Bronx BID formation delayed to ensure compliance with public notice requirements. On January 3, 2012, the City Council’s Finance Committee held a public hearing triggering another 30-day objection period for the Department of Small Business Services’ plan to create the Westchester Square Business Improvement District in the Bronx. The proposed BID would be within Bronx Community Boards 10 and 11. The district, with a proposed first-year budget of $320,000, would include 90 tax lots and 145 businesses.

(more…)

At hearing, concerns raised about whether public notice requirements were met for proposed BID. On October 17, 2011, the City Council’s Finance Committee held a public hearing on the Department of Small Business Services’ plan to create the Westchester Square Business Improvement District in the Bronx.

The BID would be within Bronx Community Boards 10 and 11 and extend along portions of East Tremont Avenue, Williamsbridge Road, and Westchester Avenue. The district would include 90 tax lots and 145 businesses that include local retail, neighborhood services, and national chain stores. The BID would allow an annual assessment on property owners in order to provide supplemental sanitation and security services, marketing and promotions, and special events. The BID’s first-year budget would be $320,000, with $120,000 going to sanitation services, $95,000 to administrative expenses, and $72,000 to marketing. The remaining budget would be allocated to special events, holiday lighting, and a reserve fund. The budget would come from an assessment on commercial properties of $57 per-linearfront- foot. Owners of corner-lot properties and properties with commercial uses above the ground floor would pay an additional $300. The owners of vacant mid-block properties would pay $300, and the owners of vacant corner properties would pay $600. Wholly residential property owners would pay a $1 assessment. Government and non-profit properties would pay nothing.  (more…)

Text amendment closes loophole in zoning resolution that allowed developers to avoid providing off-street parking in eastern Bronx. On March 25, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s text amendment addressing parking issues in mid-density residential districts found primarily in Westchester Square and Pelham, and near Westchester Avenue in Co-Op City within Bronx Community District 10. The amendment expands the definition of CD 10’s Lower Density Growth Management Area to include R6 and R7-1 districts for the purposes of increasing off-street parking requirements.

The Lower Density Growth Management Area in CD 10 was established as part of the Throgs Neck Rezoning in 2004 in order to protect the character of low-density neighborhoods with limited access to public transit, limited availability of off-street parking, and high rates of vehicle ownership. 1 CityLand4 (Oct. 15, 2004). The 2004 designation only included R2, R3, R4A, and R4-1 zoning districts within CD 10. Over the past several years, however, community groups and elected officials have noted that the area’s mid-density districts have experienced the same problems as the lower-density districts. In addition to expanding CD 10’s Lower Density Growth Management Area, the amendment includes revisions to the parking provisions to close a loophole allowing developers who subdivided their lots to avoid providing off-street parking. (more…)

Pelham Bay and Westchester Square residents concerned that developers would move in after adjacent neighborhood was down-zoned. After the City down-zoned Throgs Neck in September 2004, 1 CityLand 4 (Oct. 15, 2004), residents of Pelham Bay and Westchester Square complained that the new limits on development in Throgs Neck would send developers north and westward into their communities, spurring over-development. While both communities are predominately developed with detached housing, the current zoning permits large apartment buildings, with up to 12 stories in some cases. To eliminate this disparity, the Planning Department initiated down-zonings of both neighborhoods.

The Pelham Bay proposal calls for the rezoning of approximately 45 blocks. The majority of the area would be rezoned from R5, R6, or R7-1 to the newly created R5A district, limiting new construction to one- and two-family detached homes and setting a 35-foot height limit. The proposal also calls for reducing the depth of commercial overlays, from 150 to 100 feet, along Westchester, Crosby and portions of Buhre Avenues. (more…)

Rhinelander Avenue in Morris Park, Bronx, one of many streets open to pedestrians and cyclists under the Open Streets program. Image Credit: CityLand

The plan will aim to add 100 miles of open streets, widened sidewalks and protected bike lanes. Note: This article has been updated to continuously reflect the added streets as those announcements are made. Please continue to check back for further updates.

On April 27, 2020, the Mayor’s Office announced a plan along with Council Speaker Corey Johnson to implement street closures, sidewalk widening, and the addition of bike lanes as part of the City’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The plan aims to close off streets to cars to provide more space for social distancing for pedestrians and cyclists as the weather gets warmer and more people are expected to go outside.  (more…)