BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 12 ANUARY 18-24, 2019 BTR
Founded in 1981 by
Michael Benedetto and
John Collazzi
PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER
Victoria Schneps-Yunis
CEO AND CO-PUBLISHER
Joshua Schneps
BRONX TIMES PUBLISHER
Laura Guerriero
EDITOR
John Collazzi
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Gentrification
is costly
Dear editor,
When people hear the word
‘gentrifi cation’ the image that
comes to mind may be of a hipster
or yuppie. Realistically
gentrifi cation is people with
higher income or with subsidies
to pay the higher rents
displacing longtime residents
with lower income and/or who
pay lower rents. Gentrifi cation
may have a positive or negative
effect on crime levels, on
amenities and on businesses.
What it defi nitely does have
is a displacement rate which
City Planning Commission’s
Urban Land Use Review Process
(ULURP) does not take
into factor.
This leads me to the proposed
Blondell Commons
rezoning application for
Westchester Square. Not only
will this project burden the
overstretched infrastructure
including the pre-k to grade 5
schools that are already over
140% capacity, but it will displace
residents such as those
residing on Westchester
Square, Blondell Avenue and
Benson Street and spread over
other areas.
If the 1340 Blondell Avenue
site is built, there would be
over 70 apartments at 120 percent
AMI which means those
studios would rent at $1,800
and a 3-bedroom at $3,160
which is not only unaffordable
for the area but for most
of Bronx residents.
When there are people willing
and able to pay that kind of
rent for these apartments, that
are small (550 square feet for a
studio) on a brownfi eld site due
to past contamination, then
displacement is a certainty.
This displacement is not natural
but induced by the building
of ‘affordable housing’.
Therefore, to all our elected
offi cials, I urge a “no” vote to
Blondell Commons”
Roxanne Delgado
Destructive
parking
Dear editor,
I am writing to you about
the problem with tractor trailers
using the service road
along Pelham Bay Park, between
Middletown Road and
Wilkinson Avenue, as a rest
stop, parking there for days at
a time. When did this become
a truck stop? It looks like the
police department has let this
go on for a long time and it’s
starting to get worst. I have
seen at least 8 to 12 trucks
parked along that stretch at
any given time. This problem
needs to be addressed before it
destroys our neighborhood
Eddie Malave
Too much
density
Dear editor,
NYC has the most challenging
housing problems, especially
affordable housing, of
perhaps any American city. We
used to lead the nation in innovation
and reform. The NYC
Department of Housing, Preservation,
and Development is
using our tax dollars to create
more affordable housing.
However, as seen in two
projects in our community,
the Blondell Commons and
the St. Peter’s project at 2500
Westchester Avenue, they lack
the imagination and strategies
for integrating them into our
vibrant, diverse community.
Some years ago I read ‘A History
of New York City Housing’
by Professor Richard Plunz,
professor of Architecture,
Planning, and Preservation at
Columbia University. Several
things still are in my mind. He
debunked the French architect
LeCorbusier and his theory of
urban development ‘towers in
the park’ which guided much
luxury, middle income, and affordable
housing in NYC. Coop
City comes to mind; Professor
Plunz called this the last
megalomaniacal act of Robert
Moses.
Plunz wrote that ‘towers
in the park’ broke the contact
with the street and community.
Residents lived in isolation.
The ideal multiple family
apartment house should be no
more than fi ve stories high and
with courtyards.
Two proposed affordable
housing projects in our community
are the 9-story Blondell
Commons and 11-story St. Peter’s
project. Plans for these
projects look like warehouses
rather than homes.
There are wonderful apartment
houses built in the Longwood
historic community,
once considered part of Fort
Apache, that display care and
mindfulness that I think Professor
Plunz would approve for
creating community and integrating
with the already existing
community. The architects
of these projects should take a
walking tour beginning with
‘The Melody.’ It honors the musical
heritage of the community.
Blondell Commons
shouldn’t be built. The St. Peter’s
project should be scaled
back and integrated into the
existing community and not
built to dominate it.
Dorothy Krynicki,
OPED: by Councilman Ruben Diaz, Sr. To build or not to build the wall
You should know that the
matter of ‘Building the Wall’
on the southern Mexican border
has reached a political impasse
between the Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer,
the House of Representatives
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President
Donald J. Trump.
These three have reached
a point of no return. If one of
them stumbles and concedes to
the other, he or she will (fi guratively
speaking) be stoned.
They will be politically fi nished
and can then kiss their
careers good bye.
So, ladies and gentlemen,
none of the nation’s three top
leaders can afford to give in
and be seen by, not only their
base, but by the entire nation as
Our elected offi cials had interesting
comments to make on
city, state and national issues.
Several of them are featured in
this week’s Statements. We invite
our readers to share their
opinions on the items below.
Assembly Speaker Carl
Heastie’s statement on Assembly
majority’s agenda... “Today,
my colleagues and I in the Assembly
Majority opened the
2019 Legislative Session, and
while we are confi dent this
year will bring real change for
New Yorkers, many of the ideas
that have recently taken center
stage have long been priorities
Continued on page 60
.......AS STATED
in the People’s House.
New York is a trailblazer for
the nation on so many issues
that have been nurtured and
developed by the hard work of
the Assembly Majority.
...The Assembly Majority is
a body of progressive leaders.
Our ideas have long been bold
and visionary. We look forward
to working with our partners
in the new Senate Majority to
make them a reality.”
Councilman Fernando
Cabrera’s remarks on HPD
Third Party Transfer Program
and expansion of Private
Residential Property Seizure...
“Mayor deBlasio announced
a plan to seize buildings from
landlords who threaten the
well-being of tenants. While
details were not provided, it
seems obvious that this would
involve an expansion of the
Third Party Transfer program.
If this happens, we are headed
down a ‘slippery slope.’
I’m extremely concerned
about the Third Party Transfer
program and its impact on low
income communities of color.
The act of disenfranchising people
from homeownership has a
rippling impact- from making
homeowners homeless, to extracting
wealth from people of
modest means, to depriving descendants
of homeowners from
rightful inheritence.
We’ve seen too many instances
of homeowner residents
lose their homes and
their equity in the transfer of
properties that don’t always
meet the standards and rules to
justify the transfer. Many ‘distressed’
properties are not, in
fact, distressed. In far too many
cases the homeowner residents
have not been adequately informed
that their property is to
Continued on page 60
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