By Alex Kratz and Jeanmarie Evelly

In a letter to federal authorities, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said the mayor’s office blatantly skirted the formal process meant to determine a new use for the vacant Muller Army Reserve Center in Wakefield in order to push its own agenda — the creation of a 200-bed men’s homeless shelter at the center.

Because of this, and what he characterized as a complete disregard of public sentiment, Diaz asked the two agencies responsible for approving a plan for the Muller Center — the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) — to reject the shelter plan and to “convene a meeting amongst the parties to determine how, if possible, a conforming submission could still be provided.”

If this doesn’t happen, Diaz says, “I will have no choice but to pursue legal action.”

This is the latest turn in a nearly two-year battle over the future of the Nereid Avenue site, which was in the hands of a Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) consisting of Diaz and two of Bloomberg’s deputy mayors. Earlier this month, the city submitted its shelter recommendation to the federal government, saying that a majority of the LRA had voted in favor of it last November, though Diaz, who intentionally skipped meetings of the panel out of protest, contends that an actual vote never took place.

Meanwhile, Yonkers Mayor Philip Amicone sent a letter to Bloomberg urging his administration to reconsider its “seriously flawed” shelter plan because of the negative impact it would have on Yonkers, which shares a border-line with Wakefield that lies just 250 feet from the Muller Center.

The mayor’s office has insisted the site become a homeless shelter, saying there is a need for more beds and the Bronx isn’t doing its part in housing homeless men. The federal process that mandates how a military base should be redeveloped requires that the city consider the needs of the local homeless population, a Bloomberg spokesman said.

At the same time, Diaz, other elected officials (city, state and federal) and local Bronx residents say that Wakefield is already overburdened with supportive housing. Hundreds of people turned up at a public hearing in June to oppose the shelter plan.

“Their actions are absolutely incomprehensible, and reprehensible,” said Father Richard Gorman, who chairs Community Board 12.  “If the city is really serious about helping homeless folks, they’ll let every part of the city do its share.”

Shelter opponents say they have a better and cheaper plan for the Muller Center: use it to house the National Guard units currently occupying the Kingsbridge Armory annex buildings. That would clear the way for those buildings to be turned into badly-needed schools.

It’s now up to the federal government to decide the center’s fate; neither HUD nor the OEA have publicly responded to the borough president’s letter. A spokesman from HUD’s regional New York office confirmed the agency received the city’s application and said it is “under review.”