Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) and its youth arm, Sistas & Brothas United, recently held a joint rally billed “Community Not Cops” and “Public Land in Public Hands,” in the Crotona section of the Bronx. During the event, they called for community input into the future development of City space, as well as an end to police officers patrolling the halls and stairways of New York City public schools.

 

The two dozen or so teens joined community land trust leaders on Saturday, Oct. 16, outside a fenced-off vacant lot located across the street from Crotona Park, at 907 East 175th Street, near Southern Boulevard, an area which falls under City Council District 17, represented by City Councilman Rafael Salamanca Jr.

 

Upon arrival, they got to work removing debris from the street and sidewalk, tied colorful ribbons to the fence, and left several drawings that showed their plans for the vacant lot.

Edward Garcia, director of community development at the NWBCCC, later addressed the crowd, saying of the parcel of land, “This is City owned, right? So, the City has communicated to us that they have made a commitment to a developer for this property.” He added, “But we’re still claiming this property for community control.” Garcia continued, “The community knows what’s best for the community.”

 

The lot in question is surrounded by private homes and small buildings on both sides of the block. Garcia said, “Historically, the City has been doing business with public property, with developers that have no interest in actually meeting community needs or engaging [the] community in the development process.” He said NWBCCC wants to put residents at the center, and make sure it is they who decide what goes into the lot.

 

In fact, community developments are usually put before the applicable community board for discussion at some stage during the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) process. However, the recommendations of the community board are not  binding.

According to Garcia, NWBCCC has identified 26 similar sites across the Bronx, many in the Northwest Bronx, for which they have detailed plans, and which are listed in their November 2020 report. Garcia said the report includes “some feasibility analysis” for the public land sites which are sitting vacant and often neglected. He concluded, “The community has many desires, and they would like to see something that reflects the needs of the community here,” referring to the Crotona site.

 

Meanwhile, Crystal Reyes, program director for Sistas & Brothas United and NWBCCC, explained the group’s other motivation for the gathering, saying part of community land trust work of NWBCCC is to talk about community ownership, and part of Sistas & Brothas United’s work is to call for an investment in students, including resources young people need in their schools, like social workers and counselors. They said this is needed due to students being heavily policed inside schools.

 

Reyes said the group would like to see a divestment of some of the $431 million, the Children’s Defense Fund of New York, says the NYPD spent patrolling City schools in 2019. Instead, she said the group wants to see these funds spent on housing, education, mental health, and jobs in the community.

Asked about groups calling for more police in schools after a recent series of highly publicized incidents, in and around several Bronx schools, Reyes responded, “The reality is schools are not equipped to handle the kind of mental crisis that young people are going through.” She added, “This is the first year they’re coming back into school after 18 months, and the schools did not invest enough in social workers and counselors. So, young people have a lot of trauma from the pandemic and everything going on.”

 

A September 2020 United Hospital Fund report found that 4,200 children in New York State have lost a parent to COVID-19.  The report found that based on county-by-county data, 57 percent of parental deaths were concentrated in three New York City boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.

 

New York City Department of Education is currently recruiting for social workers, guidance counselors, and psychologists.

On the recent school incidents involving violence, specifically, Reyes said, “Most of the schools had police in their schools present. Yet, there were still incidents. A lot of that, that’s happening, trauma and violence like that, is the result of [the] trauma they face in their communities.”

 

She then asked the fifty or so members attending the event to “share their visions for this space,” and to discuss safety issues for the area. Teens were encouraged to leave their ideas hanging on the chain-linked fence in the form of drawings and messages for the community. The group also planted seeds in several, plastic planters which they left outside the fence.

 

“Jay” from Harlem was strolling down Southern Boulevard when he noticed the large group. When told the group was against commercial development and wanted to see an alternative use for the space, he said, “I’d support a garden.” He added, “Anytime you see people in matching T-shirts, you know they’re doing something good.”

 

Asked for his views on the policing of public schools, Jay said, “That is way above my pay-grade. I know that some people don’t know how to act with children and some children just don’t know how to act.”

 

One apparent resident of the area then joined into the conversation, blurting out, “I don’t care what they do with it; make it a park.”

A sign hanging from the site’s fence, posted by New York City Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD), listed Evelyn Cabrera as the director of HPD Property. Norwood News placed a call with Cabrera’s office on Tuesday, Nov. 2, seeking information on the proposed sale of the property, but the call went to voicemail. Cabrera had not responded as of Nov. 30.

 

As reported, City officials recently confirmed to Norwood News that a targeted June 2022 transition is on track, whereby nearly 5,000 school safety agents will no longer fall under NYPD oversight, but post June 2022, under the Department of Education’s oversight.

 

A new police commissioner is expected to be appointed under Mayor-elect Eric Adams in 2022, as the NYPD announced on Dec. 2 that Police Commissioner Dermot Shea has filed for retirement, along with the department’s second in command, First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker. Both men will finish their full terms and retire at the end of the year. The news follows the Nov. 25 announcement that Chief of Department Rodney Harrison, is also set to retire on Dec. 30. Shea had been quoted by various media outlets as saying that he is working with the mayor-elect’s team to ensure a smooth transition for the new administration.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.