Coalition celebrates order delaying hearings
By Janice Harrison
Janice7074@gmail.com
A court order that halted the city’s plan to build a 2,000 bed jail in Hunt’s Point will remain in effect until at least June 12, a federal judge has ruled.
The decision, reached after a hearing in Bankruptcy Court in Connecticut on April 28 and 29, boosted the spirits of the jail plan’s opponents.
Her organization was “thrilled with the postponement, and really hoping it stays postponed,” said Lisa Ortega, of Rights for Imprisoned people with Psychiatric Disabilities.
The delay gives opponents time, she said, to lobby Bronx elected officials, who have unanimously opposed the jail plan, to “really step up and flex their muscles.”
The court’s ruling prevents the Department of Correction from holding a hearing that would begin the formal process of decision-making.
That hearing, originally scheduled for April 16, was canceled when the property’s owner Steven Smith, in a surprise move, sought a temporary restraining order.
Smith told the court the city was “in breach of contract,” saying its announcement of its jail plan scared off two potential buyers who had been negotiating to buy the entire Oak Point rail yard.
In an interview, he appeared to endorse the plan for a “green” industrial park promoted by Sustainable South Bronx and the Green Workers Cooperative. The organizations want an industrial park for businesses that would reuse or remanufacture construction materials to occupy the 28-acre corner of the former rail yard where the city wants to build the jail.
Smith said he hoped the land would eventually house an industrial park, either devoted to recycling or to the food industry.
“I feel our efforts and those of the community are aligned with respect to bringing jobs to the community, preserving the environment, and the economic development of the area,” he said.
Elena Conte, the Solid Waste and Energy Coordinator of Sustainable South Bronx, who has been spearheading her organization’s efforts to acquire the land, said she was “very excited the hearing was canceled.”
While she said she wasn’t certain Smith’s plans were in line with her organization’s agenda, she called his challenge to the city helpful and said, “Ultimately, we want him to cooperate in the planning process.”
Britestarr Homes, from whom Smith’s company Oak Point Energy bought the land in 2002, had filed for bankruptcy protection, and the property has remained under the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court. On April 13, Smith asked the court in Bridgeport, Connecticut to stop the city from holding a hearing on its jail plan in Hunts Point, a hearing that would have started the clock running on the environmental review of the project.
The court issued a temporary restraining order, which it has now ruled will remain in effect until June 12, when it is scheduled to hear new arguments.
Until then, the city will be unable to hold any environmental assessment or land use review hearings.
Opponents of the plan had charged that the Department of Correction was rushing the process and had refused to provide them with information they needed to counter the city’s claims.
“They gave us some documents,” said Conte, “but we felt they were insufficient, and that we would need an accounting list which indicated what was held back and why.”
While the Department of Correction claims it withheld documents it is entitled by law to keep private, the opponents believe the agency is hiding something.
` “We find it difficult to believe that the DOC has a mere 225 pages of records available for review,” wrote the lawyer for Sustainable South Bronx in a formal appeal of the decision to withhold records.
The lawyer, Jack Yoskowitz, asked for building plans, correspondence with Smith’s company, and records of frequent meetings that are referred to in the documents the correction department did turn over. He threatened a lawsuit if they are not forthcoming.
Stephen Morello, deputy commissioner of the Department of Correction, said his department will no longer comment on the jail.