Green Beginnings for the South Bronx Waterfront
For a long time organizers has fought to make life in the Bronx easier to live and for some of these organizers some outcomes have been better then others. Organizers young and old worked to end a tale of half Bronx's North vs South, pollution versus profit. It is no secret the Bronx is extremely dumped on and polluted and the lead cause is industry and has been for a very long time. Because the Bronx had always been dumped on different groups came together all over different parts of the Bronx but the main part would be what we know today as the South and South East Bronx.
Waterfront access for more time than any other time has been the biggest sticking point in different parts of the South Bronx, the thought behind it being if people began to see the beauty of their communities maybe people would cherish it more and physical activity would pick up helping to find organic relief from illnesses such as Asthma which for anyone who has it can be a complete nightmare. With this thought in mind many new waterfront parks began to pop up all over the Bronx/ East River Watershed, parks such as Concrete Plant Park , Starlight Park and Barretto Point Park which can speak for themselves in terms of their benefits, but something still remained missing.
The South Bronx Waterfront today lacks open waterfront access, anywhere you go around the waterfront you find waste water treatment plants, huge factories for things like FEDEX and the biggest one yet which sadly deals with both Bronx and Manhattan trash, Allied Waste Transfer Station . Being that all these locations exist their was a plan to get around these issues and create a water front access point along the waterfront, it sounded like things were looking up but then came the plan for Fresh Direct.
The plan called for moving a trucking food business into a community burdened by air pollution caused by the high volume of truck traffic which already exists, to a location known as the Harlem River Yards. Everyone who is against Fresh Direct understands that a company that doesn't pay living wage, pollutes communities bringing in more industry and does so knowing the impacts is in fact a thorn in the back and lungs, therefor being unaccepted. With this in mind there was a rally where people asked the new Mayor De Blasio to stop this plan and move it somewhere else. The rally was peaceful and interfaith, people were arrested by will because it was not permitted for the community to plant sunflowers which help to relive polluted soil in the area where Fresh Direct would be placed.
The question remains, Breathing or Profit ? It is our task as a community to decided what we want in our communities and what we don't want in our communities. While I understand the needs for jobs and better food choices I believe that outing another factory in a community burdened by factories is bad and its not good for business. I also ask why put it here in the South Bronx and not anywhere else ? I support not having more traffic coming into my community via trucks so it is also up to us to find effective and sustainable solutions to the needs of our communities and in doing so we need to recognize that politicians who allow these choices against community input is poor and lacks representation. If you are an elected official or the leader of a community you job is to give the community what it wants and remove what it does not. I hop in future times we can all agree to having effective and healthy waterfront access because at the end of the day that solves a lot of the oppression that currently exists.
The plan called for moving a trucking food business into a community burdened by air pollution caused by the high volume of truck traffic which already exists, to a location known as the Harlem River Yards. Everyone who is against Fresh Direct understands that a company that doesn't pay living wage, pollutes communities bringing in more industry and does so knowing the impacts is in fact a thorn in the back and lungs, therefor being unaccepted. With this in mind there was a rally where people asked the new Mayor De Blasio to stop this plan and move it somewhere else. The rally was peaceful and interfaith, people were arrested by will because it was not permitted for the community to plant sunflowers which help to relive polluted soil in the area where Fresh Direct would be placed.
The question remains, Breathing or Profit ? It is our task as a community to decided what we want in our communities and what we don't want in our communities. While I understand the needs for jobs and better food choices I believe that outing another factory in a community burdened by factories is bad and its not good for business. I also ask why put it here in the South Bronx and not anywhere else ? I support not having more traffic coming into my community via trucks so it is also up to us to find effective and sustainable solutions to the needs of our communities and in doing so we need to recognize that politicians who allow these choices against community input is poor and lacks representation. If you are an elected official or the leader of a community you job is to give the community what it wants and remove what it does not. I hop in future times we can all agree to having effective and healthy waterfront access because at the end of the day that solves a lot of the oppression that currently exists.
For further information check out/click these links below
South Bronx Unite
Occupy The Bronx
Fresh Direct
The official event page (March 22nd, 2014)
Youtube.com
News 12 The Bronx (2013 Story on Fresh Direct/South Bronx Unite)
South Bronx Unite
Occupy The Bronx
Fresh Direct
The official event page (March 22nd, 2014)
Youtube.com
News 12 The Bronx (2013 Story on Fresh Direct/South Bronx Unite)
