Every Saturday, The Week in Rewind spotlights the wide-ranging editorial work of the Bronx Times.
Office-to-residential conversion gaining steam in NYC; 3 Bronx community boards join the ‘movement’
A push to convert vacant or unused commercial office space into residential housing is gaining rapid support, including from three Bronx community boards, and proponents of the plan hope it can lead to momentum that changes decades-old laws that restrict these conversions.
The 5 Borough Housing Movement, a non-profit, is hoping to address the city’s growing housing crisis – both availability and affordability – and combat gentrification, often a side-effect of new, high-scale development.
Last week, Community Boards 5, 6 and 9 threw their support behind the plan, with Bola Omotosho, the CB5 chair, calling the plan a “worthwhile goal” to address the city’s housing crisis.
The New York metropolitan area needed more than 340,000 additional homes in 2019, according to a 2022 estimate from Up for Growth, a Washington policy and research group. The vacancy rate for apartments renting below the citywide median of $1,500 is less than 1%.
The city estimates converted office space could create as many as 20,000 new homes for around 40,000 people over the next decade. One of the recommendations is allowing most office buildings constructed in 1990 or before to convert.
NYPD defund pledge and busy schedules: How the City Council Progressive Caucus saw a 15-member defection
Call it a “pledge” too far.
The City Council’s Progressive Caucus shrank by 15 members last week – and the faction’s pledge to make cuts to the NYPD wasn’t the only reason for the massive defection.
The caucus’ leaders called for its members to sign on to a new “Statement of Values,” which included a pledge to “do everything we can to reduce the size and scope” of the NYPD and city Correction Department (DOC). The caucus lost 15 of its 35 members and, most importantly, its veto-proof majority.
As for why they left the Progressive Caucus, members who spoke to amNewYork Metro for this story cited two main reasons: the caucus’ pledge to reduce NYPD funding, and time commitments that made their continued participation no longer possible.
But City Councilmember Amanda Farías, a Bronx Progressive who remains in the caucus, said the pledge was written in a broad manner so councilmembers across the city would be comfortable to sign on.
“I hadn’t read it as defunding at all,” she said. “I read it as us doing our responsibility to ensure community safety, to ensure the NYPD is able to do the job that they’re tasked to do. And it isn’t a definitive timeline; it isn’t a definitive amount.”
Dozen Catholic schools in Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island slated to close this June
Five of the schools slated for closure are in Manhattan, with six more in the Bronx and one on Staten Island. Four surviving Bronx schools, meanwhile, will be merged into two.
The Archdiocese of New York, in a statement, said that it conducted extensive research before deciding to close the schools, and evaluated the changing demographics, projected enrollment numbers, and each school’s financial stability.
All affected families will be able to attend neighboring Catholic schools, with applications for financial aid and scholarships available for the upcoming academic year where applicable.
“We understand these are challenging times for many families, and this is indeed a sad day for everyone in our Catholic schools community,” said Michael J. Deegan, Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York. “I personally mourn the loss of every one of our great schools.”
Lime accidentally partners with white-owned business for Black History Month
E-scooter company Lime announced a Black History Month initiative to encourage riders to visit Black-owned businesses by offering discount codes. But the one business Lime partnered with in the Bronx is actually owned by a white family.
The initiative gives riders 25% off their next ride if they end their journey within 100 meters of Black-owned businesses across the country that the company is partnering with this month.
In the Bronx, Lime announced that it is partnering with the Way Cafe in the Castle Hill section. But the cafe’s owner Andy Weaver, who moved to the Bronx to do Mennonite church outreach about 5 years ago and owns the cafe with his family, told the Bronx Times he is not Black. He said Lime approached him to fill out a form about the business, and while Weaver responded, he didn’t expect to qualify for the program.
Lime did not actually ask whether the cafe is owned by a Black person, according to Weaver. The company did, however, require him to send a photo of the business owner, so he sent a portrait of himself — a white man.
Yet the e-scooter company chose the cafe as its sole partner in the Bronx for the initiative.
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