The Rebirth of The Bronx Waterfront at Clason Point

The salt marsh at Soundview Park, which underwent a restoration in Clason Point in the Bronx. CLAUDIO PAPAPIETRO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

For decades, The Bronx was an ignored environmental mess but for the last 20 years major groups have been working on restoring our ecology and environment. The Wall Street Journal reports on the rebirth of our waterfront at the mouth of The Bronx River which for years was just a wasteland.

Whether it’s the Harlem River in the South Bronx or up in Riverdale, our parks or the Bronx River, thousands of Bronxites are working hard on a daily basis with many organizations to clean and preserve our beautiful borough. We are, after all, the greenest of the 5 boroughs with 25% of our land as parks.

Here’s an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal. Make sure you click the link at the end to read the full story.

By KAYA LATERMAN

Nov. 27, 2014 7:06 p.m. ET

A far cry from the illegal garbage dump that it once was, the mouth of the Bronx River adjacent to Soundview Park in Clason Point is now home to herons and egrets after a complete ecological overhaul that was decades in the making.

The city Department of Parks & Recreation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with other city, state and federal agencies, last month finished up a $9 million, three-year project that restored native marshland to the area, while also adding a 13-acre meadow and forest.

For years, the lagoons that dot the banks of the Bronx River were an unofficial dumping ground for old sofas, large appliances and cars.

“It was garbage galore,” said Elbin Mena, a resident and community activist in Harding Park, a bungalow community within the borders of Clason Point in southeast Bronx. Mr. Mena had urged various city agencies for over two decades to clean up what essentially is an extension of his backyard.

“I once attached a big rope onto my jeep and yanked this large, eyesore of a car right out of the water myself,” Mr. Mena recalled.

via Back to Life on the Waterfront in Clason Point – WSJ.

Our dear Morgan Powell would be proud and happy to read this if he was still around, so this is dedicated to you, Morgan!

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Ed García Conde

Ed García Conde is a life-long Bronxite who spends his time documenting the people, places, and things that make the borough a special place in the hopes of dispelling the negative stereotypes associated with The Bronx. His writings are often cited by mainstream media and is often consulted for his expertise on the borough's rich history.