Lot near Bruckner Blvd. will be maintenance headquarters
The city’s parks department is about to relocate a key operation to Mott Haven, despite some residents’ concerns it could make the neighborhood’s notorious traffic problem worse.
The New York City Parks Department announced this spring it was looking to move its 5-Boro Shops to 850 East 138th street, just east of the Bruckner Expressway.
The Shop would serve as headquarters for all the department’s employees whose work goes beyond day-to-day upkeep in the city’s parks. It includes maintenance workers, carpenters, plumbers and electrical workers, as well as construction personnel for playground equipment such as basketball hoops and jungle gyms.
Community Board 1 approved the project’s land use application at its June 26 meeting, with some misgivings. Despite concerns, the board’s Land Use and Housing committee chair Arline Parks told fellow board members that the city’s proposal was a sensible one.
“It’s parks, and they do help the community,” she said, adding “the building’s current owner could use that space for something much worse.”
The move would bring 141 new workers to the neighborhood every day, along with 55 vehicles, mostly 15-person vans. The board had said it would have opposed any plans to bring polluting diesel trucks to the neighborhood..
The department’s Director of Parklands, Colleen Anderson, told the board that Mott Haven was an ideal choice for the new headquarters.
“We chose this location because of proximity to public transportation, as well as the local highways,” said Alderson. “It’s convenient to commute to and accessible to all five boroughs.”
But some board members expressed skepticism when Alderson insisted that the new transportation fleet would not add to Mott Haven’s environmental burden, stressing that the area already has some of the city’s highest asthma rates.
The board first voiced concerns when parks officials announced the plan at a committee meeting two weeks earlier, countering that the proposal would bring no new jobs to the neighborhood while increasing traffic. They added a stipulation to their “yes” vote, calling for the city to give Mott Haven area parks priority when repairs are needed, in exchange for their approval.
The city has been renting the space near the Bruckner as a temporary home for the 5-Boro Shops since the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority forced it off Randall’s Island at the start of a new construction project.
Now that the parks department has the vote of support it sought from the board, it has said it will buy the 138th St. lot from the current owner.
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