1520 Sedgwick Avenue

Morris Heights | built 1969

Open on the map6 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1967

    The 102-unit apartment house on the Cross Bronx Expressway gets its first mortgages

    The first mortgages on the 102-unit building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in Morris Heights were made in 1967. It sits on the Cross Bronx Expressway, whose construction uprooted thousands of Bronx residents and fed white flight. The New York Times later called the building a longtime refuge for families of modest means.

    “The first mortgages for units at 1520 Sedgwick were made in 1967.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1973

    August 11

    DJ Kool Herc spins at his sister Cindy's back-to-school party in the recreation room

    Cindy Campbell rented the building's recreation room for $25 and charged girls 25 cents and boys 50 cents to get in, with the party running from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Her brother Clive Campbell, known as DJ Kool Herc, debuted a technique he had worked on for months, using two turntables, a mixer and two copies of one record to play the frantic grooves from the start or middle of a song. His friend Coke La Rock showed off another new idea at the party: rapping.

    “After renting the recreation room for 25 dollars, Cindy charged 25 cents for females and 50 cents for males to attend.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 2007

    July 5

    New York State recognizes 1520 Sedgwick Avenue as the birthplace of hip-hop

    On July 5, 2007, the state's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation formally named 1520 Sedgwick the birthplace of hip-hop. That year Senator Schumer led a rally to keep the apartments affordable, after owners had threatened to turn them into high-rent units.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 2008

    Investors including Mark Karasick buy the building after it leaves Mitchell-Lama

    From 2007 the owners worked to take the building out of the Mitchell-Lama program, which had kept rents low for working-class tenants, and the courts let the status be repealed even though the Tenants and Neighbors Association and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board fought it. In 2008 a group including investor Mark Karasick bought it, aiming for market-rate housing. When the housing bubble burst, the building slid into neglect and tenants faced threats of eviction.

    “In 2008 the building was sold to a real estate group that included Mark Karasick, a prominent real estate investor…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 2010

    A city housing loan lets Winn Development and Workforce Housing Advisors buy the mortgage

    New York City's Housing Development Corporation lent $5.6 million so that Winn Development and a new group, Workforce Housing Advisors, could acquire the mortgage, then held by Sovereign Bank, for $6.2 million. Rafael E. Cestero, commissioner of the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said the city backed the sale to keep housing sustainable for working-class families.

    “In 2010 the city's Housing Development Corporation provided a $5.6 million loan to allow Winn Development and a new group called Workforce Housing Advisors…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 2011

    November 7

    Tenants weep with joy as a foreclosure auction draws no bids

    On November 7, 2011, no one bid at the foreclosure auction for 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, and Workforce Housing Advisors took title. Residents attending with the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board cried when the auctioneer announced the result. In the New York Times, John Crotty of Workforce Housing Advisors said the group planned to renovate the run-down building and work with tenants to recognize its importance.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 4 buildings with stories in Morris Heights