As a soon-to-be resident and homeowner in the South Bronx, I have been following the FreshDirect move to the community.
It has become painfully apparent that when it comes to the Bronx, city officials just don’t care about the residents. In addition, by kowtowing to Brooklyn demands while blowing off the same from the Bronx, it paints an ugly picture of how the Bronx waterfront is slated for industrial / commercial development – residents’ health be damned! – while Brooklyn is handled with kid gloves for hyper gentrification and residential development.
1. FreshDirect coming to South Bronx – There has been much back and forth since the proposal in 2012 and subsequent lawsuits to block the move. Opponents of the deal have cited as part of their lawsuit the fact that the project used an environmental impact study from 1993 (deemed outdated in the lawsuit) and asked for a new study to be conducted.
The court denied the appeal in March 2014 and contended that the study was fine to use.
Court denies appeal to block FreshDirect
2. Brooklyn Bridge Park and affordable housing on Pier 6 is another case of residents vs. developers. In this scenario, residents contested the fact that the environmental study utilized was from 2005 and sued the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation.
A few weeks later BBP Corp acquiesced that more up-to-date information is warranted and is hiring consultants to further review the environmental impact.
Brooklyn Bridge Park Board says yes to new environmental review
Regardless of whether you feel FreshDirect coming to the South Bronx is a positive or negative for the community, the disparity between how the Bronx is treated vs. Brooklyn should be seen as a major infraction against the city government, including Mayor di Blasio and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.
Why is a 21-year old environmental impact review OK for the Bronx, but a 9-year old report for Brooklyn considered outdated? Why is it that FreshDirect never felt the need to jump through hoops like BBP Corp. and invest in further studies?
The conjecture is that FreshDirect knew that the government would not pressure them to revise the environmental impact study for the Bronx; BBP Corp. did not have that security and therefore had to bow down. During his campaign, Mayor di Blasio campaigned against subsidy plans like FreshDirect, but since he has become Mayor, he has gone noticeably silent on this issue. It smacks of our mayor favoring his home borough over others.
I am opposed to the FreshDirect plan until they can show a realistic, unbiased picture of the impact. This would remove any questions regarding impact of increased traffic, pollution, etc. and allow other aspects to be considered.
Look at the hyper-gentrification happening right now in Brooklyn and the double digit increases year over year in housing costs in neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and Bushwick. Look at the insanely high housing costs in Manhattan. The Bronx is one of the last boroughs left for NYC residential development.
Gentrification can be a dirty word, and I’m not looking for “the hipsters” to take over and displace residents, but at least don’t destroy the area for those of us who are looking to improve it and those residents who currently live there.
The proposed FreshDirect site, the same one that Ruben Diaz Jr. referred to as “morbid”, is within 2-3 blocks of the handful of lively, established neighborhood restaurants in Mott Haven. Mott Haven is a 20 minute commute to mid-town Manhattan and home to a beautiful historic district and a top-ranked charter school.
Without considering the environmental impact of this move, the high potential for residential development in the myriad of vacant buildings (including historic brownstones!) will be nullified – the city will be cutting it off at the knees. After all, what family wants to worry about moving to an area that could be detrimental to their health?
The original study is over 2 decades old—a lifetime in terms of scientific breakthroughs and changes. If FreshDirect is not concerned about the impact of its facility, then I challenge it to conduct a new study that proves it will not be detrimental in today’s day and age.
The current estimate that I was able to find is that 1,000+ diesel trucks will be coming in and out of the area daily – I would ask FreshDirect to show that Mott Haven / Port Morris will not be adversely effected by this.
I’m already invested in the Bronx and am doing my very small part to improve. I would like to see others start to do the same without fear of moving into an environment that will be detrimental to their family’s health.
My husband’s family has a long history in the Bronx as his Poppy has owned his home in this borough for 60+ years dating back to his return from World War II. We have spent so much time there, and see the potential for growth and improvement. If only our city government had the same outlook!
I have also emailed Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. along with Mayor di Blasio, his Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Emma Wolf, Chief of Staff Laura Sanucci and director of the Office of City Legislative Affairs Jon Paul Lupo. I have yet to receive a response.
I will continue to reach out to our city’s politicians and media outlets to raise awareness and push for equality between treatment of residents of ALL NYC boroughs.
Sincerely,
Melissa Terrick
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Waterfront development is expensive. Unless you expect luxury properties – be careful of what you ask for. This is not the days when housing projects were built on or near the industrial waterfront.
Thanks Melissa for this seemingly logical question.
Since the fight of this proposed move of Freshdirect
to our neighborhood, this has been one of the questions.
Last week, I asked the board of Directors of the Empire
State Development Corp, in what other communities would this
be ok? Like everything else in the last three, crazy years, we
we’re given less then 8 hours notice of the meeting.
But, Freshdirect, BP office, BOEDC and SOBRO had advance notice.
The community seems to be always the last to know. Let’s keep asking the hard questions and demand change.
Appreciate the thoughtful comments Melissa. Not sure why people who don’t live here feel they can make decisions for the community with no community involvement.