BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY December 22, 2019 2
Sheridan Expressway’s removal project is completed
BY KYLE VUILLE
After a year’s worth of construction,
the transformation of the Sheridan
Expressway into a pedestrianfriendly
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 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.
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
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.
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
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com
/www.BXTimes.com