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The first phase of Rocking the Boat’s New Home Campaign has been a resounding success. As planned, in 2009 the organization took a bold step toward anchoring its place in the South Bronx by bringing all of its activities together in one location at 812 Edgewater Road, creating quadruple the program space, improving its efficiencies of operation, and significantly increasing its capacity to serve the Hunts Point community. When the leaseholder of the building was ready to sell, Rocking the Boat seized the opportunity to take ownership and ensure its institutional and programmatic sustainability.
Boatbuilding, Environmental, and Sailing Program participants have been reaping the benefits of the $1.5 million custom renovation of building for the past eight years. Capital upgrades to the shop, the classrooms, and offices were designed to last and have served the organization extremely well. Having functioned in the space now for so long, Rocking the Boat has made all of the small adjustments and improvements that come with long-term residency and so, unlike many organizations preparing to buy, is in the enviable position of knowing the healthy condition of the building and not having to do any renovation upon assuming ownership.
The costs of the 2009 build out have been more than recovered considering the multiple ways in which the program has grown and the mission has been served since Rocking the Boat moved into 812 Edgewater. Rocking the Boat is serving 3,000 more constituents than in 2009, has increased its budget by $1.3 million, added six more staff, and attracted 10 more institutional donors. The intangibles are even more impressive for all user groups. Students feel welcomed and respected from the moment they walk into the brightly painted, double height lobby. Visitors, whether members of local community or donors, or Board members know they are visiting a program of substance and permanence when they pass through the spacious and humming program and administrative spaces. The physical environment is highly conducive to staff productivity, satisfaction, and retention.
In addition to the building already being designed and built to the organization’s specifications, geographically it is located exactly where it needs to be. The property is one of a kind and perfectly suited to Rocking the Boat’s needs: the boatyard, leased from a local community development corporation, provides private outdoor programming space and ample storage. It is difficult to imagine another site in New York City where right outside the backdoor 10,000 board feet of lumber, seven shipping containers that store a fleet of 25 rowboats, 16 sailboats, and a 900 square foot event tent can all be accommodated.
Most essential and impossible to replicate is the beautiful Bronx River waterfront park immediately adjacent to the building and yard. Hunts Point Riverside Park, a former abandoned lot initially transformed into a park by local community activists and a 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence winner is now owned and maintained entirely by the City of New York. The park offers Rocking the Boat open access to two waterways with entirely different characters: the Bronx River, a tidal estuary protected from the wind and currents and therefore a singularly safe environment for young people in rowboats; and the East River, a sheltered harbor perfect for sailing small boats. Rocking the Boat’s programs have taken shape around and been defined by these beautiful places since the organization first launched a boat from the site that would become Hunts Point Riverside Park in spring 1999. Rocking the Boat has been proud to introduce such an impoverished community to the tremendously rich natural resources that exist in its backyard. This access has now been preserved and ensures the continuing success of Rocking the Boat’s programs.
A generous and long-standing Rocking the Boat donor has financed the building purchase on the condition that Rocking the Boat creates and funds a $1 million endowment. Through this plan, Rocking the Boat will:
- save $71,000 that is currently being paid annually in rent and real estate taxes
- benefit from appreciation of the real estate—with the anticipated completion of a Hunts Point Metro North station in 2022 and recent news headlines like “The Bronx is Booming: the Housing Market in the City’s Fastest Growing Borough is Heating Up,” and “South Bronx Sizzle: Once a Symbol of Urban Blight, the Formerly Burned out Neighborhood is now a Major Draw for Investors,” real estate values in the South Bronx are poised to escalate dramatically
- have an endowment that should grow in value, generate income, and help secure the organization’s future
As a 20-year old, stable, well-loved local institution, Rocking the Boat is excited to be a property owner, make 812 Edgewater Road its permanent home, build an endowment, strengthen its programmatic support, and secure its future.
To learn how you can help, please contact Adam Green, Executive Director at 718.466.5799 x1213, adam@rockingtheboat.org, or use the form below.
