Coli NYCers lost 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/n...t-south-bronx-gets-ready-for-development.html
No People in Sight Yet, but South Bronx Gets Ready for Development
By WINNIE HUDEC. 9, 2016
As part of its long-term proposal for developing the neighborhood on the South Bronx side of the Harlem River, the city is planning a new intersection at 144th Street and Exterior Street. David Dee Delgado for The New York Times
The bustling riverfront envisioned for a tattered stretch of warehouses and parking lots in the South Bronx is still many years away.
But that has not stopped the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio from going ahead with a $194 million plan to improve the infrastructure in a 30-block area on the Bronx side of the Harlem River. The plan will include making streets pedestrian-friendly, replacing water and sewer lines, carving out a new park and expanding broadband access — all in preparation for future development that, for now, exists only on paper.
Though public investment in the city’s infrastructure is not new, it has often been an afterthought, especially in neighborhoods where development has been piecemeal. Now, as the city moves on its ambitious effort to build more affordable housing, economic development officials aim to make more infrastructure investments as part of a shift toward a more comprehensive, community-based approach — known as “placemaking” among urban planners — as they develop the city’s remaining tracts of available land.
“It’s not just about changing the zoning, it’s about improving the infrastructure,” said Maria Torres-Springer, the president and chief executive of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “It’s literally strengthening the bones of the community.”
The city also planned, she added, to make substantial investments in infrastructure in Far Rockaway in Queens, East New York in Brooklyn and Inwood in Manhattan, all places where the de Blasio administration is planning to add affordable housing.
In the South Bronx, where borough officials and others have worked to remake the riverfront, five acres of vacant, city-owned land is slated to become a riverfront complex that will bring 700 to 900 units of affordable housing to the city’s poorest borough as well as an esplanade, stores and businesses, and exhibition, performance and meeting spaces for community groups and others. The city also plans to acquire two and a half acres of privately owned land nearby currently used for a parking lot and two warehouses and turn it into a riverfront park.
Maria Torres-Springer, left, Kate Van Tassel and Stephanie Baez of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, during a tour of the South Bronx waterfront area for affordable housing.David Dee Delgado for The New York Times
“Only positive things can come from investing in our infrastructure,” said Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president. “The South Bronx has come a long way and we want to continue to build on these successes, as we bring transformative development and new growth to our borough. Adding a world-class infrastructure system is a key component in that growth.”
Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a nonprofit that has called attention to the city’s aging infrastructure, said the de Blasio administration’s emphasis on infrastructure was refreshing and important because city investments in infrastructure had largely failed to keep up with the development and population growth in many neighborhoods, especially outside of Manhattan.
As a result, he said, there has been a lot of frustration over problems that could have been avoided, such as overtaxed utilities and subways, crowded schools and a shortage of street parking and open spaces.
“It certainly seems like smart development, smart planning,” Mr. Bowles said. “It’s nice to see a recognition that we can’t just do development, but we also need to lay the groundwork for development with infrastructure investment.”
The South Bronx riverfront, once a thriving industrial area, is connected to Manhattan by a series of bridges that run over the Harlem River and is within walking distance of multiple subway and bus lines. While the city’s infrastructure improvements do not extend to public transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the subways, is upgrading several nearby stations along the Grand Concourse.
City officials and Bronx leaders said that they would continue working to increase transit services as development progresses. In addition, they noted, the South Bronx will benefit from other projects — such as the opening of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan and the planned addition of Metro-North railroad stations in the Bronx — that are expected to ease crowding on public transit systems.
The city’s attention to infrastructure needs has raised concerns among those who fear that it will serve only to hasten development and result in neighborhoods that become ever more unaffordable. Ed Garcia Conde, a Bronx resident who founded a popular blog, Welcome2TheBronx, said that he saw the city’s efforts in the South Bronx as an attempt to “jump-start gentrification.”
A homeless camp under the 145th Street bridge, part of a 30-block South Bronx area the city wants developed. David Dee Delgado for The New York Times
“I just think these things should happen naturally,” he said. “Why are we going to hand the golden key to developers and make it even easier for them to construct their market-rate housing?”
Kate Van Tassel, a vice president for development at the Economic Development Corporation, said that officials had been meeting with South Bronx leaders and residents to include their priorities in the plan. For instance, in response to residents’ requests for better access to the river, a new intersection will be created at Exterior and 144th Streets, which will open directly into the new park.
Next month, the city will also begin working on a redesign of Exterior Street that will include replacing the aging water and sewer lines underneath, and widening sidewalks, repaving the road surface, improving lighting and adding pedestrian medians and bike lanes. In addition, the city plans to extend broadband access north to Morris Avenue so existing residents and businesses as well as Hostos Community College can benefit from it.
In total, the transformation of the riverfront is expected to bring nearly 2,000 temporary construction jobs to the South Bronx, according to economic development officials.
Ms. Torres-Springer said the city had received a number of proposals for the site this year and expected to select a developer by next fall. Groundbreaking will not take place until 2019 at the earliest.
The site is currently used to store road construction equipment, and after the holidays, for mulching Christmas trees. Two circuses — UniverSoul Circus and Circo Hermanos Vazquez — also rent space during the year for performances.
Cedric Loftin, the district manager for Bronx Community Board 1, said that while there had been some concerns about the planned development, many residents supported the city’s infrastructure investment.
“I think people understand the need for it,” he said. “For a community to grow and be vibrant in the future, you have to have the appropriate infrastructure to build what is needed.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/n...t-south-bronx-gets-ready-for-development.html
No People in Sight Yet, but South Bronx Gets Ready for Development
By WINNIE HUDEC. 9, 2016
As part of its long-term proposal for developing the neighborhood on the South Bronx side of the Harlem River, the city is planning a new intersection at 144th Street and Exterior Street. David Dee Delgado for The New York Times
The bustling riverfront envisioned for a tattered stretch of warehouses and parking lots in the South Bronx is still many years away.
But that has not stopped the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio from going ahead with a $194 million plan to improve the infrastructure in a 30-block area on the Bronx side of the Harlem River. The plan will include making streets pedestrian-friendly, replacing water and sewer lines, carving out a new park and expanding broadband access — all in preparation for future development that, for now, exists only on paper.
Though public investment in the city’s infrastructure is not new, it has often been an afterthought, especially in neighborhoods where development has been piecemeal. Now, as the city moves on its ambitious effort to build more affordable housing, economic development officials aim to make more infrastructure investments as part of a shift toward a more comprehensive, community-based approach — known as “placemaking” among urban planners — as they develop the city’s remaining tracts of available land.
“It’s not just about changing the zoning, it’s about improving the infrastructure,” said Maria Torres-Springer, the president and chief executive of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “It’s literally strengthening the bones of the community.”
The city also planned, she added, to make substantial investments in infrastructure in Far Rockaway in Queens, East New York in Brooklyn and Inwood in Manhattan, all places where the de Blasio administration is planning to add affordable housing.
In the South Bronx, where borough officials and others have worked to remake the riverfront, five acres of vacant, city-owned land is slated to become a riverfront complex that will bring 700 to 900 units of affordable housing to the city’s poorest borough as well as an esplanade, stores and businesses, and exhibition, performance and meeting spaces for community groups and others. The city also plans to acquire two and a half acres of privately owned land nearby currently used for a parking lot and two warehouses and turn it into a riverfront park.
Maria Torres-Springer, left, Kate Van Tassel and Stephanie Baez of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, during a tour of the South Bronx waterfront area for affordable housing.David Dee Delgado for The New York Times
“Only positive things can come from investing in our infrastructure,” said Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president. “The South Bronx has come a long way and we want to continue to build on these successes, as we bring transformative development and new growth to our borough. Adding a world-class infrastructure system is a key component in that growth.”
Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a nonprofit that has called attention to the city’s aging infrastructure, said the de Blasio administration’s emphasis on infrastructure was refreshing and important because city investments in infrastructure had largely failed to keep up with the development and population growth in many neighborhoods, especially outside of Manhattan.
As a result, he said, there has been a lot of frustration over problems that could have been avoided, such as overtaxed utilities and subways, crowded schools and a shortage of street parking and open spaces.
“It certainly seems like smart development, smart planning,” Mr. Bowles said. “It’s nice to see a recognition that we can’t just do development, but we also need to lay the groundwork for development with infrastructure investment.”
The South Bronx riverfront, once a thriving industrial area, is connected to Manhattan by a series of bridges that run over the Harlem River and is within walking distance of multiple subway and bus lines. While the city’s infrastructure improvements do not extend to public transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the subways, is upgrading several nearby stations along the Grand Concourse.
City officials and Bronx leaders said that they would continue working to increase transit services as development progresses. In addition, they noted, the South Bronx will benefit from other projects — such as the opening of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan and the planned addition of Metro-North railroad stations in the Bronx — that are expected to ease crowding on public transit systems.
The city’s attention to infrastructure needs has raised concerns among those who fear that it will serve only to hasten development and result in neighborhoods that become ever more unaffordable. Ed Garcia Conde, a Bronx resident who founded a popular blog, Welcome2TheBronx, said that he saw the city’s efforts in the South Bronx as an attempt to “jump-start gentrification.”
A homeless camp under the 145th Street bridge, part of a 30-block South Bronx area the city wants developed. David Dee Delgado for The New York Times
“I just think these things should happen naturally,” he said. “Why are we going to hand the golden key to developers and make it even easier for them to construct their market-rate housing?”
Kate Van Tassel, a vice president for development at the Economic Development Corporation, said that officials had been meeting with South Bronx leaders and residents to include their priorities in the plan. For instance, in response to residents’ requests for better access to the river, a new intersection will be created at Exterior and 144th Streets, which will open directly into the new park.
Next month, the city will also begin working on a redesign of Exterior Street that will include replacing the aging water and sewer lines underneath, and widening sidewalks, repaving the road surface, improving lighting and adding pedestrian medians and bike lanes. In addition, the city plans to extend broadband access north to Morris Avenue so existing residents and businesses as well as Hostos Community College can benefit from it.
In total, the transformation of the riverfront is expected to bring nearly 2,000 temporary construction jobs to the South Bronx, according to economic development officials.
Ms. Torres-Springer said the city had received a number of proposals for the site this year and expected to select a developer by next fall. Groundbreaking will not take place until 2019 at the earliest.
The site is currently used to store road construction equipment, and after the holidays, for mulching Christmas trees. Two circuses — UniverSoul Circus and Circo Hermanos Vazquez — also rent space during the year for performances.
Cedric Loftin, the district manager for Bronx Community Board 1, said that while there had been some concerns about the planned development, many residents supported the city’s infrastructure investment.
“I think people understand the need for it,” he said. “For a community to grow and be vibrant in the future, you have to have the appropriate infrastructure to build what is needed.”
