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Q&A
Council member discusses housing development and community changes with Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance representative
3:47:06
·
4 min
Council Member Kevin C. Riley engages in a discussion with Charlene Jackson Mendez from the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance about housing development in the northeast Bronx. They discuss the changes in the community over time and the need for increased housing while maintaining community character.
- Riley emphasizes the need for creative solutions to produce housing without disrupting the community's makeup
- Jackson Mendez stresses the importance of responsible development and addressing infrastructure needs
- They debate the balance between increasing housing and maintaining community stability
Kevin C. Riley
3:47:06
I have a follow-up question for that.
3:47:08
Yes.
3:47:09
So Likewise, I actually was born in 1987, so I was I lived in the northeast Bronx for 37 years and be 37 this year.
3:47:17
So I have also seen the change within the Bronx.
3:47:20
You mentioned the change in sanitation, increased police, and but you also need to recognize that there's a change in population in the Bronx as well.
3:47:29
When we bought my mother bought our house in 1991, we currently still own it.
3:47:33
You bought your your home a little later, but you moved in the district in 1989.
3:47:37
The population at that time was not where it is today.
3:47:41
Yes.
3:47:42
And currently, right now, neighborhoods that historically haven't been able to produce housing should figure out how can we creatively produce housing without disrupting too much of the makeup within the communities.
3:47:57
I think when we're having these conversations a lot of the times, there's no way of negotiating.
3:48:02
There's either no.
3:48:03
We're not gonna we're not even gonna accept this.
3:48:06
Because there was another project.
3:48:08
Well, not not necessarily in your area, but in the in the in the in the Northeastern Bronx, that wasn't as high up members in that community were still saying that they didn't want the buildings to come over there.
3:48:19
So I think we have to come together where we could respectfully acknowledge.
3:48:24
I have 3 kids where we still live in the 3 family household with my mother, but we will love to move somewhere in the district.
3:48:32
At that time.
3:48:33
And there's other members, peers that I have as well.
3:48:35
I'm pretty sure you have residents on your block, young people that you've seen grow up and now they wanna raise family.
3:48:42
So I guess my question to you is how can we, as a northeast Bronx, moving forward, produce housing without, I guess, historically denying housing for any reason.
3:48:59
I know this 1 is typically the main issue with height, and it's really high.
3:49:05
I'm I'm not gonna lie.
3:49:06
This is really high.
3:49:06
We're trying to negotiate this now, but how can we increase housing in the northeast Bronx?
3:49:12
We want homeownership, but we still need housing.
3:49:14
We need senior housing.
3:49:15
We need veteran housing.
3:49:16
How can we do this in Northeast Bronx when we have communities really pushing back on any form of development?
Charlene Jackson Mendez
3:49:23
Well, I think our community is very aware, I think, of the lack of housing.
3:49:31
And, of course, we want to do our part, but it just has to be done.
3:49:35
I would never say no increase in house.
3:49:39
Increase in housing.
3:49:41
And, yes, there is a change in the population from when I first moved into the northeast Bronx and from even when I moved into Venice.
3:49:53
But for me, as an effective government, you need to have short term and long term solutions.
3:50:03
I heard a lot about a whole wellness area, which was proposed by Ruben Diaz senior.
3:50:14
And I am totally in support of something like that, but there must must be a commitment to quality education, a part of why our population is changing is because our population is increasingly illiterate.
3:50:35
When is somebody gonna say What's going on in our schools?
3:50:39
Why can't our children read?
3:50:41
If we wanna stabilize our communities, We have to make sure we are creating citizens that are capable of living independently and living well, you know that very few people in our communities even vote.
3:50:59
So you have to have a short term solution and increase housing but in reasonable ways.
3:51:07
It is not our job as taxpayers to make sure that developers profit Right.
3:51:15
So So
Kevin C. Riley
3:51:15
so so I don't believe housing is a short term goal.