The highest listings for one bedroom rentals all averaged at roughly $1,600 and, not surprisingly, all located in the South Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, Port Morris, and the Grand Concourse below 167th.
The farther North and away from the Manhattan core, the lower the rents in general and the difference between the North and South Bronx are pretty big by as much as $400 less in the suburban northern reaches of our borough.
Now we must tell you that these rents are just the asking listing price and not actual rents so it would be interesting to see the difference.
But what’s interesting and also troubling is that landlords have the confidence in the market and interest in the South Bronx to justify asking for these rents.
At any rate, anyone who thinks gentrification isn’t occurring and that there isn’t a pattern of being close to Manhattan, well, you need to rethink again.
Too many of our children are suffering from asthma and one too many are dying. This is an all too common sight in our borough.
A 7-year-old South Bronx girl in Melrose dies tragically from asthma yet you, our Borough President along with your machine cronies still think it’s ok to move FreshDirect and their dirty, truck intensive company into our borough where we have some of the highest rates of asthma in the nation.
This is why we fight against such dirty deals.
We’re exhausted from the senseless deaths. We are over saturated with choking and deadly diesel fumes.
Our neighborhood is dominated by 5 bridges along with 3 highways that are congested already and creates an area known as Asthma Alley.
How can you, our elected leaders, say this is GOOD for the South Bronx and The Bronx when children are dying as a result of these policies? Oh, that’s right, your campaigns are financed by such companies. You all have blood on your hands, those who approve and let this deal slide through.
We educate the general public on why we oppose such a deal, we tell you of its deadly impact but when a child dies, it becomes all too horrifying and real. To say I am angry and livid at our leadership is an understatement.
Bronx Asthma Facts
Asthma rates are some of the highest in the nation in The Bronx
The Bronx has an asthma mortality rate of 3x the national average with more people and children dying from the chronic disease than any other borough.
Hospitalization rates from asthma are 21x higher in the South Bronx than the rest of the city, particularly affluent neighborhoods
A number of Bronx neighborhoods, particularly in the South Bronx, have an estimated 20% of children with the deadly disease
Mychal Johnson, a Mott Haven resident and one of the founders of South Bronx Unite said, “As our elected leaders have fundraisers to continue their political careers based on policies that cause health epidemics in our neighborhoods, our children are literally dying. How many more lives need to be lost?”
Like and share this tweet to let our Borough Prez know ENOUGH:
Dear Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr: How Many More of Our Children Must Die From Asthma Bef… https://t.co/ErdUAPtpM5
Another Mott Haven resident and founding member of South Bronx Unite, Monxo Lopez, said, “Lives lost to asthma are not part of a statistical game of numbers. These are our daughters, our neighbors, our parents, dying.”
“This tragedy was absolutely preventable; but our politicians are too busy day-dreaming about congress or city hall, dining, and fundraising with rich developers, or bringing diesel-truck intensive asthma-inducing deals -like FreshDirect’s- into our communities. The death of this girl is a crime, and it cannot be forgotten,” added Lopez.
Maps created by Grant Pezeshki and Jessie L. Carr, University of Pittsburgh and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
As I write this, my father is by the family’s side as they lay their child to rest.
This little girl was our daughter, our sister, our responsibility as a community. What do you say to the parents when you have failed to provide a healthy and clean environment for their children?
Folks, this is a war against people of color and low-income families and they don’t care if children are lost.
Let this child’s tragic death and those of many others not be in vain.
To learn more about why we fight against environmentally disastrous deals like FreshDirect’s planned move to The Bronx, head over to South Bronx Unite.
Rendering of 425 Grand Concourse on the site of the former landmark and beloved PS 31 is completely out of context of the Grand Concourse.
Coming soon to the Grand Concourse will be a towering 24 story building (the tallest on The Grand Concourse) on the site of the former and beloved PS 31 aka Castle on The Concourse (at the corner of E 144th Street directly South of Hostos Community College) which we fought very hard to save from demolition—surpassing Executive Towers, built in 1963, by one story.
Without community input, the city is moving forward with a plan to plop down this highrise labeled as “affordable” housing yet it reported income requirements is double to triple that of the area’s median income.
The 300,000 square foot development will include 241 units of varying size to tenants that earn 60% to 100% of the area median income (the dreaded and infamous AMI) which adds up to $46,613-$63,700 for a family of 3.
Part of the development will include a charter school (we don’t know why a charter a not a regular public school but again, there has been zero community input on this plan. A medical facility, cultural space, and a supermarket is also slated for the site which still has to be rezoned to accommodate such a massive structure.
We predicted that the site would be developed into a lucrative development and continue the further gentrification of the South Bronx.
“As a proud graduate of P.S. 31, I was sorry to see my beloved school building fall into such disrepair, and even sorrier to see it demolished. However, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) recognized the need for new life and new development at this historic site, and has moved to bring welcome new affordable housing units, commercial activity and a reinvigorated Garrison Playground to the Lower Concourse neighborhood,” he said in a prepared statement.
“I’m especially gratified that the city has chosen ‘Passive House’ construction, bringing a level of environmentally friendly development to our borough that has not been seen here before,” Diaz added.
The city intends to rezone the block for the development. That formal land use process is expected to begin in 2017.
City Councilman Rafael Salamanca, who represents the area and would ultimately have to approve the rezoning, supports the project, his spokesman said.
“Council member Salamanca is working with a number of parties to make real investments in that area, including with Hostos Community College and Garrison Playground, which is immediately north of 425 Grand Concourse,” the spokesman, Ryan Monell, said. “So the proposed development will be an improvement for the area.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement:
“This beautifully designed and sustainable affordable housing proposal for Mott Haven, near one of our city’s important institutions of higher learning and on the former site of an historic neighborhood school, will be home to hundreds of low- and moderate-income families, while also providing a supermarket, other retail space and also community services to the neighborhood,” de Blasio said in a prepared statement. “We welcome this proposal as a wonderful addition to our growing affordable housing portfolio — and a model for all housing development in New York’s future.”
If you recall, Diaz Jr did NOTHING to save PS 31 which was considered to be salvageable by engineering reports, however, NYC was intent on demolishing the beloved landmark.
Considering that such a community asset was taken away from us, it would have been appropriate for the community to come up with a vision for this city-owned land but Mayor Bill de Blasio and crew missed the opportunity—once again—for engaging us in the process.
The Lower Concourse Rezoning District which is bounded to the North by 149th Street, to the West by the Harlem River, to the East by Morris Avenue, and South by E 135th Street/Major Deegan Expressway, was approved in 2009 with no construction until Morris Court began construction in 2013 and opened in 2014.
This new rezoning allowed for towers as tall as 40+ stories to rise along the Harlem River Waterfront sandwiched by the Major Deegan Expressway.
425 Grand Concourse is completely out of character for the boulevard of dreams and precisely why we need to landmark the entire length of this precious landmark. Executive Towers was constructed in 1963 and doesn’t quite fit harmoniously with the art deco architecture that lines the Concourse.
At the very least if they’re going to build such a tall building it should be art deco (and not to mention actually affordable to families who live in the neighborhood).
With the expected surge of development in the area, the city is completely negligent on taking care of our existing infrastructure first and foremost. Subway stations at 149th and Grand Concourse on the 2,4 5 line where this site is located are already overflowing with commuters to the point that people have to wait for several trains to pass before getting on during rush hour.
How are residents who live in the area are supposed to cope with the additional stresses an increasing population causes in a neighborhood?
What about increased traffic? We’re already plagued with abysmal traffic due to Yankee games when the area is flooded with tens of thousands of fans.
While many folks will celebrate this as a positive sign of The Bronx’s resurgence, the people who will immediately be impacted and face the pressures of gentrification will not be jumping for joy anytime soon.
So many changes have come to The Bronx, many positive although with strings attached but the one constant we’ve had is the aesthetics, architecture, and design of the Grand Concourse. Sadly this development will leave a stain on our famed boulevard.
The successful Throggs Neck Shopping Center (home of our beloved Metro Optics) is getting a drive through Starbucks—the first of its kind in our borough and the 5th in New York City (the others are in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island). Hey, make sure you get your eyes checked before driving through for your pumpkin spiced latte.
Get out of your car and WALK off a few of the calories you’re about to engorge.
Pardon our obvious bias.
What do you think? You guys already know how we feel about Starbucks so there’s no point in going any further but we’d like to know what you think of this.
At about 7:30PM, a 30 to 40 foot section of the Dyre Avenue Station platform collapsed bringing service to a halt.
The collapse at the busy terminus on the 5 line surprisingly left no one injured as reported by the media. Considering the heavy use of the station as commuters return home, it’s a miracle no one was injured or killed in the incident.
As expected, there will be no service between Dyre Ave and E 180th Street until further notice so commuters should plan accordingly for tomorrow in case service isn’t restored.
Pix11 recommends the following:
For service to Morris Park and Pelham Pkwy, take the No. 2 to Pelham Pkwy and transfer to the BX12 bus.
For service to Gun Hill Rd, take the No. 2 to Gun Hill Rd, transfer to the BX28 or BX38 bus.
For service to Baychester Av, take the No. 2 to Gun Hill Rd, transfer to the BX30 bus.
For service to Dyre Av, take the No. 2 to Nereid Av, transfer to the BX16 bus.
#YesWeCode event in Melrose at The Old Bronx Borough Courthouse last September/Image via LiquidTalent
While the world mourns the loss of an epic entertainer and an artist who knew no bounds, what many never knew was his philanthropic side in helping uplift the most disadvantaged from poverty.
Through that vision, #YesWeCode helps to train 100,000 youths, primarily of color, and equip them with the necessary skills to help uplift them from poverty.
What we didn’t know, until this past Friday after Prince had passed, was that he was the one funding this innovative program but didn’t want it to be known.
According to data culled by Richard Kerby at Venrock, 2% of partners at venture capital firms are black. That affects the kinds of entrepreneurs who get funding. “I don’t look like Zuck,” Matt Joseph, a black entrepreneur who spoke out about the issue, tweeted in March.
For black women, things are particularly bleak. A recent report found that black female founders made up just .2% of all venture capital deals from 2012 to 2014. For all the grim statistics, there are also success stories.
Take Mamadou Diallo, a 17-year-old young man from Harlem who was recently offered a full ride to Stanford.
Diallo was introduced to coding at age 14 through a weekend coding course. He took it because it promised a free laptop — but it exposed him to a world he’d never seen before.
It’s kids like Diallo that Prince wanted to help. Prince used his widespread appeal to promote YesWeCode and other initiatives. He headlined the ESSENCE Festival in 2014, where YesWeCode was launched with a youth-focused hackathon.
But Jones said Prince didn’t boast about the work he did. He helped support Rebuild the Dream and donated to other organizations like Eau Claire Promise Zone in South Carolina, which helps prepare community kids for college.
“He really believed that young people could change the world,” said Jones, who is a CNN commentator.
Prince was a teen when his career got started, one of the reasons why he was so passionate about helping the younger generation find success
“He believed in the Black Lives Matter kids so much — and he had a dream for them,” Jones said. “He said, ‘I hope that they become an economic force. I hope that they use their genius to start businesses.'”
And unknown to us, Prince was helping out our children in a very powerful and meaningful way.
Prince/Image Credit Unknown
But it wasn’t the first time to musical genius touched The Bronx.
old Christopher Buckland, looking very happy indeed, as his teacher interpreted rock lyrics in sign language.
Two thousand deaf, blind and handicapped children were treated yesterday to a surprise performance by Prince at Lehman College’s Center for the Performing Arts, at Bedford Park Boulevard West and Paul Avenue in the Bronx.
The enthusiastic audience came from public schools, private institutions and United Cerebral Palsy centers around the city.
Prince’s New York spokesman, Alan Leeds, said of the free, unpublicized concert: ”He happens to get gratification out of playing for people who might not ever be able to attend a rock concert. It’s not a flag-waving affair.”
Prince was a larger than life entertainer loved by millions who felt a deep connection to his music and joie de vivre but now fans have something else to celebrate in this man and perhaps take a page from the book and pay it forward.
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”—William Shakespeare’s, Hamlet
There are many elements of Charlotte D’Alessio’s life that read like a teenager’s fairy tale. Instagram didn’t exist when I was in high school, but I imagine I’d be pretty fascinated by the beautiful, leggy 17-year-old with more than 174,000 followers and a Wilhelmina Models contract, too. For the legions of aspiring Cool Teens™, D’Alessio, who has been modeling full-time for the last year, is living the dream — though her Cinderella story has been anything but conventional.
At Coachella in 2015, pictures of D’Alessio (above, right) and her friend, 18-year-old model Josie Canseco (left), flooded the Internet, winding up on places like the festival’s official Twitter and The Cobra Snake’s Instagram, among others. BuzzFeed spoke to D’Alessio soon after, resulting in a viral article that has since garnered 1,479,600 views. Wilhelmina reached out to D’Alessio from there, and the rest is history. In the 12 months since D’Alessio was discovered, the Canada native has landed a slew of commercial campaigns, left Beverly Hills High Schoolto pursue homeschooling and launched a YouTube channel with her friend and fellow model, Abby Champion. And with a secret project in the works for this summer, I imagine that D’Alessio’s stake in the California modeling pantheon will only deepen.
On the eve of Coachella 2016’s first weekend, I hopped on the phone with D’Alessio to get caught up on the last year of her life, from her social media strategy to her dream campaign.
You obviously gained a lot of attention at Coachella last year. What can you tell me about your experience there?
I went with my friend Josie — it was my first year going — and we barely took photos. I think we took 10 photos, but people really responded to them. They ended up everywhere. I saw them on Facebook, and not just [from] friends, but random people posting them. And then The Weeknd and the Coachella Twitter reposted [one of their photos]. It was so surreal because I was just a normal girl from Canada who was going to Coachella. I had, like, 16,000 [Instagram] followers, and now it’s [174,000].
Coachella really got me started in modeling. Wilhelmina reached out to me from the [BuzzFeed] article — that’s how they saw me.
Fragrance is great, but it’s hard to write or read about because your computer screen isn’t scratch and sniff—also because I can’t talk about base notes or top notes without feeling like a fancy sommelier. I prefer to think of fragrance in terms of anthropology, which is much more fun. Have you ever thought about your personal fragrance history? Well, here’s mine.
And when Wilhelmina reached out to you, how did you feel about going forward with the process?
Basically every single one of my friends in L.A. is a model, with Next or Wilhelmina or whatever it is. I was the non-model in the friend group because I wanted to go to UCLA. I didn’t have that much of an interest — well, I had an interest, but I didn’t think I would be successful so I didn’t really pursue it.
When they asked me to come in, I went with my dad because I was 16. I almost didn’t sign because I was so scared. But I’m happy I ended up signing with them, because they’ve been a really great agency. I had the contract in my room for two days — like, I was scared they were going to tell me to cut my hair or lose weight or something like that, but they’ve been so supportive. They never told me to change anything.
Fifth Grade: Tommy Boy
I’m not kidding, I won Tommy Boy after I aced a quiz contest in Sunday School. The ultimate bounty. If you find yourself deep in the attic of my parent’s house, and you pay close attention, you might be able to smell it.
Puberty: Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce
Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.
College: Kenzo Homme Sport
My college years were timed with the heyday of the Kenzo sweatshirt, so this was a very fancy scent to own. You can now buy it for $30 on Amazon.
I can look back at them like a tiny museum of me that smells really good—literally, because I still have them all. But enough about me and how (great) I smell. I want to know your fragrance history—tell me what scents you love and why you love them. Tell me when you wear them, and how you apply them, and why they’re special to you. Tell me everything.
There are many elements of Charlotte D’Alessio’s life that read like a teenager’s fairy tale. Instagram didn’t exist when I was in high school, but I imagine I’d be pretty fascinated by the beautiful, leggy 17-year-old with more than 174,000 followers and a Wilhelmina Models contract, too. For the legions of aspiring Cool Teens™, D’Alessio, who has been modeling full-time for the last year, is living the dream — though her Cinderella story has been anything but conventional.
At Coachella in 2015, pictures of D’Alessio (above, right) and her friend, 18-year-old model Josie Canseco (left), flooded the Internet, winding up on places like the festival’s official Twitter and The Cobra Snake’s Instagram, among others. BuzzFeed spoke to D’Alessio soon after, resulting in a viral article that has since garnered 1,479,600 views. Wilhelmina reached out to D’Alessio from there, and the rest is history. In the 12 months since D’Alessio was discovered, the Canada native has landed a slew of commercial campaigns, left Beverly Hills High Schoolto pursue homeschooling and launched a YouTube channel with her friend and fellow model, Abby Champion. And with a secret project in the works for this summer, I imagine that D’Alessio’s stake in the California modeling pantheon will only deepen.
On the eve of Coachella 2016’s first weekend, I hopped on the phone with D’Alessio to get caught up on the last year of her life, from her social media strategy to her dream campaign.
You obviously gained a lot of attention at Coachella last year. What can you tell me about your experience there?
I went with my friend Josie — it was my first year going — and we barely took photos. I think we took 10 photos, but people really responded to them. They ended up everywhere. I saw them on Facebook, and not just [from] friends, but random people posting them. And then The Weeknd and the Coachella Twitter reposted [one of their photos]. It was so surreal because I was just a normal girl from Canada who was going to Coachella. I had, like, 16,000 [Instagram] followers, and now it’s [174,000].
Coachella really got me started in modeling. Wilhelmina reached out to me from the [BuzzFeed] article — that’s how they saw me.
Fragrance is great, but it’s hard to write or read about because your computer screen isn’t scratch and sniff—also because I can’t talk about base notes or top notes without feeling like a fancy sommelier. I prefer to think of fragrance in terms of anthropology, which is much more fun. Have you ever thought about your personal fragrance history? Well, here’s mine.
And when Wilhelmina reached out to you, how did you feel about going forward with the process?
Basically every single one of my friends in L.A. is a model, with Next or Wilhelmina or whatever it is. I was the non-model in the friend group because I wanted to go to UCLA. I didn’t have that much of an interest — well, I had an interest, but I didn’t think I would be successful so I didn’t really pursue it.
When they asked me to come in, I went with my dad because I was 16. I almost didn’t sign because I was so scared. But I’m happy I ended up signing with them, because they’ve been a really great agency. I had the contract in my room for two days — like, I was scared they were going to tell me to cut my hair or lose weight or something like that, but they’ve been so supportive. They never told me to change anything.
Fifth Grade: Tommy Boy
I’m not kidding, I won Tommy Boy after I aced a quiz contest in Sunday School. The ultimate bounty. If you find yourself deep in the attic of my parent’s house, and you pay close attention, you might be able to smell it.
Puberty: Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce
Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.
College: Kenzo Homme Sport
My college years were timed with the heyday of the Kenzo sweatshirt, so this was a very fancy scent to own. You can now buy it for $30 on Amazon.
I can look back at them like a tiny museum of me that smells really good—literally, because I still have them all. But enough about me and how (great) I smell. I want to know your fragrance history—tell me what scents you love and why you love them. Tell me when you wear them, and how you apply them, and why they’re special to you. Tell me everything.
There are many elements of Charlotte D’Alessio’s life that read like a teenager’s fairy tale. Instagram didn’t exist when I was in high school, but I imagine I’d be pretty fascinated by the beautiful, leggy 17-year-old with more than 174,000 followers and a Wilhelmina Models contract, too. For the legions of aspiring Cool Teens™, D’Alessio, who has been modeling full-time for the last year, is living the dream — though her Cinderella story has been anything but conventional.
At Coachella in 2015, pictures of D’Alessio (above, right) and her friend, 18-year-old model Josie Canseco (left), flooded the Internet, winding up on places like the festival’s official Twitter and The Cobra Snake’s Instagram, among others. BuzzFeed spoke to D’Alessio soon after, resulting in a viral article that has since garnered 1,479,600 views. Wilhelmina reached out to D’Alessio from there, and the rest is history. In the 12 months since D’Alessio was discovered, the Canada native has landed a slew of commercial campaigns, left Beverly Hills High Schoolto pursue homeschooling and launched a YouTube channel with her friend and fellow model, Abby Champion. And with a secret project in the works for this summer, I imagine that D’Alessio’s stake in the California modeling pantheon will only deepen.
On the eve of Coachella 2016’s first weekend, I hopped on the phone with D’Alessio to get caught up on the last year of her life, from her social media strategy to her dream campaign.
You obviously gained a lot of attention at Coachella last year. What can you tell me about your experience there?
I went with my friend Josie — it was my first year going — and we barely took photos. I think we took 10 photos, but people really responded to them. They ended up everywhere. I saw them on Facebook, and not just [from] friends, but random people posting them. And then The Weeknd and the Coachella Twitter reposted [one of their photos]. It was so surreal because I was just a normal girl from Canada who was going to Coachella. I had, like, 16,000 [Instagram] followers, and now it’s [174,000].
Coachella really got me started in modeling. Wilhelmina reached out to me from the [BuzzFeed] article — that’s how they saw me.
Fragrance is great, but it’s hard to write or read about because your computer screen isn’t scratch and sniff—also because I can’t talk about base notes or top notes without feeling like a fancy sommelier. I prefer to think of fragrance in terms of anthropology, which is much more fun. Have you ever thought about your personal fragrance history? Well, here’s mine.
And when Wilhelmina reached out to you, how did you feel about going forward with the process?
Basically every single one of my friends in L.A. is a model, with Next or Wilhelmina or whatever it is. I was the non-model in the friend group because I wanted to go to UCLA. I didn’t have that much of an interest — well, I had an interest, but I didn’t think I would be successful so I didn’t really pursue it.
When they asked me to come in, I went with my dad because I was 16. I almost didn’t sign because I was so scared. But I’m happy I ended up signing with them, because they’ve been a really great agency. I had the contract in my room for two days — like, I was scared they were going to tell me to cut my hair or lose weight or something like that, but they’ve been so supportive. They never told me to change anything.
Fifth Grade: Tommy Boy
I’m not kidding, I won Tommy Boy after I aced a quiz contest in Sunday School. The ultimate bounty. If you find yourself deep in the attic of my parent’s house, and you pay close attention, you might be able to smell it.
Puberty: Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce
Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.
College: Kenzo Homme Sport
My college years were timed with the heyday of the Kenzo sweatshirt, so this was a very fancy scent to own. You can now buy it for $30 on Amazon.
I can look back at them like a tiny museum of me that smells really good—literally, because I still have them all. But enough about me and how (great) I smell. I want to know your fragrance history—tell me what scents you love and why you love them. Tell me when you wear them, and how you apply them, and why they’re special to you. Tell me everything.
There are many elements of Charlotte D’Alessio’s life that read like a teenager’s fairy tale. Instagram didn’t exist when I was in high school, but I imagine I’d be pretty fascinated by the beautiful, leggy 17-year-old with more than 174,000 followers and a Wilhelmina Models contract, too. For the legions of aspiring Cool Teens™, D’Alessio, who has been modeling full-time for the last year, is living the dream — though her Cinderella story has been anything but conventional.
At Coachella in 2015, pictures of D’Alessio (above, right) and her friend, 18-year-old model Josie Canseco (left), flooded the Internet, winding up on places like the festival’s official Twitter and The Cobra Snake’s Instagram, among others. BuzzFeed spoke to D’Alessio soon after, resulting in a viral article that has since garnered 1,479,600 views. Wilhelmina reached out to D’Alessio from there, and the rest is history. In the 12 months since D’Alessio was discovered, the Canada native has landed a slew of commercial campaigns, left Beverly Hills High Schoolto pursue homeschooling and launched a YouTube channel with her friend and fellow model, Abby Champion. And with a secret project in the works for this summer, I imagine that D’Alessio’s stake in the California modeling pantheon will only deepen.
On the eve of Coachella 2016’s first weekend, I hopped on the phone with D’Alessio to get caught up on the last year of her life, from her social media strategy to her dream campaign.
You obviously gained a lot of attention at Coachella last year. What can you tell me about your experience there?
I went with my friend Josie — it was my first year going — and we barely took photos. I think we took 10 photos, but people really responded to them. They ended up everywhere. I saw them on Facebook, and not just [from] friends, but random people posting them. And then The Weeknd and the Coachella Twitter reposted [one of their photos]. It was so surreal because I was just a normal girl from Canada who was going to Coachella. I had, like, 16,000 [Instagram] followers, and now it’s [174,000].
Coachella really got me started in modeling. Wilhelmina reached out to me from the [BuzzFeed] article — that’s how they saw me.
Fragrance is great, but it’s hard to write or read about because your computer screen isn’t scratch and sniff—also because I can’t talk about base notes or top notes without feeling like a fancy sommelier. I prefer to think of fragrance in terms of anthropology, which is much more fun. Have you ever thought about your personal fragrance history? Well, here’s mine.
And when Wilhelmina reached out to you, how did you feel about going forward with the process?
Basically every single one of my friends in L.A. is a model, with Next or Wilhelmina or whatever it is. I was the non-model in the friend group because I wanted to go to UCLA. I didn’t have that much of an interest — well, I had an interest, but I didn’t think I would be successful so I didn’t really pursue it.
When they asked me to come in, I went with my dad because I was 16. I almost didn’t sign because I was so scared. But I’m happy I ended up signing with them, because they’ve been a really great agency. I had the contract in my room for two days — like, I was scared they were going to tell me to cut my hair or lose weight or something like that, but they’ve been so supportive. They never told me to change anything.
Fifth Grade: Tommy Boy
I’m not kidding, I won Tommy Boy after I aced a quiz contest in Sunday School. The ultimate bounty. If you find yourself deep in the attic of my parent’s house, and you pay close attention, you might be able to smell it.
Puberty: Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce
Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.
College: Kenzo Homme Sport
My college years were timed with the heyday of the Kenzo sweatshirt, so this was a very fancy scent to own. You can now buy it for $30 on Amazon.
I can look back at them like a tiny museum of me that smells really good—literally, because I still have them all. But enough about me and how (great) I smell. I want to know your fragrance history—tell me what scents you love and why you love them. Tell me when you wear them, and how you apply them, and why they’re special to you. Tell me everything.
There are many elements of Charlotte D’Alessio’s life that read like a teenager’s fairy tale. Instagram didn’t exist when I was in high school, but I imagine I’d be pretty fascinated by the beautiful, leggy 17-year-old with more than 174,000 followers and a Wilhelmina Models contract, too. For the legions of aspiring Cool Teens™, D’Alessio, who has been modeling full-time for the last year, is living the dream — though her Cinderella story has been anything but conventional.
At Coachella in 2015, pictures of D’Alessio (above, right) and her friend, 18-year-old model Josie Canseco (left), flooded the Internet, winding up on places like the festival’s official Twitter and The Cobra Snake’s Instagram, among others. BuzzFeed spoke to D’Alessio soon after, resulting in a viral article that has since garnered 1,479,600 views. Wilhelmina reached out to D’Alessio from there, and the rest is history. In the 12 months since D’Alessio was discovered, the Canada native has landed a slew of commercial campaigns, left Beverly Hills High Schoolto pursue homeschooling and launched a YouTube channel with her friend and fellow model, Abby Champion. And with a secret project in the works for this summer, I imagine that D’Alessio’s stake in the California modeling pantheon will only deepen.
On the eve of Coachella 2016’s first weekend, I hopped on the phone with D’Alessio to get caught up on the last year of her life, from her social media strategy to her dream campaign.
You obviously gained a lot of attention at Coachella last year. What can you tell me about your experience there?
I went with my friend Josie — it was my first year going — and we barely took photos. I think we took 10 photos, but people really responded to them. They ended up everywhere. I saw them on Facebook, and not just [from] friends, but random people posting them. And then The Weeknd and the Coachella Twitter reposted [one of their photos]. It was so surreal because I was just a normal girl from Canada who was going to Coachella. I had, like, 16,000 [Instagram] followers, and now it’s [174,000].
Coachella really got me started in modeling. Wilhelmina reached out to me from the [BuzzFeed] article — that’s how they saw me.
Fragrance is great, but it’s hard to write or read about because your computer screen isn’t scratch and sniff—also because I can’t talk about base notes or top notes without feeling like a fancy sommelier. I prefer to think of fragrance in terms of anthropology, which is much more fun. Have you ever thought about your personal fragrance history? Well, here’s mine.
Christina on a regular day
And when Wilhelmina reached out to you, how did you feel about going forward with the process?
Basically every single one of my friends in L.A. is a model, with Next or Wilhelmina or whatever it is. I was the non-model in the friend group because I wanted to go to UCLA. I didn’t have that much of an interest — well, I had an interest, but I didn’t think I would be successful so I didn’t really pursue it.
When they asked me to come in, I went with my dad because I was 16. I almost didn’t sign because I was so scared. But I’m happy I ended up signing with them, because they’ve been a really great agency. I had the contract in my room for two days — like, I was scared they were going to tell me to cut my hair or lose weight or something like that, but they’ve been so supportive. They never told me to change anything.
Fifth Grade: Tommy Boy
I’m not kidding, I won Tommy Boy after I aced a quiz contest in Sunday School. The ultimate bounty. If you find yourself deep in the attic of my parent’s house, and you pay close attention, you might be able to smell it.
Puberty: Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce
Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.
College: Kenzo Homme Sport
My college years were timed with the heyday of the Kenzo sweatshirt, so this was a very fancy scent to own. You can now buy it for $30 on Amazon.
I can look back at them like a tiny museum of me that smells really good—literally, because I still have them all. But enough about me and how (great) I smell. I want to know your fragrance history—tell me what scents you love and why you love them. Tell me when you wear them, and how you apply them, and why they’re special to you. Tell me everything.
There are many elements of Charlotte D’Alessio’s life that read like a teenager’s fairy tale. Instagram didn’t exist when I was in high school, but I imagine I’d be pretty fascinated by the beautiful, leggy 17-year-old with more than 174,000 followers and a Wilhelmina Models contract, too. For the legions of aspiring Cool Teens™, D’Alessio, who has been modeling full-time for the last year, is living the dream — though her Cinderella story has been anything but conventional.
At Coachella in 2015, pictures of D’Alessio (above, right) and her friend, 18-year-old model Josie Canseco (left), flooded the Internet, winding up on places like the festival’s official Twitter and The Cobra Snake’s Instagram, among others. BuzzFeed spoke to D’Alessio soon after, resulting in a viral article that has since garnered 1,479,600 views. Wilhelmina reached out to D’Alessio from there, and the rest is history. In the 12 months since D’Alessio was discovered, the Canada native has landed a slew of commercial campaigns, left Beverly Hills High Schoolto pursue homeschooling and launched a YouTube channel with her friend and fellow model, Abby Champion. And with a secret project in the works for this summer, I imagine that D’Alessio’s stake in the California modeling pantheon will only deepen.
On the eve of Coachella 2016’s first weekend, I hopped on the phone with D’Alessio to get caught up on the last year of her life, from her social media strategy to her dream campaign.
You obviously gained a lot of attention at Coachella last year. What can you tell me about your experience there?
I went with my friend Josie — it was my first year going — and we barely took photos. I think we took 10 photos, but people really responded to them. They ended up everywhere. I saw them on Facebook, and not just [from] friends, but random people posting them. And then The Weeknd and the Coachella Twitter reposted [one of their photos]. It was so surreal because I was just a normal girl from Canada who was going to Coachella. I had, like, 16,000 [Instagram] followers, and now it’s [174,000].
Coachella really got me started in modeling. Wilhelmina reached out to me from the [BuzzFeed] article — that’s how they saw me.
Fragrance is great, but it’s hard to write or read about because your computer screen isn’t scratch and sniff—also because I can’t talk about base notes or top notes without feeling like a fancy sommelier. I prefer to think of fragrance in terms of anthropology, which is much more fun. Have you ever thought about your personal fragrance history? Well, here’s mine.
And when Wilhelmina reached out to you, how did you feel about going forward with the process?
Basically every single one of my friends in L.A. is a model, with Next or Wilhelmina or whatever it is. I was the non-model in the friend group because I wanted to go to UCLA. I didn’t have that much of an interest — well, I had an interest, but I didn’t think I would be successful so I didn’t really pursue it.
When they asked me to come in, I went with my dad because I was 16. I almost didn’t sign because I was so scared. But I’m happy I ended up signing with them, because they’ve been a really great agency. I had the contract in my room for two days — like, I was scared they were going to tell me to cut my hair or lose weight or something like that, but they’ve been so supportive. They never told me to change anything.
Fifth Grade: Tommy Boy
I’m not kidding, I won Tommy Boy after I aced a quiz contest in Sunday School. The ultimate bounty. If you find yourself deep in the attic of my parent’s house, and you pay close attention, you might be able to smell it.
Puberty: Abercrombie and Fitch Fierce
Don’t even pretend like you didn’t.
College: Kenzo Homme Sport
My college years were timed with the heyday of the Kenzo sweatshirt, so this was a very fancy scent to own. You can now buy it for $30 on Amazon.
I can look back at them like a tiny museum of me that smells really good—literally, because I still have them all. But enough about me and how (great) I smell. I want to know your fragrance history—tell me what scents you love and why you love them. Tell me when you wear them, and how you apply them, and why they’re special to you. Tell me everything.
