NEW YORK CITY—Illustrating the point that Brooklyn is top of mind for the real estate industry while the Bronx is emerging, political leaders representing both areas Thursday discussed the state of their communities in an Ariel Property Advisors hosted event in Midtown. Over 250 property owners, managers and service providers were in attendance.
“The Bronx today isn't the Bronx of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, it's the new Bronx,” declared Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. “It's safer today than it's been for 50 years and $8 billion has been invested since I've been in office.”
For his part, Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams is working to make sure that—in light of gentrification—the surge in offerings can be enjoyed by all Brooklyn residents and not just the upper class.
“The popularity of the Brooklyn brand needs to translate to prosperity for all residents,” he said. “We'll continue to build our condos and developments like City Point, but we have to build up our people too.”
The Bronx is poised to flourish, Diaz said. “We have the largest indoor mall in the city, the Bay Plaza Shopping Center; Fresh Direct is coming, we have four golf courses, the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning, Silvercup Studios has announced plans for a location in Soundview and we have the High Bridge, the longest bridge in the city, a pedestrian only-bridge that just opened after being closed for 50 years.”
Also, he continued, “We have a world class hotel, a 125-room Residence Inn, and over 600,000 units of housing have built since I've been in office. We have invested in our parks too—spending over $350 million in restoration—and we've received $350 million in the MTA's capital fund to provide four new Metro-North stations and we have rezoned various corridors.”
In Brooklyn, rezoning is a key area of focus, according to Adams. “Rezoning East New York is the big story. There are great opportunities to rezone from the beginning to the end of Atlantic Avenue and also along Empire Boulevard and Nostrand Avenue along Flatbush Junction, where there's a new Target store; the opportunities there are endless.”
In addition, Adams said, “My goal is to get the area of Broadway Junction rezoned. It's off the radar and it could become an arts community.”
Piggybacking off of Diaz' mention of rail yards and the need to deck over them for development, Adams added, “We share the vision of building out our rail yards. We're not looking to build more public developments but rather middle income housing that we can build communities around.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
