Shipwrecked along Pelham Bay Park
Diaz votes down Mott Haven jail, DCP met with opposition
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 12-18, 2019 3
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
What was once the east
Bronx’s unoffi cial ‘truck stop’
is now morphing into something
else: a ‘boat dump.’
Two recreational boats
were abandoned along the
outskirts of Pelham Bay Park
on Bruckner Boulevard between
Wilkinson Avenue and
Middletown Road during the
July 4th holiday, with one so
large that it obstructed traffi c
for a few days along the high-
This abandoned boat was recently found obstructing traffi c on Bruckner Boulevard next to Pelham Bay Park in
the vicinity of Middletown Road. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
way service road.
“We have seen illegal tractor
trailer parking along
Bruckner Boulevard next to
the park, but this is the fi rst
time I have seen a boat left
there,” said George Havranek,
Spencer Estate Civic Association
vice-president. “I’ve seen
boats dumped near boat yards
before, but never in this location.”
Havranek said that the
association has been drawing
attention to the issue of
18-wheelers parking on this
stretch of Bruckner Boulevard.
He said in the past that he
believes that local truckers
may be leaving their vehicles
there in order to spend some
time with their family.
But now the area is also
morphing into a storage area
for other kinds of vehicles, including
boat trailers, he said.
“I also saw a trailer at this
location that had a least two
boats on it that didn’t appear
as if they were being abandoned,”
he said. “It looked
like they were being stored
there.”
NYC Department of Sanitation
confi rmed that they
removed the two abandoned
boats at the location in response
to community concerns,
said a DSNY spokeswoman
Dina Montes.
One was removed on Friday,
July 5 and a second one
was hauled away on Tues-
Another smaller boat was also left at the location.
Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio Continued on page 61
Diaz during a hearing on the Mott Haven jail on Tuesday, June 25. Mike Carlo
BY ALEX MITCHELL
After a year and a half of
protests, Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. has formally
told the city ‘no’ to the proposed
jail for Mott Haven on
Friday, July 5. He published
his offi cial, negative recommendation
on Mayor de Blasio’s
entire proposal to build
borough-based jails in four
boroughs, including the construction
of a new facility on
the site of a current NYPD tow
pound at 320 Concord Avenue.
“Throughout this process
the city has refused to address
the concerns of the Bronx, nor
has the administration adequately
included our borough
in its planning process,” Diaz
said upon his disapproval.
The concerns that Diaz referenced
span the site’s limited
transit options from Concord
Avenue to the courthouse and
the proposed facility being
25-stories tall, which would
make it the tallest building in
the south Bronx.
“Is this going to be our skyline?”
Diaz asked city offi cials
“Although I adamantly support
the closing of Riker’s Island,
I must remain steadfast
in my opposition to any plan
that not only builds a new jail
at the wrong location but also
refuses to address the legitimate
concerns raised by individuals
during a land use hearing at
and organizations on
the Bronx County Building on
all sides of the issue,” he continued.
Tuesday, June 25. Continued on page 61
Diaz had advised the city
many times that he recommends
placing the facility at
the existing Bronx Family
Court location, specifi cally
next to its lesser used annex,
combining it with an adjacent
vacant site next to the Bronx
Hall of Justice on East 161st
Street; doing so to “construct
a modern court and detention
facility that meets the needs
and concerns of all impacted
stakeholders,” he said.
In response to Diaz’s proposed
alternative site, the Mayor’s
Offi ce of Criminal Justice
deputy director Dana Kaplan
said that utilizing the family
court site would require
the structure to be built even
taller and in a more awkward
confi guration that would create
a whole slew of site issues
that include line of sight.
Following Diaz’s disapproval,
the City Planning
Commission held a hearing
for the entire borough-based
jail proposal on Wednesday,
July 10.
At this hearing, citywide
speakers addressed the potential
new jail facilities that
if approved would become active
in 2026.
Business owners from
Brooklyn, that support the
plan as a whole, even blasted
the Mott Haven site as inappropriate.
Another powerful testimony
came from CEO of Diego
Beekman Mutual Housing,
Arline Parks.
Her mixed income housing
encompasses 38 buildings and
1,238 apartments surrounding
the proposed Concord Avenue
facility.
Beekman also drafted
a proposal to purchase the
tow pound land and develop
mixed-use real estate that
would bring a supermarket