Mayor Adams visits the aquaphonic roof of Bedford Green House. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
The building’s living green facade helps reduce air pollution and conserve energy. On July 14, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams, joined by the Department of Housing Preservation, the Housing Development Corporation, and non-profit Project Renewal, celebrated the opening of the first phase of Bedford Green House. Bedford Green House is located at 2865 Creston Avenue in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx.
Bedford Green House includes 117 affordable and supportive homes, with 71 apartments for households that formerly experienced homelessness. The remaining apartments will be affordable at up to 60 percent area median income. Project Renewal will provide on-site wraparound social services including case management, occupational therapy, horticultural therapy and entitlements support for residents.
The building includes a 1,500 square foot rooftop greenhouse with an aquaponics urban farming system. Residents will be able to grow fresh vegetables year-round in the garden. The aquaponics farming system includes fish, herbs, micro-greens and vegetables in a symbiotic ecosystem. The fish tanks connect to a bio-filter, whose waste provides nutrients for plant roots, while the plants clean the water for the fish. Project Renewal’s horticultural therapists will work with residents year-round to grow vegetables.
The building also includes a green exterior facade with plantings and vines that will contribute to energy conservation and reduce air pollution. The building has bicycle storage and a playground.
Phase II of the project includes an additional 116 apartments, with nearly half for seniors, a library, a learning center, a gym, and a community medical clinic. The clinic will offer primary care, pediatrics, podiatry, radiology, and other health care services. Construction on Phase II will begin later this year.
The construction was financed by HPD, HDC, and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program. Operational funding is provided by the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Human Resources Administration. Additional grant funding was provided by the Harold and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, TD Bank, and Deutsche Bank Foundation.
Mayor Adams stated, “Affordable housing, homelessness, public health, and our environment are all connected, and Project Renewal demonstrates the kind of creative thinking we need to tackle all of them together. My administration is laser-focused, not on simply creating housing on paper but on getting New Yorkers into the safe, high-quality, affordable homes they deserve, while helping fight climate change and creating our own nutritious food. We are doing that today in the Bronx at Bedford Green House, and we will continue doing it all across the city.”
Eric Rosenbaum, president and CEO of Project Renewal, stated, “Bedford Green House helps meet our city’s urgent need for supportive and affordable housing and embodies Project Renewal’s mission to empower individuals and families to renew their lives with health, homes, and jobs. More than just an apartment building, Bedford Green House’s design and programming brings residents together, from children to seniors, around shared activities that support healthy living. As we celebrate the opening of this first phase, we look forward to the second phase, bringing more housing and services to more formerly homeless New Yorkers and the wider community.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)
Mayor: “Mayor Adams, Project Renewal Open 117 Supportive, Affordable Homes with Aquaphonics Farming in the Bronx” (July 14, 2022).