I live on Aqueduct Avenue with my 4-year-old son, Nori, and my husband, Nelson, close to the landmark Kingsbridge Armory that is now 514,000-square-feet of nothingness, thanks most recently to a failed plan to fill it with nine ice hockey rinks.

I’m 34, in my second year at Bronx Community College, and have been organizing around the Kingsbridge Armory with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) since I was 16 and attending DeWitt Clinton High School.

Nelson and I often joke that in order to live in New York City, you need both a job and a side hustle. We would love for Nori not to need a side hustle in the place where he grew up. We want to see him grow and thrive here along with our neighbors’ kids. We shouldn’t have to leave where we came from.

The Armory can be an asset for the entire community, not just for random developers whose only goal is profit. Unfortunately, the city has a lousy record in its Armory re-creation attempts.

In 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg got behind the Related Companies’ plan for a giant shopping mall while refusing to agree to the living-wage demand of the Coalition and labor unions. Our grassroots efforts resulted in the City Council voting down the plan 45 to 1.

Three years later, in 2012, we successfully insisted that a strong Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) be part of the deal. Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC), the group that got city approval to build nine ice hockey rinks, signed on to one of the strongest CBAs in the nation.

That meant providing 50,000 square feet of the Armory for community programs, $5 million to develop that space, and one percent revenue to help maintain it. But a decade later, with zero redevelopment work done, KNIC’s project fell apart because it hadn’t secured the money to make it possible.

We do not want another failure. This time, the Coalition demands that there is a significant amount of community ownership of the facility. This is not a fantasy. Market Creek Plaza in San Diego, CA and the Portland Community Investment Trust in Portland, OR are both examples of organized communities developing leadership and sharing the benefits, and risks and responsibilities of community real estate ownership with values-aligned developers. This can and will benefit all.

Like these successful projects, we would create a non-profit entity which would partner with experienced developers to own the Armory. I know that achieving something like this – to recreate this unusual amount of space to serve the community’s needs – sounds daunting. But that does not mean that is unachievable. It is definitely achievable. It has been successful elsewhere. We will make it happen here.

We have heard some elected leaders say the Armory should be for giant businesses and corporations that can afford it. That would, of course, harm small business and store owners in the neighborhood and ignore the needs of everyone surrounding the Armory. And in our own city, there are armories and other large redevelopments that focus on community needs, and yet are still profitable and manageable. For example, the Bedford Armory in Brooklyn, has swim classes for kids, a track, basketball courts, and office space for nonprofits.

We do agree strongly that the Armory needs to earn significant revenue to maintain the property, but that can and should lead to well-paying jobs for community members and not compete with local businesses.

A re-developed Armory that vitally serves the community will not solve every challenge my neighbors and I face. But it can provide a wide range of opportunities: jobs, education, exercise, entertainment, community collaboration, and more.

Nori, my 4-year-old son, loves to explore our neighborhood and learn about everything around him, especially buildings. He calls some, especially churches, “castles” and for him the armory is a gigantic castle. When that castle opens and provides what we plan and deserve, the new Kingsbridge Armory can engage him and our neighbors in activities, living wage work, new businesses, and entertainment.

Decisions on what becomes of the Kingsbridge Armory will take place in the next three to four months. The more of us that show up and take part in the Coalition meetings and ongoing city-run envisioning sessions, the more likely we are to secure what will serve us all.

You can learn more about the Armory at upcoming events organized by NWBCCC by contacting info@northwestbronx.org.

Elisabeth Ortega-Bailey is a longtime member of Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, a mother, and a resident of University Heights.

Editor’s Note: As previously reported by Norwood News, KNIC developers dispute the City’s assertion that it did not secure sufficient capital for the planned Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) project by the agreed deadlines and has challenged this point in court, and not for the first time. 

As also reported, envisioning workshops led by NWBCCC, in conjunction with the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), are ongoing since last year. The third of four public workshops will take place on Saturday, March 18, from noon-3 p.m. The location is yet to be confirmed. RSVP to info@northwestbronx.org.

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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.