Serious zoning reform is needed

To the editor:

Open space has become even more treasured by Bronxites, hit especially hard and early by the coronavirus pandemic. It’s the epicenter of the epicenter. Worst-hit neighborhoods are the densest.

It’s now improving, while the rest of the country’s getting worse. But it got its terrible start here thanks to New York City’s density.

Riverdale and Kingsbridge have, for years, been targeted by developers who see gold in its green spaces, but now the wisdom of replacing trees with buildings is questioned for one more reason: Pandemics spread quickly in densely populated places. More open space is needed now to support social distancing, increased density also causes more traffic, sewage, lack of parking, packed schools, higher taxes, lower property values, air and water pollution, noise, and no place to go to get away for a few minutes during the day.

Such a place is Brust Park. It’s gorgeous, thanks not only to volunteers who keep its lawn and gardens beautiful, but also its wild and pristine natural area, amazing for its small size. It makes a fairly dense neighborhood seem spacious.

Enjoy it while you can, because despite massive opposition coming from the neighborhood, the city’s buildings department seems poised to approve a huge building replacing the small house and pretty hillside right next to the sunny side of this city park. Trees don’t do well without sunlight, and the planned eight stories facing and blocking the sun from Brust will turn it into a dark park with fewer trees.

Most in local government oppose at least the size of the project, and there’s a petition with 1,000 signatures against it. But city planning so far has ignored residents and approved a big drab eyesore, citing its outrageous ancient R-6 zoning, bizarre architectural plans that involve putting the front door on the back, and a claim that there’s a never-existed street making it a “corner lot.” Oh, and somehow the base plane is on the fourth floor.

The Coalition to Save Brust Park is doing what it can to mitigate this catastrophe. They started online crowdfunding to pay for legal help in saving the park.

This kind of generosity (to speculators) is being repeated across Riverdale and Kingsbridge. At Community Board 8’s recent land use meeting, it was mentioned by many that this area is overdue for rezoning. The long-time residents don’t like seeing Riverdale’s charm being sucked out with its clean air. Many are leaving.

Yet, supposedly, Bronx’s government can’t preserve it, because many years ago, someone zoned it that way. An R-6 zoning may have made sense when one or two lots on a block was maximum size, and many lots were considered unbuildable. But modern builders are very skilled at increasing return-on-investment, and can now build tall everywhere. And they always find a zoning loophole to get even more footage.

We beseech the city council, the mayor and city planning — let’s protect what’s left now. Many old charming single- and two-family houses are about to be knocked down to fit more people. The crowding will be borne by the current residents and subway riders, not the out-of-area speculators that stay in the Bronx just until the check clears.

New York City has had a building boom almost since the Dutch settled it, with very few pauses. However, the number of homeless keeps increasing. Out-of-control building has not solved this, nor brought rents down. What’s needed is lower rents for existing buildings, not bringing down everyone’s quality of life.

The planned development adjacent to Brust Park is not only another example of more “luxury housing,” it also plans to take advantage of a public park, sustained by public tax money, and the efforts of the community.

It’s time the R-6 zoning covering much of Riverdale and Kingsbridge be adjusted to preserve what’s left of our environment. It should be R-4. Then builders can still build, and there will still be a pretty big influx of people into what is currently essentially a suburban area. But at least some of the neighborhood’s character will survive.

We like it here. We’d like to stay.

Jim Wacker

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