Fresh Direct Deal: Another Sellout
The Riverdale Press
By Karen Argenti
In response to the FreshDirect article in The Riverdale Press, this has nothing to do with the company.
The problem with this Bronx move is that it is another sellout. We are all too familiar with this concept, as it was first used in a gross attempt to build a filter plant in Van Cortlandt Park. A filter plant does not belong in a park.
After that, the sellout was for the new Yankee Stadium, also in a park. A major league baseball field and its adjacent 10,000 parking spots should not displace the community’s well-used park.
For some time, the neglected Harlem River Waterfront has been salvaged for projects that don’t fit anywhere else. An MTA car washing garage does not belong on the waterfront and affronts the eyes of the boating public in a place that was once the recreational center of the city.
Concrete companies, railroad storage areas and other construction dumping areas abound — all NYC leases or sales. The use of the real Gateway to the Bronx at the Harlem River Yards (between the Willis Avenue Bridge and the RFK Triboro Bridge) should be a welcoming icon, not filled with warehouses. This area is not only on the waterfront, but is also across from a great waterfront park on Randall’s Island. Sad that we have forgotten about creative planning.
