Brooklyn’s Crusader for Homeownership and Football
By Fern Gillespie
Football and Real Estate have always been intertwined in Tywan Anthony’s life. He balances a longtime career in real estate as Director of Property Management & Real Estate Training at Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City with his passion project as the founder and Executive Director of Brooklyn’s nonprofit football team, the New York Crusaders.
Born and raised in Bed Stuy, he moved to Florida with his family to play high school football as a teen. While at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, majoring in political science and business management on a football scholarship, a friend introduced him to the value of a career in real estate.
For over the last 15 years, as a licensed real estate broker, he’s been a commercial property manager specializing in retail open air shopping centers throughout the Northeast and Midwest; worked in real estate asset management, taught real estate courses at Baruch and Medgar Evers Colleges; operated as a real estate inspector and is also an officer in the Bedford Stuyvesant Real Estate Board. In 2014, he founded the nonprofit New York Crusaders football team.
In addition to sports, it focuses on academics and job training for Black male athletes between 18 and 32. Our Time Press recently spoke with Tywan Anthony, who is married with two small children, about balancing his dual careers in real estate and nonprofit football.
OTP:How do you advise Black homeowners on real estate asset management?
TA:Your home is your asset. What do we do with this asset? Maintenance is always an issue. It’s the maintenance that will hinder individuals from making the needed repairs. That will cause the home to go into disrepair. If it goes down that rabbit hole, eventually that home will be sold. Apparently, that family can’t afford to maintain that home properly.
So, what I’m looking at is ensuring what plan we can create to manage this asset better to make the needed repairs. In Brooklyn, the housing stock is old. So, we have issues and types that need to be repaired regularly. If you go years without repairing, you could be looking at $20,000 – $15,000 for repairs. Not many of our folks have 15,000 or $20,000 on hand to make the repairs. Financial planning is key. I have a couple of different brackets of where I put my money. Every month I’m putting money aside.
My wife and I do it together for general home repairs and maintenance. We look at a project every year that we want to do. Whether it’s inside repair, roof repair, garage repair or painting. Places like Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City have loans that they give out. Like emergency loans there are programs for roof leaks. There are resources that homeowners can access to make sure these things get done.
OTP: Growing up in Bedford Stuyvesant, were your family homeowners?
TA: My Grandmother was the first one in her friends’ circle to purchase a house. That house was on Spencer Street and DeKalb in Bed Stuy. My family moved around Brooklyn. The price of the housing stock was a lot less than what it is right now. My grandmother bought her house working at Kings County Hospital with an annual salary of no more than $30,000.
My great aunt was able to buy her property in the 1960s or 1970s for $ 15,000 or $20,000, the same as my grandmother. At one time, my family has six or seven properties all at one time. My family was big on home ownership. Homeowners are vested in what’s happening on their block in their community.
OTP: Is it realistic that Black Brooklyn residents with average incomes can afford to buy a home in the borough?
TA: It’s still there, but you have to be creative as you approach that process. A good strategy, in terms of being able to buy a home, is buying it with a significant other. Using the power of both your incomes. The good news is that if you have a 401(k) or a job where you can ask for a loan, you can use those funds for a down payment.
OTP: What inspired you to launch a nonprofit organization, New York Crusaders, dedicated to football?
TA: Football took me through college. It helped me keep focus. For a lot of us, it’s something–whether it’s sports or art or something else–it grounds us and it propels us to be good in other aspects of life. I wanted to reiterate my college football experience. That’s what I try to do with the young athletes that we have on our team.
Some played football in college. Some of them will never go to college. Or experience college football outside of what we do when we play our games at Boys and Girls High School. We have a marching band. We have vendors. We try to create a college football environment. We play teams in the Big East League.
The New York Crusaders are not just about the football. Our organization is also about making better young men. We try to empower our young athletes, economically, academically, and athletically through our program.
TA: Everything that I’ve done, real estate-wise and community-wise, has helped me with my team and vice versa. I served on Community Board 3 for over 10 years. While there, I was the vice chair and chair of the economic development committee. Being involved in development projects and meeting different people helped me get funding for my football team. My business skills help me run my team. It all kind of blends together in an interesting, creative way. How community, politics, real estate, and my nonprofit football team merge together to create who I am.