AG, Crespo
unveil ecofriendly
truck
program
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Here’s a breath of fresh air for
the Bronx. Attorney General Letitia
James unveiled the fi rst-ofits
kind fl eet of all-electric, zeroemission,
delivery trucks that
will be used by the New York Botanical
Garden, Bronx Zoo, Sustainable
South Bronx and other
local non-profi t organizations on
Wednesday, April 17.
Some units of the new, ecofriendly
and battery-powered
truck fl eet were on display outside
the Hunts Point Produce
Market, right where James made
the announcement alongside Assemblyman
Marcos Crespo and
many others involved in what
she called a groundbreaking initiative.
The specially designed Mitsubishi
Fuso trucks are so quiet
that they only make a specifi -
cally designed, slight noise for
traffi c safety purposes.
“The dirty diesel trucks that
crowd our streets are a major
source of our city’s worst local
air pollution,” James said as a
line of the trucks boisterously
cut her off while pulling into the
market.
“Perfect timing,” the attorney
general joked.
She had negotiated twoyear
leases for the specialty
fl eet with Milea Truck of 885 E.
149th Street. Given the vehicles’
unique nature, these big hauls
aren’t sold commercially, rather
only given special leases with
environmentally-conscious nonprofi
ts, according to Steven Dorn
of Milea Truck.
Dorn also explained that due
to the emerging and vibrant ecotechnology,
the trucks in this
fl eet will likely be obsoleted and
ROAD BLOCK
CB11 Chair threatens lawsuit over MP Ave. ‘Road Diet’
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The implementation of the
Morris Park Avenue ‘road
diet,’ something that’s been
viewed as a proverbial ‘spit in
the eye’ to many Morris Park
residents, will officially commence
the week of Sunday,
April 28, and be completed in
six weeks, the NYC Department
of Transportation confirmed.
When the road’s re-lining
is complete, the four-lane thoroughfare
will forfeit one lane
in each direction, have dedicated
turn bays and bicycle
lanes on the bustling business
corridor from Newport Avenue
on the east to Adams Street
on the western tip, while also
implementing a truck loading
zones between Colden and
Paulding avenues, according
to DOT.
Since its initial public pro-
Morris Park Avenue. Fernando Justiniano
New medical facility being proposed for Co-op City
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A parking matter was discussed
in a preliminary presentation
by developers concerning
a new proposed six-story medical
building in Co-op City before Community
Board 10’s Housing and
Zoning Committee on Wednesday,
April 10.
The developer, Simone Development,
is seeking a NYC Board
of Standards and Appeal permit
to reduce the number of required
parking spaces.
The building would include
three fl oors of parking and three
of medical offi ces dedicated to primary
and pediatric care.
The fi rst fl oor parking lot
would be utilized by a neighboring
nursing home that shares the
same zoning lot at 801 Co-op City,
according to the community board
presentation.
Montefi ore will operate the
medical facility.
At issue during the CB 10 meeting
was the number of new parking
spaces that would be allocated
to the medical facility and just how
many would be needed.
According to the developer’s
presentation, the new garage
would feature 104 new spaces on
the ground level that would be
used by the adjacent Bay Park Center
for Nursing and Rehabilitation,
with preliminary plans calling for
an additional 89 spaces on the second
fl oor and 84 spaces on the third
for the medical facility.
A Montefi ore spokesperson said
that the medical care provider is
constantly scouting new opportunities
to address the borough’s
health care needs.
“We have been serving the Coop
City community for decades
and we are looking to improve
the experience of care for patients
there,” the spokesperson stated.
Continued on Page 4
She added: “We are excited to
work with Simone Healthcare
Development to bring additional
pediatric and adult primary care
services from Montefi ore to this
location, in a larger, state-of-theart
space.”
Joseph Kelleher, Simone Metro
Properties president, said Montefi
ore approached the developer
because its Dreiser Loop clinic
needed major upgrades, so they decided
to entirely replace that facility
instead.
The developer will be fi ling an
application with the BSA to reduce
Your Neighborhood — Your News® April 21, 2019
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