We are about to head down to Morris High School, on Boston Road near East 167th Street, the site of Mayor Bloomberg’s annual State of the City address, which will be preceded by a protest in the school’s parking lot. We’ll be Tweeting updates from @norwoodnews.

Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera will be among those protesting the Department of Education’s policy banning religious groups from worshiping inside public school buildings. (After a court ruling upheld the DOE’s policy, groups have until Feb. 12 to find new places to worship.) Also in attendance will be religious leaders, representatives from some of the church’s facing homelessness and Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana legislator who now heads the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, which advocates for conservative Christian values.

Cabrera adamantly opposes the DOE’s policy and is working with Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro to have it changed legislatively on the state level. Through the DOE policy and other recent decisions (like not allowing prayer at the 9/11 anniversary ceremony this past fall), Cabrera says Bloomberg is showing himself to be an “anti-religious” mayor.

The protest starts at noon, an hour before the speech is scheduled to begin.

Whether he’s in attendance or watching from home (or his iPhone, as Bloomberg is streaming the speech live), Cabrera will be applauding the mayor’s announcement during his speech that the city will be issuing a request for proposals to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory. Cabrera released this statement earlier today:

“I am excited to see that plans are moving forward with the Kingsbridge armory.” said Council Member Fernando Cabrera. “I thank the Mayor for reviving a project that could create much needed programs for our young people, and permanent jobs. The redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory is one of goals I set upon entering the Council. The building needs to be put to community use and this is an exciting first step in that direction.”

Living Wage NYC, a group born out of the fight for living wage ($10 an hour, plus benefits, or $11.50 an hour without benefits) guarantees at the Amory two years ago and is now advocating for a living wage bill in the City Council, released a joint statement with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers Union about the mayor’s Amory announcement:

We are thrilled with the new effort to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory. We applaud Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Bloomberg Administration for partnering on this important effort, which we know will lead to quality jobs for Bronx residents. This shows that the Kingsbridge Armory can be redeveloped in another way than what was proposed in 2009. At the same time, we continue to work toward passage of the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act [the living wage bill], legislation that would create living wage jobs for future subsidized economic development projects, and deal with the issue on a citywide basis rather than project by project. We feel that reviving the Kingsbridge Armory and supporting the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act go together.

A story on the City & State website cites two anonymous sources saying the living wage advocates were “livid” that the new request for proposals doesn’t include living wage guarantees and that Diaz went along with it. But both Living Wage NYC and RWDSU (which funds much of the group’s work) said those sources did not speak for Living Wage NYC or RWDSU.

Stuart Applebaum, the head of RWDSU, said (in an update to the City & State story) he agreed the two issues — the development of the Armory and the living wage bill — were separate and shouldn’t be lumped together.

Diaz and Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson discussed the Armory development on NY1 last night.