St Peter’s: No bodies found; Landmarks’ ask for confi rmation
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
Mott Haven’s Diego Beekman releases 47-second anti-jail video
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, FEBRUARY 1 BTR 5-21, 2019 73
From page 1 written drawing with what appear to
cal survey to determine if any remains
are in the ground at the proposed development
site at 2450 Westchester Avenue,
and an unequivocal confi rmation
from church lawyers that the site is not
landmarked and contains no remains.
The St. Peter’s Episcopal landmarking
documents in 1976 defi ne the
landmarked area as Lot 18, where the
church is located, and part of Lot 6 “extending
from the western boundary
of the cemetery from Westchester Avenue
to Butler Place.”
On the document there is a hand-
be measurements of the lots and surrounding
area, but this doesn’t appear
to give a clear indication to the layperson
as to what is landmarked.
In response to the Ad Hoc Committee’s
letter, the LPC stated it has been
in touch with St. Peter’s Episcopal and
that it is its understanding that the
proposed development is not on the
landmarked portion of Lot 6.
“Additionally, LPC will review the
drawings for the new building to make
sure the proposed development is off
of the landmark site,” stated the LPC
This document from a presentation to Community Board 10 in January shows where the
footprint of the proposed development could be at the corner of Westchester Avenue and
Herschell Street. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
spokeswoman. “We have also spoken
to the church about archaeologically
testing the site to avoid burials.”
An attorney for the church stated
in response to a Bronx Times inquiry
concerning the Ad Hoc Committee’s
letter that the church has been a vital
part of Westchester Square since its
founding in 1693, and wants to be very
clear on the concerns raised.
“St. Peter’s takes its responsibility
as the steward of its cemetery and
surrounding land very seriously, and
no development has or will occur on
any burial grounds – Quaker or otherwise,”
said St. Peter’s attorney. “The
church and its team have already undertaken
extensive efforts to ensure
this, including reviewing land use records
and archives, testing the ground
with radar technology and consulting
with the Landmarks Preservation
Commission.”
The attorney stated in summary
that the committee’s documents “do
not provide any new information,” and
because they are documents designating
administrative boundaries, they
do not provide any indication or location
of actual burial sites.
“The church and its team have
spent great time and effort to gather
far more information than is provided
in these administrative documents,”
said St. Peter’s attorney. “Our investigations
confi rm that there are no
burial plots in the development site.”
The attorney added: “For clarity,
before any construction begins, we
will independently confi rm our fi ndings.
A third-party archaeological investigation
is being undertaken prior
to any development and we fully expect
that this will confi rm our conclusions.”
Preliminary plans for a 11-story
apartment complex built in two phases
and containing a total of approximately
363 apartments were presented
to Community Board 10 at a Monday,
January 7 committee meeting.
According to a previous Bronx
Times report on this subject, the
church is looking to lease part of its
property near Herschell Street for 99
years so that it can raise funds it needs
to support itself and remain in the
community for the long term.
CB 10’s Housing and Zoning Committee
didn’t take any actions at the
meeting because plans seemed preliminary
and still fl uid, according to
board members.
Construction company The Bluestone
Organization was not available
for comment.
Elevated view of the Mott Haven tow pound. Schneps Community News Group/ Alex Mitchell
Before the adminsitration decided
on Mott Haven, a site next to the Bronx
Hall of Justice was also being considered.
The inspiration to release the opposition
ad a year after the site was fi rst
announced is because the uniform
land use review process (ULURP) for
all the borough facilities will be heard
in March.
For now, Parks and Diego Beekman
are aiming to have the Bronx part of
the plan given a separate ULURP hearing.
The Mott Haven community and
South Bronx Coalition also created
an online petition at Change.org titled
“Stop Mayor de Blasio’s Plan to Build
a New Jail in the south Bronx,” which
has over 2,530 signatures already.
Nash, a lifelong resident of Concord
Avenue and a member of Community
Board 1, said , “My family is concerned
for my safety if they build it here.” He
lives across the street from the site.
“I was born here, I lived my entire
life here and I’m going to die here,”
Nash recently said, cementing his
commitment to Mott Haven and stopping
the jail.
From page 1
“We’re going to fi ght, fi ght, fi ght,”
he said.
Nash worked closely with Parks
and others to develop Diego Beekman’s
own large-scale affordable housing
project for the NYPD tow yard.
That affordable housing proposal
would have split the superblock containing
the current tow pound into two
halves, creating two distinct blocks,
while expanding adjacent Wales Avenue
as a vehicular street that would
run through the new development
down into East 141st Street.
Major parts of the redevelopment
include converting the NYPD grounds
and surrounding block into 533 housing
units spread throughout 12 individual
buildings.
Alaya has said earlier that she
doesn’t believe that the jail plan and
one for affordable housing have to be
mutually exclusive of one another.
Borough President Ruben Diaz,
Jr. and Congressman Jose E. Serrano
formed an ‘anti Mott Haven jail’ coalition
called Justice for the Bronx.
To watch the video, visit:
ht t p s : //www.y out u b e . c om/
watch?v=nCBtJXtl5r
/www.y
/Change.org