Staff News

We are pleased to announce that Maurice Jones, Virginia’s commerce secretary and a former HUD official, has been chosen to serve as LISC’s new president and CEO! He succeeds Michael Rubinger, who will step down after 17 years as CEO. Jones brings to the leadership role a career’s worth of business, management and policy experience, as well as an enduring personal commitment to improving communities and the lives of low-income Americans. Read the press release!

Congratulations to Colleen Flynn, LISC NYC’s Director of Programs, for being recognized in June as a rising star in the 40 under 40 inaugural class of the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College! The Food Policy Center recognizes policymakers, educators, community advocates, farmers and innovators who are making significant strides to create a healthier and more sustainable food environment. Congratulations, Colleen!

LISC NYC is Hiring!

• Communications Officer
• Community Development Officer - Impact Development & Real Estate Lending

Housing

Our long-time community partner, the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc. (WSFSSH), closed on their new construction Tres Puentes housing project on May 19th, with equity investment provided through our affiliate, the National Equity Fund! Tres Puentes (above) is a 175-unit affordable housing complex that will serve low-income seniors in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx.

LISC NYC provided a $1.5 million pre-development loan to WSFFSH for the Tres Puentes project in 2015, and has invested more than $3 million in WSFSSH projects over the past 15 years, including support for green and healthy innovations in WSFSSH properties through our Two Shades of Green program. Read more about Tres Puentes here!

In addition, LISC NYC brought three projects to closing, representing 493 units of affordable housing, and $126.9 million in total development investments! We provided financial or technical assistance to the following key community partners to help lead their projects to this important milestone:  

• Bridge Street Development Corporation for the King’s Covenant Housing Project – This $12.4 million housing preservation project ensures that 74 units of housing in 9 buildings in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn are rehabilitated and made affordable for low-income residents. LISC NYC provided technical assistance and a $2.9 million construction loan.
• Acacia Network for the Acacia Gardens Project – This $73 million new construction project in East Harlem will provide 179 units of affordable housing, including 54 units set aside for formerly homeless families. LISC provided significant technical assistance and guidance on structuring the financing of the project.
• Bronx Shepherds Restoration Corp. for a housing preservation initiative – This $73 million housing preservation project will provide 419 newly renovated affordable units in 17 buildings in the South Bronx.  LISC provided technical assistance.  

Congratulations to our housing partners who met important project milestones during the winter and spring:

• We congratulate HELP USA on the groundbreaking of their $16 million Woodycrest development project, bringing 48 units of affordable housing to the Highbridge section of the Bronx! LISC NYC provided an $8.4 million construction loan.
• We also congratulate Genesis Companies on the groundbreaking of their $70 million, 28-building rehabilitation housing project in Harlem! The project will result in 358 units of affordable housing for low-income families. LISC NYC provided technical assistance services.
• We also congratulate the Fifth Avenue Committee on the closing of their $15.5 million FAC Renaissance preservation project! The project will bring 82 units of affordable housing to families in Park Slope and Gowanus. LISC NYC provided a $5.3 million construction loan and technical assistance services.

Family Income and Wealth

27 NRTA graduates celebrate with the FOC partners and Dennis White, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation which seed-funded the first FOC in NYC.

On March 3rd, we proudly joined our partners, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC), and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations (BWI) in recognizing the growing impact of New York City’s first Financial Opportunity Center (FOC), and celebrating the graduation of 27 public housing residents from the NYCHA Resident Training Academy (NRTA)!  The ambitious collaboration is helping public housing residents from all five boroughs improve their financial outlook with new skills, better jobs, higher credit scores and more robust incomes.

The FOC—developed by LISC and operated by FAC and BWI—brings neighborhood nonprofits together with national funders and government agencies to change the way families tackle barriers to economic mobility. The model bundles employment services, financial coaching and income supports as part of a long-term effort to help families raise their standard of living.

Since 2005, LISC has launched over 80 FOCs in partnership with neighborhood-based nonprofits across the country. Read more about the graduation here and more about one graduate’s personal story here!

Communities for Healthy Food

CMSP 327 students perform a step show during the May 16th mural unveiling.

On May 16th, LISC NYC joined with high school students from Mt. Eden’s Comprehensive Model School Project 327, a representative from New York State Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner, New Settlement Apartments, Groundswell and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund to unveil a public mural about food justice and the role that food workers play in bringing affordable, healthy food to New York!

The mural, called The Fruits of Our Labor, is located in the Bronx at the New Settlement Community Campus entrance at 1501 Jerome Avenue. It highlights the connection between the community of the South Bronx and the people who cultivate and prepare its food, and was coordinated by New Settlements Apartments as part of LISC NYC’s Communities for Healthy Food program. See photos of the event here!

LISC NYC’s Communities for Healthy Food program, generously funded through the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, is a place-based initiative that addresses the interrelated issues of obesity, poverty and unemployment. The program’s original four pilot phase partners are community development corporations (CDCs) with deep roots in their neighborhoods who own and manage affordable housing and commercial spaces and deliver an array of social and economic development services: Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation in Cypress Hills, Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation (NEBHDCo) in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New Settlement Apartments in the Mt. Eden neighborhood in the Bronx, and West Harlem Group Assistance, Inc. in West Harlem.

LISC NYC is grateful to have received an additional grant of $644,000 on March 10th from  the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund to expand Communities for Healthy Food to two additional CDCs in high-need neighborhoods in 2016 and 2017: Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx and Ocean Bay Community Development Corporation (OBCDC) in the Rockaways.

The grant will also allow us to enhance and deepen work in the initial four New York City neighborhoods that are part of Communities for Healthy Food. We are deeply thankful to the Illumination Fund for their continued support and partnership!

Two Shades of Green

We are pleased to share that LISC NYC’s Two Shades of Green program, which integrates green, healthy and cost-effective measures into existing affordable housing rehabilitation and property maintenance in order to save money and improve the sustainability of our partners’ building portfolios, welcomed the addition of new CDC partners this winter, bringing the total number of participants to ten!  The CDC partners are:

• Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association, Inc.
• Belmont Arthur Avenue Local Development Corporation (BAALDC)
• Bridge Street Development Corporation
• Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation
• Fifth Avenue Committee
• Hope Community Inc.
• IMPACCT Brooklyn
• MBD Community Housing Corporation
• St. Nicks Alliance
• West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH)

Last year, LISC NYC was awarded over $500,000 from to State Farm and Wells Fargo to continue the program in 2016 and 2017. We are deeply grateful to these dedicated partners for their ongoing support!

Panels and Convenings 

LISC NYC recently participated in several panels on timely topics related to community development:

• A panel moderated by LISC NYC Executive Director Sam Marks, at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD)’s Annual Policy Conference in April to address the future of CDCs. The panel included an in-depth discussion on the Joint Ownership Entity (JOE), a new initiative that will acquire, own, recapitalize and rehabilitate portfolios of CDC-owned housing.
• A panel discussion in April at the Design Trust for Public Space with Larisa Ortiz Associates, the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) on how business improvement districts, nonprofit community-based developers, and other neighborhood-based groups can promote high-quality ground-floor design in new mixed-use affordable housing developments. LISC NYC and other stakeholders provided feedback to inform the Design Trust’s Laying the Groundwork Design Guidelines.
• A panel also moderated by Sam Marks in February at the Museum of the City of New York on “Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods, and Communities,” where affordable housing practitioners wrestled with the challenges facing 21st century New York City.

Policy and Advocacy 

LISC has been actively pressing for solutions and resources to address critical issues facing low-income New Yorkers. Through a collaboration with City Harvest and the CUNY School of Public Health, we convened a working group on May 12th, with several City Council staff, to discuss a response to the increasing number of supermarket closures in New York City, which particularly threaten the ability of low-income families to purchase affordable, healthy food.

In addition, we proudly joined our partners West Harlem Group Assistance, Fifth Avenue Committee, MBD Community Housing Corporation and IMPACCT Brooklyn to attend the 2016 New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators Annual Conference in February! The meeting was an excellent opportunity for our CDC partners to remind legislators of the importance of locally-based community development strategies.    

And, alongside the New York Housing Conference (NYHC), the Supportive Housing Network of New York (SHNNY), and Enterprise Community Partners, we engaged members from the Senate and the Assembly over the winter to ensure that the Governor’s multi-year housing initiative is properly resourced.

In Case You Missed It

•  LISC NYC congratulates WSFSSH on the groundbreaking for their $36 million new construction of The Equity Project (TEP), a high-performing charter middle school in Washington Heights that will serve 480 middle school students!
•  LISC Day of Service – On May 19th, a team of 30 LISC staff members picked up shovels and rakes to participate in the large-scale renovation of the 331 E. 146th Street Garden in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx, a project that will provide an inviting, green community space for nearby residents! This year’s LISC Day of Service was conducted in partnership with Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association, Rebuilding Together NYC and Deutsche Bank. Read more on Bronx News 12!
•  Communities for Healthy Food was one of three case studies included in the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund's Healthy Food and Community Change Status Report. The case study recognizes LISC NYC's work to bring affordable, healthy food to low-income communities in New York City. Read the report!
• Eva Alligood, LISC NYC’s Deputy Director, was quoted in a story in Next City detailing our partnership in the Rockaways with Ocean Bay CDC and Asian Americans for Equality. Last year, we helped Ocean Bay and AAFE become the NYC Housing Authority’s chosen bidder for a $10 million retail project in the Rockaways that will include a grocery store, community space, and a hardware store. Read the story!
• Eva Alligood was also quoted in a Next City article on Laying the Groundwork, a design guide for ground floor retail spaces in affordable housing developments produced by the Design Trust for Public Space in partnership with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Read the story!