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Volume XIX • Number 11 • March 29 - April 4, 2012 •
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Crumbled cookie factory to yield jobs bonanza By MIAWLING LAM More than 800 full-time jobs will be created when construction begins on Riverdale Crossing, the shopping center to be built at the former Stella D’oro cookie factory site. Officials from Metropolitan Realty Associates estimate the development of the new two-story mall on Broadway between West 236th and West 238th streets will create 326 full-time jobs in addition to 500 construction jobs. Elected officials are strongly encouraging MRA to hire Bronx residents to fill as many of these positions as possible. The much-anticipated retail center is tentatively poised to throw open its doors to shoppers in October next year. Demolition has already begun, with several sources confirming that construction is scheduled to commence this June and continue through the end of September 2013. The specific timeframe and job creation benefits emerged after Joseph Farkas, the president of Long-Island based owners MRA, personally conducted a series of tours last week. The first walk-through on Thursday, March 22, was held for a dozen members of Community Board 8 and the surprising presence of a member of the Kings-
bridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corporation, a group coming under increasing fire as having a partisan political agenda. A second tour was held the following day for local elected officials. The Review was booted off the site on both occasions, but a spokeswoman for the developer confirmed that a walk-through for media is currently being planned. CB8 Chairman Robert Fanuzzi, who was among those touring the site last week, said he was impressed with the overall vision for the mall. He said apart from the anchor tenant, BJ’S Wholesale Club, who will occupy more than 118,000 square feet of space on West 237th Street, no future tenants were specified. However, considering the project is an as-of-right development—which does not mandate public hearings or review by community boards—Fanuzzi praised Farkas for personally introducing the site to locals. “I think it speaks a lot about his community spirit that he would do that voluntarily. He didn’t have to introduce us to the site and field our questions,” Fanuzzi said. “He’s been extraordinary in reaching out and anticipating
Metropolitan Realty Associates CEO Joseph Farkas (middle), lays out his vision for Riverdale Crossing to (from left) Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Congressman Eliot Engel during a site visit last week. our concerns and questions.” Fanuzzi said concerns relating to traffic and the effects of heavy car volume on nearby residents were flagged during
the 90-minute meeting but that MRA had already developed a plan to alleviate possible gridlock concerns. “The traffic plan as presented
to us is designed to minimize impact on Broadway and also to provide more than one access point,” he said. Continued on Page 2
New retaining wall will keep Palisade Avenue on terra firma By MIAWLING LAM Dozens of local parking spaces will be relocated and school buses and Metro-North Rail Link buses will be rerouted while workers replace a retaining wall near 2465 Palisade Avenue. Authorities from the New York City Department of Design and Construction said work could begin as early as this week. The capital reconstruction project is scheduled to last for around six months. Under the $3.5 million project, 252 linear feet of the existing dry rubble masonry wall will be dismantled and replaced with a new pre-cast concrete modular wall. Construction workers will also restore more than 3,000 square feet of sidewalks, 300 linear feet of curb and 1,000 square feet of roadway in addition to planting a tree. Announcing the changes at last Tuesday’s Community Board 8 Traffic and Transportation committee meeting, Tectonic Engineering resident engineer Giovanni Castro said the project was necessary so the retaining wall’s foundation could be stabilized and upgraded. In order to facilitate work, he said, traffic patterns
need to be modified. Lower Independence Avenue, currently a one-way street, will allow two-way traffic with parking on only one side, while upper Independence Avenue, currently a two-way street, will allow one-way traffic and two-side parking, Castro said. The changes are set to cause a massive headache for people who reside near the intersections of Palisade Avenue and Independence Avenue and for those who park their cars in the area before jumping on the MetroNorth train at the Spuyten Duyvil station. However, John A. Palik from the DDC assured locals they will be given ample notice. He said hundreds of fliers will be distributed to residents and notices will be placed on the windshields of cars parked in the vicinity at least one week before the traffic pattern changes take effect. Palik also said a temporary five-foot-wide asphalt pathway will be built for pedestrians. “During the wall reconstruction, there will be a pedestrian walkway which we’re building around the
construction zone to get people down onto Palisade Avenue,” he said. The new wall will appear similar to the existing structure. “It’s going to look like stone, and it’s going to be painted. So it’s going to look very much of a similar tone and color of this wall,” he said. Palik said workers would need to excavate down to the bedrock, but he admitted they did not know how deep they would need to dig. Officials have estimated they will need to excavate to a depth of 15 feet, but a 20-foot depth may be required. When several Community Board 8 members expressed concern about the unknown depth, Palik assured the community there was no cause for alarm. “Homeowners don’t need to worry about damage to their homes,” he said. “Unless we go very deep in the bedrock, there won’t be any unusual drilling or any unusual excavation.” Work is scheduled for completion at the end of September.