The Puerto Rican eatery, located in a remote industrial section of Westchester Square, is owned by Richard Caban, the brother of NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. The establishment has for the past few years gained a reputation as a hangout for Adams, who celebrated his birthday there last year, other high-profile elected leaders, including State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, as well as top NYPD brass, including Commissioner Caban and Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.

But Con Sofrito has since 2022 faced a bevy of open building and fire safety violations over a sprawling “party room” it erected in its parking lot during the pandemic without proper permits. The restaurant’s landlord, a corporate entity named 1315 Commerce LLC, sued Richard Caban in Bronx Civil Court over the party room in October after it refused to dismantle the illegal structure, a development first reported last month by the news outlet The City.

In a previously unreported development, Jamie Schreck, an attorney for the landlord, filed court papers in that case last week saying Richard Caban had finally agreed to break down the party room by March 1 — and close Con Sofrito for good by Aug. 31.

In addition, Caban agreed as part of a settlement to cough up $14,000 to cover Schreck’s attorney fees and continue to pay rent through the final date of Con Sofrito’s occupancy, the court papers show. The presiding judge, Betty Lugo, approved the settlement in a decision released on the court docket Friday.

Speaking to the Daily News on Friday afternoon, Schreck said his client is pleased with the settlement and looking to find a new tenant who’s not in the hospitality industry.

“What he told me is that he’s done with restaurants after this,” Schreck said, referring to Joseph Dedona III, the manager of the corporate landlord entity. “He’s fed up with the restaurant industry.”

The settlement might not spell the absolute end of Con Sofrito, though.

“They want to find a new location and a new liquor license,” Schreck said of Caban and his Con Sofrito partners.

An attorney for Richard Caban did not immediately return a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for the mayor.

The illegal party room that sparked the court feud has been featured prominently in photos and videos posted to Instagram by Jimmy Rodriguez, an infamous Bronx restaurateur who lists himself online as the “manager” and “creator” of Con Sofrito.

Rodriguez posted videos and photos in September from the mayor’s 63rd birthday party — which was held in the party room.

Rodriguez used to run Jimmy’s Bronx Cafe, a popular club shuttered in 2004 after coming under suspicion of being a hotbed for gang and drug activity. In the 1990s, Major League Baseball officials warned Yankees players to stay away from Jimmy’s after two shootings took place in front of the club.

Rodriguez did not return a request for comment Friday.

The city’s net rental vacancy rate dropped to just 1.4%, the worst it’s been since 1968. Between January and June of 2023 a little more than 33,200 units were up for grabs out of a total stock of 2.35 million occupied and available rentals, according to initial findings from the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, released Thursday.

The report has been compiled approximately every three years since 1965 by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The last recorded vacancy rate was 4.54% in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The data is clear: the demand to live in our city is far outpacing our ability to build housing. New Yorkers need our help, and they need it now,” Mayor Adams said in a statement. “While our administration continues to create a record number of affordable homes and helps more New Yorkers move into these homes than the city ever has before, we need more tools to house our neighbors, protect tenants, and deliver the affordability New Yorkers deserve. I am calling on all levels of government to help us meet this moment and ensure New York City remains a viable home for working class New Yorkers.”

The housing crisis has come to the fore in recent years as city rents have reached record highs and half of New Yorkers struggle to afford the basics.

There was a particular strain on middle- and working-class renters, according to the survey: Nearly all low-income New Yorkers spent more than 30% of their income on rent, making them “rent burdened.”

At the same time, relatively affordable apartments became harder to find: just 0.4% of units on the market in 2023 went for under $1,100 and less than 1% were under $2,400.

The vacancy survey did include a few silver linings. There was a net gain of 60,000 units between 2021 and 2023, a 2% increase — though that was far outpaced by demand.

It comes as Adams is making a push for his “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” proposal, which includes zoning changes that would allow for up to 100,000 new apartments to be built. He’s also been calling on lawmakers in Albany to enact several measures including the renewal of a construction tax break.

SEE ALSO: NYC rents largely flat amid falling mortgage rates, still well above pre-pandemic levels. See NYC median rents

“There’s only one solution to our housing shortage: build more supply,” Gov. Hochul said in a statement following the survey’s release. “This new report, revealing the lowest vacancy rate in six decades, is the latest reminder that we can only build our way out of this crisis — and there’s no time to waste.”

The Council’s unanimous decision to green-light the proposal means the lanes’ days are likely numbered. Owner and developer Marco Macaluso will still have to go through the typical construction hurdles, but the rezoning means he has the ability to develop a residential property on the site.

“I’m very excited for me and the community. It’s a great thing we’ve done and accomplished,” Macaluso said of the news. “A lot of housing, affordable housing, which the city really desperately needs. And everybody should be happy, very, very happy.”

Thursday’s Council vote was the culmination of a monthslong rezoning process that had been in the works for roughly six years. The plan will bring a nine-story, 95-foot-tall apartment building with 415 units, about 113 of which will be affordable. The complex will also have a public plaza.

The Macaluso family built Whitestone Lanes in the 1960s. It’s been a staple for bowlers ever since, and was once described as “the absolute best bowling alley in New York.” The News first reported on redevelopment plans in June, to the devastation of longtime bowlers.

“Most of the bowling alleys have gone, they’ve disappeared,” Angel Pabon, a patron of 15 years, said at the time. “The fun of bowling is just being taken away. Real estate [interests] are buying them.”

But Macaluso offered a glimmer of hope for disappointed patrons bowled over by the news.

“We’re going to try to relocate and get a new bowling alley not too far away,” he said. “So they should just stay tuned, and hopefully we can find a location and make a deal and move to somewhere nearby.”

And while he’s anxious to build the housing, he said it could be six months to a year before that happens.

Lawyer Eric Palatnik told the subcommittee on zoning and franchises last month that the redevelopment project was all but “shovel-ready.”

“He’s ready to build tomorrow,” Palatnik said of Macaluso, though he added that negotiations with third parties about construction were ongoing at the time.

Macaluso confirmed on Thursday that a deal had not yet been struck with a construction company. But he was nonetheless thrilled that his redevelopment plans are moving ahead.

“It’s a great day for the neighborhood. Everybody should be happy for jobs, for housing and affordable housing as well,” he told The News. “And we might get a new bowling alley not too far away.”

That’s according to the latest monthly analysis by real estate company Douglas Elliman and appraisal firm Miller Samuel, which also found that leases surged across the city.

“As mortgage rates fall, the intensity of price growth has ended. And so now what we’re really looking at is rents are moving sideways and then slipping every so often,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. “This is a gradual decline, it’s not a correction of rents.”

He said rents were up a little over 1% from last year and about 15% more than what they were prepandemic.

Median rent in Manhattan increased for the first time in three months to $4,150, up 2.5% from December and 1.3% more than in January 2023, when it was $4,097. Studio prices rose to $3,130, 4.3% more than both this time last month and last year, when it was an even $3,000.

New lease signings have also been rising in recent months, which Miller attributed to the comparatively low rents in Manhattan compared with summer numbers.

Brooklyn median rent was $3,500, up less than a percent from the month before and unchanged from 2023 despite two years worth of annual increases. Studio apartments hit $3,000, a 5.3% bump versus December and 3% bump from last January.

Meanwhile, new leases in Brooklyn nearly doubled year over year for the third month in a row.

Northwest Queens experienced something of a reprieve, declining annually for the second time in three months. Median rent reached $3,200, an 8.2% dip from December and a 5% decrease year over year; studios went for $3,033, down 3.7% from the month before but 1.3% above January 2023.

At the same time, year-over-year lease signings almost doubled for the fourth time.

“With the pressure coming off of the rental market we’re seeing rents every month are going to either decline or move sideways,” Miller predicted. “It’s not a steep drop. What’s happening now is I think what we’re going to see at least continue for the first half of this year.”

Meir — whose luxury real-estate company HFZ Capital Group collapsed amid plans to build $2 billion luxury towers near the High Line — was set to be extradited to New York after being arrested in Miami earlier this week.

Four of Meir’s alleged accomplices were arraigned Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Roy Galifi, John Mingione and Kevin Stewart — executives with a construction company that worked with Meir — were accused of grand larceny, conspiracy and criminal possession of stolen property and falsifying business records, charges they denied.

Meir’s colleague Anthony Marrone was hit with the same charges and pleaded not guilty.

Meir, 49, is accused of orchestrating schemes that ripped off $86 million from investors, contractors and the city, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

An ambitious project to build a mega-development near the High Line allegedly warped into a hotbed of fraud and theft under Meir’s leadership of HFZ, where he was the managing director.

He allegedly used funds intended for the project covering a whole square block of Chelsea — from W. 17th to W. 18th Sts. and 10th to 11th Aves. — to shore up HFZ’s other struggling projects. Meir and his accomplices hid the fraud through phony invoices and forged bank statements, prosecutors said.

In all, $37 million was allegedly stolen as the project reportedly went into foreclosure in 2021. Other developers took over and opened it as One High Line last year.

Similar schemes played out involving projects from Midtown to San Francisco, according to Bragg’s office.

All told, the frauds entailed over $86 million in stolen funds, prosecutors said. That included $15 million in city property taxes that allegedly went unpaid.

Meir was reportedly arrested at a swanky Miami hotel on Monday.

It marked a stunning fall from grace for a man who’d stood out for his aggressive approach in the city’s cutthroat real-estate business, according to Curbed.

“These indictments depict allegations of widespread fraud within the real estate industry primarily spearheaded by one man: Nir Meir,” Bragg said in a statement.

Along with the six men, HFZ and an affiliate plus the construction company, Omnibuild, were hit with charges. The businesses pleaded not guilty.

“Even though Omnibuild is in the same indictment as HFZ, three counts of that indictment allege that HFZ stole from Omnibuild and others,” an Omnibuild spokesperson said in a statement.

“This is in addition to the three other indictments charging HFZ alone. We reiterate that Omnibuild is a victim of, and not acting in concert with, HFZ.”

The construction company previously filed a lien against HFZ saying it was owed $100 million in unpaid bills, according to The Real Deal.

Following Wednesday’s arraignments, Stewart, 48, was released without bail, Galifi, 62, paid $100,000 bail, Mingione, 54, coughed up $500,000 to be freed and Marrone’s wife promised to pay his $300,000 bail.

An additional defendant, former HFZ project manager Louis Della-Peruta, 69, was expected to surrender to authorities on Thursday.

Meir himself is set to appear in court later this month, prosecutors said.

The legislation, spearheaded by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes, was first introduced in 2021 but is back on the table this session as Albany faces mounting pressure to tackle the ongoing housing crisis.

The act would give tenants the right to make the first offer on their building if and when their landlord wants to sell, and would provide resources to help them or a partner (such as a nonprofit) buy it. Residents could then work together to convert their homes into affordable social housing and either run it themselves or choose another organization to do so.

Proponents of the plan describe it as an anti-displacement measure that empowers tenants — especially renters of color and low-income residents — and gives both them and landlords a fair shake.

“What we’re seeing is the continuing dilapidation of our housing stock and [we] wanted to find ways to preserve it,” Mitaynes (D-Brooklyn) told the Daily News. “TOPA also helps prevent displacement, it preserves affordable housing, and it’s an opportunity [for tenants] to own or remain as renters in the property in which they reside.”

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), a powerful trade group, has previously testified against the measure.

“While REBNY supports increasing affordable homeownership opportunities, this counterproductive bill would undermine the residential building transaction market and jeopardize much needed housing production and tax revenues,” James Whelan, the board’s president, said in a statement to The News.

Progressive politicians including Mitaynes hope to double down on their efforts to push the bill through this session after years of stagnation and the collapse of Gov. Hochul’s 2023 housing compact.

TOPA is often eclipsed in Albany by other big-ticket housing proposals like Good Cause Eviction, with one policy analyst saying TOPA “has not had a tremendous amount of political juice.” It is supported by a broad coalition of housing groups.

A New York City-level version called the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, would have a narrower scope than TOPA and has also never passed.

Some New York tenants are already in the process of trying to buy their buildings even without TOPA in place. But without the legislation it can be a particularly long and difficult process, advocates say.

Arielle Hersh is the policy director for the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, a nonprofit working with a number of such buildings in New York City. She said she is assisting the residents of about 10 buildings across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens at various stages of TOPA-like acquisitions.

“It takes a lot of coordination, a lot of effort and certainly a lot of money to make these projects happen,” Hersh explained. “And so having TOPA at the state level would create a really transformative right to give tenants the opportunity to sort of insert themselves into the sale process and have some say over what happens in their homes.”

A key piece of TOPA would be funding, which can be difficult for tenants to secure. Several housing groups have asked the state to commit $250 million a year for the next four years, though that request isn’t baked into the legislation.

The organizations, including Housing Justice for All and the NYC Community Land Initiative, estimate this could result in the creation of 27,000 permanently affordable units over a decade.

All in all, 70 NYCHA superintendents squeezed out just over $2 million in bribes from private actors in exchange for giving them no-bid contracts to do building repairs at the Housing Authority’s various projects across the city, according to a string of criminal complaints unsealed Tuesday.

Here are details on the 10 NYCHA supers accused of taking the biggest bribes, totaling $1.02 million:

1. JUAN MERCADO: 

A super at the Hammel Houses and Carleton Manor, two jointly-managed NYCHA properties in Queens, Mercado is accused of soliciting and accepting at least $314,300 in bribes between April 2014 and this past July — making him the scandal’s top offender.

The feds didn’t name or indict any of the private actors who allegedly issued the bribes at the heart of the scandal, in many cases because they cooperated with investigators, but Mercado’s complaint says he routinely demanded between 10% and 20% of a contract’s total price tag as a kickback before signing off on it. In total, Mercado’s accused of issuing no-bid contracts worth at least $1.7 million in exchange for bribes.

2. NIRMAL LORICK:  

Lorick, a super at Queens’ Baisley Park Houses, raked in about $153,000 in bribes between January 2014 and this past July, according to court papers.

In exchange for those payouts, Lorick gave the go-ahead on issuing no-bid work orders worth some $1.3 million, the feds say.

3. JOSE HERNANDEZ:  

While working as a super at the Marble Hill Houses in the Bronx, Hernandez pocketed about $95,000 in bribes between 2014 and September 2020, the feds charge.

The bribes prompted him to sign off on repair contracts worth about $640,000. The feds say that Hernandez made clear to contractors vying for repair work that they “would not be awarded no-bid contracts” at his developments unless they paid him bribes first.

4. DWARKA RUPNARAIN: 

Rupnarain retired from his superintendent post at the Bronx’s Gun Hill Houses in December 2022.

Before that, Rupnarain is accused of having taken some $83,100 in bribes between February 2015 and June 2022. In exchange, he cleared the way for no-bid contracts worth at least $508,000, the feds say.

5. VERONICA HOLLMAN: 

While working as a super at Brooklyn’s Pink Houses between May 2018 and July 2022, Hollman pocketed at least $80,000 in bribes in exchange for issuing contracts worth some $400,000, according to prosecutors.

“If [an unnamed contractor] did not make payments to HOLLMAN, HOLLMAN would not award [the contractor] additional no-bid contracts for work at Pink Houses,” prosecutors wrote in her complaint, citing interviews with the contractor.

6. RIGOBERTO “RICKY” CHARRIEZ:

Charriez pocketed at least $70,000 in bribes while working at various projects across the city as a super between 2016 and 2023, including most recently at the Richmond Terrace development in Queens. The bribes paved the way for Charriez to issue contracts worth about $377,000, the feds allege.

“The contracts were typically each worth approximately $5,000, and [an unnamed contractor] therefore paid CHARRIEZ approximately $500 in cash per contract,”  his complaint states.

7. DEXTER LINO:

While working as an assistant superintendent between 2019 and 2021 at NYCHA’s Latimer Gardens in Queens, Lino raked in about $70,000 in bribes, too, prosecutors say.

The bribes prompted Lino to award no-bid repair deals worth about $245,000, according to his complaint.

8. CLARENCE SAMUEL:

While working at NYCHA’s Gompers Consolidation project in Manhattan between 2016 and September 2022, Samuel collected at least $56,000 in bribes, according to the feds.

In exchange, he allegedly green-lit no-bid contracts worth about $250,000.

9. FRANKIE VILLANUEVA:

Villanueva took some $50,000 in bribes while working as a super at the Mott Haven Houses in the Bronx, according to his complaint.

In exchange, he issued no-bid contracts worth about $200,000, the feds say.

10. MICHAEL JOHNSON

In exchange for at least approximately $48,000 in bribes between 2018 and 2022, Johnson used his power as a super at Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills Houses to issue contracts worth about $225,000.

Against that backdrop, Johnson retired from NYCHA in January 2023.

Tenants from 1915 Billingsley Terrace say they want immediate repairs done, the destroyed corner of the property rebuilt and the ability to return to their homes.

“We are literally living day by day,” said Diana Vargas, 36, whose fifth-floor apartment was one of those destroyed and who has been staying in a shelter ever since with family. “It’s so hard.”

She and many neighbors became emotional at a Monday press conference across the street from their building as they talked about the ordeal.

The suit describes a range of hazardous conditions including the presence of harmful construction dust, garbage pileups, vermin infestation and lack of cooking gas.

It also included several charges of harassment against the landlord, such as making some tenants sign forms “agreeing that the conditions in their apartments were fully repaired” in exchange for getting their keys back. The suit further contends the owners failed to secure the building, resulting in widespread looting of vacant apartments.

The corner of the seven-story apartment building in Morris Heights came crashing down on Dec. 11, resulting in only minor injuries but displacing over 100 people — many of whom are still in shelters.

City records revealed the property had over 100 building violations at the time of the collapse, ranging from elevator outages to structural problems.

The suit was filed by the Legal Aid Society in Bronx Housing Court on behalf of 28 residents. It names landlords David Kleiner, Yonah Roth, Moishe “Mo” Doe and 1915 Realty LLC, as well as the city’s Department of Buildings and Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

“Our clients and all tenants of 1915 Billingsley have suffered tremendously at the hands of their landlord – however, their hardships did not begin when the building partially collapsed, but years before that as the unsafe conditions of the building worsened,” said attorney Zoe Kheyman.

“Landlords must make immediate repairs so that the city can lift the partial vacate order and the tenants can return home,” she added. “While the work is being done, the landlord and the city must ensure that the families who have been allowed to return are not exposed to lead dust, mold and other toxins.”

Kleiner could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Bronx district attorney’s office announced it was investigating “any possible criminality” days after the collapse. Local Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez confirmed on Monday that official investigations into what caused the collapse are “ongoing.”

But in December, the city suspended the license of an engineer they said misidentified a load-bearing support beam as a decorative column during an inspection.

“I am truly calling to question our city’s enforcement regimes and capacities,” said Sanchez, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings. “We must do better at keeping New Yorkers safe within their homes.”

Tenants pointed the finger at the landlord for harassment and negligence but also at the city for subsequently leaving them in limbo for nearly two months.

“Nobody’s fixing, nobody’s helping with nothing,” said Pedro Rodriguez, 64, who has lived in the building since 1975. “It is crazy.”

The next court date is set for Feb. 20, according to Legal Aid.

“The city is fully responsible for this whole situation,” said Vargas. “It’s about to be two months already [since the collapse] and we’ve got no answers.”

S&T Bagels & Deli and the Card & Gift Shop have been neighbors on a Forest Ave. strip mall in West Brighton for over 20 years, both without a lease for roughly five years.

But their owners were shocked in January when a landlord informed them they had to be out by March 31.

“We did not see this coming,” said Shamin Frammosa, 54, the “S” in S&T Bagels at 463 Forest Ave. (her husband, Tom, is the “T”). She said the landlord told her over the phone last month they planned to open a dispensary on the site.

Frammosa described working at the store seven days a week since 2001, watching customers’ children going off to college. She said regulars have come by in tears after hearing about the store’s imminent closure on social media.

“It’s hard,” a heartbroken Frammosa told the Daily News. “It’s not just losing a store, but it’s losing your neighborhood.”

Dimesh “Danny” Patel, 47, runs the card shop at 465 Forest Ave. with his brother and said the business will likely lose tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory. Like Frammosa, he said they’d never been late paying rent and are now struggling to figure out if they can relocate on such short notice.

“I mean, if we look up and down the street, there’s nothing else available now, so we’re really being forced out,” he said. “End of the day, we [probably] just close our doors.”

The strip mall lot is owned by 467 Forest Property Inc. Tenants identified the landlords as members of the Ha family, who communicated about the lease with the businesses via emails reviewed by The News.

According to multiple published reports, Paul and John T. Ha are the licensees for “Green Empire Wellness LLC,” which was among one of 99 provisional dispensary licenses announced by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) in April. Paul Ha did not have a comment on the situation.

OCM confirmed to The News that a provisional adult-use marijuana dispensary license was approved for the Forest Ave. location and is currently under review, though they declined to name the company.

Rumors about a dispensary have proliferated on local social media pages in recent days and were met with an outcry from the community. Many customers expressed outrage as they ordered rainbow bagels at S&T or browsed Valentine’s Day teddy bears in Card & Gift.

“This is the worst thing that could happen,” said Barbara Barracato as she shopped at the stationary store. “We have our own little village here, the whole neighborhood. We don’t need [a dispensary] … Everybody’s in an uproar.”

There are currently 59 legal adult-use cannabis dispensaries across New York state, about 20 of which are within the five boroughs. Staten Island’s first such shop, The Flowery, opened in the Charleston neighborhood just weeks ago.

Dispensary licensing is a state matter, but local Councilmember Kamillah Hanks echoed area residents’ concerns about the prospect of a weed shop at the Forest Ave. site. In a letter to OCM she cited the proximity of several schools and houses of worship as a major issue.

“Please know that my office is opposed to the locations of these dispensaries,” she said. “The sole dispensary opened so far on Staten Island is in a commercial zone; far removed from schools. That should be the standard for all Staten Island dispensaries and in my opinion, all New York.”

The issue is expected to be discussed at the March 7 meeting of the Forest Regional Residents’ Civic Association, a local organization.

In the meantime Frammosa and Patel are trying to figure out next steps.

“They took from us. They took from two families, that’s how I look at it. Which is wrong,” Frammosa said. “You just don’t, within two and a half months, say that you have to go after being here for 22 years.”

The Eliza (4790 Broadway)

The Eliza, a combination of “deeply” affordable apartments, community space and a new public library branch, is perhaps the most well-known new building to come out of the Inwood rezoning. The 14-story project was spearheaded years ago by the city — despite local campaigning to save the original library — and is nearing completion.

The 174 affordable units are a mix of studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments, with several reserved for the formerly homeless. Monthly rents range from $397 to $1,066 for a studio and $683 to $1,841 for a three-bedroom. Approximately 80,000 households applied for the 174 slots through the city’s housing lottery, according to Manhattan borough president Mark Levine. Residents will have access to a laundry room, lounge, gym, terrace and other amenities.

The new library branch will occupy the bottom two floors and include community spaces, a skylight and separate areas for children and teens.

A pre-K run by the Department of Education will take about 40 students starting next September. There are also a number of community spaces, including a teaching kitchen and STEM center.

The Eliza — named for Alexander Hamilton’s wife — is set to open in May.

North Cove (375 West 207th St.)

These days the intersection of W. 207th St. and Ninth Ave. is buzzing with the sounds of construction as work continues on several large projects by the University Heights Bridge, directly across the river from the Bronx. One of those is North Cove, a 611-unit development from Maddd Equities and Joy Construction.

The building will have three sections reaching eight, 17 and 30 floors high, according to project manager Mark Schwartz. It will house a mix of incomes, from the formerly homeless to those earning up to 110% of area median income. There will be waterfront space and retail options, including a Food Bazaar outlet.

North Cove will tower over most of the surrounding area when it opens, likely sometime in June.

Adolfo Carrión Jr., commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), said such change is necessary amid the city’s ongoing housing crisis.

“Nothing stays the same in New York, and it shouldn’t,” he told the Daily News during a recent site visit. “This is old manufacturing sites. They were ugly, they were underutilized, and they prevented access to the waterfront. … Now you’re going to have families here. You’re going to have access to the waterfront, you’re going to have economic opportunity. What’s not to like?”

4095 Ninth Ave.

While The Eliza is on the cusp of completion, another publicly owned Inwood site is likely years away from breaking ground.

The empty parking lot at 4095 Ninth Ave. — at the northern tip of Manhattan, a stone’s throw from the Broadway Bridge connecting to Marble Hill — may not look like much now. But the city has big plans for the weed-strewn property on the Harlem River waterfront.

The goal is to build 570 affordable homes with a STEM center and open green space along the riverfront. To that end, HPD is launching a community engagement process in coming days to solicit public feedback that will then be incorporated into a request for proposals to determine the future of the site.

The RFP process was delayed by several years, as The News previously reported, due to the pandemic, a lawsuit against the Inwood rezoning and HPD staffing shortages.

“I think everybody wants to live on the waterfront, and the Harlem River Valley has been begging for this type of development,” Carrión said. “This whole valley offers a tremendous opportunity to change the game here, in Inwood and in the western Bronx.”