Years of arguments about the use of the Kingsbridge Armory have finally resulted in some form of peace.

At a public hearing two weeks ago, The Related Companies, the developer for the Armory, revealed plans to include a World Peace Atrium as part of its proposal to build a retail mall inside the colossal building.

Related’s decision to include the atrium idea is largely due to the work and efforts of Community Board 7 Land Use Chair Ozzie Brown, said Related’s head lawyer and community liaison, Jesse Masyr.

Brown developed the original idea to create “a sacred space so the youth can build character,” and has been presenting a plan for the World Peace Atrium at community board meetings for the last several months.

A week before the public hearing, Brown said Board members, including himself, had engaged in multiple discussions with Related officials who seemed receptive to some of the Board’s ideas. Related also put a big box supermarket into their proposal based on feedback from Board members.

According to Brown’s presentation, the World Peace Atrium will be a gateway into the approximately 27,000 square feet of community space in the Armory, which will otherwise be comprised of retailers. The atrium will ideally include large granite or bronze sculptures of historic peacemakers such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela.

To facilitate learning about these influential figures, Brown hopes to have interactive, informative kiosks that provide biographies and film and photo footage of their lives. To complete the serene look of the atrium, Brown has suggested a backdrop of a Japanese garden.

“There is a need for community space that can foster an intergenerational peace,” Brown says. In a borough traditionally beset by problems with violence and health and lifestyle concerns such as diabetes and obesity, “we have to respond to the community and take responsibility for this.”

The atrium is just one step towards improving the lives of community members and promoting peace through the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, Brown said. He is working with community board members to negotiate space in the Armory to be used for recreation space, a business center, a family center and a health center.

To help introduce the atrium project to the community and the public, Brown brought in his old friend Peter Yarrow, of the famed folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow and the atrium received mixed reviews at the hearing. Two teenage speakers from the youth activist group, Sistas and Brothas United, said a peace atrium seemed like a bad fit for a commercial-centric mall.

Yorman Nunez, who is running for City Council in District 14, said the atrium “is a good idea in terms of bringing the community together,” but he believes that it is a “passive” approach to promoting peace. He would like to see the atrium provide more engaging services like leadership programs. 

Other community members are skeptical about how effective the atrium will be at promoting peace. Nunez said he did not think the proposed shopping mall at the Armory and a peace atrium were “compatible.” Board member Helen Hartman-Kutnowsky said, “I can’t guarantee it will promote peace.”

Another debate about the World Peace Atrium is how much it is going to cost and who is going to manage it and the community space it accompanies.

Brown does not know how much money the project will need.
“Our job is to put forth collective ideas for community,” Brown said. He and Masyr both said the Bronx borough president and the City Council will decide how to designate spending.