NEW YORK—The Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx is the topic for discussion again as Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. submitted a community benefits agreement to the selected developer of the Armory, Related Companies.
The Armory is a 575, 000 square-foot building once used by the National Guard. It was vacated in 1996 and two years later the City of New York took ownership of the land. The development of the Armory has been a topic of debate ever since.
Related Companies is set to develop the Armory but Diaz and other organizations such as the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), would like the developer to follow the guidelines they outlined in the community benefits agreement. The suggestions include making room for recreational space, local hiring, living wage jobs, the ability for retail workers to unionize, and exclude building a big box grocery store.
“We have laid out a strong community benefits agreement, and we want to work with The Related Companies to make this project a reality. I look forward to sitting down with the developer in the coming days to discuss this document and the principles contained within it,” said Diaz in a news release.
Diaz emphasized the danger of building a big box supermarket in the community where local supermarkets thrive. He says that such a supermarket would threaten smaller community-based stores which have been around for many years and employ hundreds of Bronx residents.
“It would be unfair to local supermarkets to have big corporations come in,” said Diaz.
He also emphasized that big box supermarkets tend to bring with them part-time jobs with low ages and no health benefits. “We want real jobs,” he said.
“Economic development that creates jobs that keep people in poverty accomplishes nothing. We expect and demand that the Kingsbridge Armory be developed in a way that strengthens the community, and not just enriches the developer,” said Stuart Appelbaum, a KARA representative and the president of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union in a news release.
Appelbaum said that the Armory should provide long term jobs for Bronx residents.
“Responsible developers should not be about turning a quick buck,” he said.
Diaz said he has until Sept. 8 to negotiate. “I have total confidence that we will come up with something.”
Differing Views
Local resident Lewis Pacheto is skeptical about the change the officials are advocating. He’s been in the neighborhood for 35 years and said that he’s seen it all before.
“They tell you what you want to hear,” said Pacheto.
Pacheto said that in the past jobs were promised to the community but they never came through. He considered Diaz’s actions another political stunt. “They tell you what you want to hear.”
However, he agreed that building a big box supermarket would be dangerous to the community, saying they wouldn’t be able to compete.
Kwasi Akyeameong, a KARA member, doesn’t think this initiative is enough. He would like to see the space devoted to arts and culture.
“It would be perfect if our leaders were visionaries. To see a play, an art performance...why does everyone have to go to Manhattan, why not the Bronx,” said Akyeameong.
He’s hoping the community benefits agreement won’t be accepted so that they can start from scratch and think less narrowly.
