"Hit The Ice" at the Kingsbridge Armory

  In a 48 - 1 vote the full City Council voted to approve the Kingsbridge National Ice Center proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory. Only Charles Barrons cast the lone dissenting vote against the KNIC proposal. Councilman Fernando Cabrera left his Mr. Hyde character at home as he was all smiles when he voted yes for the KNIC proposal after doing one about face after another leaving Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. puzzled as to what Councilman Cabrera was doing during the waning days before the final city council vote. 

  Diaz had the following statement about today's City Council Vote to approve the KNIC proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory.

 

  “After years of hard work and advocacy by elected officials, community organizations, our community board and the people of the Bronx, I am thrilled to see that the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory will finally become a reality.

“Today’s vote of the City Council represents the final hurdle cleared for the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC), a transformative project that will make the Bronx home to the nation’s largest ice sports center. KNIC will bring tens of thousands of new visitors to the borough, helping to stimulate our economy, while also creating hundreds of living wage jobs for Bronx residents.

“I am especially thankful for the support of our City Council and the entire Bronx City Council delegation, who understood the merits of the project and showed their strong support for it during today’s vote. The KNIC project will be good not just for the Northwest Bronx but for the entire borough, and the strong support of the entire Bronx delegation shows that to be true. I would also like to thank the developer, KNIC Partners, as well as Mark Messier and Sarah Hughes for their tireless advocacy on behalf of this wonderful project.

“This project is a victory for everyone involved, and represents the type of development we can see when everyone works together for the greater good. I look forward to this project’s completion, and the day when the Bronx can officially declare itself to be the premier ice sports destination in the United States, if not the nation,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

The Kingsbridge National Ice Center project was announced as the City’s official choice for the Kingsbridge Armory at a press conference in April 2013, which was attended by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Borough President Diaz, Council Member Fernando Cabrera, KNIC Partners LLC Founder Kevin Parker, New York Rangers hockey legend Mark Messier, Olympic Figure Skating Gold Medalist Sarah Hughes, then New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky and then Community Board #7 Chairman Paul Foster.

The original press release announcing the project can be read here: http://on.nyc.gov/ZGheD1. Full video of that event can be watched here: http://on.nyc.gov/18pwSTg.

Also in April, Kingsbridge National Ice Center Partners (KNIC) and the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) signed a historic community benefits agreement (CBA) to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory into a facility committed to serving Bronx residents. That CBA represents a multi-million dollar benefit package for the local community.  

For the first time in the history of New York City, a developer has agreed to wall-to-wall living wage jobs for local workers, more than 50,000 square feet of community space, targeted local hiring, opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses, free ice time for local schools, local procurement, sustainable green development and operation, and a business incubator to facilitate wealth creation for local residents. KNIC also plans to create a foundation to establish free after-school ice sports and academic tutoring programs for disadvantaged youth. The program will be modeled after the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation in Philadelphia, which has seen considerable academic and athletic success with those students who participate.

What's Up Fernando?

  Councilman Fernando Cabrera who was the lone holdout on the Kingsbridge National Ice Center Proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory before the Bronx Borough Board vote of November 21st where Councilman Cabrera said that he was voting yes on the KNIC proposal and going to encourage his fellow council members to vote yes when the matter comes before the City Council for a vote.

  Apparently that was then, because Crain's New York has reported that during the meeting of the City Council’s Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee today Councilman Fernando Cabrera was strongly critical of the KNIC proposal, and asked his council colleagues to vote against the proposal when it comes before the City Council Land Use Committee for a full council vote. 

  Cabrera with his on again off again support of the KNIC proposal for the Kingsbridge Armory started when Mayor Bloomberg introduced the KNIC proposal. Councilman Cabrera was all in favor of the project, but then as the Community Benefits Agreement package with KNIC was being formatted it is said that Cabrera made several demands for the CBA. The CBA was changed to add more members at Councilman Cabrera's request, but then it was announced that $100,000.00 a year (for the 99 year life of the CBA) was being requested to go to a non-profit organization reportedly under Cabrera's control. KNIC went public with the information, and Councilman Cabrera has been under scrutiny ever since the announcement.

  It was at the Bronx Borough Board vote that Cabrera had apparently ended his opposition by voting yes on the KNIC proposal, and said that he will encourage all of his colleagues in the council to vote yes on the proposal. Cabrera apparently has done another about face on the KNIC proposal at today's Sub committee meeting. It will be interesting to see which Fernando Cabrera shows up to the City Council Land Use meeting, and how Councilman Cabrera votes.

  

 Crain's writes that the Drama Still Continues for the Kingsbridge Armory.  The full Crain's article can be found here.