The future of the Thompson Building remains unsettled as redevelopment plans for the Bronx Psychiatric Center property have shifted. The six-story structure, abandoned and covered in graffiti, stands on the state-owned campus near Buhre, St. Theresa and Wilkinson avenues, where Pelham Bay residents can see it from their homes.
In an account by the Bronx Times, Sandi Unger, a Bronx resident and member of the state hospital’s board of visitors, said she has documented conditions at the Thompson and adjacent Parker buildings. Unger described the buildings as open and accessible to vandalism; the report said a state official told her that removing the graffiti would cost at least $100,000.
The Bronx Times also reported that Michele Torrioni, president of the Pelham Bay Taxpayers Association, raised the Thompson Building during a walking tour with local elected officials. She said she receives complaints about the graffiti and warned, “Leaving the graffiti there encourages others and it will spread like a cancer,” according to the outlet.
A Redevelopment Plan Years in the Making
Plans for the 33-acre state-owned property in Pelham Bay include affordable, market-rate and co-op housing, as well as commercial space and a hotel, according to the Bronx Times. The outlet reported that the prospective owner has not decided whether the Thompson and adjacent Parker buildings will be demolished or repurposed…