By Zachary Atanasoff

The landscape of Fordham Road is changing. One of the particularly notable sites for Fordham Road’s reinvention is Fordham Plaza. Chain retailers including TJ Maxx, Chipotle, Applebee’s, Starbucks and most recently Macy’s Backstage, have moved into Fordham Plaza. Fordham’s Business Improvement (BID) has largely been responsible for orchestrating this change.

“One Fordham Plaza was really just one big office building,” said Daniel Bernstein, Fordham BID’s Deputy Director. Bernstein says when he started working on Fordham Road, the Plaza primarily featured empty storefronts on the ground floor.

“Fordham Plaza’s reinvention as a retail district has been a long overdue change — and definitely a welcome change in that area,” said Bernstein.

While some critics of the retooling have wondered if the BID is gentrifying the area, Bernstein is quick to respond.

“One thing I’m very proud of is that the businesses that have moved in, moved into empty spaces,” he said. “Do I think that Starbucks signed the lease because Fordham University’s across the street? Sure. But there are just as many residents that go to Starbucks as there are students.”

Fordham Plaza is also across the street from a Metro-North Railroad station. As the landscape across the street from another major business asset: the Fordham Metro-North station evolves, the impact of Metro-North stations in the Bronx becomes relevant.

The Bronx is expected to get four new Metro-North stations by 2022. The proposed stations are located near Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point. The new stations are currently under consideration as part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) 2015-2019 Capital Plan. The MTA is slated to vote on the capital plan on Oct. 28th.
“The capital plan isn’t confirmed yet, but it looks very likely that ‘Penn Station Access’ and the Bronx Metro-North stations will be approved next week,” said Aaron Donovan, a spokesperson for the MTA.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, FCRH ‘79, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast announced an agreement for funding the MTA Capital Plan on Oct. 10th. New York State has committed to provide $8.3 billion while New York City has pledged $2.5 billion. The program’s total cost is about $26.1 billion. The MTA is currently $700 million shy of the five-year Capital Plan’s budget costs.

The MTA is “confident we can reach that [financial goal] without any major cuts,” spokesperson Adam Lisberg told the New York Times in a recent interview.

The proposed Bronx stations are a part of the MTA’s ‘Penn Station Access’ project. The stations would take the Metro-North’s New Haven Line directly to Penn Station by way of the Bronx, using existing track owned by Amtrak.
“Today’s announcement represents a great day for public transportation in the Bronx… and is the most significant infrastructure improvement our borough has seen in decades,” Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said in a recent interview with Bronx News 12.

As Borough President Diaz weighs in on the potential impact of more Metro-North Stations in the Bronx, a construction project is currently underway at Fordham Plaza. The Fordham BID will operate an outdoor Plaza on the intersection of Fordham Road and Third Avenue. The BID has plans to run the plaza as a cultural center for farmers’ markets, musical shows, community events and more.

“It’s going to draw a lot of attention, a lot of press, and a lot of people, as well as Fordham University students,” said Deputy Director Bernstein. “When I first got here ten years ago, one of the major complaints was that Fordham students weren’t really leaving the Rose Hill campus and travelling up the hill,” Bernstein said. “Now, they’re all over the place,” he added.
Recent estimates from contractors estimate that construction on Fordham Plaza will be finished in a few weeks. The main structure in the Plaza is estimated for completion by the end of this year.