South Bronx Unite held its second “Waterfront Community Envisioning” session at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church on St. Ann’s Avenue in Mott Haven on May 11, where the community shared their vision of the Mott Haven-Port Morris waterfront, which spans from the Harlem River to the East River.
The Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront plan is a project led by the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards and South Bronx Unite. The plan includes revitalizing seven underutilized areas along the peninsula: the 134th Street Gantries Park, the East 132nd Street Pier, the Stony Point Trail, the Bronx Kill Waterfront, the Alexander Avenue extension, the Lincoln Avenue Waterfront and the Park Avenue Boat Launch.
For years, South Bronx residents have advocated for developing the 4.5-mile stretch of waterfront in a multi-use open space for the community. Currently, most of the primarily public land owned by New York state is leased to private companies like FedEx, Waste Management and Fresh Direct. Heavy diesel truck operations, waste transfer facilities, landfills and power plants in the area pollute the air — the Bronx has the highest asthma rate in New York City — and the area is not designed for long-term flood protection.
At the May 11 brainstorming session, participants were tasked with developing ideas for accessibility, enjoyment and climate resilience of the 132nd Street Pier and the Lincoln Avenue Waterfront. The feedback will be incorporated in a $20 Million EPA grant application to turn the peninsula waterfront into an accessible recreational area and build on climate resilience.
Mychal Johnson, co-founder of South Bronx Unite and board member of the Mott Haven/Port Morris Community Land Stewards, told the Bronx Times that the event was held to engage the community around a plan that had been prioritized by the state and envisioned by the community over a decade ago.
“And now we’re looking at some EPA funds to actually activate some parts of our waterfront plan,” Johnson explained. “So we can bring our community to the water’s edge, give increased quality of life and also do some flood mitigation work because we live in a flood zone, but there’s no mitigation plans or resiliency plans other than the one the committee has envisioned.”
The participants were divided into four groups. Two groups focused on their future vision of the 132nd Street Pier, which was destroyed in the 1980s in a Con Edison explosion and was never replaced. Currently, residents are crawling through holes in the fence to fish along the banks of the shore, and adjacent to the pier are two of the area’s four peak power plants.
The other two groups brainstormed about what the Lincoln Avenue Waterfront should look like.
The first task was to identify the challenges they encounter when they want to access the sites. Many participants shared they hadn’t even been to the waterfront in their neighborhood because it felt “alien” or they didn’t know how to access it.
The second task was to develop solutions to make the sites more accessible, suggest recreational opportunities, and what should be done to prevent flooding from storm surges and rising sea levels due to climate emergency.
Participants shared that the Lincoln Avenue Waterfront was muddy and lacked lighting. Some felt like “trespassers” whenever they visited the waterfront because of the poor accessibility.
Some recreational features residents wanted to see were a walking trail, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, an open-air market serving as a gathering space and a ferry terminal.
Other features included trees and flowers along Lincoln Avenue, a public bathroom, art installations along the route to the waterfront, an oyster reef to clean the water and safety features like better lighting and pedestrian-friendly walkways.
For the dilapidated pier at 132nd Street, participants envisioned an art park where local artists showcase their work, WIFI, educational opportunities, water sports, greenhouses, a walking forest, an oyster reef to clean the water and improving the water quality.
For Dr. Melissa Barber, a founding member of South Bronx Unite and an advisory board member, the waterfront plan is a holistic approach to address the health and well-being of South Bronx residents by living in a healthy environment.
“For so long, we’ve never had access to green space and [the waterfront plan] a big component of what it means to be healthy and what it means to breathe fresh air, what it means to be in the water [and] that peace it generates,” Barber said. “Being that we live in an urban community — urban meaning Black, Hispanic or you know, people of color — we have for so long lived without those facets.”
The waterfront plan ensures environmental justice, public health, green space, and arts and cultural equities.
Barber told Bronx Times it was important to empower people in the community so they can dictate what improvements will happen in their spaces.
“People have been ignored, their voices have gone unheard, and many times in communities like ours, the decisions that are made top-down are never for us,” Barber said.
