What's wrong with everybody? The consensus is that Mayor
Bloomberg is poised for an easy win in November. His Democratic
rivals are floundering and battling one another over silly things
like doctored campaign photos and dumb comments. Meanwhile, Mr.
Bloomberg and his billionaire buddies are destroying the essence
of the city, bit by bit, right under their noses, and nobody's
objecting to the butchery.
This mayor from Massachusetts doesn't understand or care that
what makes New York great is its people, not its buildings. I may
not have been able to speak out about what happened to La
Marqueta in Spanish Harlem, but I'm not going to let the Bronx
Terminal Market fade away without making a plea for the tenants
being forced out thanks to a sweetheart deal with pals of the
Bloomberg administration.
Isn't the Democratic Party supposed to be concerned with the
plight of minorities? Isn't that supposed to be why members of
minority groups vote overwhelmingly Democratic? Then why, pray
tell, hasn't Gifford Miller, Fernando Ferrer, or one of the
others made a brouhaha about the minority vendors being evicted,
in a highly questionable deal reeking of conflict of interest?
Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff's former business associate,
billionaire Stephen Ross, heads the Related Companies, which was
granted a lucrative deal to build Gateway Center, a huge mall in
the South Bronx, on the site of the market. Another cushy part of
the deal is that Related got a land swap that gives them the land
where the defunct Bronx House of Detention stands, in exchange
for another parcel in the neighborhood. The jail property has
been valued at $41 million, the Related parcel at much less.
Originally, the land swap was for a velodrome for the cycling
competition in the 2012 Olympics - of which New York will not be
the host city. Nevertheless, the deal to swap the space, raze the
market, and build the 1 million square-foot mall is still in
play. The city also agreed to guarantee repayment of the $32.5
million bank loan Mr. Ross used to finance the purchase if the
Gateway Center project falls through.
Mind you, this deal was hatched without a public request for
proposals, and without competitive bidding.
The current wholesalers at the market are paying a total of
$250,000 a month in rent to Related, and it is paying the city
$22,000 a month over the course of its five-year lease, as Juan
Gonzalez reported in the Daily News.
The Bronx Terminal Market, located just south of Yankee Stadium,
is the largest seller of ethnic and tropical produce on the East
Coast. The vendors are mostly African-American or Hispanic, so
where are the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton?
The communications director of the National Retailers Alliance,
Matt Lipsky, sent me a link of articles on this subject
(www.momandpopnyc.com/articles/terminalmarket/).
Read these articles and weep.
I fought a losing battle for those longtime lessees of space at
the Brooklyn Navy Yard who were being aced out by the Steiner
Studio. The city's Economic Development Corporation favored this
studio deal, which cost the city more than $40 million, yet it
rejected the Stapleton Studios project, which would have cost the
city nothing. Clearly, I don't have the influence to affect what
is considered "progress."
I do know that Manhattan's La Marqueta used to be a place of
wonder, as exotic as the Kasbah in Tangier. At its peak, it held
510 stalls. One side of the market, which ran between 111th and
115th streets under the old New York Central tracks, had stalls
offering dry goods, while the other side sold food. The smell of
the spices, tropical vegetables, fruits, and baked goodies from
all over the world was mouthwatering. Between 115th to 116th, the
market was devoted to fresh fish and meats. The smells there were
not as appetizing, but the prices and quality of the fare were
incomparable.
Then the city stepped in to improve it, and now, only eight
stalls are in operation. When I visited the old site last year, I
was appalled at the senseless decimation of a city landmark in
the name of progress.
The city may claim that the Bronx Terminal Market was an eyesore
and the area was neglected and undeveloped. That is true. The
former owner didn't do its job. But there should have been a fair
process in place to negotiate improvements, a process that did
not involve eviction without adequate relocation for the
remaining wholesalers. Instead of assisting the Bronx wholesalers
in relocating to a suitable locale, it has in essence told them:
"Here's some money, now get out of town."
Voters may be telling that to this mayor, if they finally wake up
to what's happening to this city.