Norwood News

People have told Joe Muriana, director of government and community relations at Fordham University, that the bulky orange-striped Jersey barriers on Fordham Road near his school’s main campus make the stretch look like a war zone. Once considered a temporary fix, the barriers have stood for more than 20 years.

John Calvelli, a vice president at the Bronx Zoo, which borders the road, said it had gotten to the point where he was “beginning to suspect that those temporary barriers were becoming permanent.”

But now, thanks to a new coalition of the borough’s four largest institutions —Fordham, the Zoo, Montefiore Medical Center and the New York Botanical Garden — plans are in place to transform the thoroughfare into a lush, tree-lined parkway.

It’s just one of several aesthetically pleasing projects being developed and pushed by the Four Bronx Institutions Alliance (FBIA).

Pooling Resources
Though these institutions are all significant independently, Muriana said the Alliance was necessary given the neglect usually reserved for the outer boroughs.

“The outer boroughs get treated like the city’s stepchildren,” Muriana said. “Had we been in Manhattan, people would pay attention. But this being the Bronx, we needed to be a singular voice for this particular area.”

Given the institutions’ proximity to each other and Bloomberg’s heavy reliance on public-private partnerships, Calvelli said the idea to come together seemed natural.

“We thought, ‘If we can pool our resources, we can make things happen,’” Calvelli said.

For decades, these four pillars, which employ 15,500 people, have inhabited the northwest Bronx, periodically working together on shared projects.

“We’ve always had collegial working relationships with the other institutions,” said Karl Lauby, the Garden’s longtime spokesman. “Well, aside from the radio tower diversion.”

A Rift Mended
For almost the entire 1990s and into the new millennium, the Garden and Fordham battled over a 480-foot radio tower Fordham was building for its public station, WFUV. The Garden tied the project up in court, arguing the tower’s looming presence would damage the natural views from its conservancy building.

It was Montefiore that finally stepped in to negotiate a solution in 2004. They agreed to place the tower on top of the hospital’s main residential building on Wayne Avenue near Gun Hill Road, where it still sits today and broadcasts to 13 million potential listeners.

“Spike [Spencer Foreman, Montefiore’s longtime president up until last year] came in and saved the issue, with this proposal,” Muriana said.

It proved to be a turning point. “That really cemented the relationships,” Muriana said.

The tower was erected in 2005. By then, the institutions were on their way to creating a more formal alliance. In 2006, the quartet agreed on a formal process by which they would identify mutually beneficial projects.

Working With the Mayor
The Alliance then negotiated a process of working with the mayor to get their projects completed. Every month, representatives of the Alliance meet with staffers for Deputy Mayor Patty Harris. The mayor’s office determines what they can accomplish and have money for and then coordinates the work with key agencies. 

“We wanted to imagine this place in a different way, make it more of a destination, not just in our parks [the Zoo and Garden both occupy public parkland] but when you arrive here [in the neighborhood],” Calvelli said.

In other words, FBIA would focus on infrastructure. After scrapping proposed mass transit improvements like renovating subway and train stations, due to MTA money troubles, the institutions targeted four major roads and one intersection for improvement.

Working with the architectural firm Cooper Robertson and Partners, they’ve developed preliminary design plans for Fordham Road, Mosholu Parkway, Southern Boulevard, Kazimiroff Boulevard and the grand intersection, which acts as a pivot connecting the University, Zoo and Garden. All include extensive plans for attractive walkways, curbing and landscaping.

They’ve also consulted the city on the rezoning of Webster Avenue and a renovation of Fordham Plaza.

FBIA has already managed to secure some curbside improvements on Mosholu Parkway and Kazimiroff Boulevard. The Fordham Road and Mosholu Parkway re-designs are furthest along the development road and are awaiting approval from the Department of Design and Construction.

The renovations of Webster and Fordham Plaza are going forward as well.

Communicating With the Community
Local community boards 6 and 7 say they’re pleased with FBIA’s efforts, but were displeased with a lack of communication concerning the Webster rezoning and Fordham Plaza projects. 

This past fall, on its Web site, Fordham touted its efforts to revitalize Webster Avenue through a rezoning effort, something members of Community Board 7 had been working on with city planners since the beginning of the year.

Greg Faulkner, CB7’s chair, said the board was upset.  But it wasn’t just about misplaced credit. Rather, it was the board’s realization that the institutions were enjoying more direct access to the mayor’s office at closed-door meetings.

It’s another example of Bloomberg’s preference for working with private institutions instead of community boards, Faulkner said.

Leaders at Community Board 6 also expressed displeasure when they found out the Alliance had consulted with the city on how to redevelop Fordham Plaza, a gritty concrete-heavy transit hub, without first talking to the board.

Eveline Eskine, a mayoral spokesperson, said the city is working closely with the Alliance to identify infrastructure projects that are important to the community. She also said the mayor’s office depended on FBIA to involve the community, though certain projects, like rezoning, are required to go through the community boards as part of the land use review process.

Dart Westphal, who attends the FBIA meetings, including those at the mayor’s office, for Montefiore as the president of the Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC is a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore and the publisher of the Norwood News), said, “Communication is never perfect, but we believe we have all learned how to communicate better and work together going forward.”

Ivine Galarza, who’s in her 14th year as district manager of CB6, said ever since the Fordham Plaza incident a year and a half ago, communication has improved and the board and Alliance are now on the same page.

“Because the private institutions bring in a lot of revenue, they would have more clout,” Galarza said. “It’s obvious this mayor wants to deal with the big things in our community. We don’t mind that. Where would be without those institutions?”

Faulkner agrees that communication has improved (FBIA recently consulted with both boards and local merchants about where to put new street trees being provided by the city), but says he would still love to be at those monthly meetings with the mayor.

Board communication aside, Muriana says the key is that the Bronx is being heard loud and clear at City Hall.