return to
Velger used to do artist release signings. He found out most people would come to see the artist and not buy the album.
what it was. “The internet showed up and killed everything,” said Velger. “The young people for the most part are not buying vinyl. I’m selling more of the old stuff that’s been around 30, 40, 50 years than I am the new stuff.”
His attention to the market and his customers is part of Velger’s business genius. He is very aware of the economic climate and knows people have less money to spend than they did in the 1980s and 1990s. “The reason you see so many empty stores around is because one it’s harder to get business loans and rent is so high for businesses,” said Velger.
Parkchester currently has six empty commercial spaces each representing a failed small business. More mainstream stores are set to slowly replace the old businesses. Despite this trend, Velger plans to stand his ground. “It’s okay now, but the problem is trying to get the younger generation to buy music. Once the older generation stops buying, there is going to be no one to replace them,” said Velger.
“Vinyl has a warmer sound with more highs and lows. It is more ambient than a CD,” said Velger.
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New Inspiration for Eric Orr
Eric Orr sat at a wooden fold up table in his living room. His quick and then suddenly slow sharpie pen strokes created an echo that traveled throughout his Parkchester apartment. He sketched a version of Rapper Max Robot, a comic book character he created back in 1986. Despite Orr’s artistic safe haven being his home, he may make a change to his creative environment.
Orr grew up in Parkchester. A true Bronx native, he has lived there for 41 years. The neighborhood, he said, nurtured him as an artist. “The Metropolitan Oval is great I normally sit there and take in the environment and get inspiration from the people and I have always created right here in this apartment.,” said Orr.
He started out as a graffiti artist and was one of the few people to work with Keith Haring. In the early 80s, he created logos for various Hip Hop acts such as, Jazzy Jay, Afrika Bambaataa, Zulu Nation, and Lord Finesse. During this period, Orr created Rapper Max Robot, the first Hip Hop comic book character. Now 54 years old, Orr’s work today still consists of art and design.
His art allowed him to work for major record companies such as Jive, MCA and Uni. He designed items for the New Zealand based D.J. software company Serato and is going to New Zealand in November to paint a Mural for the company’s 15 year anniversary. “I will also be attending the upcoming Comic Con at the Jacob Javitz Center to promote Rapper Max Robot,” said Orr.
“I attribute walking with an open mind and taking in everything around me as my way of gaining inspiration,” said Orr. Open mindedness is a value Orr cherishes and he is disappointed at what he views as closed mindedness taking a toll in his community.
“When I first moved to Parkchester, the population was made up of whites and Blacks with a few Hispanics,”said Orr. There has been an influx of different minorities and demographics have shifted to a larger number of people from Hispanic and middle eastern decent from the previous black and white dominance. According to the Social Explorer, Hispanics make up a total of 39 percent of the population followed by African Americans at 20 percent. Over the past ten years, there was an increase of people migrating from Bangladesh who now make up about 15 percent of the population.
“Tolerance is a major issue in the area. We have families coming from different parts of the world and we need to learn their culture and be more understanding. They also need to be more understanding of our culture and what was here before they came,” said Orr. A series of hate crimes has plagued the Bangladeshi community. According to The Daily News, the most recent attack occurred back in August 2013 when a cab driver was attacked leaving his mosque in the Parkchester area. Incidents like this are what Orr refers to as closed mindedness reminding him of the judgmental prejudices that still exist in America.
Despite these incidents, his faith in the neighborhood remains. “I learned when I was in school the more banks your community has the more economically sound it is. We have 6 banks in the neighborhood. If they start closing then we should be concerned,” said Orr. While he loves his childhood neighborhood, he thinks it is time for a change. “I would like a change of environment and to be closer to a body of water,” said Orr. He cites water as being an inspiration to him.
As a result of working with Serato, Orr travels back and forth between the U.S. and New Zealand spending six months here and six months there. Among other things, he received a commission by Sky City, the owners of the Pin Needle skyscraper, to teach workshops to children in New Zealand. He is thinking about moving. “I love Parkchester, I love New York, but there is not enough water change, not enough culture change for me and that’s what I like about New Zealand. It’s on the other side of the world and doesn’t have the same mind set as us,” said Orr.
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Parkchester Community Background
Located in south central Bronx is Parkchester. It is a residential community situated on 121 acres of land and made up of 160 buildings. The complex was built from 1939-1942 and contains about 12,000 apartments. Approximately 40,000-45,000 people call Parkchester home. Parkchester’s website has the median income at around $50,000. According to the Social explorer, out of this population there are about 10,024 apartments that are rented and 2,926 apartments that are owned. There are also about 377 vacant apartments. The neighborhood is fairly diverse. The largest cultural group is Latinos making up 61 percent of the population. The second largest group is Whites comprising about 26 percent. African Americans make up about 20 percent. There have been an increasing number of people of Bangladeshi descent in the community. This cultural group makes up about 15 percent of the population.
Females have a high concentration making up about 52 percent of the population. Males make up about 47 percent. The median age is about 36. People under 18 years old make up about 29 percent of the population. There are seven schools in the area which include PS 106, Bronx Charter School of Excellence, Castle Hill Middle School, St. Helena Elementary School, St. Raymond’s Elementary School, St. Raymond’s Academy for Girls, and St. Raymond’s High School for Boys. There are a total of two Catholic churches, a Baptist church, a synagogue, and two Mosques located in the area.
The neighborhood has a distinct shopping area known as the Yankee Mall. The major stores include Macy’s, Starbucks, Walgreens, Sprint, AT&T, Dress Barnes, Footaction, GameStop, New York and Company, two Chase bank locations, Bank of America, HSBC Bank, Sovereign Bank, Applebees, Ellie’s Diner, Popeye’s, Burger King, Portabella, Rainbows, Radio Shak, Sleepees, Subway, Zales, Payless, Kid’s Place, Children’s Place, Metro Optics, seven bodega’s, six Chinese food restaurants, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Little Ceasar’s Pizza, Step Ins Restaurant, A Jewelry store, two cleaners, five supermarkets, 4 barber shops/beauty salons, Blink Fitness, American Beauty School, a record store and a Post Office that service most of the general area in zip code 10462. There is a Carter’s currently being built. Also, the are currently about six vacant commercial locations in the area. The American Theater which has been in the community since its opening in 1943 closed its doors on September 16, 2013. This is the second theater closing in community board 9. Whitestone Cinemas also recently closed down last month.
The community also offers many services to its residents. It has its own security and maintenance forces. It also has the Kid’s bay boys and girls club for it youth. The area is a transportation hub. Parkchester has its own train station on the no. 6 line. It also has several buses that pass through the area such as: the Bx 4 and 4A, the Bx 39, Bx 36, Bx 22, Bx 40, Bx 42, the Q44 and M6 express bus. Despite these amenities, residents that own cars have difficulty finding parking. Other community issues include the closing of businesses that have long been in the community in order to make room for big name stores. Based on the Social Explorer, Parkchester is the start of the more economically affluent side of the Bronx stretching to Throggs Neck. Increasing rent prices is another potential community issue. The quality of education in the community is also a common issue throughout the Bronx and the area.
Parkchester’s Fruit Stand Man
At the corner of Metropolitan and McGraw Avenues, a fruit stand is set up every morning to serve passersby. This ritual has been carried out Monday through Saturday by its owner for over twenty years. The owner whose name is soon to be known should have an in depth knowledge about the demographics of the community. The stand is located on the block at the start of Parkchester’s sea of buildings with its distinct brick architecture. This fruit stand is one out of six street merchants that line this block. It is a hot commodity for these types of business people because it is located a block away from the no. 6 train station, its right before the start of Yankee Mall and it contains buildings that are not part of the Parkchester complex.
The main questions are how long have you been selling fruit in the community? Do you also live nearby? Surely, he should know of some of the key issues in Parkchester. The fact that he has definitely been in business for over twenty years should also give incite to where he sees business in the community going. The stand attracts all types of residents and shoppers he could possibly know a lot about the community activities that take place. The general area is consider to be part of Parkchester. Does he get to participate in the community planning and activism? Everyone in the neighborhood knows that on the corner is the fruit stand. Is there a formal claim to this space or has it become understood over the years?
