By MARCUS FRANKLIN,
AP
Posted: 2007-07-23 23:36:10
NEW YORK (AP) - More than three decades after DJ Kool Herc planted hip-hop's seeds by spinning records in a Bronx apartment building, the pioneer returned Monday for some recognition and to highlight the issue of affordable housing.
Rep. Jose Serrano, whose district includes the building, presented Kool Herc with a copy of the statement the congressman has placed in the Congressional Record honoring him and the building's residents for their cultural contributions.
In August 1973, Kool Herc's sister, Cindy Campbell, organized the first party. Her brother spun vinyl from a wide range of musical genres - from Gary Glitter to James Brown - providing the grooves for the young partygoers. From that building, the culture eventually spread around the world.
"It's not for me," Kool Herc, whose given name is Clive Campbell, said of the props he received Monday.
It is, he said, about affordable housing - or the lack of it at the Sedgwick Avenue apartment building where his family lived in the 1970s.
Tenants of the building received word this year that the owner planned to leave an affordable housing program known as Mitchell-Lama. Property owners in the program, which operates at the state and local levels, receive incentives such as low-rate mortgages and tax breaks in exchange for charging tenants low to moderate rents for a certain period of time.
"It's about affordable housing," Cindy Campbell said, adding that her family lived in an affordable housing unit. "Thank God we had that. If these people lose their homes, where are they going to go?"
This month, the building was deemed eligible for listing on state and national historic registers by the state Historic Preservation Office because of its cultural significance, according to Cathy Jimenez, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
That means supporters now can apply to the state Historical Preservation Board, which decides whether to grant historical designation, Jimenez said.
A landmark designation, however, wouldn't necessarily prevent the owner from buying out of the Mitchell-Lama program. Landmark status would likely apply to the building but not necessarily its use.
But Serrano said a building with such cultural significance - and potential landmark status - would draw unfavorable attention to an owner trying to convert the 100 units to market rate.
"Throughout the city there are buildings and developments like this where people made their lives, and they shouldn't be pushed out," Serrano said. "It's not fair; it's not right."
A phone number could not be found the building's owner, listed in property records as 1520 Sedgwick Houses Inc.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who was among the dozens of people gathered in the building's first-floor community room, along with Afrika Bambaataa, another early Bronx disc jockey, also said the building was more than "bricks and mortar"; it's "ground zero" for hip-hop's birth, he said.
"This building, which housed hip-hop's founding father ... is a New York treasure that must be preserved as a bastion of affordable housing," Schumer said in a statement. "But, now, with affordable housing under assault, even the birthplace of hip-hop is in danger of being lost for working-class New York families. We must preserve New York's affordable housing so that the future DJ Kool Hercs of this city will have every opportunity to succeed."
Kool Herc challenged those in hip-hop to take up the cause of affordable housing at the birthplace of hip-hop and elsewhere.
"They need to rep the birthplace of this worldwide phenomenon," said Kool Herc, who has lived on Long Island since leaving Sedgwick Avenue.
"The fight is not over," he said, referring to the battle to maintain affordable housing at the building. "If they have any respect for what they love so well, this is where it comes from. People in hip-hop should stand for affordable housing. They come out of it, and some still live in it. Don't forget where you come from. Affordable housing is needed."
Rep. Jose Serrano, whose district includes the building, presented Kool Herc with a copy of the statement the congressman has placed in the Congressional Record honoring him and the building's residents for their cultural contributions.
In August 1973, Kool Herc's sister, Cindy Campbell, organized the first party. Her brother spun vinyl from a wide range of musical genres - from Gary Glitter to James Brown - providing the grooves for the young partygoers. From that building, the culture eventually spread around the world.
"It's not for me," Kool Herc, whose given name is Clive Campbell, said of the props he received Monday.
It is, he said, about affordable housing - or the lack of it at the Sedgwick Avenue apartment building where his family lived in the 1970s.
Tenants of the building received word this year that the owner planned to leave an affordable housing program known as Mitchell-Lama. Property owners in the program, which operates at the state and local levels, receive incentives such as low-rate mortgages and tax breaks in exchange for charging tenants low to moderate rents for a certain period of time.
"It's about affordable housing," Cindy Campbell said, adding that her family lived in an affordable housing unit. "Thank God we had that. If these people lose their homes, where are they going to go?"
This month, the building was deemed eligible for listing on state and national historic registers by the state Historic Preservation Office because of its cultural significance, according to Cathy Jimenez, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
That means supporters now can apply to the state Historical Preservation Board, which decides whether to grant historical designation, Jimenez said.
A landmark designation, however, wouldn't necessarily prevent the owner from buying out of the Mitchell-Lama program. Landmark status would likely apply to the building but not necessarily its use.
But Serrano said a building with such cultural significance - and potential landmark status - would draw unfavorable attention to an owner trying to convert the 100 units to market rate.
"Throughout the city there are buildings and developments like this where people made their lives, and they shouldn't be pushed out," Serrano said. "It's not fair; it's not right."
A phone number could not be found the building's owner, listed in property records as 1520 Sedgwick Houses Inc.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who was among the dozens of people gathered in the building's first-floor community room, along with Afrika Bambaataa, another early Bronx disc jockey, also said the building was more than "bricks and mortar"; it's "ground zero" for hip-hop's birth, he said.
"This building, which housed hip-hop's founding father ... is a New York treasure that must be preserved as a bastion of affordable housing," Schumer said in a statement. "But, now, with affordable housing under assault, even the birthplace of hip-hop is in danger of being lost for working-class New York families. We must preserve New York's affordable housing so that the future DJ Kool Hercs of this city will have every opportunity to succeed."
Kool Herc challenged those in hip-hop to take up the cause of affordable housing at the birthplace of hip-hop and elsewhere.
"They need to rep the birthplace of this worldwide phenomenon," said Kool Herc, who has lived on Long Island since leaving Sedgwick Avenue.
"The fight is not over," he said, referring to the battle to maintain affordable housing at the building. "If they have any respect for what they love so well, this is where it comes from. People in hip-hop should stand for affordable housing. They come out of it, and some still live in it. Don't forget where you come from. Affordable housing is needed."
07/23/07 23:34 EDT
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