Image Credit: New York City Department of Transportation
On July 19, 2022, the NYC Department of Transportation issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking concessionaires “for the development, operation, and maintenance of an outdoor market” at Fordham Plaza. The plaza is located at the intersection of Fordham Road, Third Avenue and East 189th Street in the Bronx. (more…)
Fordham Road Business Improvement District will expand to include One Fordham Plaza. Image Credit: Fordham Road BID
Fordham Road BID will incorporate One Fordham Plaza into the Bronx BID. On July 9, 2014, the City Planning Commission approved the Fordham Road District Management Association’s application to expand the Fordham Road Business Improvement District to include two new lots located directly to the east of the existing BID. The new lots are bounded by East Fordham Road to the north, East 189th Street to the south, Park Avenue to the east, and Washington Avenue to the west. The BID currently stretches along Fordham Road between Jerome Avenue to the west and Webster Avenue to the east. The BID lies within parts of Bronx Community Boards 5, 6, and 7; the expansion lots are located entirely within Community Board 6.
East Fordham Road Rezoning Project Area. Image Credit:Pictometry International Corp.
Central Bronx area rezoned is adjacent to the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx Botanical Garden, and Fordham University. The Council approved the Bronx Planning office’s proposed zoning map amendments affecting a 12 block area in the Central Bronx. The new zoning established height limits, protects neighborhood character, and reinforces existing commercial character. A major goal of the rezoning is to stimulate revitalization of the area through private investment, the construction of affordable housing and to create an attractive gateway to important Bronx cultural institutions.
On September 30, 2013, the Bronx Borough Office of the Department of City Planning (DCP) testified before the City Council’s Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises in support of the proposal to rezone an area along East Fordham Road, a major east-west thoroughfare passing through the central Bronx. The rezoning area is generally bounded by East 191st Street to the north, East 187th Street to the south, Southern Boulevard to the east, and Bathgate Avenue to the west. (more…)
Carol Samol
As director of the Department of City Planning’s Bronx Office, Carol Samol uses zoning tools to promote sustainable economic development in the Bronx. She has also participated as a leader in a broader City effort to reform the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure’s pre-certification process.
Journey to the Bronx. Samol grew up in the upper Ohio Valley near Wheeling, West Virginia and studied English at Berea College, a small liberal arts college in Kentucky. Berea College admits academically promising students who are able to attend for free so long as they work in some capacity for the school. After graduation, Samol moved to the Bronx where she earned a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Fordham University. Philosophy served as an extension of Samol’s English studies, allowing her to expand her analytic skills. Samol searched for a practical application of her studies, ultimately developing an interest in urban planning. She attended New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and earned a Master’s in Urban Planning. Samol says that she felt an instant and personal connection to the Bronx, the borough where she continues to reside. Ultimately, Samol knew that she would help work towards the borough’s redevelopment.
Developer obtained rezoning in order to build a ten-story tower on top of a three-story medical facility currently under construction. On June 29, 2010, the City Council approved Sean Daneshvar’s rezoning proposal to facilitate the development of a thirteen-story building at 621 East Fordham Road in the Belmont section of the Bronx. The site is occupied by a one-story medical facility that Daneshvar is currently enlarging to three stories pursuant to a BSA variance. The lot’s southern two-thirds is zoned C8-1, while the northern portion is zoned R6. Daneshvar requested that the City extend the R6 district to include the lot and apply a C2-4 overlay in order to build a ten-story residential tower on top of the three-story medical building. The thirteen-story project would provide 58 market- rate units, 22,800 sq.ft. of ground floor retail space, and a 134-space underground garage with an entrance on Hughes Avenue. The surrounding area is characterized by a range of residential, commercial, and institutional uses, including the nearby 29-story Keith Plaza Apartments and Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. supported the project on the condition that Daneshvar promise to build the underground garage and provide an alternate garage entrance along the site’s western edge on Belmont Avenue. Daneshvar owns a 96-space parking lot across the street from the site, and Diaz requested that the lot remain available for the project’s accessory use. (more…)
