Good News for Bed Stuy and Crown Heights Armories?
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz isn’t giving his State of the Borough speech until tonight, but somehow The Daily News already knows that he’s going to trumpet support for creating state-of-the-art recreation centers at both the Bedford-Atlantic Armory and the Sumner Avenue Armories similar to the one that’s recently been completed in Park Slope. “Bedford…
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz isn’t giving his State of the Borough speech until tonight, but somehow The Daily News already knows that he’s going to trumpet support for creating state-of-the-art recreation centers at both the Bedford-Atlantic Armory and the Sumner Avenue Armories similar to the one that’s recently been completed in Park Slope. “Bedford Stuyvesant deserves it as much as Park Slope, and so does northern Crown Heights,” says the Beep, who will announce that he’s earmarking $1 million towards each project. (Council Member Tish James has pledged to come up with another $10 million for the Bedford project.) The contrast—with the comparatively wealthy neighborhood of Park Slope getting a fancy gymnasium while the poorer neighborhoods of Bed Stuy and Crown Heights get stuck with more than their fare share of homeless shelters—has not been lost on, well, just about anybody with any sense. The city however, continues to try to argue that Bedford Avenue is the most efficient place to locate the central intake center for the city even though the large majority of homeless are in Manhattan. To try to placate people in the neighborhood, the Department of Homeless Services has said it would build a $10 million rec center in the Bedford-Atlantic Armory, but only as a quid pro quo for moving the intake center there, a combo residents say (and we agree) won’t work. “The two cannot coexist,” Crown Heights Revitalization Movement co-founder Sandy Taggart.
Markowitz Wants to Turn Two Armories into Rec Centers [NY Daily News]
I, for one, really appreciate marty’s support of a rec center and his continued defiance of Bloomberg’s relocating the intake center to Atlantic.
I also just want to echo what bxgrl said–there is a huge difference between a shelter and an intake center. There is also a difference in a shelter that is considered short term and one that is long term. The Atlantic Armory is the worst of all possible scenarios–its a short term shelter with long term homeless. They are turned out into the cold every day. The center offers zero services or rehabilitation. A homeless shelter can co-exist with a rec center but indeed, not the way it is currently run.
Finally, I find the intake center’s relocation completely counter intuitive to the various BIDs happening in the surrounding area. The city seems to be investing money to improve the area on one hand and doing something like this would completely frustrate those efforts. Also, there is not so much as a dog run in this area much less a playground or a park. The kids, dogs and solace seeking adults have no where to go.
I agree with bxgrl, hopeless Vann has done nothing for Bed Stuy and yet he gets re-elected. I was at the 2nd meeting held by some croonies to reject the flip-flopping Mayor’s idea to relocate the shelter from the Upper West Side to Bed Stuy. Vann was there for a minute,and, when Q&A was in session,he VANNISHED!
He has been given grants for the development of our community, where are all these monies spent? He comes walking around the commercial strips 2 days before the election to garner support. Then, he vanishes away…..
We need a more pro-active,involved,mature representation in Bed Stuy! Vann is doing anything for our community. Period.
Vann is the most useless politician in the country.
One thing I will say re The Jackie Robinson Center- poor communities get shoved down the priority and big projects list all the time. Most times they are treading water- community and politician alike. My best guess is that the Center was backburnered because there weren’t enough people with big influence working to get it done. With so many community needs it probably just kept gettig pushed back below more crucial ones- like crime.
Why, rob?
Gman, I would be the first to say that Vann(ished) and the rest have been a disappointment, to put it mildly. No excuses given for non-performance from me.
Post-script: I mean, how’s the Jackie Robinson Recreation Center coming along on Fulton Street? That’s been a couple decades of nothing. It’s vacant, state-owned property–what’s the excuse there?
MM & bxgrl, I did say not “completely” fair. There is merit to Stoney’s statement. If I ever knew the community had to come up with some sort of financial match (in either location), I had forgotten that. But I do remember deBlasio and others jumping all over the Park Slope opportunity while Green and Vann and Robinson mostly did a lot of posturing. Thanks for correcting me.
quote:
This community cares about its children as much as they do in Park Slope or anywhere else.
sorry that made me lol
*rob*
I’m not usually against homeless shelters, but what Montrose said is correct — they lock them out during the day — and in my experience with that block, that means there’s a bunch of pissed off men standing on that corner. I’m also not easily rattled, but it was a real bummer being called a “white bitch who better run” on two separate occasions.
On a related note, we’re not moving across the street from there.
g-man- Park Slope is not overburdened with social services, and the city insisted they would match funds if we took the intake center. The terms Park Slope got were far more palatable than what CHN was offered. Does anyone wonder why CHN didn’t jump right on it? And a homeless women’s shelter is a far cry from a massive intake center.