Critics of the plan suspect that the city will not just tinker with details to improve residents’ lives, but will rezone the area in a way that will lead to mass displacement of current residents. The city says that’s not so.
Some South Bronx residents remain skeptical of the city’s plan to convert a 130-block area along Southern Boulevard into a dazzling new development, insisting that the project will benefit everyone but them.
South Bronx residents confronted city officials at an open house in East Tremont last Thursday, over the proposed rezoning of a large swath of Southern Boulevard between Longwood and Crotona Park.
Some dozen protesters rallied outside a closed-door meeting in Longwood, suspicious that officials are planning to rezone a huge chunk of the South Bronx without public input. The planning department and City Councilman Rafael Salamanca say it isn’t so.
Change in the South Bronx, and pressure on local renters, was the theme at a panel discussion on March 30.
