Comptroller's Task Force Releases CBA Report Based Partly On Lessons Learned From Bronx Projects

We'll get to the comptroller's group's report in a minute, but first, a little look back. 

Last winter, the City Council killed a Bloomberg-backed plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall, largely because community activists, job advocates and a united front of Bronx elected officials said the project lacked a strong Community Benefits Agreement; most notably, there was no guarantee for living wage jobs.

What started out as a local story went citywide and Community Benefits Agreements -- or CBAs: agreements signed between the developer and community stakeholders that promise additional benefits for local residents impacted by the coming development -- became a hot button issue among political, development and labor circles.

While strong CBAs, including some with living wage guarantees, were being signed in other big cities around the country, developers in New York City, backed by it's pro-development (with no string attached) mayor, was late to the game. Some CBAs were signed -- at Atlantic Yards (Brooklyn), the new Yankee Stadium (Bronx) and the Gateway Center Mall (Bronx) -- but they lacked teeth and true community involvement, community and job advocates charged.

The Armory case became an entirely different animal altogether and the prospects for a strong and enforceable CBA seemed possible. There were active community groups involved in the process from the beginning and the developer, the Related Companies, repeatedly said it would enter into an agreement at some point. But real negotiations began late and it all fell apart over the living wage issue.

In the aftermath, living wage legislation was introduced in the City Council (though its since stalled), Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. convened a new star-studded task force to create a new plan for developing the Armory (no word on what's happening with that) and new Comptroller John Liu created his own task force to create a "proposed framework for public benefits agreements in New York City that would create clear expectations, encourage broad participation and result in enforceable public benefits that comply with legal standards."

Liu's group -- made up of what appears to be a diverse and vast group of labor leaders, real estate developers, academics, business associations, thinktank types and lawyers (plus Al Rodriguez, general counsel for Diaz, the only elected official who appears to have a voice in this report and was very active in the process, according to Scott Sieber, Liu's spokesman) -- delivered the goods this week to some degree of controversy.

Activsts Say Yankees Not Living Up to Their End of Agreement; Lawsuit May Follow

Yankee benefits rally from Alex Kratz on Vimeo.

“We are here because there is a disconnect between the world we live in of the South Bronx and the world of justice and equality,” said Lydia Lebron (see video above), pastor of the Resurrection United Methodist Church in the South Bronx, at a rally outside of Yankee Stadium last week.

Representatives from the For the South Bronx Coalition (4DSBXCoalition), the Urban Justice Center, and the Freedom Party joined Lebron in demanding data from the Yankees baseball club that accounts for commitments the club made in signing a Community Benefits Agreement in 2006. The activists presented their demands to Yankees President Randy Levine in a seven-page letter. (BxNN friend and stadium expert Neil deMause wrote about this last week for the Village Voice's blog.)

The Community Benefits Agreement, signed by Levine, former Borough President Adolfo Carrion, and Council members Maria Baez (who is no longer in office), Joel Rivera and Maria Del Carmen Arroyo in April 2006, said the Yankees would give 25% of stadium construction contracts to Bronx businesses, make sure 25% of construction jobs went to Bronxites, and award 25% of post-construction jobs to Bronxites.

As part of the agreement, the Yankees also created a Community Benefits Fund, controlled by a volunteer board, that would give out $800,000 a year in grants to local community groups, $100,000 a year in equipment and merchandise, and 15,000 free game tickets.While some of these grants, merchandise and tickets have been distributed, activists at the rally said much of it remains unaccounted for.

“The purpose of the money is to offset the cost of the stadium and the traffic and pollution surrounding it,” said Harvey Epstein, director of the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center. Epstein, along with the coalition, is interested in seeing the designated money go to “local social services, local parks, local food pantries, and other local community centers.”

The Yankees did not immediately return calls and e-mails seeking comment and the Benefits Fund could not be reached by publication of this article.

Live from City Hall: Armory Negotiations Heating Up

We're live from City Hall, where a bunch of reporters, KARA reps, union folks and Related Companies officials (also just saw Avi Kaner, part-owner of Morton Williams supermarkets, which has its headquarters across from the Armory) are milling about, playing the waiting game.

All of us are waiting for an update on negotiations between the city and the Bronx delegation of the City Council on an Armory community benefits that would include guarantees of living wage jobs ($10 and hour plus benefits).

Earlier today, we reported that negotiations fell apart last night.

At about 10 a.m., Council member Joel Rivera, who, along with fellow Bronxite Annabel Palma, is taking a leadership role in these negotiations, made an announcement that the Council was prepared to vote down the plan unless the delegation heard from the city and/or Related (at this point we can lump them together as one negotiating team) in an hour.

Clearly, the city came back to the table and the two sides have been talking for the past couple of hours. A little before noon, Rivera and the delegation went from the Council side of City Hall over the mayor's side, which means that perhaps these talks are going higher up the ladder or have entered a new phase.

I just heard from KARA representatives that the main sticking point appears to be which party is ultimately responsible for making sure employees at the revamped shopping mall are paid a living wage.

On Monday, the Bronx delegation put forth a proposal that would create a fund that would subsidize wages at the Armory mall. That's still the proposal on the table. But if the fund doesn't pay fully for the wages, which appears likely, who is responsible for paying the rest of the wage? Related, the owner of the property? The city, which is pushing the project? Or tenants, the shop owners at the mall?

What's clear is that, from all the attention being placed on providing living wage jobs at city-subsidized development projects like the Armory, the issue is not going away any time soon.

And we may not get a definitive answer on negotiations anytime soon. A meeting of the entire Council, scheduled for 1:30 p.m., has been postponed because of the Bronx delegation's deliberations with the city.

Just saw the entire Bronx delegation briskly pass by, going from mayor's side back to the council side. Are they weighing the merits of the city's latest compromise? Lunch?

All Rivera would say is: "we're working, we're working." Well, that's something.

One last tidbit for now: Council member-elect Fernando Cabera (14th District) is in on the negotiations. Where's Maria Baez?

Stay tuned.

Protesting the Yankees: 'It's About Respect,' Activists Say

-PHOTO SLIDESHOW BY ADI TALWAR

Yesterday, a group of South Bronx activists braved the oppressive afternoon heat to re-energize a campaign to hold the Yankees baseball club accountable for promises they made to community for the right to build a new $1.5 billion stadium on public parkland.

In exchange for taking its parkland, soaking up taxpayer dollars (in the form of subsidies and tax breaks) and bringing more traffic congestion and parking woes to the area, the Yankees (and the city which backed the project) promised to provide local jobs, quickly restore parkland and give back money to community groups and programs on annual basis.

But the local jobs didn't materialize. Replacement parks haven't been built, mostly because the old stadium (where the new parks are to be built) is still standing and collecting moss. And the money, which is being dispersed through a specifically-created nonprofit fund, has been slow in getting back into the community, not to mention racked by controversey and possible corruption.

"All we're asking is that they be good neighbors," said Ramon Jimenez, one of the organizers of the protest who has helped create a short-hand friendly group called 4DSBxCoalition (For the South Bronx Coalition). "They promised everything. They have given us nothing."

Jimenez is a Harvard-educated lawyer with offices in South Bronx. Last year, Times reporter David Gonzalez wrote about how Jimenez, a longtime Bronx activist, was critical of Assemblyman and then-Democratic County Chair Jose Rivera who was facing challenges to his leadership of the party. Rivera's since been ousted as party chair and Jimenez is now back taking on the powers that be.

"We want to revitalize this whole [Yankee Stadium and the lack of community benefits] issue," Jimenez said, sweating in his suit underneath the 4-Train line on 161st Street and River Avenue, along with about 30 equally sweat-soaked supporters.

Specifically, the Jimenez and the Coalition, which held a similar protest at the new stadium in early June, want: the old stadium torn down by the end of the year; one represtentative of their organization on the advisory board that distributes the $800,000 in community funds; the replacement parks to be built safe and green (no artifical turf, they say); and for the community to share in the profits of memorabilia sold from the old stadium.

(The city sold the Yankees the rights to all the memorabilia for $11 million earlier this year. Some say this was a good deal for the city, but it's unclear if that money will go back into the community in any way. )

Hector Soto, another lawyer who helped organize the protest, said, "We're trying to re-energize a campaign that was started by the community before the stadium was even built. The issues were never addressed . . . the community has not been compensated at all."

"It's about respect," Soto said later.

The Coalition created a Web site to highlight all the Yankees' broken promises.

Others in attendance included a host of other recognizable faces, including Rafael Alequin-Martez, a blogger/activist/journalist who got into a dust up with Pedro Espada's son during the state senator's campaign last year. (Alequin-Martez refused a judge's plea offer of restitution for his busted camera and is holding out for harassment and assault charges, he says.)

Also marching with the Coalition was the dapper young City Council candidate, Carlos Sierra, who is challenging Helen Foster in the 16th District, which includes both stadiums, and Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel. Joyce Hogi, a longtime critic of the new stadium and its gobbling of parkland, was also there. A Green Party member, Tom Syracuse, railed against the new Yankee Stadium, not to mention all the mainstream politicians who allowed it to be built.

Meanwhile, dozens of tourists, looking for a glimpse inside one of the world's most expensive sports complexes, continued to side-step the protest and enter the stadium.

Armory Alliance Puts Living Wage Issue On a Bigger Stage

Last night, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) held a rowsingly star-studded rally to promote its push for living wage jobs ($10 and hour, plus benefits) at the Armory.

As we said yesterday, Community Board 7 voted to conditionally approve of the Related Companies' plan to turn the Armory into a shopping mall, but they did not include any language about requiring the developer, in a binding Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), to provide living wage jobs at the Armory once its up and running.

A couple of months ago, the Norwood News ran an unpopular (and perhaps misleading) headline that essentially said hopes for living wages at the Armory were dead. But based on last night's rally, where more than 500 local residents and activists showed up to voice their support for living wage jobs, I'd say hope is definitely still alive.

Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson made a brief cameo to voice his support for KARA and living wage jobs at the Armory, criticizing his opponent Mayor Bloomberg in the process. Given Bloomberg's staunch opposition to benefits agreements and friendly ties to Related and other developers, the living wage requirement could become an issue with legs that plays out as the campaign unfolds this summer.

Stuart Applebaum, the head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has endorsed Thompson (despite heavy lobbying from Bloomberg's camp), also offered its support for KARA.

Enjoy the slideshow. All photos by Adi Talwar.

Kingsbridge Armory Coverage Preview

This is a slideshow of photographs of the majestic Kingsbridge Armory by Adi Talwar. We thought it would be a fitting introduction to our extensive Armory coverage in this week's edition of the Norwood News. Here's a preview of the stories to get you up to date on all things Armory.

Here's our coverage of the latest public hearing on the Armory, a raucous four-hour marathon affair.

We run through two of the biggest issues that came out of the hearing:
-How The Related Companies' plan to put a supermarket in the Armory will affect the Morton Williams supermarket chain, which has a store and its headquarters across the street.
-Will the Armory bring living wage jobs to local residents and should the developer in fact require retailers to do so?

In its plan for the Armory, Related has decided to include a World Peace Atrium, which Community Board 7 land use chairman Ozzie Brown has been pushing for months.

Here's our Armory fact file.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. is working behind closed doors to craft a Community Benefits Agreement with Board 7 and the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA).

Why this a huge opportunity for Diaz to demonstrate his leadership skills.

Why Board 7 should vote no (with conditions) on the Armory project.

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).

Kingsbridge Armory Update, Part 1

Two big pieces of Kingsbridge Armory-related news to get to this afternoon.

The first is that Community Board 7 is holding it's hearing on the Related Companies' redevelopment proposal next Wednesday night, June 24 at the Lehman College faculty dining room. The college is located at 250 Bedford Park Blvd, right off of the 4 Train.

Board members are bracing for a huge turnout of residents, community groups, unions and elected officials and encouraging people who want to speak to call the board office to register. The number is (718) 933-5650.

The hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. People have until 7 p.m. to sign up to speak. At 7, Related will give a 15-minute presentation about its vision for a revamped Armory. That will be followed by what promises to be a steady stream of speakers until the hearing comes to an end at 9:45 p.m.

Following the hearing, the Community Board 7 Land Use Committee will meet on July 7 at the board offices to discuss their recommendation to the full board, which will meet on July 14 and take a final vote on whether or not to approve of the project as it stands. (Remember: the board's vote is advisory, but will carry weight as the project moves on to the borough president's office and then to the City Council for final approval.)

To recap: The Community Board 7 Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment meeting is set for Wednesday, June 24 at the Lehman College faculty dining room at 6:30. p.m.

At the Board 7 meeting last night, members were promising all kinds of fireworks and special guest appearances. Land Use Chairman Ozzie Brown said good friend Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) would be showing up to lend his support for the community and the board and Brown's vision for the Armory as a "Social/Cultural/Educational-Venture Mall." (Yarrow, by the way, is working on an anti-bullying campaign called Operation Respect.)

Brown said Related has been very receptive and responsive to the Board's ideas and that they were still working hard -- along with the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) and the borough president's office -- toward the signing of a binding and enforceable Community Benefits Agreement.

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.

Live Blogging From Armory IDA Hearing: Tax Breaks Approved, Land Use Review to Begin

So, despite the efforts of Bill Thompson and at least one other board member, the IDA has approved an estimated $17.8 million in tax breaks for the Related Companies to renovate the Kingsbridge Armory into a gigantic shopping mall.

Now, all that's left is for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be completed (something that will probably get done in the next month or so) and then the project will go through the city's land use review process, which will go through Community Board 7 (which is also working to secure further community benefits), the borough president's office (which has expressed support for benefits agreement) and the City Council (where Majority Leader Joel Rivera has expressed his support for a community benefits agreement). This will take a few months, probably.

This is a setback for the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA). It was hoping to leverage the IDA tax breaks into a community benefits agreement (CBA). But all is not lost; through the land use review process, they will stay be able to make their case that the community should get more out than a shopping center, low-paying retail jobs and some low-cost space for community programming.

Specifically, KARA wants Related to require employers at the Armory to pay living wages (about $10 an hour, plus benefits), give job preferences to local residents (during and after construction), offer more community space and allow employees the option to unionize.

The living wage requirement would be unprecedented in New York City, but has been included in CBA's for projects in California. Related hasn't talked specifics, but says it's willing to negotiate some type of benefits agreement, as it did for the Gateway Center Mall (the overhaul of the Bronx Terminal Market near Yankee Stadium). Though derided by critics as lacking community input, lacking reserved space for local merchants and being virtually unenforceable, that CBA has produced a good deal of job training and Related has reportedly complied with the terms it signed off on. (There are living wage and minority hiring provisions in the Gateway CBA, but they are not expressly enforceable with regards to the mall's future tenants,)

This is a complicated issue, one the Norwood News has reported on extensively and will continue to as the process moves forward. Again, stay tuned.

-IDA hearing reporting by Ivonne Salazar

Armory Update: City Votes Tomorrow on Rewarding Developer Tax Breaks

The New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA) will decide tomorrow if the Kingsbridge Armory developer, Related Companies, should receive $17.8 million in tax breaks.

As we've reported in the Norwood News and on this blog, Related plans to turn the historic landmark into a shopping center. At the IDA's meeting last Thursday, community activists demanded the agency postpone its decision until the developer commits to negotiating a binding community benefits agreement (CBA). Activists are hoping to bring much needed resources to Bronx residents by ensuring that Related provides living wage jobs with benefits, community space for youth and seniors, and the option for employees to unionize.

The agency has a history of supporting big private development projects in the borough, including the Bronx Gateway Mall, Fordham Plaza and the new Yankees Stadium. Last Thursday, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) organized a rally prior to the IDA's meeting. Several community leaders and elected officials, including IDA board member and City Comptroller Bill Thompson, urged the agency to postpone its decision until Related had sat down with KARA.

Related's development lawyer Jesse Masyr told the Daily News (story not posted online) they would sit down with KARA, but only as part of a larger community benefits panel that included Community Board 7 and members of City Council. Council member Joel Rivera spoke at KARA's rally last week and voiced his support for KARA getting a seat at the table. To this point, Related has been reluctant to negotiate with the alliance, which is made up of community groups, religious leaders, labor unions and elected officials.

A spokesman for Thompson said he couldn't comment on the matter until after the IDA's board met tomorrow morning.

The agency's full board of directors will meet tomorrow at the office of the Economic Development Corporation in downtown Manhattan, 110 William Street, 4th floor, at 9 a.m. Members of the community are welcomed to attend. The Norwood News will be at the meeting and posting an update as soon as the board votes. Stay tuned.

New from the Norwood News

Get all the latest from Norwood, Bedford Park, North Fordham and University Heights in the latest edition of the Norwood News, on the streets and online now. Here's a quick preview of some of the stories we're following:

An in-depth look into how the local groups and activists might be able to extract further community benefits from the coming renovation of the Kingsbridge Armory, which, at this point, is looking mostly like a giant shopping mall. Community Benefits Agreements have ensured substantial and enforceable benefits packages in places like California, but because of resistance by the Bloomberg administration, those types of agreements have been slow to catch on in New York City.

Also, a look at the first official public hearing about the Armory project. The Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), which is seeking a Community Benefits Agreement with the project's developers (The Related Companies), showed up in force to voice it's concerns and wishes for the project.

Three local City Council members -- Joel Rivera, Maria Baez and Oliver Koppell -- support the mayor's plan to extend term limits. Like Bloomberg, all three face a job change or unemployment after next year. The rest of the council is split or undecided.

The warring factions inside the Bronx Democratic Party will battle it out in court, Oct. 27. Why the outcome and Bronx politics in general should matter to everyone who lives here.

A new program in University Heights is fusing basketball and academics to send kids to college and getting fantastic results.

Allen Cleaners, a "cleaner's cleaner" in Bedford Park, just celebrated its 60th year in business.

Plus, check out our Out & About arts and entertainment calendar and our Neighborhood Notes guide to local events, programs and services, which is expanded online.

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.