Camba Housing plans affordable living in Bedford Pk
BY KYLE VUILLE
Camba Housing Ventures, a successful
developer of affordable housing
in NYC, now has its eyes set on a large
property in Community Board 7’s neck
of the woods.
Representatives of Camba Housing
Ventures presented a proposal for a pair
of 11-story conjoining residential towers
to Community Board 7’s Housing, Land
Use and Development Committee last
Tuesday evening.
The proposed structures would be
built on East 202nd and East 203nd street
between Valentine and Briggs avenues,
with one of the buildings containing 160
units and the other 163 units. The individual
apartments will range from studios
to three-bedrooms.
David Rowe, executive vice president
of CHV, opened up the discussion
at Tuesday, February 11’s meeting with
the company’s intentions of closing on
the property this coming spring.
“We do not have an ‘ask’, we’re actually
just here to update you on our
schedule, update you on the project, to
let you know we are looking to close in
the spring, and that we look forward to
working with you all,” Rowe said.
Project manager Francesca Brown
outlined the aesthetics and the amenities
the buildings will feature, noting
the two buildings will practically mirror
one another.
Brown highlighted the developer’s
keen interest in the property’s landscaping.
He promised street tree plantings,
planters around the building’s exterior,
walls covered with climbing ivy
and lushly planted courtyards.
The building will also offer 24/7 security,
on-site support services, on-site
laundry, bike room, computer room, fi tness
center and a teaching kitchen.
Bronx Zoo’s Happy the elephant ruled ‘Not a Person’
Happy the elephant entertaining visitors at the Bronx Zoo. Photo Courtesy Gigi Glendinning
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,4 FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 5, 2020 BTR
Camba does not only deal with housing,
but offers on-site job opportunities
and plans to fi ll those positions from
the immediate community, Brown and
Rowe explained..
Community support services will
be set up on the premises, Brown explained
to the community board members.
“We provide on-site social services
to every tenant in the building whether
they’re (part of the) supportive housing
or not. So if anyone needs any assistance
with benefi ts education, youth,
economic, anything you need you can
come here and get a case manager and
your case manager will work through
your individual plan to help you optimize
your living conditions,” Brown
said.
One hundred and ninety-four units
will be set aside for supportive housing,
consisting of 145 families and 49 single
households. The remaining 127 remaining
units will be up for grabs through
a housing lottery. Fifty percent of those
units will receive CB7 lottery preference.
Questions raised by attendees, most
of them residents, revolved around how
would the community absorb the added
populations in regards to school seats
and grocery stores in the area. Others
asked what the rents would look like
based on the project’s average median
income.
There are still additional hurdles to
clear before the development is green
lighted. Approvals are needed from
NYC Housing Preservation and Development
as well as NYC Department of
Buildings for their design.
Lottery tutorials for Bedford Park
residents are expected to begin in June
2021.
Rendering of the 202nd Street development in Bedford Park.
Rendering courtesy by Camba Housing Ventures
BY JASON COHEN
The fi ght to determine if
Happy the elephant will remain
at the Bronx Zoo or be
relocated to an elephant conservatory
ended last week.
On Wednesday, February
19, a judge ruled in favor of the
Bronx Zoo and declared that
Happy is not a person nor is
she imprisoned at the zoo.
“We are pleased with
the Bronx County Supreme
Court’s decision today to dismiss
the Nonhuman Rights
Project’s petition,” said Jim
Breheny, director of the Bronx
Zoo and executive vice president
of zoos and aquarium
at the Wildlife Conservation
Society. “The court rejected
NhRP’s ill-conceived attempt
to have an elephant at the
Bronx Zoo, Happy, declared a
‘person,’ entitled to protection
under the writ of habeas corpus.
In doing so, the court supported
the Bronx Zoo’s legal
position and we believe this
decision is in Happy’s best interests.”
The NhRP, a national animal
rights group, began fi ghting
for Happy in September
and spent a total of 13 hours
arguing her case.
Happy’s lead attorney and
president of NhRP, Steven
Wise told the Bronx Times
they are pleased with the
judge’s decision. While she did
not rule in their favor, it is a
step in the right direction, he
stressed.
“While Justice Tuitt ‘regretfully’
denied the habeas
corpus relief the NhRP had
demanded because she felt
bound by prior appellate court
decisions in the NhRP’s chimpanzee
rights cases, “she essentially
vindicated the legal
arguments and factual claims
about the nature of nonhuman
animals such as Happy that the
NhRP has been making during
the fi rst six years of our rights
litigation,” Wise said.
The NhRP has already begun
working on its appeal.
“While we lament Happy’s
continued imprisonment, we
thank Justice Tuitt for breaking
ground on the long road to
securing liberty and justice
for Happy and other autonomous
nonhuman animals,”
said the NhRP’s executive director
Kevin Schneider. “Happy’s
freedom matters as much
to her as ours does to us, and
we won’t stop fi ghting in and
out of court until she has it.”
Happy resides on an acre
of land, but if relocated to the
Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
would have 2,600 acres
and be with 10 to 15 other elephants.
“Elephants are incredibly
social,” Wise said. “It’s not
hard to imagine that her life
would change.”
Happy was born in Malaysia
in 1971 and spent a few
years in California before being
relocated to the Bronx in
1977.
In her 40 plus years at the
zoo, she has lived with three
other elephants, but for the
past 17 years has been alone.
Happy’s proof of autonomy
was evident in 2005, when she
became the fi rst elephant to
‘pass’ the mirror self-recognition
test, considered to be an
indicator of self-awareness.
The mirror test is a behavioral
technique developed in
1970 by psychologist Gordon
Gallup Jr. as an attempt to determine
whether an animal
possesses the ability of visual
self-recognition.