After-School Gaming Center Opens at Melrose North Community Center 

A new gaming and entrepreneurship center officially opened at the newly constructed Melrose North affordable housing development in the Bronx on November 15. The BX Start center provides free after-school programming for youth ages 13 to 21 in a 5,000-square-foot space at the Melrose North community center. In addition to the programming, which is facilitated by community partner DreamYard Project, BX Start will hold community game nights each month for residents of the new Melrose North building and NYCHA’s Morrisania Air Rights development.  

Melrose North is a 12-story, 100 percent affordable housing building featuring 171 apartments for households earning incomes between 40 and 80 percent of the area median income. The property, which sits on the site of a former NYCHA trash compactor, includes 42 apartments set aside for NYCHA residents, while 103 apartments are supportive for formerly homeless individuals. Leasing is currently underway, and the building is expected to be fully occupied by the spring.  

Featured photo caption: NYCHA Executive Vice President for Real Estate Development Jonathan Gouveia speaks at the November 15 ribbon-cutting event.

The new BX Start center offers free after-school programming for youth in the Bronx and will host community game nights for neighborhood residents.