This is a view of the area near the proposed new Montefi ore medical facility at 801 Co-op City Boulevard.
The developer came before the community board. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
New medical facility being
proposed for Co-op City
the parking requirement
for the lot, he said.
“In accordance with the
architect’s calculations,
Montefi ore has deemed the
reduced amount of parking
as adequate for the facility,”
said Kelleher.
The project will be sent
back to the community
board for further review
after it is calendared at
the BSA, said board member
Bob Bieder, who said
he didn’t feel ready to vote
until more specifi cs as to
the amount of patients and
cars the medical facility
would attract are clarifi
ed.
Co-op City resident and
community leader, Linda
Collins, asked Kelleher if
Montefi ore would be open
to allowing co-op residents
to use spaces in the garage
at night. Kelleher pledged
to relay the message.
Noel Ellison, Co-op
City’s Riverbay Corporation
general manager said
he supported new medical
facilities in Co-op City, but
that planning should be
done in a holistic way.
The total size of the
proposed facility is about
54,000 square feet.
15 BRONX WEEKLY April 21, 2019 www.BXTimes.com
from Page 1
Apartheid ends for Bronxites
at Fordham Metro-North station
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Many Bronxites heading
downtown on Metro-North’s
Fordham train station have
watched in bewilderment as
New Haven line trains pull
into the station, unload passengers,
and then shut its
doors without taking on any
Bronx passengers that are
heading to Grand Central
Station.
That’s because Fordham
passengers were prevented
from boarding…an almost
apartheid-like situation that
was allowed to exist for almost
a century.
Due to a limited revenue
sharing agreement between
the Connecticut Department
of Transportation and
Metro-North, which share
the same track at this point,
this outrageous practice continued,
a practice that forced
Bronxites at the Fordham
station to board Harlem line
trains only, into Manhattan.
After an unrelenting
campaign by City Comptroller
Scott Stringer and Senator
Gustavo Rivera, that antiquated
policy, which dates
back to the previous operators
of Metro-North, was offi
cially halted on Sunday,
April 14.
Now, after many, many
decades, Fordham commuters
are no longer treated as
second-class citizens, and
can board the Manhattanbound
New Haven trains.
“The rule about boarding
at Fordham had a long
history, but that’s no reason
for us to continue to uphold
it,” said Metro North president
Catherine Rinaldi, who
approved the rule change
at Stringer and Rivera’s encouragement
after a discussion
with her counterpart,
ConnDOT Commissioner
Joseph Giulietti.
The change means that
Fordham railroad passengers
will be able to access an
additional 96 weekday trains
for travel into Manhattan
that previously had been
off-limits, more than doubling
the existing service of
93 Harlem Line trains, according
to the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
“It is long overdue and
I am proud to have worked
with Senator Gustavo Rivera
to call out this inequity
and demand change,”
Stringer said following the
historic Bronx commuter
agreement.
On Saturdays, 67 New Haven
Line trains will bolster
the existing 83 Harlem Line
trains; as for Sunday service,
the railroad is adding
65 New Haven Line trains to
the existing 63 Harlem Line
trains.
The new rule will also
benefi t commuters during
off-peak hours, as service
between Fordham and Manhattan
will operate roughly
four times an hour, practically
doubling its previous
rate.
“In fact, it was long past
time for this antiquated and
customer-unfriendly rule
to be eliminated,” Rinaldi
added.
As a result of this policy
change, revenue from the
sale of train tickets between
Fordham and Manhattan,
which previously had gone
entirely to Metro-North, will
now be split between Metro-
North and Connecticut, the
MTA confi rmed.
This move also comes after
Metro-North completed
a $15 million renhabilitation
of the Fordham station
that doubled the width of the
northbound platform, created
a new entrance at Webster
Avenue and East 193rd
Street while also renovating
the station building, added
wider stairways and new entrances
to Fordham Plaza,
and installed permanent
artwork.
“I hope this long overdue
change will be an initial step
in opening up our commuter
rails as we work to increase
transportation options for
those New Yorkers residing
in the many transit deserts
across the city, especially
in the Bronx,” Rivera said,
commending Stringer for
his involvement in the initiative.
The previous practice
did not impact north-bound
passengers boarding at the
Fordham station.
A train departs from the Fordham train station. Photo by Alex Mitchell
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