Chair Riley questions Hurley on gas station and community center alternatives

Okay, so it would be an additional agreement that they would have to do with you guys.

Correct.

And the current collective bargaining agreement expires next year when the entire contract and we have to renegotiate with the Bronx Realty Board.

And if this agreement is, I guess, discussed between you both, you guys will be supportive of this project?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

My next question, I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't get your name.

Miss Hurley.

Miss Rose?

Hurley.

Hurley.

Thank you so much for coming to testify, Ms.

Hurley.

Just two things.

So I know that, and correct me if I'm wrong, I believe the gas station was going to be redeveloped for housing.

So it wouldn't be a gas station there.

Are you saying that you wanted something else opposed to the redevelopment of housing for the gas station?

Because I think that's what the alternative was supposed to be.

And second, I think the responsiveness of the community center was something that the community wanted as well.

I'm not sure if this was something that was leading, but I'm sure we're always trying to find spaces within communities that communities can actually grow and thrive.

So just wanted to get your take on those two questions.

So we're asking Councilmember Felice and the City Council to vote no completely.

We're asking that.

FIPS, rejoin the community board, time action, and the people assembly in a redesign.

I am a planner.

The community board did ask, as I said before, we did ask for cooperative ownership.

As I said before, FIPS houses does have Vita Verde, which is a cooperative ownership.

It's 71 units that they do have provide cooperative housing.

That gas station just building housing there without an open dialogue about

How are you remediating this brownfield site?

That's unacceptable.

There's two community gardens, not one.

There's two community gardens in that area.

Could that garden, could that gas station spot perhaps be a market spot?

Like, can we play around with the design about what's going on there?

Also, what about an opportunity to have small businesses?

Because it's so close to the Bronx Zoo, there was no discussion about how 16 stories will impact.

16-Story units, how will that impact the Bronx Zoo and foot traffic there?

There is no parking in front of the Bronx Zoo.

So could we not have included underground parking in that new development?

Like, we're going to build 16 stories, and is that 16 stories on Mapes Avenue?

It's not just buildings.

It's small families and, like, eight-story or six-story small buildings.

We don't have 16 stories.

30-story building that they spoke about is three blocks down.

The area that they're building into is largely a small family community vibe, and it's completely breaking the character of the neighborhood.

The community is...

prepare to ask for other things.

If we're going to develop this neighborhood, we're just asking that FIPS come back to the community and design that project with, you know, just being respectful to the community.

The Community Board 6 voted yes 10 years ago to Lambert-Rizzoni.

I was on the Community Board then, and there was a need for schools, and FIPS did not build a school back then.

And if the borough president is going to say yes with conditions, if Councilmember Felice is going to say yes with conditions, we don't want it to be yes with conditions maybe if possible.

We want a concrete yes, we're going to do this, and this is the timeline.

Because FIPS has shown that we'll say yes, and then they won't build it.

Oh, there was no need.

There was a need in 2017 for schools, and they never built a school.

Okay.

Thank you, Chair.

And like I said, thank you for your testimony.

It was very helpful to the decision that we made.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Chair Riley.