April 26, 2008
Kingsbridge Armory . . . Mall?
The Kingsbridge Amory in the Bronx has stood as a colossal unused edifice in the Bronx for years. The City recently negotiated with development group The Related Companies to transform the building into a commercial mall. Some residents are unhappy that a piece of their neighborhood with a lot of potential is being sold out from under them.
Members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance would like to meet with the head of The Related Companies to negotiate about setting aside some space for community use inside the building that is equal in space to a 60-story building and larger than Madison Square Garden. According to NY1, The Related Companies is spending $310 million to renovate the massive space after winning a bid for the rights.
Bronx community associations would like to see something along the lines of a Boys Club or YMCA included in the plans. KARA wants to see two schools built at the Armory, although the DOE says that additional schools aren't needed in the area.
Photo of the Kingsbridge Armory, from the BridgeandTunnelClub.com
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Why does Related Development seems to win all these deals? WTF?
What are we going to do with another mall? Its already sandwiched between a bunch of shopping (Kingsbridge to the west and Fordham to the East) -- with NO parking in the neighborhood. What is the city thinking???????????
What about some imagination: selling it to a movie studio (I Am Legend was filmed there), a boxing ring, a concert space, selling it to Lehman College -- expand the college.
C'mon? Another mall? You're already opening one near Yankee stadium...stoooooooopid....
Leave it to greedy, over-eager developers to destroy the fabric of every community. I completely agree, ANOTHER MALL? WTF?!? Can anything be left well enough ALONE? SH*T! Every neighborhood that used to have some kind of character, some kind of charm has been turned into a glorified shopping strip. SoHo looks like an upscale outdoor shopping center you'd find in Scottsdale, AZ... WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO DOWNTOWN? and seriously...SERIOUSLY...HARLEM NOW???? Give me a F*ING BREAK!!! Everywhere I turn...Luxury condos...luxury retail...luxury bullshit EVERYWHERE! Where is the F*ING GRIT?!? I always joke about wanting to live in 1970s New York, until I see some crack-head pissing on my doorstep...But I would take a wild crack-head, non-violently chasing me to the train over the self-proclaimed nobility running me off the road with their hummer-sized baby carriages and pricing me out of my neighborhood with their "Luxury" redevelopment plans.
C'mon fellow native New Yorkers...say it with me.. REVOLUTION!