Construction of the massive $92 million animal shelter by the Bay Plaza Mall in the northeast Bronx is well underway, with officials holding a “topping off” ceremony earlier this month.
Workers broke ground on the city-funded project, officially called the Bronx Animal Care Center, in May 2023. City officials at the “topping off” ceremony on Aug. 15 said that the facility will open in 2025 as planned. The center’s structural steel foundation is almost complete.
When finished, the center, located at 2060 Bartow Ave., will be 50,000 square feet and will accommodate 70 dogs, 140 cats, 30 rabbits and 20 animals of other species. It will also provide adoption services and a low-cost veterinary clinic.
“The recent topping off ceremony for the Animal Care Centers site in the Bronx was a paws for celebration,” said Shari Logan, a NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokesperson. “The event reemphasized our commitment to pet families having access in the borough to adopt four-legged loved ones [and other services].”
The city’s animal shelters are overseen by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and operated by the nonprofit Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC).
The facility will have covered exercise runs, courtyards and community space, according to the NYC Department of Design and Construction, the agency overseeing the building of the shelter. The shelter will also offer educational programs for kids and volunteer opportunities for seniors.
The project has been a long time in the making for the Bronx Animal Shelter Endeavor (BASE), an advocacy group that has been calling for a shelter in the Bronx for years. The group brought the need for an animal shelter to former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014.
De Blasio announced the Co-op City site in January 2018.
That year, the local Bronx Community Board 10 and former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. took stances against the Co-op City location, citing a lack of support from local residents.
Diaz said the city didn’t make enough outreach efforts to Co-op City residents and that the community had already long desired a recreational facility at the site.
However, former Council Member Andy King, who initially opposed the location, gave the project the green light after agreeing to a compromise with de Blasio that promised benefits for local residents, such as a community center.
The City Council unanimously approved the site in November 2018.