City Targets VC Park Again for Filter Plant
Holds Powwow at Bronx Democratic Clubhouse

By JORDAN MOSS

Though they have until April 30 to make a decision, city officials appear to have already decided that they will try once again to build a water filtration plant for the Croton water system at Mosholu Golf Course in the Norwood section of Van Cortlandt Park.

In a controversial meeting with several members of the borough's state Assembly 
delegation at Bronx Democratic Party headquarters in Westchester Square last week, Chris Ward, the commissioner of the city's Department of Environment-al Protection (DEP), laid out his agency's case for the golf course and distributed a document outlining the "advantages" of the golf course site and the "disadvantages" of a site along the Harlem River near Fordham Road. A third site known as Eastview, on a city-owned industrial plot in Westchester, is not mentioned in the document.

Ward met with the Assembly members, including party chair Jose Rivera, because they hold the keys to the city's ability to build in the park. Over three years ago, the city pushed the plan through the City Council only to be stopped a year and a half later by the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, which ruled that the state legislature must approve construction in public parkland. But seeking the court's approval at that time was a dead end, as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver promised to defer to the wishes of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the lawmaker whose district the park is in. 

But now the city seems to be hoping to make an end run around Dinowitz, by gathering the support of his colleagues and convincing Silver to change his mind. 
Dinowitz condemned what many plant opponents are calling a "back room deal."

Bad message "The fact that the commissioner of DEP chose to meet in the back room of Democratic Party headquarters -- sends out a very bad message," said Dinowitz, the only member of  the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, the rival to the regular country organization, in the room. Asked about the meeting, Charles Sturcken, chief of staff at the DEP, would not even confirm that Ward had been in attendance. He did say, however, that the city preferred the golf course if it is, in fact, able to secure the state legislation. Dinowitz said that while there were no quid pro quo agreements made to secure the lawmakers' support, the commissioner implied that there would be more money for Bronx park projects than the $43 million floated when the golf course site was originally 
proposed. 

"I think that the idea that some elected officials would feel comfortable with dumping a project of this magnitude in one particular neighborhood because they think they might gain something out of it, is reprehensible," Dinowitz said. He also warned his colleagues that the city has a poor track record in following through on such promises, citing its failure after many years to remediate a disrupted section of the park in Woodlawn where the Third Water Tunnel was being built. "If there are elected officials out there that see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I think they're deluding themselves." 

Margaret Groarke (disclosure: Groarke is married to the author of this article) was angry that the city officials were acting behind the community's back. "I'm astounded that the Bronx County Democrats think they can sell our park without talking to us." 

None of the members of the Assembly contacted by the Norwood News -- Michael Benjamin, Jose Rivera (the party leader), and Jeffrey Klein -- returned calls, though they are usually rather accessible to reporters. The following Assembly members were present at the meeting with Ward, according to Dinowitz: Benjamin, Rivera, Stephen Kaufman, Aurelia Greene, and Luis Diaz. Klein sent a representative, Dinowitz said. Carl Heastie, Ruben Diaz, Peter Rivera and Carmen Arroyo were not present. 

Latest plot turn
The development is just the latest plot turn in a civic saga that stretches back more than a decade. The city originally preferred the Jerome Park Reservoir, but abandoned that plan when the communities surrounding it mounted a strong campaign over several years to defeat it. They also faced opposition from Norwood residents when the golf course was chosen, but the silver bullet for opponents was the legal strategy. In recent months, residents in the University Heights area have been organizing to fight the Harlem River site, as it seemed it was the one the city was most likely to select. 

Though many involved in the fight consider it somewhat of a victory that the new plans call for a plant significantly smaller and potentially less disruptive than the one proposed three years ago, community residents and park advocates are up in arms nonetheless. One reason is that they feel the city went behind their backs to elected officials, most of whom don't represent the area that the park is in. But opponents also believe the project's construction, and the accompanying dust and truck traffic, is still far too near a densely populated area with a high asthma rate.

"They have never considered the impact that it would have on this community, where so many people have asthma," said Ora Holloway, a Norwood resident who organized her neighbors to clean up the neglected southeast corner of the park and build a playground there. 

The document the DEP prepared for the meeting compares the new design for the plant to the original 1999 version. Whereas the first plant would have risen 30 feet above the current grade of the park (almost as tall as the adjacent elevated subway tracks), the new design indicates the park will rise no higher than the existing grade. The area impacted by the construction and the distance from the street would be significantly reduced, according to the document. Also, while the golf course and the driving range would have been put out of commission during several years of construction, this plan only calls for the driving range to be closed. But plant opponents worry that the return of parkland on top of and near the plant to recreational use is an empty promise, since government officials will need to protect the water supply as a potential terrorist target. 

If the plant is built in the park, it will also signal an open season on parkland, park 
advocates fear. "[You will see] erosions of pieces of parkland across this city the likes of  which we've never seen before," said Jane Sokolow, Friends board of Van Cortlandt Park member. "This is like Pandora's Box as far as I'm concerned. 

Deal not done
Despite the meeting at party headquarters, the deal is by no means done, as the city still has a few hoops to jump through. It needs to secure a resolution from the City Council favoring the site, known as a home rule message. (Joel Rivera, the North Fordham Council member who happens to chair the committee where such resolutions originate, did not return two calls seeking comment.)

It must then clear both houses of the state legislature by April 15, according to the 
agreement the city made with the federal government in federal court. In the Assembly, the city will need Speaker Sheldon Silver to change his mind. Asked if he would still defer to Dinowitz, Eileen Larrabee, a spokeswoman for Silver, would only say, "The speaker continues to look into it." 

State Senator Guy Velella, a Republican, who, after redistricting, only has one Norwood block in his district, but still represents all of Van Cortlandt Park, is also key to the city's plans. When the Court of Appeals ruled in 2001 that the city needed the legislature's permission, Velella vowed in the corridor of the Albany courthouse: "As long as I'm in the Senate and they need Senate approval, it won't happen." This week, his spokesman, John Banville, said, "As far as I know, it really is a non-issue until the City Council addresses it." 

Another hurdle is the city's zoning process, known as ULURP (Uniform Land Use 
Review Procedure), a six-month process that requires review by several levels of city government, from local community boards to the City Council. The DEP maintains that the plan already successfully went through ULURP the last time around. But opponents will surely argue, possibly in court, that with a new proposal and a new City Council, the city will need to go the ULURP route again. 

Park advocates, community residents, and elected officials have already begun to 
strategize. A meeting last Saturday at the Riverdale home of Elizabeth Cooke, president of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, was attended by Dinowitz, Congressman Eliot Engel and Councilman Oliver Koppell, as well as Holloway, Groarke and other community and park activists. 

Despite their weariness borne of past battles, residents say they will battle to the end. "Our community is going to organize," Holloway said. "We're going to fight against it, until our last chance, until we know there's nothing else we can do." 

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