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.
