To the Editor,
Regarding your Feb. 13 and Feb. 22 stories on office-to-residential conversions, updating the Bronx’s neighborhood land uses will help businesses and create more housing.
The modernization of New York City’s land use rules is part of Mayor Eric Adams’ goal to build 500,000 new homes over the next decade. Under the mayor’s “Build Everywhere” initiative, up to 6,000 new housing units will be built in the East Bronx by 2027 near four new Metro-North Railroad stations also expected to open that same year. Adams’ push in the East Bronx is projected to create 10,000 jobs near the new train stations, allowing workers to sustainably commute by public transportation.
One of the East Bronx neighborhoods targeted by the Build Everywhere initiative is Morris Park, already home to a large job center due to the presence of hospitals, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and affiliated health care businesses. Simone Development Companies’ Hutchinson Metro Center represents a significant portion of the area’s employment numbers, and it sits next to the future Morris Park Train Station.
We support New York City’s effort to increase the quantity and quality of workforce housing, which is critical for the hospitals in Morris Park and for employers considering locating in our campus or anywhere in the region.
Joseph Simone,
President of Simone Development Companies
