Peter Fine, the well-connected developer who is emerging as a top contender to secure the rights to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory, has cultivated success as well as controversy in other areas of the city. As the Norwood News reported last issue, everyone interested in the armory project generally liked the detailed proposal Fine laid out at a Community Board 7 Land Use meeting on May 31. Fine put wind behind his own sails by securing a Zerega Avenue industrial site, which he would use to relocate the two National Guard units currently housed in the armory.

Builder Peter Fine unveiled his colorful and detailed Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment proposal at Community Board 7 two weeks ago, hoping to bypass a laborious city process for choosing a developer. The city plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in August that would essentially open the door to any interested firm to present their vision for the mammoth landmark.

A large industrial property in the southeast Bronx has emerged as a potential new home for two National Guard units now housed in the annex behind the Kingsbridge Armory.

Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, the city's development czar, will tour the Kingsbridge Armory in two weeks. The visit, scheduled for Thursday, May 4, is a sign of the city's growing interest in advancing the long-stalled project.

A packed community meeting on the Kingsbridge Armory last month has spurred movement among city and state leaders on the long stalled project.

Pronouncing himself "sick and tired of talking about the Kingsbridge Armory," Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr. said he expected "action" in the long-delayed renovation of the Kingsbridge Armory within the next 24 months.

Some officials in the Bloomberg administration want a new police academy inside the Kingsbridge Armory, and that is more of a stumbling block than where to put the two National Guard units who still use the site, say local elected officials.

Members of the National Guard's 145th Maintenance Unit returned home from Iraq on Dec. 29 after the company's first overseas deployment. The unit, which is based out of the Kingsbridge Armory, spent the last 13 months fixing vehicles and air conditioners in the southern city of Nasiriya.

Just because the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory is stalled indefinitely, doesn't mean nothing can be done to give the grounds outside the armory a makeover.