Borough Prez says he’ll run again

Ruben Diaz Jr. wants four more years.

FreshDirect announces new jobs

Company enlists support of grassroots spokesmen Online grocer FreshDirect has enlisted two more leaders of grassroots organizations in the Bronx to support its move to the Harlem River Rail Yard. Steve Ritz of Green Bronx Machine and Chris Norwood of Health People: Community Preventive Health Institute have endorsed the company, [...]

FreshDirect hires Majora Carter

Majora Carter, the noted South Bronx environmentalist, has been hired by FreshDirect to combat opposition to its relocation to Mott Haven.

Carter’s husband James Chase, the communications director for her consulting company The Majora Carter Group, confirmed that she has been under contract for the last two months to advocate on the on-line grocer’s behalf.

Politicians raise new FreshDirect questions

A Congressman, state senator and two members of the New York City Council have asked the State Department of Transportation to reconsider the lease that gives a private company control of the land where FreshDirect is planning to build its new headquarters. The legislators, who represent Mott Haven, are calling [...]

New exhibition celebrates the Bronx

Once known as the “home for poor millionaires,” an elegant mansion on the Grand Concourse has burst to glittering life as the home of a new art exhibit featuring 32 artists whose work meditates on the Bronx’s past and future.

City woos FreshDirect to the South Bronx

Over the objections of Bronx environmentalists and many local community advocates, the online grocer FreshDirect will move to Port Morris, thanks to a package of taxpayer subsidies worth nearly $130 million.
City officials said the deal preserves 2,000 jobs and will add more than 600 more. Critics cite its high cost and the speed with which it was rushed through without public input. They complain that the location of the new plant jeopardizes plans to build a pedestrian bridge to Randall’s Island and to create public access to the waterfront, and warn that the additional truck traffic to and from FreshDirect will further foul the air in a neighborhood where asthma is epidemic.

The FreshDirect deal at a glance

FreshDirect gets From New York State: • $18.9 million in Excelsior tax credits• $9 million capital grant • $4 million in energy grants and incentives • $1 million loan • Up to $1 million in vouchers for the purchase of electric vehicles From New York City: • Approximately $74 million [...]