3.3.22 — Almost 30 years after first writing about the Kingsbridge Armory’s potential redevelopment, I went at it again thanks to failure of the crew that got city approval to build nine ice-hockey rinks there. That was in 2012. Zilch has happened since. Read more in my City Limits piece below.
Dec. 15, 2021 — If you missed the New York Times article last week about Tibbetts Brook, mostly covered over in Van Cortlandt Park a century ago, and the efforts for it to be daylighted, you can check it out here. What the remnants of the Hurricane Ida disaster did in September to 87/Major Deegan, in the Bronx and beyond, kind of spelled out why daylighting the buried Tibbetts Brook isn’t just an effort to make it look nice. More critically, it’s to help prevent what is otherwise certain to result in more natural disasters. To learn more, there is an Environment and Sanitation Committee & Parks and Recreation Committee meeting of Community Board 8 in a few hours on Zoom at 7 PM (Wed., Dec. 15). Here’s the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2114033690. And here’s the info for connecting by phone: +16465588656 Passcode: 2114033690# .
The morning after Hurricane Ida. View on bridge over Deegan on West 238th St. in Bronx. Photo by Jordan Moss
March 1, 2021 — Karen Washington, a retired physical therapist, deserves coverage across the planet for her dedication to urban farming, healthy eating, social justice, and all the other work she has done in the Bronx and beyond.
But it was a surprise — a tad odd, but very cool nonetheless — that Washington (at left in photo below) and two other women, securing healthy food for all and fighting exploitation, were featured in the New York Times’ StyleMagazine a couple of weeks ago. (Click below to read the article). I know Karen: wonderful, caring person, who is on the board of the Mary Mitchell Center in the Crotona section of the Bronx, the neighborhood where she also lives. In addition to the article below, you can read more about her here, here and here.
It drives me a little nuts, everytime I walk or run by the Kingsbridge Armory.
I first wrote about it in 1993; community organizers and activists with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition got involved soon thereafter; and after many starts and stops and Mayor Bloomberg’s heavily defeated proposal to make a mall out of the giant joint (more than 500,000 square feet!) without a promise of a fair wage for workers, a group that adhered to a fair-wage deal finally got a plan saluted and signed by all sides. Named the Kingsbridge National Ice Center was going to be nine ice skating rinks for pro-hockey, and locals too. But the last word I found was in 2017 here and here. It’s been six years since there was a “deal” in 2014. Argh!!!!
Kingsbrige Armory. Where is it headed? Photo by Jordan Moss
Yes, only a little improvement to a lousy step street (which needs to be replaced!), connecting Heath and Bailey avenues in Kingsbridge Heights, but an important fix nonetheless. The bottom step street light on Bailey Avenue has been out for a good bit, so it’s dangerously dark before you start heading up the steps. I called 311, they contacted the Department of Transportation (DOT) and gave me a code, and a few days later I checked in on it via 311’s website. It indicated that the light had been replaced and the case was closed. Wasn’t closed for me until I saw the light on tonight. Lesson? If you see a broken bench in a park; a dangerous, deteriorated sidewalk ; a street light out, etc., hear too much noise, etc., etc., call 311! They give you a code so you can keep track of the status. It also helps to let your community board know about the problem and give them the code you received. They’re usually in regular contact with city agencies and can echo your complaint. Here’s a photo of the step street (which, again, needs to be replaced! — more on this later) with the repaired light at the bottom of the stairs …
Bronx step street entrance on Bailey Avenue headed up to Heath Avenue and Summit Place. DOT replaced light after complaint via 311. Photo by Jordan Moss
City Limits is 40 years old this year. For most of its life thus far it was a hand-held magazine, but for a couple of years now it’s been a website with the same critical coverage of urban policies that affect all New Yorkers and their neighborhoods.
What City Limits also has up and running are essays by many of its former editors including Robbins, Alyssa Katz and Doug Turetsky. (Bronx and Norwood neighborhood resident Jarrett Murphy is the current editor who made this whole lookback happen.)
Take a read and pass it on. It’s good for everyone to know more about where we were and focus on what policies still need focus and change.
Van Cortlandt Park, which links up the Bronx neighborhoods of Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Van Cortlandt Village Norwood and Woodlawn, was rather stunning this morning, as usual. (Both photos by me, Jordan Moss)
Bronx Matters 