Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Empty Kingsbridge Armory is Trouble for Ruben Diaz
By
Sabrina Jaszi
Published Mar 28, 2010
Modified Mar 28, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Sabrina Jaszi
Published Mar 28, 2010
Modified Mar 28, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Last year Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. fought and conquered the building of a mall in the historic Kingsbridge Armory; now—facing a possible bid for citywide office—he has to figure out what to do with the hard-to-fill space. "He's got a big problem," a Bronx elected official told the Post. "No one's been able to do anything with this thing, and now he comes along and stops the only development that seemed to have a chance."
Diaz has formed a task force to tackle the problem, even offering a spot to Seth Pinksy, one of the primary organizers of the shopping mall plan (he politely declined). The borough president hasn’t exactly admitted that he may have fouled up—he sunk the Bloomberg-endorsed project by requiring that the mall pay its employees a living wage of $10/hour with benefits—but he has backed down. The fighting rhetoric he used last year (“The notion that any job is better than no job no longer applies," he once said) has been replaced by attempts at pacification. "We want to move forward," he said recently. "We understand what happened in November was very emotional for many folks."
Tagged
bronx
Bronx Borough President
kingsbridge armory
mayor bloomberg
Ruben Diaz
seth pinsky
shopping mall
Sabrina Jaszi
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .