Back in 2009 when Mill Pond Park opened along the Harlem River in the Lower Concourse area, the 11.3-acre site was promised to be a 15-acre waterfront park once it expanded using the empty parcel between the 145th Street Bridge and the finished park itself.
Time went by and many folks forgot about the expansion but we didn’t and neither did other folks in the area seeking park equity in the South Bronx for you see, The Bronx may be the greenest borough but the South Bronx actually has some of the worst access to green spaces in New York City.
NYC Parks includes the extension’s 4.7 acres in the total 15 acres of the park. As it stands, only 11.3 acres have been improved as park land. It even shows up on NYC Park’s map of the park (Click to enlarge)
Now, last Wednesday, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the same entity that has been shoving FreshDirect down against our will and taking away of more public land, has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to potentially develop up to 920,000 square foot mixed-use project. The RFEI indicates that up to two towers can be built on the site, one 40 stories, and another 26 stories.
ZoLa, NYC’s zoning and land use site shows the area mapped out as parkland as well. It even categorizes it as open space/recreation (Click to enlarge).
How did this happen? How did the city just take away this land, this much needed open space and now wants to hand it over to developers? In return, we’re supposed to get a small sliver of an extension of Mill Pond Park but the fact remains: We can’t breathe concrete!
If you look on ZoLa, New York City’s Zoning and Land Use online tool, you can see the area mapped as parkland (same in Google Maps) and even NYC Parks website clearly shows the area marked as part of Mill Pond Park calling the area a 15 acre park—but that’s only if the extension were completed. As it stands, only 11.3 acres have been improved.
Parks sign outside the extension site which the city now wants to develop up to 920,000 square feet development with as many as two towers, one 40 stories and another 26 stories in height.
The city is already going through the process of having the site rezoned to accommodate such a development as current zoning doesn’t allow for it.
Yes, we do need housing and more affordable housing but not at the continual cost of our open spaces. We are already oversaturated with a booming population without the necessary access to green spaces.
Mill Pond Park map located within the park itself shows the southern parcel as part of future expansion of the waterfront park. (click to enlarge).
We can’t let the city simply get away with consistently taking our public lands and developing them into something that has little to no public benefit especially when it comes to affordable housing. Affordable housing isn’t truly affordable to the local residents who are in the direst of circumstances.
With the Lower Conourse Rezoning Area finally kicking developments into high gear, we need to preserve what little space we have.
Since its sale almost two years ago to developer YoungWoo and Associates, the Bronx General Post Office has been gearing up for a major overhaul as a new destination for shopping, office space, and dining.
Now, after the 13 Ben Shahn murals have carefully been restored to their original grandeur, the post office which once occupied the entire grand landmarked building has moved into their new space at the northern wing of the building.
It’s a little bittersweet moment to know that the grandeur of the landmarked interior lobby will be blocked off during construction but it’s our sincerest hope that once complete, it will serve our borough well as a destination not just for The Bronx but even more specifically those who live in the area.
In previous conversations, YoungWoo is committed to making sure the place is diverse and reflective of the community and borough not to mention that they are also committing to making it a place for local small business.
Bronx Post Place, as the project is being called, is scheduled to open sometime in 2017. Take a look at the renderings for the space and let us know what you think.
A new Fine Fare supermarket opened today in Melrose at the recently opened Triangle Plaza at 149th Street and Brook Avenue.
Once Melrose was a food desert but the South Bronx neighborhood has been flooded with so many supermarkets that you can’t walk 3 or 4 blocks (sometimes less) without running into one.
The new 14,000 square foot Fine Fare has a huge variety of products not to mention an onsite bakery, deli, and butcher shop.
Upon entering the store, the first thing you notice is the huge space dedicated to fresh produce filled with colorful fruits and veggies alongside the typical staples you’d expect in a neighborhood of Latin American, African, and African American descent.
Some notable items we saw was a nice Asian food section, naan Indian bread, challah bread, and lentil chips.
Prices seem to be pretty much in line with others in the area but more supermarkets in the area can only be a good thing because one thing we can never have too much of is access to food.
This is Frank Pimental’s second Fine Fare in Melrose and Mr Pimental said earlier today as we checked the space out, “I’m happy to serve the community, I’m here for the neighborhood and its residents as a small business owner. I’m not a bit chain.”
Fine Fare’s small bulk section is a good start.
And Pimental is a man of his word. A few years ago, we had conversations about the new location and we mentioned something we’d like to see and that’s bulk items for purchase such as rice, beans, grains and today we were pleasantly surprised at seeing a small little section dedicated to mostly organic bulk buying.
This is a great way to purchase items as you get to buy as little or as much as you want. From organic lentils (green, red, and french) to oats, shredded coconut, and even hemp seeds. In total, there are currently 28 items available for bulk purchasing. Perfect for those who don’t want to purchase a giant bag of rice or beans or if you want to try something new.
Throughout the store, you’ll see a great variety of items in a clean and bright open space. For those driving, there is even free parking on the rooftop for customers.
We need more mom and pop markets and supermarkets so don’t forget to support locally owned small businesses.
Update 7/13/2016 4:52PM—almost 1,400 have signed on to this platform!
Almost a dozen physicians, some who have worked in The Bronx, have penned an open letter to their patients on racism and their commitment to them following the aftermath of last week’s killing of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Delrawn Small.
Jonathan Giftos, MD, who is one of the lead authors of the letter wrote, “Moved by the tragic shootings this past week, and informed by years of clinical practice, a group of us came together and drafted the following response from the physician community (which has for too long been silent on the issue of systemic racism) in the form of a letter of commitment to our patients. In just one day the letter has been signed by over 750 people including department chairs, deans of medical education, surgeons, OBGYNs, primary care docs and psychiatrists. Please read our letter and share widely. Thank you. “
A Letter to Our Patients on Racism
Photo by Jonathan Giftos, MD
We are doctors and medical students who witnessed the events of the week of July 4th, 2016 with horror and grief. The murders of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota and Delrawn Small in Brooklyn, New York reiterated a lesson that we should not have to keep learning: that black and brown people in the United States are at risk of police violence unlike any other group of people. There is a long tradition of physician-activists who have devoted their careers to working for racial justice. Yet historically, physicians as a group have not yet taken adequate responsibility for confronting racism, in our work or outside of it. We write to you now, late in making these promises, to make explicit the following five commitments:
We write to express our solidarity with activists around the country who are working to protect and promote the dignity, well-being and equality of black people. We stand with Black Lives Matter in protests and affirm BLM’s commitments to restorative justice and respect for life. We hear in the clarion call for empathy and loving engagement the values that inspire us to care for patients. Following the lead of medical students who have organized themselves to form White Coats 4 Black Lives, we stand with friends and colleagues who organize to fightracialinjustice.
2. We commit to dismantling the structural racism embedded in the healthcare system.
3. We commit to learn how to provide trauma-informed care, and to teach this approach to our students, trainees, and fellow providers.
Traumatic experiences linked to community violence, segregation, concentrated poverty and discrimination negatively impact our patients’ health. We commit to partnering with our patients to address the pervasive stress associated with surviving in an unjust world, to recognize signs of trauma in our patients, to respond to trauma in our treatment plans and toavoid retraumatizing those we seek to serve. We will recognize and learn from the strength and resilience of the communities we care for. We will learn to support individual paths to healing. We will strive to practice with transparency in order to promote trust. We will seek to empower rather than patronize and diminish. We commit to practice with deep respect and love.
4. We commit to healing communities ravaged by discriminatory criminal justice practices through engaging public health systems.
We will confront discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system by measuring the questions that matter. These might include but are not limited to: monitoring trendsin police violence; assessing theimpact of mass incarceration on communities of color; and supporting evidence-based public health approaches to community violence. We will explore how local public health systems can convene diverse stakeholders in education, healthcare, law enforcement and faith-based organizations to facilitatetruth and reconciliation forums in communities devastated by structural violence. We commit to models of community-based participatory research in which our patients serve as partners in our inquiries. We will support evidence-based policies that leverage the lessons from this research and we will lobby legislators to prioritize programs that promote racial justice.
Photo by Jonathan Giftos, MD
5. We commit to using our power as constituents and leaders to insist that every major medical society and association develop a policy on racial justice.
A policy on racial justice is a starting point; we will also hold these organizations accountable to their statements and leverage their influence to elect political leadership that represents our concerns. We will use the powerful organizations that are meant to represent us as physicians to demand change locally and nationally.
Much of what we promise to do in this letter is informed by the work of our activist colleagues and forebears, and some will require we make a new road by walking. We feel an urgency to set these intentions as a step along the path to change, recognizing there are many more steps for us all to take. We see the killing of black and brown people by police as just the edge of the knife; it is the sharpest, most acute consequence of a systemic racism that devalues black and brown lives. We cannot allow it to persist. With humility we make these commitments today to you, our patients, and to the possibility for a more just world.
Andrew Zimmern at Calabria Pork Store on Arthur Ave/Via Calabria Pork Store
A couple of years ago, with the charismatic charm and pull of our culinary ambassador, Baron Ambrosia, Anthony Bourdain came to The Bronx and filmed an episode with some of our off the beaten path eateries.
Tonight, on yet another tour by the way Baron, the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods hosted by the world famous Andrew Zimmern premiers showcasing more of the delectable delights our borough has to offer.
Zimmern traveled across our borough from Melrose, the home of the famous Mexican restaurant Xochimilco, to the king of lechón (the popular roast pork of Puerto Rico), through the Italian markets of Arthur Avenue, the real Little Italy of New York City, and many other spots.
One of his stops was over at the Mexican restaurant El Atoradero where Zimmern called Lina one of the owners of the restaurant, “a culinary genius”.
While the many ethnic foods he sampled, whether Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, or any other, may be commonplace to us, to others who didn’t grow up surrounded in an epicurean paradise like The Bronx, these foods can indeed be seen as bizarre.
Simply put, anything outside your comfort zone and what you’re used can be pretty bizarre.
You can catch tonight’s episode on the Travel Channel at 9PM from the comfort of your own home or head over to Arthur Avenue at 8PM for a viewing party with Baron Ambrosia and friends and watch it with other Bronxites at The Bronx Beer Hall! No cover charge and drink specials available!
Check out some of Andrew Zimmern’s travels in The Bronx:
1016 E 218th Street in Williamsbridge is a foreclosed property being sold / Image via Realtor.com
In a report issued by real estate research site, PropertyShark, The Bronx has seen the highest increase in foreclosures in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the same time period last year—by 47%.
Leading the Bronx in foreclosures is the 10473 zip code encompassing the neighborhoods of Parkchester, Soundview, and Castle Hill with 24 new foreclosures listed totaling $3,034,143 with an average lien of $379,267.
PropertyShark also states that this is the highest rate of first-time scheduled foreclosures since 2010 in New York City.
In terms of raw numbers, Queens remains the epicenter of foreclosures with 302 scheduled in the same quarter with The Bronx following second with 153 properties scheduled for foreclosures.
“The second quarter of 2016 saw a surge in first-time foreclosure auctions across the five boroughs to levels unseen in the past 6 years. There were 673 properties scheduled for the first time to auction, up 33% Y-o-Y, and up 31% compared to Q1 2016. Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx recorded substantial increases in foreclosure activity, while Manhattan and Staten Island saw a drop compared to the previous quarter.
Almost half of the city’s foreclosure auctions are concentrated in Queens, mostly in its Southeast neighborhoods, an area that’s become known as the epicenter of the city’s housing bust.”
With reports of unemployment dropping in The Bronx, you would think that foreclosures shouldn’t be much of an issue but the sad reality is that many people are underemployed. There’s also the fact that many homes were overvalued with people taking out mortgages on properties that were more than the property was worth.
Those are just a few of the scenarios that can lead to foreclosures in our borough.
What can you do to avoid foreclosure?
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as the following advice:
The further behind you become, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house.
2. Contact your lender as soon as you realize that you have a problem.
Lenders do not want your house. They have options to help borrowers through difficult financial times.
3. Open and respond to all mail from your lender.
The first notices you receive will offer good information about foreclosure prevention options that can help you weather financial problems. Later mail may include important notices of pending legal action. Your failure to open the mail will not be an excuse in foreclosure court.
4. Know your mortgage rights.
Find your loan documents and read them so you know what your lender may do if you can’t make your payments. Learn about the foreclosure laws and timeframes in your state (as every state is different) by contacting the State Government Housing Office.
5. Understand foreclosure prevention options.
Valuable information about foreclosure prevention (also called loss mitigation) options can be found online.
6. Contact a HUD-approved housing counselor.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds free or very low-cost housing counseling nationwide. Housing counselors can help you understand the law and your options, organize your finances and represent you in negotiations with your lender, if you need this assistance. Find a HUD-approved housing counselor near you or call (800) 569-4287 or TTY (800) 877-8339.
7. Prioritize your spending.
After healthcare, keeping your house should be your first priority. Review your finances and see where you can cut spending in order to make your mortgage payment. Look for optional expenses–cable TV, memberships, entertainment–that you can eliminate. Delay payments on credit cards and other “unsecured” debt until you have paid your mortgage.
8. Use your assets.
Do you have assets–a second car, jewelry, a whole life insurance policy–that you can sell for cash to help reinstate your loan? Can anyone in your household get an extra job to bring in additional income? Even if these efforts don’t significantly increase your available cash or your income, they demonstrate to your lender that you are willing to make sacrifices to keep your home.
9. Avoid foreclosure prevention companies.
You don’t need to pay fees for foreclosure prevention help–use that money to pay the mortgage instead. Many for-profit companies will contact you promising to negotiate with your lender. While these may be legitimate businesses, they will charge you a hefty fee (often two or three month’s mortgage payment) for information and services your lender or a HUD-approved housing counselor will provide free if you contact them.
10. Don’t lose your house to foreclosure recovery scams!
If any firm claims they can stop your foreclosure immediately and if you sign a document appointing them to act on your behalf, you may well be signing over the title to your property and becoming a renter in your own home! Never sign a legal document without reading and understanding all the terms and getting professional advice from an attorney, a trusted real estate professional or a HUD-approved housing counselor.
Now thanks to the leadership of New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the project can begin work on the first phase renovating the 132nd Street Pier as $2 million in Council funds have been allocated.
Rendering of the 132nd Street Pier and park by NYRP
It’s important to know that this vision has been lead and pushed for by the community to benefit the almost 100,000 residents living in the area that will be positively impacted by this project.
This is what the area looks like right now
The visioning sessions were filled with local residents excited to be able to put forth their ideas of what they wanted to see happen along our neglected shorelines.
With this funding, the 132nd Street Pier can be stabilized after being heavily damaged in a Con Ed explosion in 1989 and further destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Once this phase is completed, it will include a park and the first area south of 149th Street along the waterfront to be restored and estimated cost is $5 to $10 million.
Haven Project Master Plan via NYRP
As part of the larger Haven Project, eventually the gantries at 134th Street will be part of another connecting park all leading to the Randall’s Island Connector opened last fall.
NYRP plans to also plant over 800 trees in the immediate area to help combat asthma inducing pollution.
Councilman Rafael Salamanca said that even though he hopes for New Yorkers come and visit once completed that first and foremost this project is for the residents of The South Bronx.
Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announces to $2 million in Council funds for fiscal year 2017 for the pier. Councilman Rafael Salamanca to the left side Mychal Johnson of South Bronx Unite to the right
“The South Bronx is a community committed to turning the tide of socioecomomic inequality and disinvestment, and investing in vibrant open space is a critical part of that goal. The rehabilitation of Pier 132 will improve quality of life for residents, offer innumerable health and wellness benefits, and provide much-needed relief in an urban neighborhood. Residents, stakeholders, neighborhood-based organizations and activists came together through the Haven Project to address community priorities and needs in a collaborative, grassroots process and I look forward to working with the New York Restoration Project to realize and build on these goals.
“I am proud to have advocated for $2 million in funding to open the first public waterfront in the Bronx. The East 132nd Street Pier will be transformed into a beautiful community space aimed at improving the quality of life of resident of the South Bronx and all its visitors. I congratulate Speaker Melissa Mark-Viveriti and Council Member Salamanca Jr. for this victory for their community,” said Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland in a press release issued today.
NYRP executive director, Deborah Marton said, “NYRP is so grateful to Speaker Mark-Viverito. From our first conversations with the South Bronx community in 2014, we knew the Haven Project would be transformational, and these ambitions are now much closer to becoming a reality thanks to her support”.
“Most importantly, we want to make sure that the residents of the South Bronx get to stay in the South Bronx.”she added hinting to concerns of gentrification looming over the area.
Marton also added that the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr committed $750,000 to the project.
Besides adding much needed recreation space, the revitalization will include necessary waterfront resiliency to protect the surrounding neighborhood and industries.
A young Ron Mallett with his mother and beloved father and baby brother
Born in Pennsylvania, Ron was raised in The Bronx until he was 11 years old. At the tender age of 10, Ron Mallett lost his beloved 33 year old father to a heart attack.
This tragedy set in motion what would turn into a career as a theoretical physicist seeking to create a time machine after finding a magazine with HG Wells”The Time Machine’on the cover.
Instantly, the 10 year old Ron began to think if this was true and set out to create his own time machine in his family’s basement back in Pennsylvania where his mother moved the near destitute family after his father’s death. His destination if successful? To warn his father of his health issues and perhaps prevent his untimely death.
Ron Mallett / image via Connecticut Magazine
Fast forward to the present day and Ron Mallett is now a theoretical physicist at the University of Connecticut and is credited with a theory of time travel that his peers think may be the answer to the possibility of time travel into reality.
“When he received his doctorate in 1973, Mallett was one of only 79 black Ph.D. physicists among about 20,000 in the U.S., he says. While he detects more tolerance in the profession now, the discrimination — the idea that a black man can’t be this smart — has not disappeared.
Mallett says he kept his work on time travel secret for years partly because colleagues would conclude he was a crackpot unfit for tenure. If he worked openly and with others, he also worried white physicists would get all the credit.
“I’m afraid that’s how it would work,” Mallett says.”
Now Mallet, age 71,is the subject of a documentary about his life’s journey and the strong love for his father that has carried him throughout his life.
Learn more about this incredible man and his journey:
With units listing from $488,000 to $988,000, this is easily one of the most expensive developments in The Bronx in a number for years.
Amenities like private garage for each unit, a clubhouse, fitness center, and an outdoor pool await those who will call On the Sound home.
So what do you think, folks? Would you pay to live here? It looks like a beautiful development and for those seeking luxury living at somewhat affordable prices, this is a bargain compared to what you would pay elsewhere in New York City.
My only drawback is that lovely City Island traffic that you’ll have to deal with especially during high season.
Otherwise, it’s proximate to major employment centers in The Bronx, Westchester, Connecticut, and of course, Manhattan.
Check out the images below via On the Sound’s website.
‘The Warriors’ is one of many classic, New York City based films of the 70s which made The Bronx and New York City as much of a character in these films as the actual actors.
For those who saw the movie, it starts out in The Bronx during a New York City gang summit. Bedlam ensues when the gang leader who called the summit is assassinated and another gang is framed.
After being framed, they end up on a journey back home to Coney Island crossing many enemyenemy lines in various gang territories.
Interesting to see how this turns out and I’m definitely looking forward to watching it.
Perhaps the most progressive NYC Council Speaker we’ve had thus far, Melissa Mark-Viverito (who represents District 8 half in The Bronx and the rest in East Harlem), has publicly come out and supported long time ally and staffer, Diana Ayala.
Ayala has been working alongside the Speaker for the past 11 years and I’ve personally witnessed the compassion needed to lead in our communities that face different challenges than other districts in the city.
I may not always agree with everything Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito does or say but this is something I feel strongly about who should take over the reigns in our borough as a leader.
Diana Ayala comes untethered from the baggage that Bronx Democratic Machine-backed candidates tend to come with making her a much-needed independent voice (just like the Speaker) for us as we face decisions from our Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr that are only accelerating gentrification—and district 8 is the epicenter of this battle.
One of the most important issues in supporting Ayala—besides being more than qualified to do so—is the issue of women in politics (or the lack thereof) of which there are many capable but seldom elected or encouraged to run and that’s something that Mark-Viverito constantly pushes to the forefront of political conversations.
Only 14 of the 51 Council Members are women and we clearly can do so much better with a plethora of qualified women already leading in our communities.
A number of our Councilwomen will be term-limited in 2017 including Mark-Viverito.
That being said, we have an opportunity to show support and get to know Diana Ayala at a fundraiser on July 7th.
Thinking ahead has never been a fault of mine. And now is no different.
It has been, & continues to be, an incredible privilege to serve my district. Out of the deep love I have for my constituents, for my district, the question has crossed my mind about who would I want to support to succeed me once my term ends in 2017?
Who would engage in this work with integrity, with commitment, with the respect for those who too often have been cast aside & whom you will represent? Who would approach this work with love above all else?
During the past year I have begun that conversation more earnestly as I plan ahead for my transition. Not gonna lie. Isn’t easy to say those words. Isn’t easy to leave something you LOVE to do. Something you consider your calling. But life is full of challenges & each one provides wonderful lessons.
Many strong women have mentored me on my life’s journey starting with my mother Elizabeth Viverito. & it was my mentor, El Barrio/East Harlem activist Gloria E. Quinones who planted the seed that elected office was another way I could serve my community. That trust & confidence nurtured by so many before, came to fruition when Gloria & other women important in my life (Betty Perez Cutie Sandra Talavera Lorraine Cortes & others) saw leadership potential in me & encouraged me to run. I have never been alone from that moment on.
So now, I pay it forward. As women it is important to support each other. That we encourage each other. As it stands there are too few of us in leadership positions be it the private or public sector. In the New York City Council, out of 51 City Council Members, only 14 are women. Outrageous. There are many qualified, committed women who can represent their districts with great integrity. & it is incumbent on us to force that conversation. To encourage women to run.
Diana Ayala has been working alongside me in my office for the past 11 years. Prior to coming to work with me she had her own record of accomplishments. And a life story that is inspiring.
Diana is a woman of integrity. She is intelligent. She is thoughtful. She is steadfast. She is committed. She is a hard worker. She is a daughter, a wife, a mother & grandmother. Diana is a reflection of who I fight for each & every day & what motivates me to do what I do. There is no better person to represent this district PUNTO
So, as I honor the tradition that has allowed me to humbly represent my district, the tradition of women investing in women, I humbly ask that you come & meet Diana so you can judge for yourself why she should be our next Council Member.
Thank you. ¡Gracias! for taking the time to read this. & feel free to comment or repost. Su humilde servidora,
Melissa
I hope you do accept this invitation to come and meet Diana Ayala for yourself. I am more than thrilled that she is running for office and happily endorse this momentous occasion in her life.
The old Alexander’s Department Store on 3rd Ave in The Hub
For decades, the Melrose Alexander’s Department Store on 3rd Ave in The Hub was the place of choice for thousands of Bronxites and part of our borough’s cultural fabric.
Fast forward to 2013, the building was offered for sale for over $22 million but eventually sold for $16.2 million.
Founded in 1928 at that very location, Alexander’s became a Bronx institution catering to the Jewish, Italian, and Irish immigrants and later the African-American and Puerto Rican community.
Eventually, it grew to a chain of 11 stores in the region including the iconic anchor on Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse until heading to midtown Manhattan.
In the 80s the store continued a decline as the company focused more on real estate than the stores themselves.
By 1992 the company went bankrupt shutting down its 11 stores.
Conway eventually swooped in and acquired several of the properties and converted The Hub building into a combination of Conway’s and a poorly constructed mini mall on the second floor.
For decades the once fabled Art Deco building languished and the upper floors closed off as the mini mall concept failed.
Now, the building is undergoing major renovations including demolition of the top 4th floor and installation of new elevators and escalators.
Gone are the terrazo floors that once graced the store.
Currently, there is no set tenant to occupy the space but a search for a large chain is on according to unofficial word on the project.
I have fond memories of the building before its demise, now I’m curious as to what kind of life it will be given during a different set of circumstances our borough is going through as we face gentrification.
Will this major asset benefit the existing community or will it be something for the gentry?
Back in 2009 when Mill Pond Park opened along the Harlem River in the Lower Concourse area, the 11.3-acre site was promised to be a 15-acre waterfront park once it expanded using the empty parcel between the 145th Street Bridge and the finished park itself.
Don’t ignore the letters from your lender
