Long-time Highbridge residents Carlos Ybarra, 69, and Carmen Hernandez, 65, share a cramped two-bedroom apartment with Carmen’s sister, Dolores. They have been waiting for years for apartments in senior housing facilities in the neighborhood to become available.

At first glance, their long wait might seem puzzling, since Highbridge is currently experiencing a boom in senior housing construction: Five complexes that offer apartments exclusively for elderly citizens have been built in Highbridge since 2003, and one more building—at 1510 Jessup Avenue— is scheduled for completion in 2008.

Together, these new buildings will provide approximately 350 units for seniors. However, there are no guarantees Ybarra, Hernandez or many other seniors in the neighborhood will be able to secure an apartment near home; they will have to compete for the new units with applicants from around the city.

“There’s a big need for senior housing, it’s just not very easy to obtain,” said Marilyn Green, director at the Highbridge Senior Center for the  past year and a half. “I put in applications for a lot of them, so I see a big need for senior housing,” Green continued, “but usually they’re left in the dark in cramped apartments with family members. They’re on the waiting list for such a long time.”

Ybarra, an American citizen who arrived from Peru over 30 years ago, said he submitted an application about a year ago at a local senior housing complex, but has not heard anything. At another complex, the manager required more documents than Ybarra was able to show, in order to qualify for an apartment.

“I’ve paid my taxes to the government over the years, and now the government is turning its back on me,” he said.

Ybarra has called his tiny room in Dolores Hernandez’ apartment home for 8 years, and although he says there is no tension between the two, he could use some additional space.

“We’ve been neighbors and good friends for years,” said Ybarra, who has lived in Highbridge for 27 years. “But it would be nice to have some privacy.”
Ybarra lamented that he may have to leave Highbridge to lfind a larger apartment somewhere else.

Carmen Hernandez has been in the neighborhood for nearly thirty years, and, like Ybarra, gets along famously with her sister, but would like to get her own place in order to have a bit of privacy and space, while still remaining close to her sister. She first put in an application several years ago, but says she heard nothing from the facility where she applied, and so she applied again several months ago to one of the new complexes in Highbridge.

“I’ve been here [Highbridge] since 1980,” Hernandez said. “I don’t want to live anywhere else.” 

Officials with the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development (HPD) say that local residents are given a strong preference when the city conducts lotteries from the field of applicants to senior housing; 50% of the units go to locals. And HPD assistant commissioner Neill Coleman said that Highbridge seems to have more units than many other neighborhoods in New York, proportionate to the size of the area.
Coleman said historically low building costs were one reason for the relatively high numbers of senior housing units in Highbridge. “Many were built on land that the city took over during the abandonment [of properties] that happened in the ‘70s and ‘80s,” Coleman said. He added that the spate of new buildings is part of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to provide 165,000 affordable units for seniors.

Monsignor Donald Sakano has been working on housing issues in Highbridge since the mid 1980s, and understands there is a crunch happening.
“It’s important to distinguish between the demand and the need,” said Sakano, who is both president and chairman of the Highbridge Housing Community Development Corporation, as well as pastor at St. Patrick’s Church in Manhattan.
By “demand,” Sakano is referring to those seniors who are both looking for housing and ready to move. On the other hand, Sakano defines “need” in the crowded senior housing market as those senior citizens who are living in conditions they can no longer negotiate, due to age or infirmity; or who are living in overcrowded, poorly-maintained, or unaffordable housing.

“I’m particularly concerned about elderly people who are essentially trapped in four or five story walkups,” Sakano said.

While Msgr. Sakano says the complicated application process does favor local residents, he said some spots have to be left open for applicants from other parts of the city. “We have to be careful that we abide by the city’s income and age criteria,” he said.
Sakano says that whenever a building is about to open, he and other housing advocates in the neighborhood are careful to publicize availability well in advance. He encourages Highbridge seniors to continue applying for housing units, while wary of raising their hopes unnecessarily.

“There’s no fee to apply, even for the buildings outside the community they want to live in,” he said. “They can always turn it down, even if they’re accepted.”
But Green said the flurry of senior housing construction, and the city’s policy of giving local residents priority in applying for local units, rarely translates into relief for Highbridge seniors.  “Since I’ve been here, I’ve known one person who’s gotten senior housing.” Green said. “It took about a year, and he went to Social Security about ten times.

“I’m excited that they’re opening something in the community,” Green said of the burgeoning new complexes, “but a higher percentage should go to the community.”