Previewing State of the Borough

By JUSTIN MCCALLUM

Feb. 20 marks Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s fifth State of the Borough Address. With many accomplishments to bolster his image as an economic development BP this past year, Diaz will have a full set of talking points for the speech. BP spokesman John DeSio teased the speech will be “about the ‘New Bronx,’ and will use the history of the borough in light of our centennial to discuss how we are making the most of our available amenities.”

The Norwood News compiled a list of expected themes, as well as some items that’ll likely be downplayed or just ignored.

KINGSBRIDGE ARMORY
What you’ll hear: Though Diaz virtually ignored the Kingsbridge Armory in his State of the Borough last year, this year he will undoubtedly tout the victory as an economic booster, which DeSio describes as the biggest accomplishment of the previous year. Diaz received overwhelming support from the community on the project to convert the Kingsbridge Armory into the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC), which should bring $1.7 billion to the borough in the coming years. KNIC will turn the vacant space into a bustling multi-purpose venue hiring a majority of the employees locally and at a living wage–$10 per hour with benefits or $11.50 without benefits. Diaz has long stuck with his endorsement of an ice rink even as the public’s initial support of the rink wavered.

What you likely won’t hear: As exciting as the future revenue earner is, the rink is at least four years away from boosting the local economy. So even with an ice venue that creates 200 jobs, it still won’t do much to reverse the sky high unemployment figure in the borough, the state’s highest.

CRIME
What you’ll hear: The era of aggressive stop-and-frisk is drawing to a close, and Diaz couldn’t be more excited to see what he labeled as the “wedge between the police and our communities” lifted. The Bronx had seen a sizeable drop from 2011 to 2012 (the most recent NYPD figures) in the number of incidents, minorities questioned, and percentage relative to the other boroughs. DeSio told the Norwood News that “the Bronx has never been safer” – a point Diaz will promote heavily.

What you likely won’t hear: While stop-and-frisk is winding down in the Bronx, the Bratton/de Blasio reign has seen a spike in crime across other boroughs as many sources report a 33 percent increase in crime since their inception, according to published reports. Additionally, one of Diaz’s boldest initiatives from his previous State of the Borough Address, the formation of a gun criminal registry, has received little attention since its announcement. Having made little progress on the lofty plan, it appears that his passion declaring “law-abiding citizens ought to know who among us is responsible for gun violence,” one year ago has been placed on the back burner for now. This follows a year that saw 100 fewer guns recovered by police in the Bronx, and 250 fewer gun chargers, according to NYPD CrimeStat figures.

TRANSIT
What you’ll hear: DeSio stressed “the highest priority of 2014 is to see the East Bronx Metro North expansion come to fruition.” Indeed, the next game-changer for thousands of Bronxites received a major endorsement from Governor Andrew Cuomo during his State of the State Address. This now puts the ball in the Albany legislature to approve adding the plan to the MTA’s five-year Capital Budget Plan. With stops at Co-Op City, Parkchester, Morris Park and Hunts Point along an already existing Amtrak line, the neighborhoods are likely to receive an economic boost in years to come. These stops are also expected to reduce commute times for many workers and create thousands of jobs.

What you likely won’t hear: The freshly viable transit stops may bring higher costs of living and gentrification along their rails. But good or bad, the ease by which to travel to these working class areas may also raise property values, as indicated in a report released by Sen. Jeff Klein and Diaz last year. There was also the Diaz slip of “up-zoning” some of the neighborhoods to allow for bigger properties to be built along the rail corridor.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
What you’ll hear: From the Kingsbridge Armory, to FreshDirect to the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, Diaz has maneuvered his muscle in a non-legislative role to bring as much commerce into the Bronx as possible, and he doesn’t plan on stopping. DeSio said to expect rhetoric around “[changing] the image of the Bronx, to rebrand the borough.” The speech will also discuss the continued growth and revitalization of southern Grand Concourse.

What you likely won’t hear: The borough president plans to do even more with a strategy outlined at the Crain’s meeting to rezone neighborhoods and attract more. Diaz is even straying from the party line in the discussion over land-marking, voicing concern over economic impediments in preservation. And though Diaz may use the unemployment rates to motivate further economic pushes, it is still bleak news compared to the national and state figures on unemployment, 6.6 percent and 7.1 percent respectively, according to the Bureau of Labor. DeSio provided a vague outline of how they’ll address unemployment, telling the Norwood News in an email that “[Diaz] “will focus on job creation, growth, and more in our next term, as we continue to rebuild and rebrand the ‘New Bronx.’” Diaz’s development plan has some other shortcomings too, such as holes in his efforts to bring FreshDirect to the south Bronx which remains a food desert with no grocery stores to speak of in neighborhoods that include Hunts Point.

EDUCATION
What you’ll hear: Already a contentious topic and sure to be a major point in a looming budget battle, Diaz supports Mayor de Blasio’s push for universal pre-K for New Yorkers and concurrent tax for those earning $500,000 or more. A longtime advocate for education as a means of economic advancement, Diaz is working to ensure his promise for a quality education as well as a STEM-based high school.

What you likely won’t hear: Where are they going to fit over 13,000 more students in already cramped classrooms? Neither Diaz nor de Blasio have offered much on how to resolve this, or an alternative to fund it given Republican pushback in Albany, led by State Sen. Dean Skelos. A proposed solution is granting pre-K at charter schools, on which Diaz has not spoken definitively.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.