Maybe it’s a Bronx thing or an “other boroughs” thing. Apparently up here the city doesn’t announce the advancement of huge neighborhood-changing development projects. They just sort of leak them and rumor them and move forward without saying much.
We’re talking, of course, about the Kingsbridge Armory, the massive vacant building slated to be renovated sometime in the near future. Community Board 7 Chair Greg Faulkner has said publicly, at a general board meeting, that The Related Companies, whose principal is pals and former business partners with former deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff, has been awarded the contract to revamp the Armory. The Daily News reported the same story using anonymous sources three weeks ago. The city Economic Development Corporation is not denying it, but they’re not admitting it either.
How sad. The biggest project to hit the northwest Bronx in generations is limping past a major milestone as if it doesn’t really matter. This situation only reinforces the century-old public impression that the city administration, regardless of who is mayor, only really cares about Manhattan.
Fortunately, we are a community that has found its voice and struggled mightily for this project and is now gearing up for face-to-face negotiations with the developer.
