On February 28, 2026, more than 200 community members, faith leaders, labor partners, and elected officials gathered at Lehman College in the Bronx for something more than an anniversary party. It was a relaunch. The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition — one of the most effective grassroots organizing bodies in New York City history — announced a new identity: Our Bronx.
The name change reflects a deliberate strategic expansion. Founded 52 years ago to fight the disinvestment, arson, and abandonment that devastated the Northwest Bronx in the 1970s, the coalition grew into a formidable force for housing rights, education equity, and community development in neighborhoods like Fordham, Norwood, University Heights, and Kingsbridge. Now, it’s going borough-wide — taking the organizing model that worked in the northwest and applying it across all of the Bronx.
The Kingsbridge Armory Win
The relaunch wasn’t just symbolic — it came on the heels of what organizers are calling an historic win: a groundbreaking community benefits agreement for the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, the massive 19th-century fortress-style building at West Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue that has sat mostly vacant for decades.
After years of organizing and negotiation, Our Bronx (then NWBCCC) secured an unprecedented package of agreements. The organization will serve as a co-developer of 20% of the entire project — meaning it has an ownership stake, not just a seat at the table. That 20% includes two community-owned condominiums comprising more than 20% of the total site footprint.
One of those community-owned spaces will be a 25,000-square-foot community hub providing space for community activities, workforce development, entrepreneurship support, and worker cooperative business development. Another component will include 20,000 square feet of affordable commercial space set aside for small and local businesses during the housing development phase. And the Armory redevelopment overall will create between 450 and 500 adjacent affordable apartments.
This is not a typical community benefits agreement — which often amounts to a promise on paper that rarely gets enforced. This is a legally binding co-development structure that gives Our Bronx ongoing control over how the community spaces are used and governed. It sets a new precedent for what community power can look like in New York City development.
What the Expansion Means
The shift to Our Bronx isn’t just a new name — it comes with a new organizing structure designed to reach the Soundview, Hunts Point, Mott Haven, Pelham Parkway, and other communities that have long been outside the coalition’s geographic focus. The Bronx is a diverse, complex borough of nearly 1.5 million people, and community organizing that only covers part of it leaves significant power on the table.
The coalition has always understood that power is built through relationships — between neighbors, between block associations, between faith communities and tenant organizations. Scaling that model borough-wide is ambitious, but the 52-year track record suggests they know how to do it.
A Legacy Worth Knowing
For those unfamiliar with the coalition’s history: in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Northwest Bronx was burning — literally. Landlord-set fires, insurance fraud, and deliberate disinvestment destroyed large portions of the borough. The NWBCCC organized residents to fight back: demanding responsible landlords, pressuring banks to stop redlining, and holding elected officials accountable for the conditions their constituents lived in. That organizing helped save and stabilize communities that had been written off.
The Kingsbridge Armory win is, in many ways, the culmination of that long arc — turning a vacant symbol of community neglect into a community-owned asset. It’s the kind of outcome that only happens after decades of sustained, disciplined organizing.
Get Connected
To learn more about Our Bronx and how to get involved in their organizing work, visit ourbronx.org. If you want to follow the Kingsbridge Armory development specifically, the coalition maintains updates at their armory campaign page.
The Bronx has no shortage of community energy — from the waterfront at City Island to the hills above High Bridge, the borough’s neighborhoods are alive with people who care deeply about where they live. Our NYC April 2026 guide includes several Bronx highlights worth checking out this month.
What You Need to Know
- The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition rebranded as Our Bronx at its 52nd annual meeting on February 28, 2026, at Lehman College.
- The rebranding reflects a planned expansion from the northwest Bronx to borough-wide organizing.
- Our Bronx secured a landmark agreement making it a co-developer of 20% of the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project.
- Community benefits include a 25,000-square-foot community hub, 20,000 sq ft of affordable commercial space for local businesses, and 450–500 affordable apartments.
- This is considered a new precedent for community ownership in NYC development — not just a promise, but a legally binding co-development structure.
- Learn more and get involved at ourbronx.org.
Fifty-two years of organizing. A borough-wide rebrand. A co-ownership stake in one of the most significant development projects the Bronx has seen in a generation. Our Bronx is showing what long-term community power actually looks like — and the results are worth paying attention to.
