Editorial

'D' for Disastrous

The MTA is celebrating the 100th birthday of the New York City subway system. Unfortunately, many area commuters feel like their stations have not been repaired in at least that long.

We're pleased that the MTA has begun to rehab the stations along the No. 4 line, but that is no excuse for ignoring what local residents and transit advocacy groups say are some of the worst stations in the city. We offer just a few photos at the right, but anyone who uses the 205th Street D station or the one at Kingsbridge Road knows what a disaster they are. 

But money to fix these stations is nowhere to be found in the MTA's capital budget. And now the agency is even talking about instituting a fare hike!

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion is speaking out about the awful state of the north Bronx subway station. We urge you to join him by writing to the MTA and attending any upcoming hearing that the Norwood News will inform you about. 

Have Ball at Armory

Every June, the Bronx Tourism Council puts on the best bash in the borough - the I Love the Bronx Ball. It's a gala affair usually held at a Bronx landmark like the Bartow-Pell Mansion or Orchard Beach. 

Because this event attracts so many movers and shakers from all over the borough and throughout the city, we suggest that next June the Tourism Council holds the event at a venue where all that attention could do some real good: the Kingsbridge Armory.

Despite all the talk of new stadiums for the Nets and Yankees, and feverish planning for the city's 2012 Olympic bid, the city's indigenous resources are being left out in the cold. The armory is a prime example. 

But if politicians and civic leaders could see the awe-inspiring armory from the inside (the event could easily be held on the gargantuan drill floor), we think they would make the rehabilitation of the landmark facility a priority. Even the planning over the next several months for the event would pressure the Bloomberg administration to remove the remaining stumbling block to issuing a request for proposals for the project .  

Staff Sergeant Denis Flynn of the 145th Maintenance Unit posted in the buildings behind the armory had one wish before shipping to Fort Dix (in preparation for deployment to Iraq). "I hope the armory issue will be resolved when we return 14 months later," he told us in an e-mail. 

Having a ball at the armory in June might just get us there. 
  
Monitor Filter Work 

While there are at least three lawsuits working their way through the court system to stop the city from building a water filtration plant at Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park, site preparation work has already begun. Archaeologists have begun digging to check for historic remains, the driving range has already been moved, and trees appear to have been marked for removal.

This is not an either/or proposition. The suits are in the hands of the lawyers now. We would be foolish to sit on our hands in the meantime, rather than be vigilant and monitor the city to make sure they do not harm our park and our community more than is absolutely necessary. 

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