Although The Bronx is on the mainland, as a peninsula, we are surrounded by water yet access to our waterfront is limited especially in the West Bronx.
Now a group is pushing for greater access to the Hudson River in Riverdale by expanding a small 600 foot park by 2 miles all the way north to the Westchester County border at the City of Yonkers.
Thanks to community residents from Port Morris and Mott Haven in The South Bronx—along with local institutions, community based organizations and businesses—the vision for a sustainable waterfront and access to it by local residents has taken one leap closer to becoming reality and as soon as a 2017 groundbreaking.
#WeNeedToBreathe
It’s been almost a 3 year battle since FreshDirect sweetheart deal was announced as a done deal to dump a trucking and pollution intensive industry in the growing residential neighborhood of Port Morris directly impacting those living in the immediate area including Mott Haven. The deal would bring over 1,000 trucks and trips a day adding to an area with 8x the national rate of asthma and now FreshDirect has hit a new low.
Word has been received that the company is planning a “secret” groundbreaking at the Harlem River Yards on Monday, December 22nd at 10AM so we are calling all those who have been fighting against environmental injustice and racism to join us on this date to rally against this move.
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.
Today Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, along with FreshDirect Founder and CEO Jason Ackerman (neither who showed up to the public hearings this past Monday for the company’s proposed subsidies) handed out 500 turkeys to residents of Mitchel Houses in Mott Haven (“…taking advantage of the poor and hungry” as one person put it). Oh did we mention that we can’t even take Diaz’s photo-op seriously since he doesn’t seem to know that Mitchel Houses is spelled with one L and not two and secondly, the NYCHA development is located in Mott Haven and not Port Morris as he says on his Facebook Page.
This week has been one for the books for the South Bronx. First we heard about the loft building at 2417 Third Avenue in Port Morris being under contract for $37 million, then we reported about the “Banksy” building being developed into market-rate rental apartments. Now we have 4 additional developments on the radar.
Dozens of people from all over The Bronx and the city came out today for a sneak peak tour of the new Randall’s Island Connector which will connect our borough to the 432 island park. Once the connector is completed by Summer 2015 it will provide Bronx residents with walking access onto the island which currently is only accessible from the Bronx by car via the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (Triboro Bridge) or via Manhattan through East Harlem. This, of course, is ironic considering that The Bronx is closer to the island and only separated by 30 feet at the narrowest point by the Bronx Kill — during low-tide you can walk from The Bronx to Randall’s Island.
Researchers from Columbia University and elsewhere have found a possible link between air pollution and adolescent ADHD. According to the report, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, pregnant women from New York City exposed to certain air pollutants were more likely to birth a child with ADHD. The pollutants —polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)—are released into the atmosphere through the burning of coal, tobacco, and petrol.
Legal Updates – The ongoing litigation to stop Fresh Direct’s move to the Harlem River Yards continues! Newly disclosed information provides us with the opportunity to request renewal of our claim that the State DOT violated the New York Constitution by allowing land at the Harlem River Yard to be leased to Fresh Direct. We’ll keep you posted!
When real estate companies and developers begin to look at your neighborhood more and more intently we know that there is a big danger of gentrification creeping in. When investments begin to top $2 billion in The Bronx, that means we’re no longer the final frontier but things are already happening.
Today, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 2, which covers the 5 boroughs…
Today, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 2, which covers the 5 boroughs…
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