Several hundred members of different trade unions from across the City stood vigil down the block from Walton High School in Kingsbridge Heights on Wednesday, May 24, as city officials joined local residents for the final community input meeting to determine the future of the massive, vacant Kingsbridge Armory, located at Jerome Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road, also in Kingsbridge Heights. It has remained all but dormant for the better part of the last 20 years. Only Bronxites were allowed inside the school for the meeting.

 

The Kingsbridge Armory residents meeting kicked off at 5 p.m. at the local high school, located at 2780 Reservoir Avenue. With less than 100 residents in attendance, Fernando Ortiz from the City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC), District 14 City Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez, and Sandra Lobo, executive director of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition gave a presentation on all the work done to date and the suggestions previously submitted in order to decide on the future of the armory. Ortiz had recently provided a recap of the project to Bronx Community Board 7.

 

When Edward Poueriet, a 30-year resident of University Avenue in Kingsbridge, was asked what he would like to see at the armory, he replied, “A community center for the youth, and something that provides vocational training because a lot of people who live in this neighborhood aren’t really high-income earners and one of the biggest things we need is a place to train, so people can find jobs and work.”

 

Poueriet continued, “We don’t need apartment buildings right now and we don’t need other things that are going to gentrify the neighborhood and reduce the space that the community has.” Asked what he thought had caused the delay in the development of the armory, Poueriet pointed to “business deals,” and giving the example of a recent development project in Manhattan which had promised to bring low-income housing but instead brought a hotel to the area.

Poueriet continued, “We need something for the youth. A lot of the youth here always need something to do. They need programs, they need parks, they need stuff and always have to travel out of the borough to look for spaces for themselves.” Poueriet said he believes the previously proposed, but since abandoned, ice-skating center project for the armory was a great idea.

 

As reported, developers behind the proposed Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC LLC and KNIC Properties) entered into a legal dispute with the City in December 2021 around the time New York City Mayor Eric Adams was taking office. The developers disputed the City’s assertion that they had not raised sufficient capital for the ice center project in line with the project timeline. In April 2022, court records show the case was dropped without prejudice, meaning the case could be reopened in the future.

 

Pouriet added that basketball courts, “with one of those big fields where it’s inclusive to everybody,” was also needed. Asked if he thought a deal would finally be done, Poueriet was less optimistic, replying, “Probably not… I’ll be honest with you. They won’t; it’s not going to happen.”

Lobo was more hopeful, later telling Norwood News, “Today is the last community engagement workshop hosted by the EDC and the council member and myself in the hopes that we get community input for how to frame the vision document that the EDC is going to put out, that will be attached to the request for proposals, so we’re very excited that the community gets a chance to be a part [of the plan].”

 

Asked what comes next in the process, Lobo replied, “After this workshop, surveys will continue until the end of the month, a vision document will come out in July, and an RFP, we believe, will come out in the fall and the vision document will be part of the RFP.” Lobo was unsure how many would attend the 5 p.m. meeting, but noted the capacity was 200 and the “many” workshops held over the last six months or so.

 

She continued, “Our priorities have been ensuring there’s living-wage jobs and community ownership, and shared wealth-building. For us, having organized around the Kingsbridge Armory for over 20 years, we believe that the community is owed this investment.”

 

Executive director of NWBCCC for the last eight years, and a member for over 20, Lobo was asked if she was optimistic something would finally be done with the iconic structure, one of the oldest armories in the country. “I’m very hopeful that three’s a charm and that the role the Northwest Bronx is playing today is even more powerful [than] it has [been] in the past, and we believe that we can see this through.”

Before the presentation, Vivian Young, a 30-year resident of Bedford Park, offered, “I’m here because I’m certainly concerned about the armory and what it’s going to be used for. In my opinion, it should be used as a training center, perhaps to train people for jobs that will help improve the infrastructure of New York City. Something that gets people involved in the actual building of our city. Someone suggested a museum, perhaps. Yes, some sort of museum that’s related to the military; that’s actually a pretty good idea too.” Young added that she believed the development of the armory “would definitely happen.”

 

Before the presentation, Sanchez told the crowd, “The intention of today is for you all who live next to and near the armory to be able to provide feedback directly to the Economic Development Corporation.” She said, to date, through the workshops, over 3,000 individuals had offered their input on the armory. Of the City-owned armory, Sanchez added, “No one can unilaterally decide what goes here. There has to be a public process that has to be voted by the City Council and what you want to do is get all of the input early to determine what the future will be.”

 

Colonel Richard Goldenberg of New York Army National Guard previously told Norwood News, “The NY National Guard armory is owned by the state (NY). Only the Kingsbridge Armory vacant facility was transferred to the City of New York.” As previously reported, the annex buildings, located at the 195th Street side of the same grounds as the main Kingsbridge Armory building is located, were at one point made subject to a construction bid.

 

On Dec. 3, 2021, the NYS Office of General Services Commissioner announced that following that construction bid, contracts were expected to be awarded to the following apparent low bidders, after review and approval by the State Comptroller’s Office.

Fratello Construction Corp. of Farmingdale, NY was awarded a construction contract to rehabilitate “the armory & storage building” [annex]. The low bid amount was cited as $6,872,408. Global Electrical Contracting of Westchester, Inc. of Yonkers, NY was awarded an electrical work contract for the same annex, with the low bid amount cited as $1,029,800.

 

ACS System Associates, Inc. of Hicksville, NY was awarded a heating and ventilation work contract to rehabilitate the annex. The low bid amount was cited as $780,900. Eastern Plumbing & Mechanical Contracting, Inc. of Staten Island, NY was awarded a plumbing work contract to rehabilitate the annex, and the low bid amount was cited as $350,000.

 

Meanwhile, as part of the vote on the latest agreed $229 billion State budget, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) who represents Kingsbridge Heights where the armory is based, Rivera confirmed $100.5 million was re-appropriated exclusively for the development of the vacant Kingsbridge Armory.

 

On Sunday, May 27, Kayce Williams was strolling across East Kingsbridge Road, and we asked the 19-year resident of the area if a deal for the armory would finally be reached in her opinion. She replied, “Ahh, no. They’ve been fighting over that armory for decades. I mean at one point it was supposed to be a skating rink and that fell through, and now I don’t know what it’s supposed to be, and they’re pushing all the mom-and-pop stores out of the area.”

Williams was aware of the final meeting date but was unable to attend, explaining, “It happened at a time period where they knew that people were coming home from work. How are we supposed to get there if it’s at 5 o’clock?”

 

Asked for her input on the future of the historic landmark, she said, “I think it should be a recreational center; the reason being there are so many kids in the neighborhood. There’s nothing for them to do and then they want to arrest them and want to chase them around when they see that they have nothing else to do… not just a skating rink but maybe putting some sort of gym or a boxing ring or something.”

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story. 

 

Editor’s Note: The print edition of this story incorrectly refers to Walton High School being located in Norwood. It is in Kingsbridge Heights. We apologize for this error.