City Planning to Rubber Stamp Bronx Terminal Market Project

Today at 1:00 p.m. the City Planning Commission is set to approve the questionable Gateway Mall at the Bronx Terminal Market. We've already explained how the CPC is a politically-controlled body that does very little actual planning and honest evaluation. Despite the fact that developer-hired consultants presented some questionable traffic data and that the merchants have not yet been relocated, these appointees are prepared to move the Gateway application right along. What this means is that the City Council will, starting tomorrow, be able to review the application and have hearings. Since the Council basically has the ultimate say, we'll be doing all we can to underscore to them all the things we've been saying on this blog for the past several months.

Sam the Sham and Pharoah

In re the BTM and the flim flam being perpetrated in the name of the community's benefit: We just came from a meeting of the BVEI and the discussion about the so-called CBA task force was truly depressing. It seems that the process is being totally controlled by the Bronx BP and the community, in the fashion of the Potamkin Village in the old Soviet Union, is being used to create the illusion that this CBA has the genuine interests of the impacted neighborhoods at heart. Nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, the two key points of community emphasis were-the preservation of the BTM merchats on the existing market site, and the exclusion of non-union box stores. As local resident Lillian Smith reported, these and other relevant community interests were excluded by one Mr. Ray Sallaberrios, Adolfo's point man on the CBA taskforce.

The real question here is, How do you have a community benefits agreement negotiated without the sovereign input of legitimate representatives of said community? (and where an elective official appears to be dictating the terms of the agreement). The answer is that you don't, and whatever emerges from this tainted process will be nothing but a sham CBA.