Reclaiming the Bronx River in a
New York City Neighborhood
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The Bronx River originates in Westchester County south of the Kensico Dam. . . It flows 13 miles in Westchester County before it enters into the Bronx. Within the Bronx it passes the Botanical Gardens & the Bronx Zoo, but continuing south, it changes drastically. It flows by the neglected Starlight Park, an abandoned toxic cement plant, auto shops, and heavy industry, all in our neighborhood.
In essence, while the Bronx River is beautiful and fully accessible to a primarily white, wealthier community north of the Bronx Zoo, it is highly industrialized, dumped upon, and inaccessible in our neighborhood, predominantly a working class community of color, located on the southern reaches of the river.
Prior to the R.I.V.E.R. Team’s involvement, the approximately three miles of the river that runs through our community (Bronx River/Soundview Community) had not seen any restoration since 1924. Hazardous waster, illegal dumping and eight combined sewage outfalls jeopardize our health, land & morale. Our river has been a casualty of environmental justice borne by our neighborhood.
Community flier created by the R.I.V.E.R. Team (Reaching & Including
Youth Voices for Environmental Rights), Bronx River—Soundview, New York
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nvironmental Justice is a right of all, not a privilege for a few, New York City’s R.I.V.E.R. Team will tell you.
Part of a community-based organization called Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice, these young people, aged 13 to 21, have pushed their call for environmental justice from the street corner to the New York statehouse. In a neighborhood that within a square mile is criss-crossed by four highways, devoid of park land, flanked by sludge and sewer treatment plants, and home to 65,000 residents, including 15,000 youth, their organizing efforts are both passionate and bold.
R.I.V.E.R. team members—all youth of color—spent two years researching the environmental condition of their neighborhood and their stretch of the Bronx River. Working alongside adult-led groups like the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and the Bronx River Alliance, they then came up with a six-point organizing campaign called Project R.O.W. (Reclaiming Our Waterfront) that aims to:
- Restore the Bronx River for community use
- Decommission the under-utilized Sheridan Expressway (I-895) and build a community park in its place
- Construct an East Coast Greenway, to increase the water quality of the river and link communities along the river
- Renovate and clean the inaccessible and abandoned Starlight Park, providing recreational access to the river
- Rehabilitate the Edgewater Road Cement Plant, clean up a brown field site, and revitalize a contaminated area of the river
- Prevent the displacement of Bronx River community residents.
To enact this campaign, the R.I.V.E.R. Team works on various fronts. They keep pressure on elected officials
to “do right” for environmental justice through letter writing campaigns, protests, and presentations at
public hearings. Their monthly water monitoring provides important scientific data for local and state environmental
agencies. They organize regular river cleanups: the largest required help from the National Guard to remove 27 cars
from a three-mile section of the river, a story captured on that evening’s television news.
They have co-hosted two annual river festivals and provided over 500 canoe trips for community residents—and
New York’s Governor Pataki—pointing out landmarks and encouraging recreational use of the river.
In 2001, 18 R.I.V.E.R. Team members spent the summer surveying their neighbors about state plans to repair a little used highway extension, one of several aging, concrete barriers to the local waterfront. “We’ve been saying for two years now that the Sheridan Expressway is not the best use for waterfront land,” said Jennifer Reyes, a R.I.V.E.R. Team member. “We wanted to see if people in the neighborhood agreed.” They did.
Like most organizing groups, the R.I.V.E.R. Team has struggled with broken promises—like losing three of the four million dollars they thought they had secured from the city Parks Department for a riverside park. “Doing this work and keeping engaged in all of its aspects is a constant challenge,” explains Yomara Velez of Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice.
Nonetheless the accomplishments mount:
- The neighborhood increasingly views the river not as a dumpsite but as a resource deserving protection
- Renovations are underway to the previously abandoned Starlight Park, including building a “River House”
- Community Visioning Meetings have produced a park design for Edgewater Road Cement Plant
- Responding to pressure, city officials removed 10,000 dumped tires from the Edgewater site; 1,000 residents presented a petition to the city Parks Department, protesting a proposed truck route that would cut through the land surrounding the cement plant and block access to the river
- $33 million of public funds have been set aside to launch the East Coast Greenway, increasing the water quality and accessibility of the Bronx River
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded the R.I.V.E.R. Team a grant to include more youth in their environmental education efforts and in the cement plant restoration project.
This July, Governor Pataki announced the preservation of a critical parcel of land as an addition to acreage already secured for green space in this previously park-less community. At the announcement, New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said:
“Small drops of water combine to create rivers, and mighty oaks grow from tiny acorns. So, too, this newest acquisition of open space by the State is another step in the development of the Bronx River Greenway.”
The R.I.V.E.R. Team knows well the ripples small drops can make.
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Contact information:
R.I.V.E.R. Team
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
718.328.5622 ext. 13
riverteam@ympj.org
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