The Struggle and Triumph of 1520 Sedgwick
By Deborah Richardson
You never know when something so simple could end up being life changing. At 1520 Sedgewick Avenue, history was made in the recreation room on August 11, 1973. Clive Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc, decided to give his sister Cindy a going back to school party. His turntable techniques and mixing of beats still resonate in the Bronx today. The 18-story building he called home is known as “the birthplace of hip hop and rap,” with DJ Kool Herc as its Founding Father.
The building had fallen into complete disrepair by the early 2000s. Now, after a decade of struggling with rapacious real estate investors and deplorable conditions, residents of 1520 Sedgwick say the building has been transformed.
“The new owners have done a complete renovation of the building,” said Geraldine Davis, who has lived in at 1520 for over 30 years. The new owners repaired individual apartments and shared living areas. In the units, they put in new floors and in some cases, entire apartments were gutted and practically rebuilt from scratch.
The building was originally part of the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, which meant the rents were kept low, but owners fought to remove that status so they could charge market rates. Then, in 2008, it was sold to private real estate investors. The new owners attempted to raise the rents and then when they failed to rent the apartments, they “abandoned” the building, according to Geraldine Davis.
The building was dilapidated almost beyond repair, she says. “It was almost like we were homeless,” says Davis. “The new owners neglected the building so badly that they had accumulated at least 200 to 300 violations in a short period of time after their takeover. They had let the building run down, and they had tenants living under deplorable conditions.”
A few of the Tenant Association members — Mary Fountain, Geraldine Davis, Sylvia Jones, and Gloria Robinson — called upon DJ Kool Herc and his sister, Cindy Campbell, to help rally the support of Senator Chuck Schumer and other political figures, Davis said.
In 2011 Workforce Housing Advisors bought 1520 Sedgwick and pledged to transform it. “The new landlord started their work to enhance the building in the summer of 2012, and they completed their renovations in the summer of 2013,” said Kiara Adams, another longtime tenant. Today every apartment has new appliances and electrical systems were updated, with new outlets and fuse boxes. New toilets, sinks and kitchen cabinets were installed and terraces were refortified with cracks repaired. Common areas were also renovated with two new elevators, a refurbished parking lot and new washer and dryers. The famous recreation room was totally remodeled.
The site remains a destination for hip hop tours of the Bronx.