BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
The city Department of
Child Administrative Services
(DCAS) is moving its
Bronx-based ACS staff in Morris
Park to the Bay Plaza Shopping
Center in the Co-Op City
section, in an effort to secure
more offi ce space and better
serve its clientele in the borough.
The DCAS made a bid to the
city Planning Division to acquired
37,500 square feet of offi
ce space on the fi rst and second
fl oors at 2100 Bartow Ave.
in July, and a DCAS spokesperson
told the Bronx Times,
the decision could allow ACS
Administration for Children’s
Services (ACDS) to procure
“separate entrances, effi cient
space layout and proximity to
Administration of Children’s
Services Division of Child
Protection (ACSDCP) client
populations.”
The ACS, which is currently
located at 974 Morris
Park Ave., had their request
approved by city planning.
According to planning
documents, the proposed 2100
Bartow Ave. property will be
appropriately renovated for
cost-effective operations by
the agency, and will be built
out to include a layout and
furniture plan that is closely
aligned with the agency’s
“current best practices.”
DCAS touted the heightened
accessibility of 2100 Bartow
Ave. for its clients, as there
are numerous bus routes and
proximity to the 5 and 6 trains
along the Gun Hill Road and
Pelham Bay Park stations.
The proposed location is
not in a regional business
district, however. The proposed
site’s location is within
an M1-1/C4-3 zoning district,
which permits offi ce uses asof
right.
The DCAS has also selected
city-owned property in the
Fordham section of the Bronx
for a new computer-based testing
and application center
(CTAC), to facilitate more opportunities
for a wider number
of local candidates applying
for city jobs.
The property, the second
fl oor of the Fordham Library
building, is expected to be
converted into a space “that
would provide employment information,
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER,18 SEPT. 24-30, 2021 BTR
training, and computer
based testing services
for Civil Service exams that
would serve Bronx residents.”
The CTAC entrance to the
building would be located on
Marion Avenue. The ground
fl oor and mezzanine of the
building would be reserved
for future use that is expected
to provide community services
for Bronx residents. The
entrance to this future use
would be located on the “Bainbridge
Avenue side of the
building.”
Currently located on Arthur
Avenue, a relocation of
the CTAC to the Old Fordham
Library location is expected to
double the annual number of
applicants served by the center
in the Bronx, according to
DCAS staff.
The Arthur Avenue location,
which comprises 5,100
square feet of surface area,
currently accommodates 40
workstations, facilitating
1,900 test-takers per month.
The Department of Child Administrative Services made a bid to acquire
offi ce space on the fi rst and second fl oors of 2100 Bartow Ave., in July.
The 10,000-square-foot,
second-fl oor Fordham Library
space would double the
capacity of workstations to
80, increasing the number of
monthly available test slots to
3,800.
In 2008, the city turned the
old library over to the city’s
Photo JLL
Health Department, which
was mandated to turn it into
a full-service animal shelter.
That mandate was dropped in
2011 by the City Council, and
the agency had been using the
facility for administrative and
storage purposes, according
to city documents.
City to relocate Children’s
Services offi ce to Co-Op City
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