Crains New York - July 23, 2012 - (Page 12)

IN THE BOROUGHS BRONX Getting connected Continued from Page 3 RAILROADED Four stops may be added along Amtrak’s route in the Bronx PROPOSED NEW STATIONS Co-op City Morris Park Parkchester NEW HAVEN LINE (METRO-NORTH) Hunts Point borough president pronounced the plan to be the “most important transportation investment in the Bronx since construction of the subways during the early 20th century.” His speech came less than a year after Metro-North submitted an environmental assessment to the Federal Transit Administration on the possibility of adding stops in Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point—a project that also has the appeal of being relatively cheap. The total cost is expected to be about $350 million, a mere drop in the transit bucket compared with the Second Avenue subway’s $5.3 billion tab and the $2 billion being spent merely to extend the No. 7 train a bit deeper into the West Side. What’s more, the new stations in the Bronx wouldn’t just make life easier for residents in places like Coop City. The proposed Morris Park station would be located just a few blocks from four major hospitals: Montefiore Medical Center,the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center and Calvary Hospital. Montefiore alone employs 17,500 people, a third of whom commute from outside the Bronx. It also draws nearly a half-million patients and countless family members and friends each year. could get here easily and affordably.” Talk to most public officials, and the new project seems like a slam dunk. “This is such a big bang for your buck,” a Metro-North spokesperson said.“The tracks are already there,all you’d have to do is build the stations and purchase a few locomotives.” HELL GATE LINE (AMTRAK) Market access Another stop down the line, the station at Hunts Point would ease access to the sprawling Hunts Point Terminal Market, the largest food distribution center on the East Coast. The market is currently served by the 6 train, which has a stop a half-mile away. “I think it’s a fabulous idea,” said Myra Gordon, executive administrative director at the Hunts Point Produce Market, pointing out that there are about 600 small businesses on the Hunts Point peninsula that Penn Station Grand Central Terminal could benefit from easier access for customers and employees. The produce market has roughly 7,000 employees, a third of whom commute from beyond the Bronx. “I have no idea where they all live, but … anything that can open up opportunities for people to travel to a neighborhood where there may be available jobs can only be a positive thing,” she said. In fact,according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority data, the Bronx has the highest reverse-commute rate in the country, with people streaming out of the city’s only mainland borough to suburban locales in Westchester and Connecticut. “This is a vastly underserved area,” said Jim Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council.“There are jobs here that are going wanting that could easily be filled by people who live in the Bronx if they Penn Station plan Unfortunately, there is one other piece of the puzzle that must be put in place first—and it’s a big one.The plan is for the new trains to run all the way to Penn Station, which cannot happen until the $8 billion-andcounting East Side Access project is finished in 2019, at the earliest. In the meantime, Kellie TerrySepulveda, executive director of the Point Community Development Corp., while delighted about the stop, is worried nonetheless that its arrival could drive up local real estate prices and possibly drive out small business owners. “I challenge us to figure out how this will help people who are renters and not owners,” she said. “I’m hoping it will be carefully addressed.” With that approximately 12,000square-foot space now destined to house a Walgreens, the neighborhood’s despair has turned into activism. Last month, community members, joined by Borough President Marty Markowitz, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Walgreens to either incorporate a grocery in the space or build one in the adjoining parking lot or on the roof. Last week, residents tried a new tack, circulating a petition to boycott the store that Walgreens plans to open early next year. Already, 500 Windsor Terrace residents have signed. Leonora Stein, owner of Babbo’s Books nearby, said she and other organizers aim to get 5,000 signatures by the time Walgreens begins work on the building in the next few weeks. “If we do, maybe they’ll reconsider,” she said. “And if they build, we’ll actually boycott.” For now,carpools convey the elderly to nearby supermarkets, and a twice-weekly free shuttle runs to the Fairway in Red Hook. —cara eisenpress crain’s Events CALENDAR Ensure Your Next Event is a Blockbuster Post your next event on the Crain’s Events Calendar and we will help you market it to an influential audience that regularly attends in-person conferences. FROM AROUND THE CITY QUEENS Jamaica Station’s artsy newcomers With the Long Island Rail Road’s Sutphin Boulevard underpass project nearing completion, two arts organizations have signed up to move into what will be called The Shops at Station Plaza. It will consist of three stores totaling 5,500 square feet in a bright new pedestrian plaza. The $2 million project was conceived by the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. as a way of enlivening the heavily trafficked station at street level. “It transformed an inhospitable, poorly lit area into something really attractive,” said a spokesman for the GJDC. “You can actually walk through there at night and feel safe.” Chashama, a Manhattan-based arts organization that repurposes vacant properties, will move into a storefront in August with an exhibition of youth art. Brooklyn-based BroLab, which already has a sculpture on display in downtown Jamaica called Humps and Bumps, an artistic interpretation of speed bumps, will move into another. GJDC is sponsoring the arts groups until the storefronts are leased to private businesses. —hilary potkewitz BRONX Featured Listing Includes: Pols view B’klyn model for armory Seeking the development rights for the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, Young Woo & Associates brought 20 officials from that borough to downtown Brooklyn recently.They came to see Dekalb Market, the kind of mixed-use development that Mr. Woo hopes to bring to the sprawling, long-vacant armory. The developer says it is reaching out to the community. “We have to win the crowd,” Mr. Woo said. “We’re doing all our homework.” A rival bid by Wall Street banker Kevin Parker would turn Kingsbridge into ice rinks for hockey and skating events. —andrew j. hawkins BROOKLYN To start your listing today, visit: www.crainsnewyork.com/section/events_calendar/submit Or contact Joanne Barbieri at (212) 210-0189 or jbarbieri@crainsnewyork.com 12 | Crain’s New York Business | July 23, 2012 Food fight in Windsor Terrace When their Key Foods store closed in May, Windsor Terrace residents worried about where they’d buy groceries until another market arrived. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/section/events_calendar/submit

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - July 23, 2012

Crains New York - July 23, 2012
Contents
In the Boroughs
In the Markets
The Insider
Business People
Small Business
Opinion
From Around the City
Report: Real Estate
Real Estate Deals
For the Record
Classifieds
New York, New York
Source Lunch
Out and About

Crains New York - July 23, 2012