historic marker<\/a> signs that describe the neighborhood as having \u201cone of the Bronx\u2019s finest collections of turn-of-the-20th-century housing.\u201d<\/p>\nSheila and Kimani said they feel the constant threat of displacement but insist they\u2019ll never sell out.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis area is the last remaining stock of old rowhouses for this kind of pricing,\u201d Kimani said. Real estate corporations, more than family buyers, have \u201ckind of descended on this area.\u201d<\/p>\n
But many who seek to invest have little understanding of what it took for the family to obtain it, Sheila said.\n<\/p>\n
Her family moved from Harlem to Forest Avenue when she was four years old. She was an only child, but the house was full of tenants, including six other kids, and a live-in babysitter watched over them all.<\/p>\n
As a Black family, securing the house was an ordeal. Sheila\u2019s mother spent three generations as a domestic worker for a German Jewish family, but \u201cIn spite of that longevity of one position and commitment to that job, she could not walk into a bank at that time and get a loan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, the house was placed in Sheila\u2019s father\u2019s name, but only because he worked for a major property firm at the time. The employer\u2019s name got them a loan from the Black-owned Carver Bank, the only one that would lend to them, according to Sheila.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though her mother contributed a significant amount of the funds towards the house, a $13,000 gift from a relative, her name wasn\u2019t on the deed, Sheila said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, her mother was determined to invest in property to pass down. And she wasn\u2019t the only one. During her youth, many of the block\u2019s six-story walk-ups were actually owned by Black families, Sheila said. \u201cThere were ways, but people had to really fight to get what they wanted to uplift their family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking with the Bronx Times in the first-floor living room with rounded bay windows, she shared memories of a neighborhood engulfed in music and alive with activity. Men sat outside playing conga drums, and Sheila grew up on salsa, jazz, soul and blues. Kids played in the street, and people took care of each other. Across the street was a Jewish women\u2019s center established in 1928.<\/p>\n
Sheila recalled that neighborhood kids bought their ice cream \u201cfrom a rickety, old, mean lady called Miss Brooks. When you walked in, you\u2019d better say, \u2018Ma\u2019am, thank you, please,\u2019 and the rest. Or else she\u2019d get word to your mother you were rude.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once, when Sheila was young, she mistakenly took several hundred dollars in cash to that ice cream shop \u2014 and the owner promptly alerted the babysitter, who took the money safely back home.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Black-owned houses, many of the local shops were also Black-owned, Sheila said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how they did it.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
But her block also had an Italian vegetable market and a Jewish meat market, creating an \u201cinterestingly mixed neighborhood,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cIn the 50s, it was not a lost borough. It was a borough of very proud people of all immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have all these images of myself and my friends. The six-story walkups. The corner store with the phone booths in the window and the candy counter. Here on this corner, three stores \u2026 you had to walk across an iron grate [in the sidewalk]. It was like a cellar down there. We never feared it, because that\u2019s what we were used to.\u201d<\/p>\n
But over time, \u201cThe Bronx began to burn,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd once it burned, certain people left, collected insurance money. Little by little, people began to miss these shops. They disappeared.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can\u2019t be bought out\u00a0
\n![\"Along](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BAV6980.jpg\")
Along Trinity Ave in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, some row houses built in the early 20th
century still remain. Few more can be found along Charles Prince Place and Forest Avenue. Photo by Jonathan Portee<\/p>\n
Today, Sheila said she worries that many in Kimani\u2019s generation won\u2019t be able to hold on to the wealth their families worked hard to secure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s talked with him about investing money and preserving the family home, but she fears things won\u2019t fall into place easily.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
In New York, \u201cIt\u2019s tough. You have to be smart, you have to be sharp, you have to know a person or two,\u201d she said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Like many longtime residents of changing neighborhoods, Sheila said she\u2019s heard plenty of offers from investors looking to buy the house.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
At one point, she was getting one or two calls per week from the same person for a year and a half. The man offered her $500,000 cash, to which she said, \u201cGo and jump in the lake.\u201d The house next door had sold for $900,000, and it\u2019s only a two-family, Sheila said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An agent once encouraged her to consider her age and that he could give her money on the spot. But Sheila said she responded, \u2018Well, I feel that I have more value with what I have.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sheila said she\u2019s been offered as much as $1.2 million, but \u201cThat\u2019s not my price.\u201d When asked if she did have any price in mind, she said, \u201cI tell them $1.5 [million]\u2014 but I wouldn\u2019t give it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said her mother worked every day in a white family\u2019s home, toiling through stress and pain in the era when taking off work to preserve one\u2019s mental and physical health \u201cwasn\u2019t a thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would never know what they\u2019re going through. And out of that respect, I\u2019m trying to teach my son, dammit, respect what someone had to go through to get what they have,\u201d Sheila said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I think about that, I say hell no.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
But she said it worries her that young people today, even those who are fortunate enough to have something passed down to them, \u201cThis generation will hardly be able to invest anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis [house] isn\u2019t a lot, but it\u2019s a jumping-off point. It\u2019s a roof over your head. If you take care of it, it will take care of you. I don\u2019t see where the 20- and 30-year-olds will get that chance.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kimani said he feels pressure to preserve his family legacy. He\u2019s heavily involved with renovating the house and preserving its finely crafted details, from the crown molding, wood floors, built-in cabinets, fragile glass and high ceilings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn buildings like these, everything in them is a bespoke fixture,\u201d he said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
But that craftsmanship is expensive to maintain, and some in the neighborhood have done away with their home\u2019s original features for the sake of cost and convenience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For instance, Kimani said one of the neighbors removed the giant sliding doors that pull out from each side to meet in the middle. To Sheila, these doors separated the grown-ups from the kids at her parents\u2019 parties. But the neighbors took the doors out and put up a solid wall with a regular door in the middle, a choice Kimani found horrifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their house, where his mom grew up on the second floor, and he on the third, is far more than an investment to Kimani.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want it as a speculative asset, I want to live here,\u201d he said. Yet he thinks it may still be impossible for him to hold on to the property. \u201cThat weighs on my mind quite a lot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finding a balance<\/p>\n
Kimani had a unique upbringing in the Bronx. He showed early signs of academic giftedness and could read everything in the house by age three, Sheila said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kimani never went to a Bronx school. Instead, he attended the toddler center at Barnard College and attended elementary and high school in Brooklyn. He spent hours on the train each day until the family got a car and drove him to Brooklyn for school, Manhattan for music classes, and to zoos, museums and other institutions in all parts of the city, where they often stayed from open till close, Sheila said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All around them, Sheila and Kimani believe their neighborhood institutions, especially schools, are suffering. Kimani pointed to the nearby Morris campus, a beautiful building he compared to a \u201chuge castle on a hill,\u201d but educationally is \u201cnot up to par at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bronx has always been overlooked,\u201d Sheila added. She said supporting her son\u2019s advanced learning was, in some ways, as challenging as finding the right school for a child with disabilities. \u201cThe Bronx does not provide for all children.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their area, Sheila felt there were no options for Kimani and refused to put him in a school she felt was underperforming.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The Bronx could and should have more kids attending Ivy League schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, then entering high-level professions, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m judging [the neighborhood] by your kids. I\u2019m judging it by the schools they go to,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cWe should have choices. Why is it that kids in the Bronx don\u2019t have more choices?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimani attended Northwestern University in Chicago, where he double majored in art and film, and now works in animation production and art direction for an independent game developer.<\/p>\n
![\"Over](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BAV7191.jpg\")
Over decades, Sheila Edwards has kept a giant stack of vintage vinyls and said she grew up hearing everything from salsa to soul in her South Bronx neighborhood. Photo by Jonathan Portee<\/p>\n
Kimani said he never met other kids from the Bronx at his Brooklyn private schools. Though he views New York as just \u201cone big city,\u201d leaving one\u2019s own borough every day still involves sacrifices: long commutes, less time for homework, fewer friendships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At home in the South Bronx, Kimani said he was bullied because kids viewed him as \u201ctoo educated to fit in with them culturally.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The experience was \u201costracizing \u2014 but why is that even a thing?\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea that I didn\u2019t belong here because I was schooled too well is a really troubling cultural touchstone for a borough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimani said he was \u201clucky\u201d to have the opportunities he did. But his mother said, \u201cI didn\u2019t have a choice. It annoyed us that we had to travel so far to get the type of education we knew he needed and deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the family considered buying a home in Brooklyn but decided to stay in the Bronx \u201cin order for him to be a balanced human being. Despite the unfairness, Sheila said her son\u2019s experiences were a unique advantage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
While he went to school with rich kids, living in the Bronx kept him grounded. \u201cYou need to be able to come home to the Bronx, go outside and play, hang out with your folks,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cThat meant a lot to us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the years, she\u2019s learned more about the bullying he experienced, which she said has been hard to reckon with. But she pointed to an example that proved he was raised with the right perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kimani, as a preschooler, was invited to lunch at a classmate\u2019s home \u2014 a Manhattan penthouse with gold walls, mahogany furniture and windows providing 360-degree skyline views, according to Sheila.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they came home, her husband asked Kimani how it went, to which he replied,\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it was nice. They had steps, and we have steps. They had windows, and we have windows.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Kimani said he doesn\u2019t remember this incident, but for his mother, it was a proud moment.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we were aiming for. For him not to judge or be judged, or allow others to judge him. So that balance was very important to us,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cAnd we didn\u2019t change a thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Bronx as \u2018just a place to dwell\u2019<\/p>\n
When asked where they see their neighborhood in 15 years, Sheila and Kimani struggled to answer.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Sheila said she has \u201cmany concerns\u201d stemming from her Harlem roots. \u201cI saw gentrification start there. That\u2019s how I got to know what it was.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Growing up, Harlem was \u201ca beautiful cultural place,\u201d she said. Over time, the neighborhood got what some would call nicer amenities and homes, which brought higher rents and ultimately the displacement of many longtime residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today, Sheila said the Bronx is \u201cthe last borough standing that hasn\u2019t been totally taken over.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
But too much change has been driven by big corporations adding housing without building up the rest of the neighborhood, she said.\n<\/p>\n
The other boroughs have more appeal from entertainment, events and institutions, and Sheila said the Bronx lags behind in that respect. Given all the new development, the borough should have better schools, hospitals, buses, cultural spaces and more by now, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way the Bronx is going, it\u2019s going to be just a place to dwell,\u201d Sheila said. \u201cThe buildings are going up, the people are filling them in \u2014 what else are you giving?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kimani agreed, adding that when out-of-town visitors come, he feels there\u2019s little to show off in his own neighborhood.\n<\/p>\n
He said the Bronx tends to have many chains and franchises but few niche, independent storefronts. He blamed it on real estate speculation by those who don\u2019t actually live in the Bronx, who don\u2019t have skin in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stigma of the Bronx being run-down and scary has lasted longer than in Brooklyn, making it harder to attract people away from other areas, Kimani said. But he believes negative perceptions could be changed with \u201can amenities-first kind of approach.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have that, there\u2019s not really a reason to pick the Bronx\u201d over other parts of the city, he said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The Bronx could be more like Flushing, Queens, he said, imbued with culture and tradition, but the Bronx\u2019s uniqueness doesn\u2019t always show in its storefronts, restaurants and public face.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to jumpstart that, people need some kind of assistance,\u201d Kimani said. \u201cAll of the necessary culture is here, but none of the finance.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Once it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s gone\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Looking to the future, Sheila said she hopes her block remains much the same. \u201cI\u2019m hoping we can all hold on and not sell out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She and Kimani are doing extensive renovations at a slow pace to prepare for up to four new tenants. Rather than modernizing the home\u2019s interior, they\u2019re in the painstaking process of preserving its imperfections. They believe in the work, and hope future renters will too.<\/p>\n
They already had to fight a contractor to keep the high ceilings. \u201cA lot of people just come in and do drop ceilings and recessed lighting,\u201d Kimani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He compared these old houses to classic cars: \u201cThere will never be more of them than there are right now, but there can always be less,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being a landlord, especially during the pandemic, has been tough on Sheila. Like many small landlords, she said she got burned by tenants who simply stopped paying rent, eventually accumulating $90,000 in arrears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was no quick fix, and many city programs seemed available only to homeowners with no debt \u2014 which means they probably didn\u2019t need the help, Sheila said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ramifications of that era are still playing out today, but people like her who own houses \u201cshould be not just holding on, but well-established and secure,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Bronx should\u2019ve been in a better position. The people in the Bronx should be living a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, Sheila said she feels fortunate to have something to pass down to Kimani and proud to provide a quality home for other residents once the renovation is complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With many Bronx homes in deplorable condition, overrun by pests or with ceilings collapsed from water leaks, she knows what she has is special. \u201cThose of us who have one little thing, we know we have to hold onto it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the hard work, Sheila and Kimani are determined to create a warm home for future tenants. They want original artwork by the door and for the house to be filled with people once again, as it was in Sheila\u2019s youth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what 1123 has always been about: home,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was always about family. That, I had the privilege of experiencing, and that\u2019s what my son is trying to bring in as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Sheila Edwards, 73, and her 30-year-old son Kimani, their brick row house at 1123 Forest Ave. in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,121030,121031,31354,2184,121032,1907,469,11466,13308,15726,121033,4009,3796,9,24,63,68107,53669,121034,2393,129,131,130,121035],"class_list":["post-321298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-landmarks","tag-carver-bank","tag-developers","tag-development","tag-forest-ave","tag-gentrification","tag-harlem","tag-landmark-preservation-commission","tag-loans","tag-longwood","tag-morris-high-school","tag-morrisania","tag-mott-haven","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-redlining","tag-salsa","tag-sheila-edwards","tag-south-bronx","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-trinitya-ave"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}