This is part of a series about New Yorkers who have recently relocated to the Bronx. It’s called The New Bronx.
After graduating college class of 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Audio Technology from City College in Manhattan, John Keefe wanted to move out of Manhattan into the Bronx.
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Keefe moved to the city at 18 with a dream of becoming a well respected audio engineer. Nothing has changed about that. Once college ended, there was no way he would move out of the city.
Keefe, now 29, spent the last three of his undergraduate years living in a two-bedroom on 157th and Broadway paying $1,750 a month.
During the day, you can find Keefe bartending at Deluxe, a restaurant just a few subway stops from his last apartment. At night, he works as an audio tech at Jungle City Studios, a recording studio on 27th between the 10th and 11th Avenues. He spends his evenings mixing sounds of hip hop and soul.
Keefe is also an academic coordinator at Harlem Children’s Zone. In a good year, Keefe makes around $43,000.
That’s significantly higher than $27,156, the median household income for people living in Concourse Village, a neighborhood in Bronx Community District 4.
Keefe moved to the Bronx five years ago when he was 24 years old.
“I like my rent low and I like to be the first person to discover a new spot,” Keefe said. “I moved because I really liked the Yankee Stadium area. It really attracted me. It was close to the train.”
According to a survey conducted between 1990 and 2011 by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Bronx had the second highest population increase of the five boroughs and the fastest growing office rental rates.
The Bronx has a higher unemployment rate than the city. Employed newcomers like Keefe who move to Concourse Village may be doing more harm than good for lifetime tenants. 24 percent of the Grand Concourse residents are living below the poverty line.
On September 10, 2015, New York State Senator Ruben Diaz wrote an open letter to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. Diaz is concerned for Concourse Village tenants “who are appealing the pending Major Capital Improvement rent increase of $18.73 per room per month.”
Concourse Village had a population of 119,962 in 1990. 26,479 more people resided in the district by 2010. 2004 was the median year most renters moved into the area.
Median rent is $648 in Concourse Village.
With his salary, Keefe can live comfortably with his $1,150 lease for a one-bedroom located at 156th and Grand Concourse, just south of Yankee Stadium.
When he commutes back the Manhattan, Keefe barely recognizes his old neighborhood.
“When I was living at 157, it was a very different space,” Keefe said. “I go back there sometimes and I see the developments, it’s amazing. There’s like five or six brand new high quality restaurants and none of that was there before.”
Cheaper rent, quiet streets and more space are just some of the positives Keefe mentions that weigh out the negatives.
“There’s not a lot of things to do,” Keefe said. “It’s not like Williamsburg where I can go to a bunch of cool bars and cafes and link up with a lot of my friends, I mean I’ve made friends out there but it’s not like there’s a big social scene that is happening.”
He doesn’t plan on moving anytime soon, Keefe enjoys being surrounded by less as long as he has easy access to the city.
