Recent TV Show about Spuyten Duyvil

[ndembowski]

Check out this recent episode of CUNY TV’s DiverseCity program here.

KHS members Stephanie Coggins, Jodi Colón , and I are all intereviewed as is Lloyd Ultan, the former Bronx Borough Historian.

Professor Ultan corroborated what experts have told me–that no one really knows for sure what the words “Spuyten Duyvil” meant to early Dutch colonists.

[vkrompinger@gmail.com]

Thank you all for making such a contribution to Spuyten Duyvil.  I really enjoyed this episode!

[COGGINSS]

Although there are a few factual errors in the section on Villa Rosa Bonheur, it’s otherwise a great episode. It’s respectful of the community, appreciating the commitment of local people and Groups to the specialness of the place we call home.

That’s my favorite part.

[julieabellhorn]

This is really wonderful!  Kudos to all involved.

[jbakerjonathan]

This is a very enjoyable video. I had wondered how the developer was able to destroy the Villa Rosa Bonheur. Now I know, he used a “loophole”, among other things. The interior of the Edgehill Church matches the beauty of its exterior. I hope to one day see it in person.

Also, it is a bonus for me to now have a face associated with the name Nick Dembowski 😉

[Thomas Casey]

Perfect that the KHS & Edgehill Church was front and center in this episode.  I forgot that there are many free Bronx tours on Youtube worth viewing.

[jillianbaez]

I finally got a chance to watch the whole episode and this was fabulous! Thank you to all who were involved. I was pleasantly surprised to see my neighbor Daniel Temkin’s artwork featured!

[COGGINSS]

Jillian, there were a couple of inaccuracies in the presentation.

 

1) Yes, the property was bought “as of right”, but the permits oy allowed for interior demolition. The paperwork filed by the developers also evidenced the presence of asbestos. So when the roof started coming off, and the community and CB8 alerted the DOB, DOB  sat on their hands for 11 weeks until the damage was done.

2) When I reviewed the paperwork for the latest request for landmarking, nothing stated that VRB was in bad shape, too bad for landmarking. The damage preventing landmarking appears to be done during the this rogue roof demolition period. I don’t know who CUNY spoke to at Landmarks, someone who wouldn’t identify themselves by name, but I never heard that VRB was so bad off it couldn’t be landmarked, at least not until it was destroyed by the contractor.

I had always heard that the family owning VRB had been approached to landmark but rejected the idea because it would constrain them.

Another thing that is dead wrong is the claim that neighbors complaints shut down the construction. It’s partly true that sustained community complaints forced DOB to pull their paperwork and that’s what shut it down. Three full SWOs public and worker hazards and roof demolition in the presence of asbestos. The show states that there was an asbestos survey during the SWOs.  Tests had to be done to determine the release and presence of asbestos outside  the house as the result of the demolition.  But the presence of asbestos was known by DOB on Day 1.

So there was no “loophole” per se. Just a whole lot of enabling on the part of a public agency who’s mission in part is to police construction and protect people from violations. Not so much.

 

 

 

 

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