Wind Turbine on Bartow
Avenue has residents baffl ed
A newly installed wind turbine at 500 Baychester Ave. towers over the
streets of Co-op City. The wind turbine was allowed to be installed due to
zoning dating back to the early 1960’s when the property was a part of
Freedomland, an amusement park. Photo by Kyle Vuille/Schneps Media
Sheridan Expressway’s removal project is completed
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, DECEMBER 2 BTR 0-26, 2019 3
BY KYLE VUILLE
After a year’s worth of construction,
the transformation
of the Sheridan Expressway
into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard
is now complete.
Governor Cuomo held a
press conference at the Casita
Maria for the Arts and Education
at 928 Simpson Street to
announce the completion of the
Sheridan Expressway project
on Thursday, December 12.
“Fifty years later, we’re doing
it,” Cuomo said in the press
conference. “The Sheridan Expressway
is opened up, giving
back beautiful greenspace to
the Bronx River.” “We’re going
to spend money to restore
the Bronx River back to what
it should be and clean up the
Bronx River.”
The $75 million dollar project
began in October of 2018
and reconnected a section of
the Bronx to Starlight Park and
the Bronx River.
Previously, the expressway
cut right through the area and
was not accessible to the public
and expedited the pollution to
the river and the surrounding
areas with heavy industrial
traffi c.
Cuomo briefl y outlined the
An aerial rendering displaying the changes made to the Sheridan Expressway. Easier access points to Starlight
Park are outlined in green. Photo courtesy of Governor’s offi ce
history behind how the Sheridan
came to be and why, laying
the emphasis on its key role of
creating access to Manhattan
(the inner borough).
“Everything was about how
do you get to Manhattan,” In
the Bronx, the Cross Bronx
Expressway they built literally
cut the Bronx in two - the
Bruckner, the Sheridan Expressway,”
Cuomo said. “The
Sheridan Expressway, they
built the road between the community
and the water. Why?
Because it was easy to run the
highway next to the water. Yes,
but what you do is you cut the
community off from the waterfront.”
Cuomo said the Sheridan
Boulevard project is just one
piece of a $1.8 million transformation
plan for the south
Bronx.
The next project on the drawing
board, according to Cuomo,
is reconstructing the interchange
between the Bruckner
Expressway and the newly redefi
ned Sheridan Boulevard
that will alleviate truck traffi c
and access to Hunts Point Market.
The redesign is expected to
cost $598 million.
Phase one of the Hunts Point
project will entail constructing
new highway ramps to Edgewater
Road, replacing bridges
and improving the fl ow of the
Bruckner Boulevard and Hunts
Point Avenue intersection.
NYS Department of Transportation
Commissioner Marie
Therese Dominguez said,
“Governor Cuomo is working
to improve the quality of life for
New Yorkers by literally connecting
communities - making
them more accessible to
green space, livable and easier
to navigate, all while promoting
economic growth. This initiative
will reduce congestion
and enhance safety for pedestrians
and cyclists in the south
Bronx, improving access to the
Hunts Point Market, drawing
the community together and
connecting it with the Bronx
River and local parks.”
Other improvements included
in the project are transforming
the currently overgrown
Garrison Park and
building a shared use path between
Concrete Plant Park and
Garrison Park.
The governor emphasized
the effort to cut down the
amount of truck traffi c in the
area and its effect on the public’s
health.
The Hunts Point portion of
the work is currently underway
according to NYS DOT
with an expected completion
date of fall 2020.
BY KYLE VUILLE
The controverial, recently
halted monopole, partially
built at the southern edge
of Co-op City, will support
a wind turbine instead of a
billboard that was expected
to soar over 250 feet above the
ground.
That structure at 500 Baychester
Avenue, will join two
other billboards as well as a
7-Eleven convenience store, a
TD bank and a Sherwin Williams
paint store on the commercial
property.
The originally-planned illuminated
billboard would
have shined all night into the
bedrooms of many Co-op City
apartments.
On Thursday, December
12, two fl atbed trucks carrying
pieces of the wind turbine
arrived at the property.
Elected offi cials and Community
Board 10 fi elded hundreds
of inquiries from local
residents that spotted the
erector on the property.
As of Tuesday, December
17, the wind turbine was assembled,
and the power generator
now towers over 200
feet above the current illuminated
billboards.
Matt Cruz, district manager
of Community Board 10
stated that while he doesn’t
oppose wind turbines, he
fi nds the newly erected turbine
location inappropriate.
Rodney Saunders, second
vice president of the Riverbay
board of directors was
bewildered by the wind turbine
installation.
He said he has not been
able to fi nd any building permits
for the structure.
He believes that after the
property owner was denied
a NYC Department of Buildings
permit for a third billboard,
he decided to install a
wind turbine instead.
“My belief is the owner
has always been ahead of the
game, put the stack up and
decided to play the odds,”
Saunders said.
According to Saunders,
the borough president along
with the Riverbay Corp.
board of directors and other
individuals are in the process
of fi nding out more information
regarding the
wind turbine.
Meanwhile, an application
to change the current C7
zoning to C8-2 is heading to
the City Planning Commission
for a vote on January 8.
This parcel and a portion
of Coney Island have a C7
zoning, set aside for amusement
parks. The Bartow Avenue
parcel was once part of
the Freedomland property.
Under C7 zoning the size and
height of a billboard are not
restricted.
The DOB, temporarily
halted the construction of
the huge billboard monopole
earlier this year.
Cruz said the board is supporting
the rezoning of the
property from C-7 to C8-2.
Saunders however is not
pleased with the City Planning’s
C8-2 recommendation.
He claims that this zoning
permits businesses like
slaughterhouses and even
crematories to be built. Also
the designation is the highest
commercial zoning, just
below manufacturing, he
said.
He’s pushing for the less
intrusive C8. At a meeting
City Planning stated they opposed
C8 because it allows
residential development.
However, local elected offi
cials and Borough President
Ruben Diaz do not share
that sentiment and fi nd the
C8-2 zoning appropriate.
If the zoning change is approved
it would ‘grandfather’
in any projects already built
or under construction. It
would however prevent any
new project’s from starting.