Tirado Returns as CB7 District Manager

In mid-June, Community Board 7 voted in favor of forcing District Manager Fernando Tirado to take unpaid leave of absence while he ran for state Senate in the 33rd District.  Board members said that they wanted to avoid the appearance of partisanship and conflicts of interest.

Tirado's quest to unseat State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. came to a grinding halt last week when he was kicked off the ballot, and this morning he was back at his desk in CB7's office on East 204th Street.  He just sent out the following e-mail to those on the Board's mailing list: 

Dear Residents,

I would like to inform you that starting today, I am back at the Community Board office as your District Manager. I want to thank everyone for their patience and I am looking forward to working with you in the coming year. There are many announcements that have come in and I will truncate them into one e-mail so that it doesn’t overwhelm your mailbox.

Two quick announcements, first, the Bedford Park Senior Center will be hosting a demonstration by the Board of Elections on the new electronic voting machines that will be used this year on August 24^th from 11AM to 12PM at 243 East 204^th Street. If you would like the BOE to come to your organization or group to provide a demonstration of the new voting process, please e-mail them at Demo@boe.nyc.ny.us.

Second, mark your calendar for the Board’s first meeting of the new session to be held on September 21^st at 6:30PM, also at the Bedford Park Senior Center.

Thank you and take care.
Fernando

Training Exercise Tonight on E.204th

This is just a test!

From approximately 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the Office of Emergency Planning’s CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program will be conducting a training exercise at the East 204^th Street underpass between Valentine and Villa Avenues. Please note that pedestrian and vehicular access will not be allowed through the underpass during the exercise. Please do not be alarmed by any training or exercises being held, they are intended to benefit the public's safety.

According to CERT's website, the "Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations."

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact District Manager, Fernando Tirado of the Community Board 7 at - (718) 933-5650 / 51.

National List is Shortened, But Bronx Post Offices Remain on Chopping Block

After a round of hearings, the United States Postal Service (USPS) recently released an updated and shortened list of offices nationwide that face possible closures due to decreases in mail volume. The list was whittled down from 417 to 371. But despite fervent opposition, the names of all seven Bronx locations originally listed remain slated for closure.

Included in the Bronx bunch is the Botanical Station, which the Bedford Park community has made clear it won't let go without a fight.

Bedford Park resident and Community Board 7 member, Barbara Stronczer, has spearheaded the fight to save the Botanical Station by collecting more than 700 petition signatures and rallying the support of local officials. Fernando Tirado, district manager of CB7, recently spoke on the station's behalf at a Postal Closure hearing.

Stronczer was surprised and saddened to hear about the latest listings. She is at a loss of how to proceed from here.

"I'm not sure what to do," she said. "They made up their minds without the community."

Going forward, Stonzcer says its going to depend on those in government positions that she had reached out to.

"You count on elected officials at this point and and see what they plan to do next."

According to a USPS representative, the fate of the Bronx offices are still under review and no final decisions will be made until 2010.

Debate on Supermarket

There's a roiling debate under way over at Boogiedowner about a proposed big-box supermarket at the Kingsbridge Armory.

Boogiedowner is in favor of the idea and tangles with a spokesman for Morton Williams (the supermarket across the street from the armory on Kingsbridge Road, which has been a driving fore in opposing a supermarket at the armory) in the comments section of the post.

Norwood News visited Morton Williams and wrote about the supermarket issue in detail in July, but one question that hasn't gotten much ink is, if the developer beats back the opposition to a market, what kind of market would work at the armory? Many members of Community Board 7 support a supermarket at the armory, and have cited a desire to see a specialty foods market like Whole Foods or Fairway. But it's not certain whether either of those businesses considering opening up shop there. What do supermarket supporters want to see there and what do they think would actually be viable?

Much of the debate on the Boogiedowner centers on the living wage issue, which we also wrote about in July. On its editorial page, Norwood News has supported the push for a living wage requirement at the armory.

Bronx News Roundup, August 11

The Daily News examines a number of questionable issues in the race for the 14th district City Council.

This Saturday and Sunday, Dexter Gardiner and the Gardiner Family Foundation will host the fourth annual Gardiner Memorial Basketball Classic Tournament at St. James Park.

The Bronx Parks Department has come under fire from the Outsiders, a Bronx youth baseball team, for not providing regular maintenance for baseball fields.

Teddy Ferrer, an employee of Tuff City, a store in the Bronx that combines graffiti, tattooing and a music studio, was recently interviewed by the New York Times about his graffiti and tattooing skills.

Police are investigating a possible series of hate crimes against West African Muslims in the Claremont neighborhood of the Bronx.

As if obtaining the position of Senate majority leader was not enough of a reward to end Pedro Espada Jr.'s June coup of the Senate, now Espada Jr.'s son will fill the newly created position as "deputy director of intergovernmental relations." Pedro G. Espada, a former city councilman, will earn $120,000 a year working for the Senate.

Yesterday, the MTA released a new $28 billion, five year plan to improve the New York City bus and subway systems. Included in the plan is the renovation of four subway stations along the 6 line in the Bronx.

BoogieDowner blogger, Erin Cicalese, contacted Community Board 7 about removing unsightly graffiti on a WWI monument on Mosholu Parkway and succeeded in getting help to clean up the monument. The New York Daily News covers Cicalese's story here.

The New York Dormitory Authority plans to spend $637 million on the construction of buildings for public and private universities and nonprofit health care facilities in the Bronx.

Ruben Diaz Officially at Center of Kingsbridge Armory Project

The Related Companies' proposal to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall officially reaches the second phase of the land review process tonight at 6 p.m. with a hearing held by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. at Lehman College's Lovinger Theater.

Diaz, pictured to the right, has 30 days to decide whether or not to support Related's proposal.

The handling of the Armory project is Diaz's first major test as borough president, having taken over for Adolfo Carrion, following a special election in April.

In his first few months, Diaz has been out attending events, cutting ribbons, giving speeches, marching in parades and starting up a few initiatives and programs. But now comes the hard part, trying to wring concessions (in the form of community benefits) out of a big development project like the one about to be undertaken at the Armory.

Carrion's biggest critics, Diaz included, said the former B.P. didn't get enough back from huge projects like the New Yankee Stadium and Gateway Center Mall (another Related project) at the Bronx Terminal Market, which were heavily-subsidized with government funds and tax breaks.

Diaz is now taking the lead on negotiating a community benefits agreement with Related, acting as a middle man between the developer and community stakeholders, which are mostly represented by the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) and Community Board 7.

A somewhat divided Board 7 recently voted to approve Related's proposal with conditions, including the signing of a benefits agreement, which Related agreed to do.

So now it's a matter of what will be included in the benefits agreement and when will it be signed. There's no doubt the agreement will include some benefits, such as a job training program.

But will it include any language requiring Related to provide living wage jobs ($10 an hour, plus benefits) once the new Armory mall is up and running? This is KARA's number one priority in a benefits agreement and also something Related has taken a hard-line stance against. At every public hearing, KARA has come out in force to demand living wage jobs. They held a 500-plus person rally (see photo below) 10 days ago to reinforce their stance and reiterate their demands. KARA's position is simple: this is a publicly-funded project in a community that needs, more than anything, good jobs with benefits.

Diaz, by all accounts, is taking this process very seriously. It's also something he wants to get done behind closed doors. Meetings to discuss the benefits agreement are closed to the public and press. He won't talk specifically about what might be included in a benefits agreement. And he recently sent out a press release saying he wanted all stakeholders to stop beating each other up over this debate.

Here's the statement:

“Due to the sensitive nature of these negotiations, this office has and will continue to decline to either discuss any specifics of the community benefits agreement regarding the Kingsbridge Armory project or to make any meetings of the negotiating committee public. We believe that this approach puts the community in the strongest possible position concerning future negotiations with the developer. This office has found the tone of the public debate over this development, on all sides, to be unfortunate and disappointing. Borough President Diaz is once again calling on project stakeholders and the community as a whole to cease their very public battles and come together to negotiate with one another in a civil manner.”

KARA has been very public about its living wage demands. So has the Bronx-based supermarket chain, Morton Williams, which is adamantly opposed to having a competing supermarket included as a tenant at the Armory. Both angrily and unsuccessfully lobbied Board 7 members to vote down the project.

They will probably do so again tonight.

Having said that, the other question is: who will Related and the city bring out to lobby for the project without such conditions. At the last hearing, Related brought out an organization called Positive Workforce to serve as a vocal counter-weight and backdrop to all the public testimony by KARA and Morton Williams.

In campaigning and during recent speeches, Diaz has voiced his support and the dire need for good jobs in the Bronx. But will he make a stand for them on the Armory project? Will he make it a condition or incentive for his approval? We'll see if he gives us any hints tonight.

New from the Norwood News

The latest edition of the Norwood News is hot off the presses and on streets and online now. Here's a quick preview of some of the stories you'll find.

Some in-depth Kingsbridge Armory development project coverage, including a look at Community Board 7's approval (with conditions) of the Armory plan.

The day after the vote, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) held a rally to push the issue of living wage jobs ($10 an hour, plus benefits) at the Armory once the mall is completed. Union leaders and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson showed up to voice their support.

We try to make sense of all the zany twists going on in the 14th District Council race.

On Monday night, a young man was found murdered on the Grand Concourse.

A host of initiatives are bringing more fresh produce to the northwest Bronx.

Our Inquiring Photographer asks residents what they think about the impending confirmation of Bronxite Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

Plus, find out everything that's going on in the local arts and entertainment world in our Out & About section. And check out all the local programs, services and opportunities in our Neighborhood Notes section.

Armory Vote: A Photo Narrative

We thought we'd try a little something different here on the blog today. Introducing our first ever photo narrative story. We'll show you photos and go through what happened last night as Community Board 7 voted to conditionally approve of the Related Companies' plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a mall. Let us know what you think.

All photos by Adi Talwar.

Held at the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Road, the meeting was nearly packed by the time things got started at 6:30 p.m. The people in the green shirts were employess from the Morton Williams supermarket chain. There were a little more than 50 of them. They were there to tell the board members to vote against the project because Related plans to put a 60,000-square-foot supermarket into the Armory basement. Morton Williams reps say a giant supermarket will force them to close their two Bronx stores, fire at least 125 employees and move their headquarters out of the borough.

Members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance told board members to vote down the project because there was no Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in place and the developer had not shown a commitment to giving back to the community. Instead of voting yes with conditions, KARA told them to vote no with conditions. Toward the end of the night, Cynthia O'Neal-Riley (left) said she empathized with the supermarket workers who might lose their jobs and ultimatelty voted against the project. Long-time board member John Franco (right) voted in favor of the project.

Vernon Jones of Man Up, a Brooklyn nonprofit organization, told board members to vote against the project, saying that Related doesn't care about the community whatsoever. "They don't care if people are being murdered in the street." Jones said his organization regretted signing into a Community Benefits Agreement with Related for its plans to expand the Gateway Mall project in East New York, Brooklyn. (Related is also opening a mall at the Bronx Terminal Market called Gateway.) Related lawyer Jesse Masyr called Jones' comments "regrettable" and "ridiculous" and said Man Up was supposed to do job training programs as part of the Brooklyn Gateway expansion.

Another woman, named Susan Mendoza, who said she was involved with the CBA negotiations at Related's Bronx Gateway project, said she dropped out of the process because it lacked any real community involvement.

Just before the board voted, Council member Oliver Koppell (pictured with an aide) told board members to vote yes, with conditions, because it would give them the best chance to have input in the process going forward. If you vote no, he said, "that's all Council members like myself will remember." Following Koppell, local Assemblman Jose Rivera told board members to do the exact opposite. He told them to vote no and by doing so, they would send a message to City Hall and let big developers know that the community "wanted development, but that they have to develop with us."

After a vigorous discussion, board members voted to adopt an amendment to their list of conditions that stated the board would encourage Related to bring in a supermarket with a vast array of organic food options. After the vote, Morton Williams reps angrily stormed out of the meeting, but not before yelling at board members and telling them they just caused the loss of hundreds of quality Bronx jobs. Later board members said they simply wanted more options and that a new supermarket in the Armory could co-exist with the Morton Williams.

Dozens of youth activists, most of them supporters of KARA, were escorted out of the hearing by police when community board officials said they were being disorderly.

The expulsions and the departure of the supermarket workers meant only a few community members as well as representatives from Related (back row) and the city (back, standing) were left to witness the final vote.

Helene Hartman (center) voted against the project, saying she didn't have much confidence that the developer would deliver on some of its vague promises to offer more community benefits.

Enrique Vega (right) voted for project, saying he and other board members had weighed the issue from all sides and determined going forward with conditions was the best course of action. He added that the audience and speakers were not persuasive and that they didn't represent the opinion of the greater "community."

In the end, board member Andrew Laiosa voted against the project, saying "It's a matter of details. There's no requirement for [Related] to do anything. They can turn it anything they want." Earlier, Laiosa tried to bring up an amendment that would require Related to produce living wage jobs ($10 an hour, plus benefits) at the Armory, but was shot down by Chairman Greg Faulkner, other board members and a representative of the borough president's office who said they would take up the living wage issue during Community Benefits Agreement talks later in the land review process.

Faulkner (right, with board member John Harris in the background) said he was confident the board had done the right thing. "Saying no would have been popular and it probably would have felt good. But we felt voting yes with conditions gave us the best shot to have a say in the process going forward."

Community Board 7 Conditionally Votes To Approve Armory Mall Plan

We'll have a full story up on the blog and on the Norwood News Web site by this afternoon, but for now, we wanted to report the news that Community Board 7 voted last night to approve The Related Companies' city-backed and publicly-subsidized project to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a giant mall.

The vote was only advisory, but it moves the project up the food chain.

There were a handful of dissenting votes, but a large majority of the 27 board members in attendance voted to recommend the project with a list of conditions, including the signing of a binding and enforceable Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).

It remains far from certain what community benefits that agreement will include, but Chairman Greg Faulkner and the bulk of board members said they felt voting yes with conditions would be the best way to stay involved in and have input in the project as it goes forward.

Earlier in the day, Related sent a letter to the Board agreeing, in very broad (some said vague) terms, to the Community Board's conditions.

Speakers at the meeting, including members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), representatives of the Jerome Avenue-based supermarket chain Morton Williams, Assemblyman Jose Rivera and a couple of people who said they'd been burned by Related in the past, sternly implored Board members to vote it down.

The Board now has 13 days to send their voting record and other materials to Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. who will then have 30 days to deliberate on whether or not to support the project. After that, the project goes to City Planning and then to the City Council.

Tune in later for the story on last night's hearing, which turned very interesting toward the last hour and a half.

Handicapping The Armory Hearing

The Bronx News Network will be in attendance tonight at the Bronx Library Center when Community Board 7 votes on whether or not to support the Related Companies plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a giant mall. Here's a guide to all our latest Armory coverage.

If last week's Board 7 land use committee meeting was any indication, it looks like the board will vote in favor of the project, which will disappoint a lot of people in the community, most notably the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) and the Kingsbridge Heights-based supermarket chain Morton Williams.

Last Tuesday, the land use committee voted unanimously (there were only three voting committee members) to recommend the project be approved when the whole board votes on the project tonight. They are, however, going to add a 10-point caveat to their position. So, they will essentially say: We will vote yes on this project, but only if x, y and z occurs. Those points include the signing of a binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), free wi-fi, more community space, the inclusion of a World Peace Atrium and the creation of community advisory group for the duration of the Armory's redevelopment.

Only Board 7 members were allowed to speak at the meeting. This enraged Avi Kaner, a part owner of Morton Williams, who said he was promised a chance to make his case at the hearing. Kaner and Morton Williams want the board to vote no on the project unless Related agrees to stick to its original proposal.

"Why was I lied to?" Kaner asked angrily as he filed out of the meeting with about 15 Morton Williams employees and supporters.

Related's latest proposal now includes a 60,000-square-foot supermarket that Kaner says will force the chain to shutter its two Bronx stores. Related says it included the supermarket idea based on feedback from Board 7 members. In an interview two weeks ago, Morton Williams owner Morty Sloan said Board members who supported an Armory supermarket probably didn't understand what a supermarket of that size would do to Morton Williams and its hundreds of Bronx employees.

Board member John Harris said he wanted to see a supermarket that offered organic food. "It's not about competition, it's about options," he said.

Kaner gave us a copy of the speech he wanted to give. In it, he said, "Our employees and we are intergral parts of the community. We are your neighbors. Related is not."

KARA representatives have also lobbied heavily to have Board members vote no on the project because a benefits agreement has yet to be signed. About 10 KARA reps were at last week's meeting. Wendoly Marte, a young local community activist, said she didn't understand Board 7's reasoning behind the Board plans to vote yes with conditions. "Their rational makes absolutely no sense."

Added Desire Pilgrim-Hunter, who lives nearby in Fordham Hill: “If they [CB7] are really advocates for the community, why are they ignoring what the community is asking them to do, which is to vote no” until Related signs a binding and substantial CBA. “We can see [by this vote] that the community board is going to vote yes to this developer.”

Board 7 Chairman Greg Faulkner said he thinks the Board should vote yes with conditions so they can maintain leverage in the continuing benefits agreement negotiations. He thinks it would be easier for Related to ignore the Board's wishes if it votes no.

After the Board votes, the project goes to the Bronx Borough President's office, then to City Planning and then on to the City Council.

We'll have more coverage of tonight's vote tomorrow.

-Reporting by James Fergusson

Armory Community Benefits Meeting 'Positive'

Just a quick note before we shut down for the weekend.

Yesterday, one day after the raucous hearing about the Kingsbridge Armory project at Lehman College, three of the major stakeholders in the project -- the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), Community Board 7 and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. -- sat down to discuss strategy for striking a Community Benefits Agreement with the Related Companies, the Armory's designated developer.

John DeSio, a former Riverdale Review reporter who is now head of Diaz's press office, wouldn't go into details, but said the discussions were "positive." He said he sees the borough president's office as a "middle man" between KARA, CB7 and Related and will help them craft a CBA.

More on this later, but this is crunch time and it will be interesting to see how effective Diaz is in brokering a deal. He's criticized the CBAs that his predecessor Adolfo Carrion negotiated at Yankee Stadium and Gateway Center Mall (another Related project).

Marathon Armory Hearing Full of Twists

I have been to several New York City public hearings and the one last night about the proposal to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory, one of the world's largest armories, was undoubtedly the most interesting, and the longest.

Clocking in at just over four hours, the Armory hearing in the Lehman College faculty dining room, which was required of Community Board 7 which must vote on whether or not to support the project according to city's land use review process, featured everything from folk peace songs to near violence.

I'm not going to get into everything in this post, but I did want to run through a few of the highlights quickly.

The evening started out with a bang as about a hundred or so construction union guys, mostly from Positive Workforce, a big supporter of the Armory's designated developer, the Related Companies, literally bum rushed past cops and security guards into the dining room and installed themselves as a backdrop to all the night's speakers.

Several attendees were startled by their aggressiveness, others felt intimidated. Their message throughout the night was clear: build at the Armory now.

The hearing began at 6:30 p.m. By 7 p.m., police weren't letting anyone else in, citing fire code concerns. We managed to smuggle ourselves in through a sewer pipe. Not really, but you get the picture, space was tight. (A special thanks to Fernando Tirado, Community Board 7 district manager, for getting the press inside to witness the festivities.)

The hearing began with a round of "special" speakers (I think because they were disabled, they were allowed to speak first) from Co-op City who praised the project because of its apparent similarities to the Bay Plaza mall, which they think added to their part of the Bronx. It seemed kind of random.

Next up was Community Board 7's presentation of its idea, which Related has adopted into its design plans, for a World Peace Atrium inside the Armory. To kick off this presentation, CB7 land use chairman Ozzie Brown brought in his old friend Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) to sing a song and say some words.

This is where things got a little awkward. Yarrow began by singing, "If I Had a Hammer," which was met with a tepid response from the audience. A second attempt was more successful, with about half the crowd joining in and clapping and singing along. As soon as the song concluded, representatives from the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) -- which came out in full force and dominated the speaking portion of the hearing -- began a forceful and deafening chant: "What do we want?" "GOOD JOBS!" When do we want 'em?" "NOW!"

Peter Yarrow sings a peace song at the Armory hearing

After things calmed down, Yarrow spoke about the civil rights movement and how the country had become increasingly angry and polarized over the years, but was coming around now with the election of Barack Obama. He was frequently interrupted by people yelling out things like: "How much are they paying you?" and "Gentrification isn't civil."

Later, Yarrow said he was surprised by the level of disrespect and animosity at the hearing, adding that he was not there to support the project, per se, but to facilitate constructive dialogue. He said he empathized with the anger being expressed, but seemed saddened and disturbed by the whole scene.

In any case, Ozzie Brown went on to present his World Peace Atrium idea, which, as I mentioned earlier, Related has adopted into its design plan. It's still a little unclear exactly what this will entail, but from what I understand it will be kind of an educational tribute/museum to peace workers like Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi and Mother Teresa, complete with statues and informational kiosks.

After this, Ethan Goodman, a lawyer for the Related Companies gave a 15-minute presentation on their plans for the Armory, saying they wanted to open up the former closed-off military installation to the community. We'll get into this more later, but at the end, Goodman talked about the community space, which he said would amount to 27,000-square-feet. Besides the Peace Atrium, Related's plan looked pretty much the same as it did when they first won the bid last year. They've also included 60,000-square-feet of space for a large retail store or supermarket, which representatives from Morton Williams, which owns the Associated supermarket across the street from the Amory, said would destroy their two Bronx supermarkets and force them to close shop in the borough for good (more this later too).

Related's presentation was followed by essentially three kinds of public testimony: KARA representatives (lots of them, they dominated the hearing, no question) who told Board members to vote no on the project unless Related signed a Community Benefits Agreement, which would include union protections, living wage job requirements (which Related says is a non-starter) and free or affordable recreation space; representatives from Morton Williams who were adamantly opposed to the supermarket idea for obvious reasons; and construction workers from Positive Workforce who supported the project wholeheartedly.

More coverage and photos and thoughts about this tomorrow.

The Community Board will vote on the project on July 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bronx Library Center.

Kingsbridge Armory Land Review Process Starts Today

The city announced today that the land review process (known in more wonky circles as ULURP) for the Kingsbridge Armory will begin starting now.

I'll try not to get too technical here, but if you want a handy, but still confusing, ULURP chart, click here.

Basically, this means that the Armory's developer, Related Companies, has completed the application for the zoning changes that redeveloping the Armory will entail, including a completed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). It also means the application has been certified as complete by the City Planning Commission.

Just getting the application approved can take months, even years, but the Related Companies are tight with the city (Related head Steve Ross used to be business partners with former Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff), so that may have had something to do with it. Jesse Masyr, Related's lawyer, however, insists they have no control, or sway, over the process. (He also said he'd love for people to believe that they did. You're welcome.)

It also means Community Board 7 now has exactly 60 days, starting today, to review the application and decide whether or not to support the project.

In March, when Community Board 7 Chairman Greg Faulkner submitted a letter of support for Related to receive an estimated $17.8 million in tax breaks for the Armory project, he asked the city not to start the ULURP process until September because the board doesn't meet in July (or August, like most boards), which is exactly when the 60-day review period will end.

When a rep from the mayor's office told Faulkner about the pending approval of the application last week, the Chairman said, if this is the case, he wants to see some kind of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) and a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in place before the board votes on it.

The Board and the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) are both pushing for a binding CBA/PLA that will include living wage jobs, local hiring preferences, more community space for local programming, environmental protection and affordable recreation space (i.e. not a 24-Hour Fitness Club).

KARA and the Board say they still hope to get these benefits in an agreement, but Masyr told them "no" on the living wage job front on April 24. (They're upset with the Norwood News' headline saying "Living Wage Hopes for Armory Dashed" and maintain their hopes are not dashed by a long shot.)

Masyr and Related have not committed to sitting down and negotiating either a CBA or PLA with KARA or the Board.

It will be interesting to see what kind of role new Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. will play in this process. His predecessor, Adolfo Carion, was criticized for falling short and excluding community voices in his efforts to create substantial CBAs for the new Yankee Stadium and the Gateway Center Mall (a Related project). Carrion was also criticized for not reappointing several Community Board 4 members as payback for not supporting the Stadium project.

In an interview with the Bronx News Network before he was elected in a special election on April 21, Diaz criticized the Stadium and Gateway CBAs, said he supported the signing of a CBA and a PLA and would "inject" himself into the CBA/PLA conversations at the Armory. After the Board's 60-day review timeframe ends, Diaz's office will have 30 days to review the project and decide whether or not to support it.

After Diaz sees it, the project goes back to the Planning Commission, then to the City Council, then to the Mayor and then back to the City Council.

There's more, but I'll save it for the book. Or a post later this week.

Reminder: KIngsbridge Armory Scoping Hearing Tonight at 6 p.m.

The scoping meeting concerning the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory is at 6 p.m. at the Bronx Library Center, 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd., in the auditorium.

Basically, it's a chance for the public to say what they would like the city and the developers (The Related Companies) to include in their environmental impact study. For example, you might want to know how the new development will impact traffic or surrounding businesses or bus routes. So, if you want your say, show up and express yourself.

We know the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) is going to express themselves before the public hearing even starts, at a 5:30 p.m. press conference in front of the library. They want living wage jobs ($10 an hour, plus benefits), affordable recreational and entertainment space, and more community space.

Members of the local community board, CB7, is also advocating for many of the same things and is sure to be there as well.

This will also inevitably turn into a hearing about what the community should get out of this project. That being said, the backdrop is that both the board and KARA are working to get more benefits for the community in the form of some kind of binding benefits agreement that The Related Companies would have to sign.

These benefits agreements have been seen as ineffective window dressing for other big projects in NYC (See Yankee Stadium and Bronx Terminal Market, another Related project). But other community benefits efforts for similar developments in other parts of the country have been much more successful (See the Staples Center in Los Angeles). For more on community benefits agreements, see the Community Benefits blog.

Report: Related Wins Armory Contract

An article in the Daily News says the Related Companies, one of two possible developers (the other being Atlantic Development Group), has won the contract to renovate the Kingsbridge Armory.

This doesn't come as a surprise. The Norwood News has heard this rumor for some time now, but has yet to confirm it with more than one source. The Daily News article cites anonymous "sources" from Community Board 7.

Related was long thought to have an advantage because its CEO has a close relationship with former Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff. Both developers contribute heavily to Bronx politicians.

The Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is handling the project, maintains that they have not reached a decision on a developer. Many local community leaders and residents wonder what the hold-up is in making an announcement.

As we've been doing for nearly 15 years, the Norwood News will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Community Board 7 meeting on special night

Usually reserved for the third Tuesday of the month, Community Board 7's general meeting in September will happen to tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Bedford Park Senior Center, 243 E. 204th St.

The first meeting since June's elections should be action packed as the board has lots to discuss, including rezoning options that would make way for proposed developments, new bi-law amendments and possibly news about the search to fill the Board's vacant district manager position.

[By the way, that link above sends you to a new story now on the sparkling new Norwood News Web site. We hope you're as excited about it as we are. Here's another link to the site just for fun!]

Another note on the Board meeting. Council candidate Haile Rivera (14th District), who has been showing up in this space often over the past few weeks, sent out an email press release today saying he would be going to all CB7 meetings and most of the CB5 meetings (he has a scheduling conflict), "because I care of the issues in my community and I want to do something about them. There is no better source to know what the issues are then to hear them directly from those affected."

We've been trumpeting the value of local Community Boards for years and elected officials generally pay attention to what happens there, but it's nice to see someone else echoing us. Check it out for yourself at the meeting tonight.

Norwood News On-Line

In the latest issue of the Norwood News, now on-line:
-Incumbent chair wins, but Community Board 7 undergoes tremendous change nonetheless.
-Armory proposals reviewed
-Our editorial take on congestion pricing
-Dion, Rita Moreno, Danny Aiello: Stars Come Out for Bronx Week.