By Kerry Burke and Toni Reinhold
| New York Daily News |
Apr 08, 2019 | 7:55 PM
Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan presides over the official opening of St. Augustine Terrace in the Bronx, a new development that will provide 112 units of affordable housing for low-income families, on April 8, 2019. (Kendall Rodriguez / for New York Daily News)
He worked two jobs and still couldn’t afford a New York City apartment, so for six years James Jennings lived in his car.
Not anymore. Jennings now resides at St. Augustine Terrace at Fulton Ave. and 167th St. in the Bronx, a 112-unit apartment house for low-income families developed by the Catholic Church on property it owns.
On Monday, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, and the city’s first lady Chirlane McCray, officially opened the building where a church once stood.
St. Augustine Terrace, which opened to tenants in November, is part of a plan by Catholic Homes New York, the affordable housing unit of Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New York, to develop 2,000 affordable units over the next 10 years. The Archdiocese is reviewing other Church properties with an eye on affordable housing.
Tenants at St. Augustine need to earn 60% or less of the area’s median income (AMI), said Catholic Charities spokeswoman Maya Bronstein. “Today, the Catholic Church of New York City is taking the lead in ensuring that low-income New Yorkers have access to well-built, well-maintained housing, along with the services to help those with the greatest needs,” said Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, head of Catholic Charities of New York, which oversees 2,336 affordable housing units in the city and Yonkers. He said it will grow to more than 4,000 by 2029.
St. Augustine Terrace in the Bronx, a new development that will provide 112 units of affordable housing for low-income families, April 8, 2019. (Kendall Rodriguez / for New York Daily News)
“This is so much more than a building for Bronx families who struggle to make ends meet,” McCray said. “It provides the peace of mind.”
St. Augustine Terrace was financed under the Department of Housing Preservation & Development’s extremely low and low-income affordability program. Thirty-five units are ear-marked for adults with mental illness. It is also certified energy and environmentally friendly, which can lead to cost savings.
“It’s the first of many coming,” Cardinal Dolan said, pronouncing the building “stunning.” Design and paperwork have begun for five other developments in the Bronx and one in Manhattan.
Referencing a season of penitence culminating with Easter on April 21, Dolan said, “We are in Lent. It’s about fasting, but this is the fasting I want. Housing the oppressed and the homeless.”
Jennings, 53, who has a studio in the new building, says he has the immune system disease lupus and other health issues. Nonetheless, he says he is “inspired every day.”
“I was homeless for six years,” he explained. “I worked two jobs and lived in my 4x4. I’m no longer off the grid. Now, my life really matters. The idea is to get my feet planted and help people through my own experience,” said Jennings, who wants to counsel the homeless.
“We will continue hosting of affordable housing,” Dolan said. “Next week we will observe the gruesome death of a homeless person named Jesus and his resurrection from a donated tomb.”