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Residents fight to save hip-hop birthplace

By David Freedlander | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

January 15, 2008

Mary Fountain, a resident of 1520 Sedgwick in the Bronx is fighting to keep the building affordable to tenants. 1520 Sedgwick is credited as the birthplace of hip hop (Jefferson Siegel / January 14, 2008)

A new beat may be coming to the Bronx building where hip-hop was born.

Residents of 1520 Sedgwick Ave., the place where in the mid-1970s a young D.J. later known as Kool Herc started spinning records at parties in the basement recreation room, are announcing today their plan to buy the building -- for only a few thousands dollars per apartment -- from private interests, and keep it affordable.

"It's like Graceland or the Grand Ole Opry, it's the birthplace, where it all started from," Herc said. "It's a piece of the American dream and we just want to preserve it."

The Morris Heights building is a designated affordable-housing Mitchell-Lama property, but last year BSR Management, the property's owner, announced plans to sell the 100-unit complex to Mark Karasick, a private equity investor. Long-time residents immediately feared that they would be pushed out in favor of high-end renters.

To have a shot at making a deal, tenants would need to raise $14 million from official and philanthropic sources in order to buy the building as a limited equity cooperative. Tenants would then be able to buy their units at a steep discount from market rates, according to Dina Levy of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, which is trying to facilitate the sale.

"It's important that the character of the building in terms of race, and income and culture continues to feel like it did in 1973 when hip-hop began," she said. Phone calls to BSR Management and Karasick were not returned.

The tenants have called on U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) for assistance, who is planning to appear with tenants and leaders from the hip-hop community at today's morning rally outside the building.

"1520 Sedgwick is in danger of losing its affordable status, as its owner prepares to sell the building to wealthy speculators whose only hope of profiting on the building hinges on hiking the rent rolls," Schumer said. "That is why it is essential that the owner negotiate a reasonable, affordable deal with the tenants and their representatives to preserve affordability in this special place for the long haul."

The building has been determined to be eligible for listing on the national and state register of historic sites, but, for many residents, 1520 Sedgwick has just been a safe and quiet place to raise a family in the shadow of the Washington Bridge.

"It's been my home for 36 years and I don't want to leave it," said Annie Jenkins, 70, who raised four children there. "I'm an older woman. It's nice to have some history here, but I just always look at it as my home."

Mary Fountain, 64, has lived in her homey apartment stacked with photos of her 25 grandchildren for nine years, and so calls herself "the newcomer." She pulls CDs of Ray Charles and Dionne Warwick to show where her musical tastes lie.

"I never understood what \[rappers\] are saying anyway," she said. "But this neighborhood is becoming big bucks. We just want a piece of the pie."

And the beat went on

The symbolic start of hip-hop at 1520 Sedgwick.

When: Aug 11, 1973

Where: Rec Room, Sedgwick Towers

What: A party

Who: Cindy Campbell and her brother Clive, later known as DJ Kool Herc

Cost: 25 cents for girls, 50 cents for boys.