SoBRO: South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

April 25, 2012: The grand opening of one of the most innovative real estate projects to come to the Bronx, Crotona Park Apartments, will take place on Monday, May 7th from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. The ceremony will take place at the site, which is located at 1800 Southern Boulevard overlooking the eastern side of the park.

SoBRO is pleased to announce that its most recent development project, Crotona Park Apartments, has been selected to receive the Big Apple Brownfield Award in the category of Affordable Housing. The Big Apple Brownfield Awards, given on behalf of the New York City Brownfield Partnership, recognize excellence in brownfield redevelopment by honoring the most successful brownfield projects in New York City. SoBRO will join its partners, Exact Capital and Joy Construction Corporation, to formally receive the honor at the Big Apple Brownfield Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 3rd.

April 11, 2012: The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) awarded SoBRO $50,000 to explore the creation of a new Industrial Business Improvement District (IBID) in the Eastchester section of the Bronx. The proposed IBID will assist industrial businesses in overcoming a variety of issues specific to the area and provide a sustainable source of funding to support ongoing maintenance and capital improvements. SoBRO is one of only four organizations in New York City chosen to receive the award.

The New York State Department of State awarded SoBRO a Step 2 Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) grant to complete a Nomination Study for a 120-acre industrial area in the Eastchester section of the Bronx which borders the City of Mount Vernon in Westchester County as well as the Hutchinson River. Eastchester is characterized by heavy auto- and scrap metal-related business activity and over 80 potential brownfield sites—underutilized and/or potentially environmentally contaminated properties.

The New York Yankees award $15,000 to SoBRO

October 31, 2011: The New Yankees Stadium Community Benefits Fund, a philanthropic arm of the New York Yankees, has generously awarded a $15,000 grant in support of SoBRO’s Adult Education programs.

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The New York City Montessori Charter School (NYCMCS), the first Montessori Charter School in New York State and the first Montessori public school in New York City, opened its doors to over 100 students in the South Bronx on Tuesday, September 6th, 2011. To mark the occasion, the school will hold an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, October 6th.

SoBRO teacher Beda T. Vergara has been awarded the Literary Assistance Center’s Literacy Recognition Award. The Literacy Recognition Award honors the outstanding contributions of practitioners in the field of literacy, recognizing hardworking and innovative teachers, counselors, tutors, staff, volunteers, and program managers. Honorees are selected by a committee composed of literacy professionals, previous Recognition Award recipients, and representatives of the staff of the Literary Assistance center. It will be presented to Mr.

Tony Riccio Jr., SoBRO’s Chairman of the Board, has been selected by the NYC Brownfield Partnership for the Big Apple Brownfields Award in Economic Development. Mr. Riccio is being honored for his work with Harlem River Yards Ventures (HRYV) and their efforts over two decades to clean-up and develop formerly hazardous and unused land in the Port Morris section of the South Bronx.

The New York State Department of State awarded SoBRO two Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) Program grants for planning, analysis and predevelopment activities in the Port Morris neighborhood of the Bronx adjacent to the Harlem River and the East River. The awards will allow SoBRO to advance efforts to clean up “brownfield sites”—dormant and environmentally contaminated lots of land— for their eventual redevelopment into areas of commercial and/or residential use.

Mott Haven, the Bronx: With good fortune implied in his last name and his mother’s dream of a better education for her son, kindergartener Wesley Lucks may land a coveted spot in the first Montessori Charter School in the Bronx. Wesley’s mother, Teashia Ruiz, sat with a group of anxious parents who observed the randomized lottery for slots in the New York City Montessori Charter School in kindergarten and first grade. “My niece goes to a charter school,” said Ruiz after Wesley’s name was placed on the wait list board, “and she is alert and so advanced in her academics.