Community Visioning Workshops to solicit important feedback from Inwood residents are scheduled on January 25th and 28th with additional dates to be announced.
New York, NY – (RealEstateRama) — The New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) announces a partnership with The Robin Hood Foundation and The New York Public Library (NYPL) to explore options to redevelop the Inwood branch at 4790 Broadway in Manhattan and create new affordable housing on the site. Community Visioning Workshops will be held on January 25th and 28th to give neighborhood residents the opportunity to offer input that will help shape the future development. Based on initial community response, additional workshop dates will be added to the series.
“This project presents an exciting opportunity for creative plans to create affordable housing to be developed hand in hand with the revitalization of an important neighborhood asset – the Inwood public library. We are eager to receive community feedback on preferred programming, affordability levels, and building design. We invite all Inwood residents to participate in our interactive workshops and look forward to seeing this important development come to fruition,” said HPD Commissioner Vicki Been.
“The need for more high quality, affordable housing in New York is undeniable. We’re excited to contribute to a project that utilizes a city-owned building in a smart way. It will result in an improved library for the community and also create much needed housing for low-income New Yorkers,” said Beatriz De La Torre, Managing Director of Housing at Robin Hood. “We’re looking forward to hearing from the Inwood community so we can craft a collective vision that meets their needs.”
“As someone who has worked and lived in Inwood for many years, I know first-hand how important this branch is to the community, which relies on its free programs, materials, classes, and services,” said Danita Nichols, Library Manager at The New York Public Library’s Inwood branch. “A proposal to improve the branch is a welcome one, and I hope to see many of our regular patrons at the community workshops to discuss their needs, experiences, and ideas.”
“The Inwood Library is beloved by all in our community,” said New York City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez. “Through this process, not only will we modernize this vital resource—to potentially include more classroom and technology space—but we’ll have an opportunity to take our neighborhood’s affordable housing crisis head-on. I am eager to hear ideas from residents about what they’d like to see in this project, from housing amenities to library upgrades.”
The Inwood Library was built in the 1950s and is owned by New York City. This revitalization plan will modernize the library, which was renovated in 2001 and is in need of further improvement. The new library will remain its current size and will maintain existing services while providing additional space for computers, classes, early literacy programs, and more. Plans for the site include the creation of new 100% affordable housing. The new library will be primarily funded through capital funding from HPD and philanthropic capital from Robin Hood.
Local residents are invited to the Community Visioning Workshops to share their intimate understanding of the neighborhood and provide ideas for development of the site. Community members are welcome to offer opinions on desired programming and uses, specific affordability levels, and design. Community input will be used to generate a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will be released in mid-2017.
The workshops will be held at the Inwood Library, 4790 Broadway in Manhattan, on Wednesday, January 25th from 4:00 to 8:00 P.M., and Saturday, January 28th from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Spanish language translation will be provided. Additional dates will be announced.
Community Visioning Workshops are an integral part of HPD’s planning process. They offer officials a deeper understanding of community priorities. Existing reports for the development of the East 111th Street site in Harlem, and the Greenpoint Hospital site and the Dinsmore-Chestnut site in Brooklyn can be found on HPD’s website on the Planning for City Owned Sites webpage. Learn more about HPD’s planning process and community engagement practices on the Neighborhood Plans webpage.
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About The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD):
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. HPD is tasked with fulfilling Mayor de Blasio’s Housing New York: A Five-Borough Ten-Year Plan to create and preserve 200,000 affordable units for New Yorkers at the very lowest incomes to those in the middle class. For more information visit www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.
About The New York Public Library:
The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves nearly 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.
About Robin Hood:
Robin Hood is New York’s largest poverty-fighting organization. We find, fund and create over 200 of the most effective programs, to help 1.8 million New Yorkers learn and earn their way out of poverty. Because our board of directors underwrites all operating costs, 100% of your donation goes directly to organizations helping New Yorkers in need.
CONTACT: Juliet Pierre-Antoine (HPD), morrisj (at) hpd.nyc (dot) gov
Angela Montefinise (NYPL), angelamontefinise (at) nypl (dot) org
Victoria Grantham (Robin Hood), grantham (at) robinhood (dot) org
