As leaders in Washington, Albany and City Hall have contemplated huge funding reductions, advocates have mounted protests, written letters and pleaded through the press. Now some are giving up food. One Bronx leader explains why.
(Editor’s Note: this article was first published in the Norwood News, out now)A plan to rezone Webster Avenue between East Gun Hill and Fordham roads was officially approved by the City Council at the end of March, the culmination of years of planning by local leaders and elected officials to help transform the 1.75-mile corridor.“We worked very diligently over a five-year period to craft this proposal,” said Community Board 7 member Ozzie Brown, who said the plan lays the groundwork for a more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly Webster Avenue.“We were able to set the context for what might happen in this region for the next 10, 15 years or so,” Brown said.The new zoning allows a mix of residential and commercial spaces, with incentives to encourage the development of affordable housing. Webster Avenue’s previous zoning prohibited residential properties, and the gritty stretch of road is now comprised largely of auto-related and industrial businesses.“Webster Avenue has been underdeveloped and underutilized,” said Bronx Council Member Oliver Koppell, who voted in favor of the plan at a hearing on March 23, where the rest of the Council approved it unanimously. “I am pleased that the Council has approved this rezoning, which is essential to transforming Webster Avenue into a vibrant, inviting and walkable area.”Brown said Community Board 7 will work with the public and the Bronx’s major institutions over the next few months to draft a “Vision for Development,” a plan of what the community would like to see the neighborhood look like, which can then be presented to potential developers and investors.“The potential there is really great,” he said. “We’d like to see bookstores — where can you go to buy a book in this area? We’d like to see some galleries there.
Next week, stop by the Arthur Avenue Pasticceria, inside the Italian food-mecca that is the Arthur Avenue Retail Market in Belmont, and buy a red velvet cupcake for a good cause. From Monday, April 11 to Friday, April 16, all proceeds earned from the sale of the $3 cupcakes will be donated to the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. Yum!
(Editor’s Note: this article was first published in the latest edition of the Norwood News, on the streets and online now.) By JORDAN MOSSAfter a long-delayed report that essentially denies the community greater access to the Jerome Park Reservoir was issued last week, activists and officials are feeling powerless, particularly because a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) official assigned to report to the community on its findings refused to answer any questions.The Facility Monitoring Committee (FMC), an advisory body that meets monthly at the DEP’s community office on Jerome Avenue to keep tabs on the Croton water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park and related projects, includes the chairs of the three surrounding community boards, Councilman Oliver Koppell, and representatives of the Parks Department and the borough president’s office.But despite all that civic firepower, Fr. Richard Gorman, the committee chair, says it has “no juice” in getting the answers it needs. He argued for a higher-level hearing, organized by the borough president’s office.The last straws appear to be the continued lack of progress in hiring Bronxites to work on the project and the report which, citing security concerns, essentially closes the door on community hopes to have greater access to the path inside the two chain-link fences that ring the reservoir.(To pave the way for placing the plant in Van Cortlandt Park, the city offered state legislators, whose approval was needed, $200 million in the park improvement funds financed through the sale of water bonds. That influx of cash has fueled many park projects around the borough and was supposed to include $5 million for an enhanced path around the Jerome Park Reservoir.)At last week’s FMC meeting, DEP representative Mark Lanaghan refused to reply to residents’ questions and concerns about the report they said was riddled with inaccuracies.“I’m not going to respond to anybody tonight,” Lanaghan said. “I don’t want to indulge in that kind of debate.”The report, he conceded, “concludes with a suggestion that is most unwelcome here.” That conclusion calls for a few days of access after the plant is completed in 2013.Anne Marie Garti, a founder of the Jerome Park Conservancy and longtime advocate of public access, said the DEP is going back on its word.
Discovery High School students and science teacher Steve Ritz (right) serve home-grown vegetables at a luncheon last spring. (Photo by G. Ciliberto)Congrats to students and teachers at Discovery High School, in Kingsbridge Heights, for scoring an “Excellence in School Wellness Award” from the Strategic Alliance for Health-the first public school in New York City to win the prize.Students at Discovery have spent the past several years, under the guidance of gardening guru and science teacher Steve Ritz, cultivating their own on-premise organic herb and vegetable gardens. The students have hosted green cafeteria luncheons and farmer’s markets and donated their homegrown produce to local soup kitchens. Last fall, the group built garden installations-complete with their own irrigation systems-for the NBC Experience Store, on 49th Street in Manhattan.According to a press release, the NYC Strategic Alliance for Health chose Discovery “because it offers schools an innovative and successful model for breaking the cycle of poor eating habits by providing instant access to healthy produce.”An awards ceremony will be hosted by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. on Tuesday April 12, at the Main Rotunda of Bronx Borough Hall starting at 11 a.m.
Text and Videos By JORDAN MOSSUntitled from Bronx News Network on Vimeo.The campaign that would require developers of retail projects receiving taxpayer subsidies to pay a living wage – $10 with benefits and $11.50 without – is heating up as advocates press for an April City Council hearing. Council Speaker Christine Quinn has said she would allow hearings on the bill, which has 29 supporters, including every Bronx member of the City Council except for James Vacca of the east Bronx. Vacca was very much on the minds and tongues of numerous speakers at a Living Wage NYC rally last week at the Bronx Pentecostal Deliverance Center on the anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. The legislation was introduced by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., (see the video above) who led the effort to defeat the city’s effort to build a mall at the Armory, mainly because the developer would not guarantee that retail workers be paid a living wage. Council Members Oliver Koppell (speaking in the video below) and Annabel Palma are leading the charge in the Council.
Weather: Cloudy with a high of 54, and a slight chance of rain this afternoon.Story of the Day: Black Steps DownAs we mentioned yesterday, Cathleen Black, the former magazine executive and controversial Schools Chancellor, stepped down from the post yesterday after only three months on the job. Black was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg last fall, a move that drew criticism across the board (and from a number of Bronx electeds) because of Black’s scant education experience.Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., sent out a press release yesterday in response to Black’s announcement saying he “wishes her well” and praising her replacement, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott. Here’s some background on the new Chancellor.
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