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Eighth Regiment Armory (Bronx)
Encyclopedia
The Kingsbridge Armory, also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory, is located on West Kingsbridge Road in the New York City
borough
of The Bronx. It was built in the 1910s, from a design by the firm of then-state architect Lewis Pilcher to house the National Guard
's Eighth Coastal Artillery
Regiment unit which relocated from Manhattan
in 1917. It is possibly the largest armory in the world.
In addition to its military function, it has been used over the years for exhibitions, boxing matches, and a film set. After World War II
the city offered it to the United Nations
as a temporary meeting place. In 1974 it was designated a city landmark, and eight years later it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Its military use ended and it was turned over to city management in 1996. Since then it has remained vacant as various proposals to redevelop it have failed, including one which turned into a flashpoint over living wage
policies and ended in a rare defeat for the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg
. One National Guard unit has continued to use an annex in the rear until a new headquarters can be found
on the east, West 195th Street on the North and Reservoir Avenue on the west. Barnhill Square, the junction of Kingsbridge and Reservoir, is on the southwest corner. Above Jerome is the Kingsbridge Road
station on the New York City Subway
's 4
line, from which the armory's west end is visible.
An empty moat
encircles the building. There are parking lots and sidewalks along the side. In the center of the north side, on West 195th, are two smaller buildings, one a garage and the other a locker room and classrooms. Both are considered non-contributing
to the Register listing.
On the north are public schools 86 and 340, with Jerome Park Reservoir
to the northwest and Lehman College
of the City University of New York
about a block north. On the other three sides is dense urban mixed-use development. St. James Park is a few blocks to the southeast, and the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, overlooking the Harlem River
and Major Deegan Expressway
(Interstate 87
), two blocks to the east. The terrain slopes slightly toward the river.
The building itself is a nine-story red brick edifice with a curved, sloping metal roof, with glass in the field at either end. Its brickwork
has been considered among the city's finest. Stone is used for trim, especially around the slit windows at regular intervals. A corbel
ed stone string course
runs below the parapet
ed roof the length of the building. Above the corbels, and at the corners, are turret
s.
In the middle of the south elevation is the two-story office wing and main entrance, an section known as the headhouse. Two semi-engaged towers with conical roofs rise at its front above the roofline. The transition to the office wing from the main wall is marked by angled walls, two low round towers with conical roofs and cupola
s and two square towers.
Between them is the main entrance, a round arch with heavy iron gates and paneled double doors with stone steps and walls. They are topped with a stone projection on corbels and a crenellated parapet. In the brick above the entrance is the regimental motif in terra cotta
, a shield over an eagle with draped flags.
Inside is a 180000 square feet (16,722.5 m²) drill hall
and an 800-seat auditorium
. A four-centered double truss 100 feet (30.5 m) high spans the ceiling. Two cellar levels, which used to house military vehicles, also provide space for storage, lecture halls, and fitness rooms, that included a basketball
court and a 400 feet (121.9 m) shooting range
.
In the office wing, the entry hall has square brick piers supporting the segmental arches that frame the groin vault
s. Brick quoin
s decorate the piers and intrado
s. The commander's office, upstairs, is done in the Colonial Revival
style, with engaged columns, fielded panel walls and an Adamesque fireplace mantel
.
described it as epitomizing "simplicity, directness, convenience, and adaptation to special requirements". The Record quoted Pilcher himself as saying it was "perhaps the most interesting of all the armory designs in the country. The necessities of mobilization ... were successfully met."
Subsequently it has been described as "schizoid", appearing as "two distinct and incongruous buildings." The medieval architecture of the office wing echoed social concerns of the 1880s, when the National Guard was frequently called out to suppress civil unrest such as strikes. The towers and crenellation suggested the authority and power of the military of an earlier time.
By the early 1910s, the Guard was more integrated with the Army, and their units became more focused on national defense purposes, training and equipping for the battlefield instead of the streets. The design of the drill shed reflects this changing function, its steel and glass making the whole a stylistic hybrid similar to the Brooklyn Bridge
and the 1901 Squadron C Armory in Brooklyn, also designed by Pilcher's firm, the first armory in which the steel drill hall is a prominent element when seen from the outside. "It points toward a moment when historical ornament
will be stripped away," writes David Bady of Lehman College, "leaving engineering to be admired as architecture."
at George Washington
's inauguration, it later acquired the informal name of the Washington Greys. Since 1895, it had been based at the old Squadron A Armory on Park Avenue
in Manhattan
.
In 1911 the New York State Legislature authorized the construction of a new armory using what had already been excavated as the planned eastern basin for Jerome Park Reservoir
. Some military artifacts were unearthed, probably from the nearby sites of Revolutionary War
forts Independence and Number Five, but no formal archeological survey was done. The firm of Lewis Pilcher, who became state architect two years later, was commissioned.
During World War II
the armory was active in the war effort. Herbert Lehman, a former governor and U.S. Senator, ceremonially reviewed 10,000 troops there at a 1942 event. It was one of the few registration sites in the city for immigrants from enemy nations. After the war the city offered it to the United Nations
General Assembly as a temporary meeting place until the main UN building was finished.
In 1957 the two rear buildings were constructed. It was designated a city landmark in 1974. At that time the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission
called it "an outstanding example of military architecture." Over the years following, the main armory building was neglected, and by the 1990s, the Guard units who called it home were running most of their operations from the annex buildings on West 195th.
For a period in the 1980s it was used as a homeless shelter
. In 1994, one of the community school districts proposed that new schools be built on the site. The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs transferred title
to the armory and its property to New York City two years later, whereupon the city began trying to find a new location for two of the three units that trained at the armory.
After all Guard units save the 258th Field Artillery Regiment, the descendant of the original Eighth Regiment, left, the city gave a grant
to a local nonprofit, the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (BOEDC), to come up with a plan for reuse and redevelopment. It was estimated that structural repairs alone would cost as much as $40 million. Proposals ranged from the school plan to one from City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell
to develop it into an amateur athletic center. A BOEDC official likened the process to "dealing with several buildings in one."
The armory had always been available for temporary uses. Over the years it had hosted dog and boat shows, as well as boxing matches. In 2006 Warner Bros. rented the armory for six months to make the Will Smith
film I Am Legend
. It was used for both preproduction and principal photography
, with sets built for scenes set in Washington Square Park
. The music video for the song "Just Tonight
" by rock band The Pretty Reckless
was filmed at the armory in 2010.
In 2008, as the city prepared to announce the winning bidder, local activists, community groups and labor unions formed the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) to pressure the city for a Community Benefits Agreement
(CBA) as part of the project. A CBA would have required living wage
provisions and union representation not only for any construction work but for jobs with any tenants. KARA also sought to have schools included in the plan, which city officials said was impossible.
The winning bidder, The Related Companies, pledged to invest $310 million in redeveloping the armory into a shopping mall complex. The company already had negotiated a CBA for its Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market
, but never reached any agreement with KARA for the armory, saying its wage demands would have made it impossible to attract tenants. Concerns were also raised about traffic issues a mall might create. In 2009, opposition was strong enough that when the city's Planning Commission approved the project, the vote by the usually unanimous body split 8-4 with one abstention, with representatives appointed by the Manhattan and Queens borough president
s joined their Bronx counterpart and the Public Advocate's representative.
In 2010 the full City Council
rejected the plan by 45-1, with one abstention. Mayor Michael Bloomberg
expressed disappointment that the proposal had failed, one of the rare redevelopment proposals from his administration to suffer that fate. The mayor's veto
was overridden 48-1, with an absention, a week later.
Related blamed its failure on KARA's wage demands. The activist group said it was "one step closer to achieving a redeveloped Armory that truly benefits the community." Residents of the area were defiant. "We're not suckers in the Bronx," one said. "We're not going to take whatever somebody is offering." Some said they felt the neighborhood needed schools more than malls.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., made the defeat of Related's plan the starting point of a campaign to get living-wage legislation enacted citywide for taxpayer-subsidized projects. Bloomberg later blocked plans to move the Guard unit still at the armory to another facility in the borough, and advocated for opening a homeless shelter in the other annex building, a move perceived as retaliation. Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo
named Diaz to his transition team on economic development, which was also seen as a message to Bloomberg.
Efforts to plan a redevelopment of the armory continue. In fall of 2010, Diaz's office retained graduate students and faculty in the Capstone Program at New York University
's Wagner School of Public Service to develop a plan. Diaz later skipped a meeting with Bloomberg's deputies as a protest against the mayor's plan to use the armory as one of several new homeless shelters.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of The Bronx. It was built in the 1910s, from a design by the firm of then-state architect Lewis Pilcher to house the National Guard
New York Army National Guard
The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization...
's Eighth Coastal Artillery
Coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
Regiment unit which relocated from Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 1917. It is possibly the largest armory in the world.
In addition to its military function, it has been used over the years for exhibitions, boxing matches, and a film set. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the city offered it to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
as a temporary meeting place. In 1974 it was designated a city landmark, and eight years later it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Its military use ended and it was turned over to city management in 1996. Since then it has remained vacant as various proposals to redevelop it have failed, including one which turned into a flashpoint over living wage
Living wage
In public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
policies and ended in a rare defeat for the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
. One National Guard unit has continued to use an annex in the rear until a new headquarters can be found
Building
The armory complex occupies almost the entire 5 acres (2 ha) block between West Kingsbridge on the south, Jerome AvenueJerome Avenue
Jerome Avenue is one of the longest thoroughfares in the New York City borough of the Bronx, New York, United States. The road is 5.6 miles long and stretches from Highbridge general area to Woodlawn. Both of these termini are with the Major Deegan Expressway which runs parallel to the west. Most...
on the east, West 195th Street on the North and Reservoir Avenue on the west. Barnhill Square, the junction of Kingsbridge and Reservoir, is on the southwest corner. Above Jerome is the Kingsbridge Road
Kingsbridge Road (IRT Jerome Avenue Line)
Kingsbridge Road is a rehabilitated local station on the elevated IRT Jerome Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, it is served by the 4 train at all times. It is a typical IRT elevated station, except for an extra...
station on the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
's 4
4 (New York City Subway service)
The 4 Lexington Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored green on station signs, route signs, and the official subway map, since it uses the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan....
line, from which the armory's west end is visible.
An empty moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
encircles the building. There are parking lots and sidewalks along the side. In the center of the north side, on West 195th, are two smaller buildings, one a garage and the other a locker room and classrooms. Both are considered non-contributing
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the Register listing.
On the north are public schools 86 and 340, with Jerome Park Reservoir
Jerome Park Reservoir
The Jerome Park Reservoir is located in Jerome Park, a neighborhood in the North Bronx, New York City. It was built in 1906 to serve the Croton Aqueduct as part of the New York City water supply system....
to the northwest and Lehman College
Lehman College
Lehman College is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, USA. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, the school became an independent college within the City University in 1968. The college is named after Herbert Lehman, a former New York governor,...
of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
about a block north. On the other three sides is dense urban mixed-use development. St. James Park is a few blocks to the southeast, and the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, overlooking the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
and Major Deegan Expressway
Major Deegan Expressway
The Major Deegan Expressway is a north–south expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx...
(Interstate 87
Interstate 87
Interstate 87 is a Interstate Highway located entirely within New York State in the United States of America. I-87 is the longest intrastate Interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. Its southern end is at the Bronx approaches of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City...
), two blocks to the east. The terrain slopes slightly toward the river.
The building itself is a nine-story red brick edifice with a curved, sloping metal roof, with glass in the field at either end. Its brickwork
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
has been considered among the city's finest. Stone is used for trim, especially around the slit windows at regular intervals. A corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ed stone string course
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
runs below the parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
ed roof the length of the building. Above the corbels, and at the corners, are turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s.
In the middle of the south elevation is the two-story office wing and main entrance, an section known as the headhouse. Two semi-engaged towers with conical roofs rise at its front above the roofline. The transition to the office wing from the main wall is marked by angled walls, two low round towers with conical roofs and cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
s and two square towers.
Between them is the main entrance, a round arch with heavy iron gates and paneled double doors with stone steps and walls. They are topped with a stone projection on corbels and a crenellated parapet. In the brick above the entrance is the regimental motif in terra cotta
Architectural terracotta
Terracotta, in its unglazed form, became fashionable as an architectural ceramic construction material in England in the 1860s, and in the United States in the 1870s. It was generally used to supplement brick and tiles of similar colour in late Victorian buildings.It had been used before this in...
, a shield over an eagle with draped flags.
Inside is a 180000 square feet (16,722.5 m²) drill hall
Drill hall
A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practice and perform military drill. In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was also used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, which usually incorporated such a hall...
and an 800-seat auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
. A four-centered double truss 100 feet (30.5 m) high spans the ceiling. Two cellar levels, which used to house military vehicles, also provide space for storage, lecture halls, and fitness rooms, that included a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
court and a 400 feet (121.9 m) shooting range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
.
In the office wing, the entry hall has square brick piers supporting the segmental arches that frame the groin vault
Groin vault
A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...
s. Brick quoin
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
s decorate the piers and intrado
Intrado
Intrado Inc. Intrado Inc. provides 9-1-1 and emergency communications infrastructure, systems and services to telecommunications service providers and government public safety agencies in the United States and worldwide. Over 200 million calls are made to 9-1-1 annually. Intrado’s customers...
s. The commander's office, upstairs, is done in the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style, with engaged columns, fielded panel walls and an Adamesque fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
.
Aesthetics
Architect Lewis Pilcher's design was an engineering feat, probably inspired by the large trainsheds of contemporary railroad stations. Six years after its 1917 completion, the Architectural RecordArchitectural Record
Architectural Record is an American monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design, published by McGraw-Hill Construction in New York City. It is over 110 years old...
described it as epitomizing "simplicity, directness, convenience, and adaptation to special requirements". The Record quoted Pilcher himself as saying it was "perhaps the most interesting of all the armory designs in the country. The necessities of mobilization ... were successfully met."
Subsequently it has been described as "schizoid", appearing as "two distinct and incongruous buildings." The medieval architecture of the office wing echoed social concerns of the 1880s, when the National Guard was frequently called out to suppress civil unrest such as strikes. The towers and crenellation suggested the authority and power of the military of an earlier time.
By the early 1910s, the Guard was more integrated with the Army, and their units became more focused on national defense purposes, training and equipping for the battlefield instead of the streets. The design of the drill shed reflects this changing function, its steel and glass making the whole a stylistic hybrid similar to the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
and the 1901 Squadron C Armory in Brooklyn, also designed by Pilcher's firm, the first armory in which the steel drill hall is a prominent element when seen from the outside. "It points toward a moment when historical ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
will be stripped away," writes David Bady of Lehman College, "leaving engineering to be admired as architecture."
History
The Eighth Regiment dates to 1786. Since it was part of the honor guardHonor guard
An honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial unit, usually military in nature and composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their physical ability and dexterity...
at George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's inauguration, it later acquired the informal name of the Washington Greys. Since 1895, it had been based at the old Squadron A Armory on Park Avenue
Park Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
In 1911 the New York State Legislature authorized the construction of a new armory using what had already been excavated as the planned eastern basin for Jerome Park Reservoir
Jerome Park Reservoir
The Jerome Park Reservoir is located in Jerome Park, a neighborhood in the North Bronx, New York City. It was built in 1906 to serve the Croton Aqueduct as part of the New York City water supply system....
. Some military artifacts were unearthed, probably from the nearby sites of Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
forts Independence and Number Five, but no formal archeological survey was done. The firm of Lewis Pilcher, who became state architect two years later, was commissioned.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the armory was active in the war effort. Herbert Lehman, a former governor and U.S. Senator, ceremonially reviewed 10,000 troops there at a 1942 event. It was one of the few registration sites in the city for immigrants from enemy nations. After the war the city offered it to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly as a temporary meeting place until the main UN building was finished.
In 1957 the two rear buildings were constructed. It was designated a city landmark in 1974. At that time the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
called it "an outstanding example of military architecture." Over the years following, the main armory building was neglected, and by the 1990s, the Guard units who called it home were running most of their operations from the annex buildings on West 195th.
For a period in the 1980s it was used as a homeless shelter
Homeless shelter
Homeless shelters are temporary residences for homeless people which seek to protect vulnerable populations from the often devastating effects of homelessness while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community...
. In 1994, one of the community school districts proposed that new schools be built on the site. The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs transferred title
Title (property)
Title is a legal term for a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or an equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document that serves as evidence of ownership...
to the armory and its property to New York City two years later, whereupon the city began trying to find a new location for two of the three units that trained at the armory.
Redevelopment proposals
As early as 1994 community activists had agitated for all or some of the armory to be adapted for school use, due to overcrowding of other nearby schools. Local opposition in 2000 stopped a redevelopment plan that did not include schools. Afterwards, they persuaded the city to spend $31 million replacing the armory's roof and making other repairs.After all Guard units save the 258th Field Artillery Regiment, the descendant of the original Eighth Regiment, left, the city gave a grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
to a local nonprofit, the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (BOEDC), to come up with a plan for reuse and redevelopment. It was estimated that structural repairs alone would cost as much as $40 million. Proposals ranged from the school plan to one from City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell
G. Oliver Koppell
G. Oliver Koppell is a member of the New York City Council from District 11 in the Borough of The Bronx, covering the neighborhoods of Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Woodlawn, Van Cortlandt Village, Norwood, and Bedford Park. He was elected to the Council in 2001, and recently defeated Ari Hoffnung by a...
to develop it into an amateur athletic center. A BOEDC official likened the process to "dealing with several buildings in one."
The armory had always been available for temporary uses. Over the years it had hosted dog and boat shows, as well as boxing matches. In 2006 Warner Bros. rented the armory for six months to make the Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
film I Am Legend
I Am Legend (film)
I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert...
. It was used for both preproduction and principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
, with sets built for scenes set in Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
. The music video for the song "Just Tonight
Just Tonight
"Just Tonight" is the third single by the American alternative rock band The Pretty Reckless, taken from their debut studio album Light Me Up. The song was written by band members Taylor Momsen, Ben Phillips and producer Kato Khandwala.-Release:...
" by rock band The Pretty Reckless
The Pretty Reckless
The Pretty Reckless are an American rock band from New York. The current members are Taylor Momsen , Ben Phillips , Mark Damon and Jamie Perkins ....
was filmed at the armory in 2010.
In 2008, as the city prepared to announce the winning bidder, local activists, community groups and labor unions formed the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) to pressure the city for a Community Benefits Agreement
Community Benefits Agreement
A Community Benefits Agreement in the USA is a contract signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community or neighborhood. In exchange, the community groups agree to publicly support the...
(CBA) as part of the project. A CBA would have required living wage
Living wage
In public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
provisions and union representation not only for any construction work but for jobs with any tenants. KARA also sought to have schools included in the plan, which city officials said was impossible.
The winning bidder, The Related Companies, pledged to invest $310 million in redeveloping the armory into a shopping mall complex. The company already had negotiated a CBA for its Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market
Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market
The Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market is a shopping center in The Bronx, New York. The center encompasses less than one million square feet of retail space, built on a site that formerly held the Bronx Terminal Market, a wholesale fruit and vegetable market as well as the former Bronx House...
, but never reached any agreement with KARA for the armory, saying its wage demands would have made it impossible to attract tenants. Concerns were also raised about traffic issues a mall might create. In 2009, opposition was strong enough that when the city's Planning Commission approved the project, the vote by the usually unanimous body split 8-4 with one abstention, with representatives appointed by the Manhattan and Queens borough president
Borough president
Borough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...
s joined their Bronx counterpart and the Public Advocate's representative.
In 2010 the full City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
rejected the plan by 45-1, with one abstention. Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
expressed disappointment that the proposal had failed, one of the rare redevelopment proposals from his administration to suffer that fate. The mayor's veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
was overridden 48-1, with an absention, a week later.
Related blamed its failure on KARA's wage demands. The activist group said it was "one step closer to achieving a redeveloped Armory that truly benefits the community." Residents of the area were defiant. "We're not suckers in the Bronx," one said. "We're not going to take whatever somebody is offering." Some said they felt the neighborhood needed schools more than malls.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., made the defeat of Related's plan the starting point of a campaign to get living-wage legislation enacted citywide for taxpayer-subsidized projects. Bloomberg later blocked plans to move the Guard unit still at the armory to another facility in the borough, and advocated for opening a homeless shelter in the other annex building, a move perceived as retaliation. Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo is the 56th and current Governor of New York, having assumed office on January 1, 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 64th New York State Attorney General, and was the 11th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development...
named Diaz to his transition team on economic development, which was also seen as a message to Bloomberg.
Efforts to plan a redevelopment of the armory continue. In fall of 2010, Diaz's office retained graduate students and faculty in the Capstone Program at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Wagner School of Public Service to develop a plan. Diaz later skipped a meeting with Bloomberg's deputies as a protest against the mayor's plan to use the armory as one of several new homeless shelters.
See also
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in The Bronx
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Bronx County, New York