
WHOSE ARMORY? Northwest Bronx residents rally outside the Kingsbridge Armory in October
Members of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) watched in hushed suspense from the visitors gallery above the City Council chamber on Dec. 14.
After four years of building a grassroots movement to advocate responsible development in their community, they looked on as councilmembers voted on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans to turn the Kingsbridge Armory, a 575,000-square-foot fortress-like structure in the northwest Bronx, into a lowwage shopping mall. When Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera (D-Bronx) finally announced the project’s defeat by a vote of 45-1, cheers rang throughout the chambers.
“This is a historic moment in the City Council,” said councilmember Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn). “I can’t remember any big project like this that the mayor initially wanted, that the council would go against in support of the people.” Read more..









