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Harlem River Planning Moves Forward

By HEATHER HADDON

A coalition of Bronx community groups, elected officials and the city Parks Department is progressing with plans to transform the underutilized Harlem River waterfront into an accessible and amenity-rich open space.

Stakeholders gathered last month at Manhattan College to brainstorm goals for a 162-acre stretch bordering the river, which flows past the Bronx’ western border. The area runs from Highbridge to 225th Street, and is a patchwork of parks, railroad lines and privately owned parcels. Much of it is now unusable because of environmental contamination.

The conference was the latest step in a growing movement to redevelop the Harlem River through the state’s Brownfields Areas Opportunity (BAO) program. Beginning in 2003, the state has funded community groups to plan new uses for designated waterfront areas. The program also awards lucrative tax credits to developers who clean up and build on contaminated properties in line with community priorities.

The Bronx Council on Environmental Quality, an advocacy group, was awarded a $100,000 state grant last March to determine whether the Harlem River can be designated as a BAO. If so, groups will move forward with further assessments and designate priority areas for redevelopment. The Bronx borough president’s office, the Gaia Institute and Manhattan College, along with local residents and Community Boards 4, 5 and 7, are also collaborating on the effort.

Top ideas generated by conference participants were making the Harlem River more accessible, and creating parkland and recreational facilities. “We want redevelopment that will draw people to the river,” said Hilary Kitasei, who is overseeing the project for the Council.

A key component is connecting the waterfront to a larger Harlem River Greenway, which has been in development by the Parks Department for several years. The greenway would connect the Old Putnam Trail — a 1.5-mile path flowing from Westchester through Van Cortlandt Park — with the waterfront at 225th Street. It must cross Metro North railroad tracks through some type of overpass before continuing all the way down to Robert Clemente State Park and the High Bridge.

The Parks Department recently made a breakthrough in the project through successful negotiations with a cargo railroad company that owns parcels along the Putnam. The city obtained rights over two stretches of an abandoned railroad corridor that starts in Van Cortlandt Park at 237th Street, and travels to roughly 230th Street. Before they can become parkland, the acquisitions must go through the city’s land use review process. That step can take an additional one to two years, according to Ashe Reardon, a Parks spokesperson.

But the city has less leverage over the waterfront’s many private developments. They range from a Baptist church’s dog kennel near West 167th Street, to acres of dormant property surrounding the University Heights bridge. Tax credits from the BOA program, which are up to 22 percent of remediation and pre-construction costs, are intended to encourage private owners to fix up their properties. “It’s very lucrative,” said Justin Bloom, an environmental lawyer involved in the project.

Cleaning contaminated sites is costly and labor intensive. The Harlem River waterfront contains fill made of unknown materials that was dumped there in the early 20th century. That type of contamination, as opposed to sites with chemical spills, is easier to remedy.

Advocates will have a better sense of the extent of the contamination if the project qualifies as a state BAO. After issuing a report on their initial goals, the Harlem River coalition will apply for additional state funding for more site assessment and community outreach. The program’s third phase involves detailed planning for specific locations along the waterfront.

The multi-year process is laborious, and participants say the state isn’t helping matters. The BOA has gone through numerous revisions, and the Harlem River group still hasn’t received any of the funds allocated to them last year. The technically complex undertaking has required intensive volunteer labor. “The organizations are leading the state agencies on this,” Kitasei said.

But advocates are heartened by the growing excitement over transforming broken piers and jagged rocks into esplanades and jungle gyms. The Council hopes to finish its initial report in May, and have an established blueprint in the next few years. “There will be a solid plan in place … that can be a mechanism to get movement on these properties,” Bloom said.

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