The City of New York Bronx Community Board Four General
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The City of New York Bronx Community Board Four General Board Meeting Held on Tuesday, NOVEMBER 28, 2017 BRONX MUSUEM OF THE ARTS 1040 Grand Concourse & East 165th Street Ms. Kathleen Saunders, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT: Ms. Ramatu Ahmed, Mr. John Howard Algarin, Mr. Rolando Aviles, Ms. Naimah Bilal, Ms. Beverly Bond, Mr. Jason Caraballo, Mr. Maynard Charles, Ms. Rossmery Dais, Ms. Brenda Dawson, Mr. Gregory A. Delts, Mr. Spencer Edwards, Ms. Ariane Garcia, Mr. Robert Garmendiz, Ms. Frances Hudson-Marrow, Ms. Marissa Jackson, Ms. Mildred James, Ms. Nurys Laureano, Mr. Mohammed Mardah, Ms. Marie McCullough, Bishop Earl McKay, Mr. Leandro Monzon, Ms. Connie Morales, Mr. Ebrahim Dawda Ndure, Mr. Barry Nissen, Ms. Zonia Ortiz, Ms. Martha Reyes, Ms. Yohanny Rincon, Mr. Jimmy Rivera, Mr. George T. Robinson, Sr., Ms. Lilliam Rosa, Ms. Genny Sanchez, Ms. Kathleen Saunders, Mr. Avery Smith, Mr. Jackson Strong, Dr. Grace Zarate. MEMBERS EXCUSED: Mr. Napoleon Black, Mr. John Fielder. MEMBERS ABSENT: Mr. Walter Harris, Ms. Jodi Morales, Ms. Sherrise Palomino, Mr. Jamal Patrick, Ms. Teresa Wright. STAFF: Mr. Paul Philps, District Manager Ms. Lynne Thompson, Administrative Assistant Ms. Elizabeth Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Senior Secretary ELECTED OFFICIALS: Mr. Antirson Ortiz, representing NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer Ms. Bharati Kemraj, representing Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. Mr. Terell Brock, representing NYS Senator Jose M. Serrano Ms. Annalicia Finol, representing NYS Senator Gustavo Rivera Mr. Steven Ochoa, representing NYS Assemblyman Michael Blake Ms. Stacy Strong, representing NYC Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson GUEST PRESENT: Glennis Gomez-Department of Education, Geri Hawkins-Resident, Margaret Fleesak-NYCPL Highbridge Branch,Luis Montalvo- R.A.I.N., Adam Lessuck-FDNY, Fabrice Armand-NYC Department of Correction, Kevin James-Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ellen Harvey-Concourse Village, Flo Canada-Concourse Village, Katelyn Sullivan-Educators For Excellence, Andrea Clay-Educators For Excellence, Lissa So-Marvel Architects, Yadiel Rivera-Marvel Architects, Josue Sanchez-L&M Development Partners, Cassandra Williams-Resident, Geri Brewer-Resident, Isaac Arsitiltabi-L&M Development Partners, Annie Tirschwell-Type A Projects, Jill Crawford-Type A Projects, Yasmin Cornelius-L&M Development Partners, Ariela Heilman-Resident, Tiffanie Dorch-BronxWorks, Sara Powell-Urban Waters Federal Partnership, Taibart Ibrahim-MHHC, James Rather-Bronx Department of City Planning, Kevin Woodhouse-Concourse Village, Lon Wilson-N.Y. Walker Club Inc., Jamie Tkach-Resident, Stephanie Tkach-Resident, Andre Pajale- Melrose Park Avenue, Ms. Evelyn Rivera-President 11 West 172 Street Tenants Association, Carmen Pineiro-The Bronx Defenders, Byung Lee-NYCEDC, Hanneh Burdei-NYCEDC, Rekha Seepersad-Post Graduate Center for Mental Health, Debra Myers-Community Resident, Rebecca Crimmins-NY City Council Speakers Office, Charlie Samboy- NYCEDC, Kate VanTassel-NYCEDC, Lynn Walton-NYC Law Department, Areils Pineda-Resident. Public Session 1. Andrea Clay, Educators for Excellence – Presented to the Youth & Education Committee. They are working on school climate. They are interested in the introduction to expand a pilot program to three other districts. At this time, they are requesting a Letter of Support to expand emotional learning initiative in the Department of Education’s school districts. 2. Glenis Gomez, Department of Education Specialized High Schools – She discussed the process to the eight Specialized High Schools in NYC through the Department of Education in order to increase diversity within these schools. An exam is required for these schools and La Guardia requires an audition. There will be more information at the Highbridge Library. For more information she can be contacted at 212-637-8010 or at [email protected]. 3. Luis Montalvo, Program Manager for R.A.I.N. – Introduced the Alzheirmer’s Caregiver Link Program which is funded by the NYS Department of Health. They do monthly meetings as well as telecast every fourth Thursday and home visits. The program is free and is also available in Spanish. They accept referrals. 4. Fabrice Armand, Department of Corrections – Working in the community to bring awareness of exam #8309 available from November 1 to November 30. The starting salary is $44,000 and $94,000 after five years. Additionally, there are other non-uniform competitive positions. Twelve positions available are from $44,000 to $180,000 per year. There are no age limitations to any of these positions available. For more information: nyc.gov/jointheboldest. Welcoming remarks and announcements by Ms. Kathleen Saunders. The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:29 pm. Pursuant to Chapter 70 Section 2800 of the City Charter the actions and procedures of Community Boards and their committees are governed by the applicable provisions of the City Charter and New York State Open Meetings Law (OML, Section 100-111 of the New York State Public Officers Law) and Freedom of Information Law (FOIL, Section 84-90 of the Public Officers Law). Each Community Board shall meet at least once each month. Community Board 4 shall meet every fourth (4th) Tuesday of the month. This Tuesday, November 28, 2017, the meeting is held at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance led by Bishop Earl McKay. Motion to Review/Correct/Adopt of General Board Meeting: None at this time. District Manager’s Report The District Manager read the 30 Capital Budget item requests. No meetings will take place in December. Lower Concourse North AKA Bronx Point o Phase I - 600 units of affordable housing with 30% to 130% AMI o Universal Hip Hop Museum o State of the art movie theater o Food court o Children’s Playground (Bronx Children’s Museum) o Outdoor performance space o 2.6 acres of open space as an expansion to Millpond Park o Publicly accessible bathroom The following were not part of the original scope. o Ballfield at Franz Sigel Park o 1000+ construction jobs o Local hiring network through Job First o Construction of 572 seat school in CD7 o Convening a working group to monitor the project Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Planning o Bronx Borough President had a public hearing last month o $4.6 million for the development of Corporal Fischer Park o Preservation of 1500 units of affordable housing within the next two years o Piloting of Certificate of No Harassment in CD4 and CD5 o Southwest Bronx Housing Task Force o Bronx Borough President submitted his recommendation on November 27, 2017 o City Planning is having a hearing on November 29, 2017 at 10:00 am March – attended Housing Resource Fair Youth Day was reinstated in May 2017 and will do it again in 2018. Economic – implemented a series of changes for liquor license requests. The 44th Precinct attends all the Economic Committee meetings. In September the Governor announced that CB4 and CB1 were recipients of $10 million grant for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Two weeks ago the Bronx Borough President convened his first meeting of the local planning committee and DM Paul Philps was selected to participate along with 25 stakeholders. They will meet again within four months to submit their list of projects to submit for approval. Let’s continue to work together, respect each other and continue our upward trajectory. Introduction to Bronx Point (aka Lower Concourse North) Presentation by Josue Sanchez, Project Director, L&M Partners This is a joint venture with Type A Projects LLC and L&M Development Partners. We are also partnering with BronxWorks. This is a mix-use and mixed income project. They will develop a publicly accessible open space with the existing Millpond Park. The project will create permanently affordable housing. Additionally, they will ensure brownfield opportunities by cleaning the site thoroughly and considering the best design measures. This will be an economic opportunity with $300 million invested; particularly two anchor uses such as providing a home for the Universal Hip Hop Museum and a state of the art movie theater. They want to people to be engaged in the waterfront. There will be a development of 1000 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs. They will reach out to job fairs and the community boards to fill these positions as they get closer to construction. They will work along with HireNYC. There is a 35% M/WBE goal commitment. Currently designing Phase 1 is underway. Marble Architecture is the designer for the open space. They are in the process of getting feedback from the community via a survey. In February they will have a workshop for the community to get additional feedback. They will incorporate a seamless connection between the open space and Millpond Park. The walkways will continue and expand into the new open space. The Exterior Street Plaza is a very important part to the project. It will connect to the site. They are looking into a public platform that will allow you to get to the water, extended walking paths, viewing platform, large public stairs, seating area in the children’s playing area and outdoor programming as well as a dedicated active recreation space. The Children’s playing area to be designed by local artists and the Bronx Children’s Museum. The developers will return in January to get more feedback on what the community wants in the open space. Request for Letter of Support for Ground Lease for Bronx Point – Presentation by Charlie Samboy, NYCEDC and Rebecca Crimmins, NY City Council Speaker’s