Bronx Economic Agency Head Sees Great Development Opportunities
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The Bronx may have the city's highest unemployment rate, but the new head of the Bronx overall economic development corporation believes her multimillion-dollar plans can turn that around. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report. Marlene Cintron, the new head of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, says she has hit the ground running, even if it might be uphill in the current economy.
"The Bronx is open for business," says Cintron.
As president of the non-profit corporation, Cintron oversees millions in loans and economic initiatives. One big plan and aspiration for Cintron and the BOEDC is bringing major hotels to the borough.
"I want a 400-bed hotel/convention center near Yankee Stadium. I think it's extremely doable, it is extremely needed, the access and location would be ideal," says Cintron.
She says another major hotel is needed in the central or north Bronx.
The Bronx native has a background in finance, law and government and says her staff is working not just to bring new business but to keep existing businesses from closing.
On Third Avenue, smaller businesses have experienced a decline in customers since the opening of the nearby Gateway Mall last year.
"They are definitely going to go to new places to see what is out there. From time to time, they do come back, but big places and big malls, they tend to do attract more people," says sales consultant Ben Perez of Fulton Stores.
Cintron says she trying to get the city to help develop Third Avenue.
"They need a supermarket there, they need more parking there and more stores to attract a different niche of the Bronx," says Cintron.
Another big issue in the Bronx is the borough's 13.6 percent unemployment rate, which is the highest in the city and state. Cintron says she hopes to bring jobs by getting companies to move into the vacant Stella D'Oro factory on Broadway.
There is also a push to lure a Korean manufacturer that is in other boroughs.
"The business that are left on 34th Street, the retail business in Queens, the manufacturing and design business in Korea, [we'll be] bringing it all together in the Bronx and creating some sort of a textile zone," says Cintron.
She also has her eye on a German engine company, as residents look to see if she's the economic engine she promises to be.