I grew up right by the armory on Kingsbridge Road, as did my mother (now age 77). There is such a simple solution to the armory dilemma - so simple that everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. Does anyone ever go to Chelsea Piers in lower Manhattan? Well, just bring it to the Bronx! Ice skating, rock climbing, gymnastics, skateboard park, eateries, basketball, batting cages, and so on. Get the idea? Do not kill the surrounding area with a shopping mall. Give our families what we do not have anywhere in the Bronx! Include an animal shelter and so much more. I hope someone with some intelligence reads this and gets the word out.

As a vote neared in the City Council on the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, only Oliver Koppell was publicly expressing reservations about joining with the Bronx delegation in rejecting the project.

But when the vote came, he voted with the Bronx delegation and 44 of his colleagues, in a stunning rebuke of the mayor and one of his top outer-borough economic development priorities.

Sometimes, the leader you become depends on the times you live in. Ruben Diaz, Jr., is learning that firsthand. His arrival coincided precisely with the final innings of a community battle over the Kingsbridge Armory.

The City Council voted nearly unanimously on Monday to defeat a developer's proposal, backed strongly by Mayor Bloomberg, to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a shopping mall.

The vote was 45 to 1. Only Helen Sears of Queens dissented. Council members said it was the first time they had defeated an economic project backed by the Bloomberg administration.

While the defeat of the Related Companies' proposal to build a giant shopping mall at the Kingsbridge Armory was not a final victory by any means for community residents, it was a victory nonetheless.

It was a victory for local residents who went to years of meetings, rallies and planning sessions and laid out their vision for a redeveloped Armory that addressed community needs like schools, recreation and community programs. Now they, and anyone else who wants to get involved, have a chance to see their collective vision realized. It's important to remember that there would have been no new roof on the Armory, no request for proposals, and no City Council vote at all were it not for more than 16 years of local efforts to put the Armory on the radar screen of City Hall. Participation matters.

It was a victory for the political process and community organizing. Faced with a strong local coalition of residents and community leaders, Bronx politicians were encouraged and emboldened to take up this cause and bring it across the finish line. We hope this sets a precedent for the Bronx delegation whose unity convinced every other borough's delegation to join them.

It was a victory for residents in every borough who want their voices heard in the planning of their communities. Though the city's land use review process does not prioritize the views of the neighborhoods most affected, concerned citizens now know it's not impossible to fight City Hall. It was a victory for workers citywide who may soon see a boost in their incomes if Bronx Council members follow through on their promise to introduce legislation to require a living wage at projects subsidized by taxpayers. It was a victory for the Bronx which has set the tone for development in Mayor Bloomberg's third term.

Despite meeting face-to-face on at least two recent Saturdays, the Bronx City Council delegation and the Related Companies are not budging on the issue of living wage in the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment project. This standstill might just be the kiss of death for the development, which could be voted on by two Council committees as early as Thursday, Dec. 3.

Requiring developers of city property to guarantee a living wage for retail employees may have seemed far-fetched to some observers six months ago. Not anymore.

At the City Council's hearing on the Related Companies' proposal to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into a giant shopping mall, virtually the entire Zoning and Franchising Subcommittee, grilled company representatives on the living wage issue.

Phyllis Reed, 66, passed away quietly on Aug. 31 at the Jewish Home and Hospital on Kingsbridge Road, just blocks from the Kingsbridge Armory, the vacant palace Reed believed could transform the community. In recent years, Reed worked tirelessly to beautify the green spaces surrounding the facility.

Speaking before a crowd of at least 1,000 people at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School on Oct. 25, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said the battle for living wages jobs at the Kingsbridge Armory was the beginning of a movement for economic justice in the borough, calling it "our new revolution here, our new civil rights movement."