The Old Bronx Courthouse continues to get some press this time from NY1. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Shazia Khan of NY1 and go along for yet another tour of this great landmark building in Melrose. Let’s keep the ideas flowing and the momentum going so that this beauty can finally awaken from her slumber!
Along with the BoogieDowners, Welcome2Melrose will be on BronxTalk tonight live at 9:00PM on channel 67 on Cablevision. BronxTalk is considered by many to be the borough’s premier talk show so make sure you tune in tonight at 9:00PM and watch the segment!
A big Melrose THANK YOU to the BoogieDowners for referring me to the show and their constant support and YOU the public who have believed and supported this endeavor!
What has been long talked about may soon become a reality – preserving the beauty and historical significance of the Grand Concourse by the Landmarks Preservation Committee. This is the first step of many that will discuss the pros and cons of landmark status and preserving the historically and architecturally rich buildings of the famed boulevard. The proposed district which stretches from East 153rd Street up to East 167th Street and incorporates stretches of Walton and Gerard Avenues, which also has quite a few architectural gems, will be the largest historic district in the Bronx outside of the Fieldston Historic District in Riverdale.
Sam Goodman, a long time resident of the Grand Concourse as well as an Urban Planner at the Bronx Borough President’s office recently sent an email which offered some valuable insight into what this means for us and those who live and or own property in the district. Below is a copy of the email which is used with the permission of Sam Goodman:
“As long as you’re all on line-I have to take this moment to inform you about a plan now being considered by the New York City Landmark Commission to designate the Grand Concourse and portions of Walton Avenue as well as Sheridan Avenue, from East 153rd Street to East 167th Street as an historic district. My office is currently planning to invite everyone who may wish, to attend a public meeting now being planned for the evening of April 20th to introduce people to the specific details of what an historic designation means, if it were to be approved. There are both good and bad points.
First, the good points: No exterior work can take place on any facade or building that falls within the district without specific approval from the Landmarks Commission. Consider the recent facade work at 901 Walton Avenue where the decorative facade was destroyed in favor of simple brick. This entire block of buildings will be in the new district and as such this designation would have prevented the ugly outcome we now must consider.
No demolition of any building within the District can occur without the approval of the Landmarks Commission. This virtually guarantees that a developer or the City of New York could not construct a new building that both violates zoning regulations, but also that would alter the overall profile of the existing, surrounding development. Think about the EAU on Walton Avenue and East 151st Street-this would never be permitted if that area were so designated.
There are tax credits available to property owners who may wish to improve their buildings, but these are credits NOT cash-and they usually do not exceed a modest percentage of the overall investment (I believe the figure is 20%) but please don’t quote me on that one.
The interior of buldings can be altered without review by the Commission unless such modification would impact the exterior of the building-as for example installing ugly steel doors.
As for the negative sides: While I believe most cooperatives would favor this designation, landlords of rental properties are bound to vigorously oppose it. If for example, you know that your property (a 5-story walk up that hasn’t seen a dollar’s worth of improvement in 50 years) cannot likely be demolished, you might be tempted to further exploit the property rather than improve it. A classic case is on Park Avenue at 125th Street.
If you wish to speak to me about this matter, please feel free to call-remembering that I personally support this effort because I believe what the Grand Concourse now offers is not possible to duplicate and would be far too costly to even consider unless many of our neighbors were forced to relocate in favor of transforming our community into something like East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue. Still, we all need to consider this matter and take part in the process, which ultimately requires approval by the Landmark Commission, the Planning Commission and City Council.
Please also let me know how my office can reach out to the management agencies of many of our buildings to inform them of the meeting in April. It will likely happen at the Bronx Museum or Andrew Freeman Home. Finally, there is an historic designation on Morris Avenue between East Tremont and East Burnside Avenues-check it out.
Thanks for reading the considering my comments.
Sam”
For all interested in attending this very important meeting, it will be held on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 6:00PM at the Bronx Museum of Art (1040 Grand Concourse)
Also feel free to check out the book below, Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope along the Grand Concourse
, which gives a beautiful history of the Grand Concourse. I had the pleasure of meeting Constance Rosenblum, author of the book and editor for the New York Times at a book discussion at Hostos Community College back in October.
This is addressed to anonymous and anyone who is confused about who Dr. Richard Izquierdo is. Dr. Richard Izquierdo is NOT nor has ever been involved in any scandal or wrongdoing. The news search which was posted by anonymous is in reference to Richard Izquierdo Arroyo who is assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo’s nephew and councilwoman Maria Del Carmen Arroyo’s grandson.
The two are completely unrelated and there is zero connection other than the unfortunate circumstance of bearing the same name. Whereas Richard Izquierdo Arroyo has been charged with skimming $200,000 from a non-profit charter school, the esteemed Dr. Richard Izquierdo has done nothing but give back to the community and served his community and continues to do so quite actively at age 80.
Back in September, we featured a response to the New York Daily News’ article which declared that the “South Bronx is a banking wasteland,” where we listed that contrary to that statement Melrose was a sort of “Wall Street” if you will since we have the highest concentration of banks in the entire borough – 8 alone in a small 4 block radius.
The new article written by Daniel Beekman of the Daily News (formely of Bronx Times) reveals that the lack of banks in the Bronx as a whole has left almost 270,000 residents (29% of the Bronx’ poplulation) without bank accounts. As Daniel Beekman reveals, this is not just due to the lack of banks in the Bronx but also of high banking fees which low income residents cannot afford to part with.
On a side note, congratulations to Daniel Beekman who as of a few days ago joined the Daily News!
The Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School is now accepting applications for 6th Graders for the upcoming September 2010/2011 school year. Spaces are limited and there is an April 1st, 2010 deadline so act fast. As you may already know, Dr. Richard Izquierdo was chosen as the Melrose Person of the Year for 2009 and his decades long career has been dedicated to serving the underserved areas of the South Bronx with regards to healthcare. Now Dr. Izquierdo, or Doc as he is known by all, is embarking on educating the future health care professionals of the South Bronx and the world not in Med School but at a much earlier age.
The school is the FIRST Career and Technical Education charter school in all of New York State so once again The Bronx will be leading the rest of the city and state by example. For more information, parents and students interested in finding out more should attend one of the two information sessions which will be held at the school’s institutional partner’s location:
The State of the Borough Address has been suspended due to the Nor’easter which has swept the region. No date has been set and we will let you know as soon as it has been rescheduled.
For those of you who don’t have to go to work and or school, ENJOY!!!! Send in your pics!
Shortly before 1pm Tuesday afternoon, a fire broke out inside Queen’s Nails Salon at 615-619 Melrose Avenue, destroying Family Barber Shop as well as Seck African Hair Branding stopping just short of PeaceLove Café. Owners of the nail salon who have been there for 12 years said that the fire started in the ceiling at the entrance to the store.
The damage also extended to the apartment above Queen’s Nails as firefighters broke through walls to contain the fire.
Employees of Family Barber Shop which has stood in the community for almost 20 years expressed concern for employment during these tough economic times.
According to officials of the FDNY, the fire was labeled an accident and not suspicious, however, firefighters on the scene blamed faulty wiring. A representative for Stellar Management who was on the scene to assess the damage refused to comment when questioned on the situation and the building’s superintendent became aggressive, shouted expletives and was confrontational. Commercial tenants have also expressed concerns with the layers of wirings that management has let accumulate over the years as businesses closed and opened. A representative from the NYFD told the building’s manager that, “now may be a good time to properly wire the commercial spaces to prevent something like this happening in the future.”
No injuries were reported by the fire department.
Reporting live from the Village of Melrose,
Ed García Conde
The “Mayor” of Melrose
917-532-7504http://www.welcome2melrose.com
Satnam Singh apparently went off the edge and beat his mother, Kaul Balbir, over the head with a frying pan. According to police reports they ordered Singh to drop the pan repeatedly but when he refused to cooperate, the officers shot him 5 times (according to the police) and was pronounced dead on the scene. Not sure how a man with a frying pan should have been killed by the cops…perhaps a shot to the leg to disable him would have been more appropriate? Is this another case of police brutality? According to NY1, the NYPD is currently investigating the incident but after an incident last year where police officers from the same 40th Precinct brutalized a man who was already subdued, an independent investigation might be a better route.
The City of New York and the New York Yankees gladly took away our parks to build their new stadium, with big promises of great new parks to replace those taken away but now, 18 months after the Old Yankee Stadium closed its doors to the public, we are left with an old relic which still stands in the way of what is the proposed Heritage Park which was reported by Juan Gonzalez of the New York Daily News in greater detail. New estimates are now talking about perhaps the park will be open in late 2011.
On Thursday, February 18th between 6pm and 8pm at 198 E 161st Street, 3rd Floor, we the people of Melrose, the Concourse and the communities that for almost a century have lived under the shadow of the famed New York Yankees have an opportunity to voice our anger, disappointment and concern over the lack of sympathy from city officials about the snail pace of construction of the new parks. At the center of this delay is a small yet vocal community group proposing to save Gate 2 of the original stadium. There are enough elements of the original stadium which will be preserved.
Below is a letter written to Adrian Benepe, Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation by local resident, William Casari to which a number of local residents, including myself attached our names for emphasis on this matter:
Adrian Benepe
Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation
The Arsenal, Central Park
830 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Dear Commissioner Benepe:
I’m writing to let you know that I don’t support the saving of Gate 2 as part of the Heritage Field design at the Old Yankee Stadium site. I have had many conversations with friends and neighbors who live near the stadium and on the Grand Concourse—I have added their names and addresses to this letter indicating that they are against saving Gate 2 as well. All of us who live in the community are anxious to have Heritage Field finished as soon as possible and will live with the design of the park forever, unlike the “Save Gate 2” folks who are all from outside the neighborhood. We don’t need a towering piece of concrete to remind us of the history of Yankee Stadium. Plenty of other reminders are already part of the new park’s design.
The arguments to save Gate 2 don’t make sense as many elements from the old stadium are being preserved. And the New Yankee Stadium with many architectural elements inspired by the old stadium is right across 161st Street!
From local resident Killian Jordan’s December 2009 letter to you: “Proponents [of Save Gate 2] say that we will lose the distinctive visual features of the old Stadium. Actually, community residents (many of whom are also fans) have been very pleased by the clear and distinctive features that will remain to celebrate the old stadium. Two huge multi-ton segments of the single most recogniza
ble feature—the frieze—of the old stadium will stand at the north side of the park. They’re an unmistakable visual emblem of the entire stadium, both the new one and the old one. Another visual emblem that will be preserved is “the bat”—the smokestack-like structure that can be seen from miles away. The enormous sections of the frieze, with its sentimental import and imposing physical presence, will be accessible to everyone—to see, to touch, to lean on. The main new ball field will maintain the geographic orientation of the old field, with clear markers of that relationship. A number of plaques in the neighboring walkway will call attention not only to Yankees history, but also to other significant events that took place here.
I believe that you yourself have wondered aloud why we can’t “create a great new park that acknowledges” the proud history of the stadium. Local residents would like to note that the frieze and plaques and bat and the field’s footprint will all do that—there is absolutely NO danger of the site’s origins disappearing into history.” [Killian Jordan letter to Adrian Benepe, December 18, 2009].
I am concerned about the attention being paid to the “Save Gate 2” and the meetings supporters have had with local officials including yourself. What the community needs now is for the Old Yankee Stadium to be demolished ASAP and construction of Heritage Field to begin without Gate 2.
I would appreciate your feedback on the status of the demolition of the Old Yankee Stadium and the start of construction of Heritage Field. I will be in attendance at the February 18th Community Meeting. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
William Casari, et al.
Everyone interested should try their best to come to this meeting because there is strength in numbers. To RSVP, or for more information please contact Michele Lignore-Diaz at 718-430-4617 or Michele.Lignore-Diaz@parks.nyc.gov
Welcome2Melrose has partnered up with Google AdSense and has also become an Amazon Associate to provide you with ads as least intrusive as possible. By clicking on these ads and searching amazon.com through our custom search interface and purchasing your products you can help build a foundation which we are working hard to get off the ground.
The goal of the Welcome2Melrose Foundation will be to provide scholarships each year to a young boy and a young girl from within Melrose to attend Cardinal Spellman High School – a leader in parochial schools for over 50 years now. Some other goals are to start a tree guardianship program for the hundreds of new trees planted in Melrose over the last year and also a paid internship program for local Melrose high school honor roll students where they can work at local businesses and gain experience in the many fields represented in our wonderful neighborhood – we are home to dozens and dozens of law firms, family owned restaurants, medical and dental offices – all of which our bright young kids can gain priceless experience from and get ahead in the world before they even graduate high school.
So please, feel free to visit our Google AdSense sponsors if there is anything that interests you – and YOU DON’T HAVE TO PURCHASE ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN! We get paid a small fee for every Google AdSense link you click on, not by purchasing our sponsors products. As for Amazon ads, we get a small percentage of anything you purchase through us whether it be a link to a particular book or by searching Amazon’s vast selection of products including millions of books.
A big Melrose THANK YOU for your continued support through your daily readership and comments!
Since 2009, Welcome2TheBronx has been a popular online platform dedicated to highlighting the vibrant culture, history, and ongoing developments within New York City’s northernmost borough. Founded by life-long resident and community advocate Ed García Conde, the site features local news, personal stories, and in-depth coverage of issues such as gentrification, community empowerment, art, and real estate. Through its engaging content and active social media presence, Welcome2TheBronx has become a trusted resource for residents and visitors alike, shining a spotlight on the unique identity and rich heritage of the Bronx.
More from W2TBX
Contact Us
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv
