The Remaking of Webster Avenue (and a whole bunch of other stuff)

For more than a year, Community Board 7 has been working with the city's Department of City Planning to rezone a section of Webster Avenue as well as several other surrounding neighborhoods. City Planning, with input from Board 7 and a few other local stakeholders (mostly the so-called Four Bronx Institutions: the New York Botanical Garden, Fordham University, Montefiore Medical Center and the Bronx Zoo) recently completed its rezoning plan.

The next stage before these zoning changes are approved is the completion of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), or, in other words, a study that is supposed to say how the neighborhoods being rezoned will be affected by the changes.

There will be a public meeting about the plans (and what the scope of the study will be) on May 19, starting at 4 p.m. (and ending whenever people stop testifying), at the Bedford Park Senior Center, 243 E. 204th St. You can check out the plan by clicking here. (Warning: it's huge and pretty technical.) 

Webster Sinkhole Update

Here's a better picture to give you an idea of the size of the sinkhole on Webster Avenue at 198th Street that left hundreds of surrounding residents without gas or water yesterday.

Last night at 9 p.m., the Office of Emergency Management reported that gas had been restored and that DEP was supposed to have water back on by later in the evening.

Street closures remain in effect and the NYPD is continuing to provide traffic control. 

-Photo by David Greene

Sinkhole on Webster

The BoogieDowner blog reported a large sinkhole on Webster Ave around noon. After searching for some local TV news coverage and coming up empty, I went over to take a look and snap a couple of photos. The hole is pretty big, as you can see. Firefighters at the scene told us no one got hurt as far as they knew, and that DEP was still investigating the cause. Both DEP and ConEd trucks are on the scene.

Here's the feed from CB7 via BD:

Webster Avenue between Bedford park Blvd and East 197th Street has been closed off due to a large sinkhole in the street. The sinkhole has affected gas and water services to some residents and businesses, and will not be turned on until street crews have addressed the issue. All bus traffic is currently being rerouted off of Webster Avenue.

Healthfirst Opens New Office in the Bronx

At the opening ceremony, left to right: George Hulse (VP, External Affairs, Healthfirst), Angel Caballero (Executive Director, Davidson Community Center), Aurelia Greene (Bronx Deputy Borough President), Patricia Wang (President & CEO, Healthfirst), Keith Gordon (SVP, Sales and CMO, Healthfirst) and Joe Ithier

Healthfirst celebrated the grand opening of its new full-service, community-based Bronx office at 412 East Fordham Road and Webster Avenue on March 4.

Potential and existing members can come here to meet with Healthfirst staff members and are able to either enroll or complete the re-certification process. In person Member Services are also available .

Healthfirst will be hosting monthly community outreach events for Bronxites including family days, senior seminars, re-certification days and will also provide health education events throughout the year.

Representatives from most Bronx hospitals as well as providers and community partners attended the grand opening. Bronx Deputy Borough President Aurelia Greene also joined Healthfirst in its festivities commending them on their commitment to Bronx residents.

For more information you can call 1866-GO-FOR-HF or visit http://www.healthfirstny.org/.

Good News on Schools Front

As promised, two pieces of good news for the Bronx! It's about schools.

1) The city has identified a parking lot on Webster Avenue near 205th Street as a possible location for a brand new 612-seat, pre-K through 8th grade school, the Department of Education has confirmed.

This would be the first school structure not being built on a playground in District 10 (the third most crowded district in New York City) in years, a major victory for school advocates like the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, whose membership was outraged when the latest capital plan again short-changed the borough.

The DOE warned that this is far from a done deal. The site has not been purchased, but the DOE is internally reviewing whether to buy it, which is the first step toward the idea becoming a reality.

2) The U.S. Army Reserve is vacating a facility and giving it up for another use in Wakefield as part of an overarching plan by the U.S. military's Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (otherwise known as BRAC).

This is great news for school advocates who want to see schools in the Kingsbridge Armory's northern annex buildings.

Currently, the annex buildings house somewhere around 125 to 140 state military soldiers and staffers. They are open to moving, but need to find a new home, one that won't cost them anything, before they go anywhere, according to Eric Durr, a spokesman for the State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

They want to stay in the Bronx, Durr said. If they leave the Boogie Down, the Bronx would be the only borough without a state military presence.

Here's where it gets tricky. Durr, who admittedly did not know exactly how BRAC works, said what most likely will happen is that once the Army Reserve vacates the Wakefield facility (Durr estimated that probably wouldn't occur till 2011), it would be turned over to a local re-use authority which believed would consist of people in the community. That authority would then decided what to do with the facility.

A local school activist told us the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which is also handling the Armory project, is looking into the possibility of relocating the units currently housed in the Armory into the Wakefield facility. The EDC hasn't returned a phone call or an email requesting confirmation of this. We'll continue to look into this and provide updates whenever possible.

So, while none of this is concrete, it is positive movement in the right direction and could lead to good things for the future of Bronx education.

See, told you, good news!

Update: Here's what the EDC said about the Wakefield facility, which is called the Sgt. Joseph A. Muller Army Reserve Center. The biggest thing is that the facility is in the hands of the mayor and the Bronx borough president. From EDC spokesperson, Janel Patterson in an e-mail:

"In 2007, the Department of Army identified the Sgt. Joseph A. Muller Army Reserve Center as surplus property and slated it for closure. In December 2008, the Department of Defense recognized the Muller Local Redevelopment Authority as the official local redevelopment authority for the Muller Army Reserve Center. The Muller LRA consists of the Bronx Borough President, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. Pursuant to the Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act of 1994, the Muller LRA is currently seeking notices of interest for the Muller Army Reserve Center. The Muller LRA will continue to comply with all requirements of the base redevelopment planning process, and will ultimately determine the future use of the property."

Bronx News Roundup March 19

Spring training has started for new hires at Yankee Stadium.

The Daily News reports that ridership has increased on Bronx buses and subways, in some cases as much as 50%. A new report shows the Bronx had the largest increase in the city over the past five years.

A Bronx cop who was injured while chasing a suspect in 2003 wins $3.6 million from the city.

The former MP Pub in Morris Park, known for being a center of noise and loitering, is under new management, and has a new name, but residents are still fearful that quality of life issues will return.

Street closings on E. 135th St. are causing major headaches for local residents.

A bank robber from Webster Ave. robs six different banks in Manhattan this week before being arrested by police.

Mayor Bloomberg makes a speech at Lehman College and ends up coming to the aid of a student who faints.

Upscale Nightclub Coming to Tremont Avenue

New in the Mount Hope Monitor is a story by Joe Hirsch about Daddy O's, an upscale nightclub that is coming to 369 E.Tremont Ave.