Public provides feedback on future Harlem Riverfront Park
BY KYLE VUILLE
Residents of Community
Board 1 got the first
glimpse of what will be
the future home of a
riverfront park, which
is part of a $194 million
investment in the south
Bronx.
Members of NYC
Parks, NYC Economic
Development Corporation
and a design firm
met with the public at
Hostas Community College
on Saturday, November
14 to collect information
and receive
feedback from those in
attendance.
“We’re excited to receive
input from the
community as we begin
developing a design
and programming for
a new 2.3 acre park in
the south Bronx. We’re
continuing to fulfill the
community’s desire for
open space and waterfront
access and will
keep residents informed
of progress,” EDC chief
and AVP, Public Affairs,
Shavone Williams
said in an email to the
Bronx Times.
The organizers gave
a brief presentation of
what the park could potentially
look like, followed
by Q & A session,
a quick poll of the audience
and the formation
of small focus groups
to receive the public’s
opinion of their vision
of the park.
The future site of
what the city is calling
the Lower Concourse
Park Project is situated
between 144th and 146th
streets facing the Harlem
River and parallel
to the Major Deegan Expressway.
Historically and currently,
the site has been
used for industrial purposes
and is also in the
path of Oak Point rail
line that transports the
city’s trash out of town.
The park is just one
piece of a bigger infrastructure
project after
approximately 30 blocks
along the Harlem River
were rezoned for mixeduse
future development
in 2009.
Following the rezoning
of the area, Mayor
de Blasio announced a
$194 million infrastructure
investment to accommodate
open space,
water access and affordable
housing within
those 30 blocks along
the river to better serve
the community.
Despite the entirety
of this major investment
project, the focus
of the Thursday night
meeting was the 2.3
acre park.
Presenters did display
what their hopes
are for the park as well
as constraints for the
project. Those issues
discussed in the presentation
included the
area’s vulnerability to
f looding, the noise from
the expressway and the
river’s swift current.
Members of the
Bronx Council of Environmental
Quality
Chancy Young and
Karen Argenti have
been a part of the discussion
since 2009 and
made their views clear
on what the park should
include and how it could
have the best impact on
the community.
“The BCEQ has been
working on the riverfront
for decades,”
Young said, “longer
than they (Parks/EDC)
have, they have a lot of
newer staff as well.”
Young voiced his concern
on how dedicated
and committed the community
outreach efforts
actually were prior to
the meeting.
“I think the consultant
they hired didn’t
do a great job,” Young
said, “in terms of outreach,
there was a poor
turnout.”
One resident and welcometothebronx.
com
founder and editor, Ed
Garcia, spoke out during
the meeting.
“Why don’t I see more
members of my community
here?”
Despite low community
attendance at the
meeting, those who attended
were delighted
to hear the commitment
to install open green
spaces as well as items
like a comfort station.
“I’m glad to hear
Parks putting in a comfort
station because
they are expensive, but
necessary for a wellused
park,” Young said.
Young also stressed
the importance of maintaining
the park because
a neglected park
is not a well-used park.
Other suggestions
and ideas for the park
were the needs for a
mixed-use greenway
and a waterfront dock
for canoes and kayaks.
According to Argenti,
terms used by the parks
department like esplanade
and promenade do
not specify if bike lanes
would be implemented
into those walkways.
“We need to make
sure it’s for bicycles as
well and it really needs
to be open all the time
because people will be
using it as method of
transportation,” Argenti
said.
Besides the actual
amenities of the park,
Argenti discussed in
further detail in a later
interview about the
importance of a living
shoreline and conducting
further research on
the property through a
Brownfield study. She
is concerned about continuous
polluting of water
in the area.
Argenti finds that a
living shoreline, which
is essentially manmade
wetlands, would
only help the surrounding
ecosystem.
“It would increase
the productivity of
the fish and work as a
surge in the case of a
hurricane,” Argenti explained.
With the park design
being in such preliminary
stages, there will
be more opportunities
for the public to see
what Parks and the EDC
will do with the area.
According to the project
schedule, further
concept designs will be
presented to the Parks
subcommittee and the
full board this coming
February.
According to the
EDC, construction on
the park is expected to
begin in 2020.
3 BRONX WEEKLY November 24, 2019 www.BXTimes.com
Members of the public sit with representatives from NYC Parks and NYC EDC in small focus groups
at Hostas Community College on Nov. 14. Blank templates of the park and potential amenities and
features were glued or drawn on to receive the public’s feedback. Schneps Media/Kyle Vuille
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