www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY June 30, 2019 4
BP Diaz conducts stakeholders’ hearing on Mott Haven jail plan
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MEMBER:
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Just about every stakeholder
in the ongoing battle
to stop the Mott Haven jail
showed up to Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr.’s hearing
at the Bronx County
Building on Tuesday, June
25.
Currently the site is a
NYPD tow pound at 320 Concord
Avenue, which the city
intends to clean up to construct
a 24-story, roughly
$2 billion jail as part of the
planned replacement of
Rikers Island with smaller
prisons in four out of the
fi ve boroughs, which are expected
to be ready by 2026,
the Mayor’s Offi ce of Criminal
Justice deputy director
Dana Kaplan explained at
the hearing.
Besides the anticipated
4,000 to 5,000 jail population
decrease at city prisons,
most facets of the updated
borough-based jails Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure,
which includes community
amenities like affordable
housing for the Bronx site,
hasn’t changed since it was
fi rst introduced to the public
on Thursday, April 25.
Diaz’ fi rst question to Kaplan
and staff asked why his
site recommendation next to
the Bronx Hall of Justice on
East 161st Street has been ignored
by the city.
Specifi cally, he wanted
to utilize the underused
portions of the Bronx Family
Court annex to build the
prison facility.
Kaplan said that doing so
would require the structure
to be built even taller and
in an awkward ‘zig zag’ like
confi guration that would
create a whole slew of site issues.
Diaz criticized other components
of the city’s plan,
stating that the Mott Haven
location’s massive size is uncharacteristic
of the neighborhood,
which consists of
3-story row houses, low lying
manufacturing plants
and other six-story apartment
structures.
“Is this going to be our
skyline?” he questioned.
He countered that placing
a facility on East 161st Street,
even one that exceeds 24 stories,
would blend in better
with the already existing 20
plus story structures near
Grand Concourse.
Diaz and the mayor’s offi
ce were not the only two
entities offering testimony
at the public hearing.
Both opponents and supporters
for the boroughbased
jail spoke deep into
the night, many sharing
personal experiences with
what they called ‘horrors of
Rikers Island.’
Reverend Wendy Calderon
Payne and her supporters
from the non-profi t
Bronx Connect argued that
they don’t necessarily agree
that Mott Haven is the optimal
placement of a facility,
but could be the only opportunity
to see Rikers Island
closed down.
“There’s no guarantee
(to close Rikers) from a new
mayoral administration,”
she said.
Leading the opposition
was Alrine parks, CEO of Diego
Beekman Mutual Housing,
which will surround
the jail when built.
She and Beekman had
a plan to purchase the tow
pound land from the city
and create mixed income
housing to help revitalize
Mott Haven.
“We are losing middle
class families. We are a community
of low-income people
and we are again being punished,”
Parks said, indicating
disastrous years of the
1990s when that portion of
Mott Haven was overrun
by drug dealers and serious
crime.
“We need those two
billion dollars to fi x our
schools and make the Cypress
Avenue station safer
and so much more, but instead
it will be used to punish
our community,” she
said.
Both sides collectively
agreed on one thing: that
closing Rikers Island and
the Vernon C. Bain jail barge
in Hunts Point are the right
thing to do. Kaplan said that
her offi ce “does not believe
that the barge meets reform
goals,” while Diaz called
Rikers “a stain on the soul
of New York City.”
The NYC Council is expected
to vote on the entire
city jail plan in the fall.
Annual fireworks on the beach
saved; music series snuffed
The legendary Chubby Checker, one of the best know recording artists of the 1960s, gets up close
and personal with fans in Loreto Park at a ‘Summertime Symphony’ in 2015. The free concerts were
sponsored by former Senator Jeff Klein. File Photo
ular this allows all Bronxites
to come together in our
‘Rivera,’ Orchard Beach, for
a fun day at the beach and
evening of fi reworks,” said
the councilman.
Borough President
Diaz said that the Orchard
Beach fi reworks shows are
one of his favorite summer
traditions and called them
“truly an iconic Bronx experience.”
“There is nothing that
compares to the energy of
our community coming together
and our fi reworks
display is perfect for the
whole family to enjoy together
as we celebrate the
birth of America,” said
Diaz. “Thank you to Councilman
Mark Gjonaj for
partnering with me this
year to continue this annual
tradition.”
Other sponsors of the
explosive beach celebration
included the Westchester
Square Business Improvement
District, the City
Island Chamber of Commerce,
Manhattan Beer,
Con Edison, Gjonaj Group,
Atlantic Development
Group, CAMBA Housing
and Mullaney & Gjelaj.
A number of City Island
restaurants also participated.
Another Klein tradition,
the summer concert
series known as ‘Summertime
Symphonies’ won’t be
funded this year either.
Al D’Angelo, Morris Park
Community Association
president, said that Klein’s
concerts, which mainly
drew a 50-year-old plus
crowd and featured popular
acts from 60s, would be
missed because they unifi
ed the community.
“People over here in
Morris Park loved the concerts,”
said D’Angelo. “They
would fi ll (Loreto Park). Every
time we had a concert,
the place was packed.”
With just six months under
her belt, Biaggi said in
a statement that her focus
“has been to transform our
community and state by
passing progressive legislation
and ensuring that our
taxpaying dollars are allocated
to important district
programs.”
She stated that aside
from a legislative record
that included 17 passed
bills, she secured $795,000
for her district.
The senator recently
sponsored the Summer Solstice
and Wellness Celebration
at the New York Botanical
Garden, which featured
live music, gardening activities,
cooking demonstrations
and yoga.
“It is my hope and intention
that my offi ce will have
the privilege and resources
to do additional events like
this in the future,” she
stated.
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