Fordham University’s Brian J. Byrne, Ph.D., vice president for the Lincoln Center campus, was honored Oct. 3 at the 30th anniversary celebration of the University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP).

Byrne received the UNHP’s Founder’s Award in recognition of his longtime service to the organization, which he helped to establish in 1983. Fordham’s Board of Trustees initiated the effort as a way for the University to have a greater involvement with Bronx community redevelopment efforts, which centered on housing preservation and redevelopment during some of the Bronx’s darkest days.

“Brian Byrne has long been not just a supporter, but a staunch advocate for the communities surrounding Fordham’s campuses,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “His work and influence have improved the lives of our neighbors, and helped build and improve upon vibrant communities. I cannot think of a more deserving recipient of this honor.”

The UNHP is a community-based nonprofit that aims to create, preserve, and improve affordable housing in the Northwest Bronx and New York City, founded jointly by Fordham and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. The UNHP is a community-based nonprofit that aims to create, preserve, and improve affordable housing in the Northwest Bronx and New York City. Founded jointly by Fordham and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, the UNHP began by purchasing dilapidated privately owned buildings and renovating them to create affordable housing.

The Oct. 3 commemoration was held at the historic Apple Bank Branch on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.

The problem, a group of housing experts agreed on Oct. 7, is that the construction industry can’t build fast enough to keep up with the city’s housing demand.

The experts were part of a panel discussion, “A Home in the City: Strategies for 21st Century Housing,” the fourth in Fordham’s Urban Dialogue Lecture Series, held at the Museum of Arts and Design.

Moderated by Frank Sciame, CEO and chairman of the Sciame Organizations, the panel featured Maryanne Gilmartin, FCRH 86, president and chief executive officer, Forest City Ratner Companies, Peter Gluck, founder and principal of the New York-based architecture firm Gluck+, Rosanne Haggarty, president of Community Solutions, and Witold Rybczynski, emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Peter Gluck, Rosanne Haggarty, Frank Sciame, Maryanne Gilmartin and Witold Rybczynski Photo by Chris Taggart

Antiquated zoning and building practices that date back practically to the 19th century are partly to blame for the paltry amount of housing in New York.

Haggarty, whose work with Common Ground Community pioneered a model of communal and supportive housing to end homelessness, said it’s impossible to build the type of housing that might serve the population that single room occupancy hotels once did.

“When we started to examine why we as a city couldn’t create a decent platform for a basic life here, we found a complete Rube Goldberg machine of regulations and rules, many of which were created with the best of intentions but [which]over time have come into conflict with each other,” she said.

“There are all sorts of rules that  . . . interfere with our ability to satisfy the basic requirement to provide a place that’s safe, clean and private.”

Gilmartin and Gluck embraced the benefits of modular construction, which Gilmartin’s firm is using as part of its Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. Three months from now, Gilmartin said, the first sections of what will be 15 buildings with 6,430 apartments (2,250 affordable) will roll off an assembly line at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and be installed in towers as high as 32 stories.

“We knew we were doing something wildly ambitious,” Gilmartin said. “It was important for people to understand that modular construction is not about high-rise prisons. Whether you go back to Frank Lloyd Wright or Buckminster Fuller, modular construction has been a fascination of great architects because of the quality control and the ability to really produce objective beauty, in a weatherproof environment,” she said.

Modular construction may bring down construction costs, but a more varied supply of living space is also necessary. Haggarty said that surveys of the homeless showed that spaces as small as 90 square feet would be acceptable for living. Gluck wondered why, unlike Japan, America doesn’t design well for smaller spaces.

“How much dead space is there in everybody’s bedroom?” he said.

Rybczynski said that Americans were not ready to change so radically. Beware of the visionaries, he said, and focus on what’s worked in the past.

Brian J. Byrne, Ph.D. vice president for Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, raised the issue of housing preservation in areas like the Bronx, where rising energy, water, and sewage taxes are threatening existing middle class homeowners.

Gluck said that, as rising real estate values push the poor out of the city, perhaps experts should be focusing on making it easier for people to commute from the suburbs, where land is cheaper. Haggarty agreed.

“Maybe what we need to do is invest in transportation. Maybe the answer to New York City’s housing problems is investing in Newburgh, and Yonkers and Bridgeport, and Camden,” Haggarty said.

Video: Urban Dialogues Lecture Series

John (Jack) Healey, S.T.D., was the former director of the Archbishop Hughes Institute on Religion and Culture at Fordham. He died on June 21.

He was the former dean of the College of General Studies (now Fordham College of Liberal Studies), and also served as vice president for planning and budget. In addition, Healy was an adjunct professor of theology.

He was a member of the Society of Jesus who left the order and later married Ann Conyers, who survives him.

Healey was instrumental in his role as director of the Archbishop Hughes Institute for facilitating the annual Nostra Aetate lecture series, which fosters Catholic-Jewish dialogue.

Patrick J Ryan, S.J., the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham, said that while still a Jesuit, Healey introduced him to the theological thought of the first Protestants and of the agents of Catholic reform in the 16th century.

“His interest in ecumenical dialogue expanded to interreligious dialogue, especially with Jews and Muslims,” Father Ryan said. “He and his wife, Ann, were great hosts and joyful people. He will be sorely missed by me and all his friends in many faith communities.”

Brian J. Byrne, Ph.D., vice president for the Lincoln Center campus, worked closely with Healey when he was in the planning department and remembered Healey as a splendid colleague.

“He uniquely combined impish good humor, surpassing politeness and conspicuously controlled rage as he wrestled with the many nuances of our budget,” Byrne said.

“He understood Fordham’s academic mission and had a deep appreciation of the often-conflicted enterprise of higher education in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition. He was above all, a warm and caring person.  We shall miss him.”

Joseph Muriana, associate vice president for government relations, called Healey lively and intellectually challenging and noted that he was a driving force behind a self-study conducted by the University in preparation for its Middle States accreditation process in February 1985.

“He as a great listener; he gave you plenty of opportunity to present your ideas and position, and then he would respond to that in a really friendly way—but challenge people to think beyond what they were thinking,” Muriana said.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Jesuit Community at Fordham University or the Sisters of Charity at Mount Saint Vincent.

Edward G. Zogby, S.J., was the associate vice president for Lincoln Center for 10 years during the 1980s. He died on June 16.

From 1980 to 1983, while residing at the Jesuit community at East 83rd Street, Father Zogby served as campus minister.

He continued this work with various ministries in New York City until 2001, when he was appointed associate pastor at Saint Elizabeth Seton Shrine/Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Lower Manhattan. He served there until his death.

As teacher, preacher and chaplain, with his great love for literature and the Bible, Father Zogby ably and generously exercised the ministry of the word and shared the treasure of the Spiritual Exercises in parishes, retreat centers and educational institutions.