A century-old apartment building in Longwood is offering 69 affordable units through New York City's housing lottery. The five-story building at 664 and 672 Beck St. has stood since 1925, and after a round of renovations that added housing units, it's now offering studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments to households earning up to $162,008 a year.
According to the Bronx Times, the building is owned by MHANY Management, and the 69 units break down into 6 apartments reserved for households at 40% of area median income, 54 units at 50% of area median income, and 9 units at 77% of area median income. Applicants must meet housing and income size requirements, and the deadline to apply is October 14. Rents span a wide range, with some units tied to a flat 30% of a tenant's monthly income rather than a fixed dollar figure.
The renovation itself was financed in part through a $24 million loan from the Community Preservation Corporation, secured in December 2022 by MHANY Management alongside the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, according to PincusCo. That financing helped transform the nearly century-old structure into the mixed-income building now welcoming lottery applicants.
Breaking Down the Unit Mix and Rents
The full layout includes 4 studios, 33 one-bedroom apartments, 21 two-bedroom apartments, and 11 three-bedroom apartments, per RentReboot. At the 40% AMI tier, one-bedroom units require annual household incomes between $39,909 and $61,080, while a three-bedroom at that tier caps out at $84,160 for a household. At the 50% AMI tier — the largest group of units — two-bedroom apartments require incomes from $67,749 to $91,600, and three-bedroom units range from $79,646 to $105,200. The 77% AMI tier, the smallest group, includes one-bedroom units needing incomes of $83,178 to $117,579 and a single two-bedroom unit requiring $103,063 to $141,064.
Some of the lowest rents in the building are tied to the 50% AMI studios, which include two units renting for $1,092 per month, according to the Bronx Times report. Asset limits also apply across the income tiers, ranging from $67,840 for 40% AMI households up to $130,592 for the 77% AMI tier.
Who Gets Priority, and What's Changed
As with all city-run lotteries, five percent of the units are set aside for applicants with mobility disabilities and two percent for applicants with vision or hearing impairments, while New York City residents get general priority over applicants living outside the five boroughs, per NYC Housing Connect guidelines. But the local preference that once favored Longwood residents specifically has shrunk. Following a 2024 federal court settlement, the community board set-aside preference for applicants living within the local community district dropped from 50% to 20% for city-financed developments, according to the How the NYC Affordable Housing Lottery Works Guide.
That shift matters in a borough where the math already favors landlords over tenants. The 2023 NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey found the city's net rental vacancy rate had fallen to a historic low of 1.41%, with rent-stabilized units even tighter at 0.98%, according to the NYC Rent Guidelines Board. Meanwhile, the 2024 severe rent-burden rate for Bronx renters was 35.8%.
Renovations and Affordable Housing
The Beck Street building has undergone renovations and is now offering lottery apartments across several income tiers.
The property is near the Longwood Avenue and East 149th Street subway stations serving the 6 train, as well as the Jackson Avenue and Prospect Avenue stations serving the 2 and 5 trains, and it's also served by the Bx4, Bx17, Bx19 and Bx46 bus lines.
Building Rules and How to Apply
The development is partly pet-friendly, allowing one pet per unit up to 25 pounds with proof of vaccinations and insurance, though aggressive dog breeds are not allowed. Tenants are responsible for electricity and gas stove costs, and smoking is prohibited inside the building, which also includes shared laundry rooms and security cameras.
MHANY Management has worked in affordable housing for more than 35 years and has developed or preserved more than 2,000 affordable housing units across New York City, according to MHANY Management. Property records show the organization's citywide portfolio spans 122 properties and 2,574 residential units, with roughly 36% of its portfolio value located in the Bronx, per PincusCo's data.
Applications may be postmarked or submitted online by the October 14 deadline. To request an application by mail, send a self-addressed envelope to 470 Vanderbilt Ave., 9th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11238. Qualified applicants who meet the income and household size requirements will need to satisfy additional selection criteria after the October 14 deadline.
