Urban Planners Propose Green Alternatives to Fresh Direct’s Bronx Facility
DNA Info
By Patrick Wall
MOTT HAVEN — Urban planners opposed to a sprawling new headquarters FreshDirect hopes to build along the South Bronx waterfront have instead proposed a different, greener future for the area.
Imagine a park or a bike trail instead of a truck depot or driveways, two urban planners suggested at a public presentation last week; or, consider a public gathering hub rather than a private industrial development, they urged.
“In the eyes of so many people in City Hall and elsewhere, this is just a dumping ground,” said Tom Angotti, a professor of urban affairs and planning at Hunter College who was one of the presenters. “We want to show them what else is possible.”
Local opponents of the FreshDirect plan organized the event at the Bronx Bricks Gallery on East 140th Street in hopes of recruiting neighbors in their fight against the online grocer's planned 500,000-square-foot facility, which would occupy one of the last open spaces on the South Bronx shoreline.
