Construction Maison

Forget about borrowing a cup of sugar — can you spare a couple of bucks? Working- class Bronx families thought they had landed the dream of affordable rents at a spanking-new apartment complex — until busloads of rowdy homeless people moved in and turned the building into a living nightmare. “I feel like I’ve been scammed. They weren’t upfront to let us know what kind of building this was going to be,” said Omar Cooke, 38, who pays $962 for a one-bedroom apartment at 1802 Crotona Ave. in Crotona Park. Months after the tenants signed their leases, the developer moved homeless families into 44 of the building’s 55 units. Now the rent-paying residents say they’re plagued by fights, threats and panhandling, and they fear for the safety of themselves and their children. All visitors — including the regular tenants — have to be patted by security. And when the shelter staff leave the building between 6 p.m. Friday night and 8 a.m. Monday, all hell breaks loose , Cooke says. “On Friday wh...

Bronx developer Mark Stagg’s “bait-and-switch” shenanigans are making a mockery of two signature Mayor Bill de Blasio initiatives : affordable housing and his “Turning the Tide” homeless plan. In Thursday’s Post, Carl Campanile reported that back in 2015, Stagg flipped a Bronx apartment building into a transitional shelter facility . Working-class residents of the Crotona Avenue building saw their dream of winning the affordable- housing lottery turn into a nightmare once Stagg’s nonprofit partner, Bronx Parent Housing Network , moved 44 homeless families into the 55-unit building in November 2015. The rent-paying residents say they have to put up with panhandling, fighting, all-night partying and even assaults. Stagg used his signature tactic of asking the city for a property tax break in exchange for keeping 20 percent of units “affordable” — and then leasing the remaining 80 percent to a homeless-services nonprofit. Tenants came forward with their tales of misery after readin...