Blondell Commons ULURP approved
Proposed Westchester Avenue shelter creates an uproar
A large crowd gathered at St. Helena’s School gym on Friday, April 11 to
listen to plans about a proposed 165-person men’s ‘employment shelter’
to be operated by contractor Samaritan Daytop Village.
Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2019 3
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
The NYC City Council
unanimously passed a resolution
to approve the construction
of a new apartment
building in Westchester
Square.
The compromise agreement
will allow the developer
to build a mixed-use affordable
apartment, retail and
parking complex known as
Blondell Commons.
However the height of the
building has been reduced
from nine stories to six stories
with a seventh fl oor setback.
As part of the city’s Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure,
after intense negotiations
to bring the building’s
size into contextual conformity,
a resolution was
approved at the Council’s
Thursday, April 18 meeting,
allowing the project to proceed.
To accomplish the agreement
Councilman Mark
Gjonaj negotiated for several
weeks with the building’s developer,
Exact Capital.
He said the compromise
will bring much needed af-
This is an early artist’s rendering of the Blondell Commons building.
fordable housing for seniors
and young families into the
community.
“This was a hard-fought
compromise that will give
us control over what will get
built,” said Gjonaj, adding “I
am just glad that we are able
to see it through to the end.”
The site of the development,
1340 Blondell Avenue, was a
former auto salvage yard.
Gjonaj’s chief of staff, Reginald
Johnson, said the new
confi guration will include
172 units versus the proposed
228, 225 parking spaces, and
about 20,000 square feet of
commercial space that the developer
has indicated will be
leased, most likely, for an educational
use.
The chairman of the
Westchester Square Business
Improvement District, John
Bonizio, said that he was
pleased with the outcome.
Bonizio said that the
225-space parking lot is going
to attract different types
of businesses to the Square
because they will know that
parking is available.
He cited a growing number
of restaurants as an example
of the kinds of businesses that
could be attracted to the area,
although it is not limited to
restaurants.
“Just like it does in Manhattan,
(the parking) is going
to give consumers who come
to the area by car the opportunity
to park in a place where
they are not going to get ticketed,”
said Bonizio.
Additionally, the new residents
in the area will increase
foot traffi c in the commercial
corridor, said Bonizio.
An increase in foot traffi
c has been a perennial concern
of Westchester Square
merchants, Bonizio said, adding
that the council’s actions
could spur other residential
development along Blondell
Avenue, replacing the mostly
auto-related businesses with
housing.
“It is a win for the community.
It is an important thing
to the community,” said Bonizio.
“I know that there was a
lot of opposition and I understand
it. If you look at it overall,
the community needs to
grow. If it doesn’t grow it is
going to die.”
Idan Sims, an Exact Capital
spokesman, released a statement
to the Bronx Times.
“The unanimous City
Council approval of the
Blondell Commons refl ects
strong support from the community,
including neighborhood
residents and small
business owners.
“The new 100% affordable
building to be developed
at 1340 Blondell Avenue will
be a welcomed addition to
an underutilized site in the
Westchester Square section,”
it said.
The statement continued:
“The new building will offer
many appealing features
and amenities, including a
children’s playroom, a fi tness
room, a large multipurpose
room and 225 parking spaces
that will also be available to
the public.”
In advisory roles, community
boards 10 and 11 both opposed
the original design.
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
When Parkchester residents
were notifi ed at a recent
town hall meeting about
a planned 165-person men’s
shelter proposed for 2008
Westchester Avenue, their response
was less than welcoming.
Community members
packed the gym of St. Helena’s
School on Friday, April 12 to
attend a town hall hosted by
Community Board 9 in which
the plan was explained.
The CB 9 district manager,
William Rivera, said that notifi
cation was received from the
NYC Department of Homeless
Services Friday, February 22
of an ‘employment shelter’ for
165 single men that are working
or looking for work.
The DM said that the siting
is part of the city’s Turning
the Tide program to address
homelessness.
“I think we had a good
turnout,” said Rivera of the
meeting, adding that he has
sent questions to DHS to get
more information and that
he expects the board to come
together by the next CB 9 full
board meeting after a rally,
another information session
with DHS and Daytop Village,
and two board meetings with
DHS offi cials to make an informed
decision on possibly
sending a letter to the appropriate
agencies expressing its
views.
The operator of the proposed
shelter would be Samaritan
Village, who referred all
questions to the DHS.
Rivera said at the April
12 meeting that the shelter
may also available to individuals
who might have been
convicted of lower level sex
crimes.
During the St. Helena town
hall, Councilman Ruben Diaz
Sr. pledged to hold a rally
against the shelter siting,
which will happen outside of
the shelter’s site on Monday,
April 29 at 6:30 p.m.
Assemblywoman Karines
Reyes started a petition to demand
zero sex offenders at the
new facility in response to the
crowd’s reaction.
Christina Ramos, a mother
of a young child who lives
near the proposed shelter, and
attended the meeting, said
she takes her child for walks,
and doesn’t believe the shelter
would be conducive to a safe
environment.
Senator Luis Sepulveda is
planning to host a follow up
meeting with the community,
along with Reyes, at St. Helena’s
Church on Friday, May 3
from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The senator is co-hosting
the informational meeting
with the project’s co-sponsors
DHS and Samaritan Village.
“When people hear the
words homeless shelter, it is
uncomfortable and controversial,
but I have always said
that people have a right to
housing…that’s my guiding
principal,” Sepulveda said.
Since the shelter is being
built as an ‘as-of-right’ project
which doesn’t require any special
permits, the senator said
he doesn’t believe that rallies
or protests against the shelter
will be productive because
the city isn’t going to pull back
and there is no way legally to
stop it, he said.
Rather than an all-out
fi ght, the senator would like to
control the type of shelter going
into the location.
He would like to see a shelter
for families or possibly low
income housing, he said.
“Let’s get something the
community could work with,
rather than going out there
and protesting something
coming anyway,” said Sepulveda.
DHS spokeperson, Arianna
Fishman, said that the
agency wants to emphasize it
is an employment shelter, and
that the new shelter ushers in
an era of phasing out stop-gap
measures of the past by opening
high-quality new sites.
Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. Schneps
Media / Patrick Rocchio