The Kingsbridge Armory (Photo by Adi Talwar)
The latest formation of the Kingsbridge Armory Task Force (there have been others over the last 17 years since the National Guard vacated the main structure), chaired by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Councilman Fernando Cabrera,
released its report today -- 267 pages actually (much of it background material, thank goodness). We obviously haven't had time to go through it all, but the bottom line is that the task force is not recommending any one, or combination of, uses. They are instead calling on the city's Economic Development Corporation, which has overseen all the unsuccessful proposals and plans over the years to issue another request for proposals (RFP). The report includes the findings of the NYU's Capstone project.
Film studios, a megachurch, sports and recreation entrepreneurs, and the sustainable food industry (culinary school, farmers' markets) all have expressed an interest in the facility. While the Capstone project section identifies the various potential uses as separate proposals, Diaz's spokesman, John DeSio said that there is a "lot of room for the different proposals to mesh together."
Click
here for the full report. Let us know what you discover and think about the various proposals.
Andrew Brent, a Bloomberg spokesman,
told the Daily News that the administration would read the report and be open to "feasible proposals that include private-sector investment, the responsible use of city resources and the creation of new jobs."