Who would have thought that a modest eye care clinic in Parkchester that opened in 1978 would become such a successful brand that, 36 years later, Metro Optics Eyewear would be opening their 4th and now flagship location in the new Throggs Neck Shopping Center.
Founded by Michael T. Ungaro, the Bronx-bred mom and pop chain has become just the very type of small business and success story we love to celebrate at Welcome2TheBronx. From their Parkchester beginnings, Metro Optics grew into the Hunts Point and Westchester Square neighborhoods and now Throggs Neck with their latest addition.
And it’s not your ordinary vision center either.
According to Metro Optics General Manager John Bonizio, the new flagship location, “marries healthcare, technology, and fashion, for a show-stopping impact.” Bonizio went on to add, ““Virtually every industry is being disrupted by technology, and the optical industry is no exception. We saw a valuable opportunity to take the lead by creating a dedicated Electronic Eyewear department, in order to ensure the safe and effective use of wearable technology within the context of our extensive optical expertise.”
General Manager John Bonizio is seen here training staff at the newest location / Courtesy Metro Optics Eyewear Facebook Page
Metro Optics Eyewear isn’t simply just an eye clinic but they are a pillar in our Bronx community. They have been proud sponsors of other small businesses and organizations including Morris Perk and this year’s historic and first ever Bronx Fashion Week, where models showcased the latest in high-end eyewear. They even host free screening events throughout the borough to promote eye health awareness.
Welcome2TheBronx would like to salute everyone at Metro Optics Eyewear and congratulations on your continued success and being an inspiration to all other Bronx entrepreneurs out there. Congratulations!
The new store opened with a soft launch on November 10th and an official open house and ribbon cutting ceremony will take place December 9, 2014 at 5:30PM.
The new location is at the Throggs Neck Shopping Center at:
815 Hutchinson River Pkwy
Bronx, NY 10461
718-569-5680 Click here to visit website!
Metro Optics Eyewear’s newest location / Photo Courtesy Metro Optics Eyewear Facebook Page
Alexander Avenue in Port Morris is about to get 3 brand new loft buildings — all on one block and all market rate. Joshua Weissman, president of JCAL Development Group LLC, is no stranger to the neighborhood. He’s developed 62 two-family homes in Mott Haven near St. Ann’s Avenue since 1999 and most recently he finished 55 Bruckner Boulevard just last year which was his first foray into the market-rate rental development in the area. The latter development was designed to fit in with the neighboring mixed use townhomes along this stretch of “Antique Row” on Bruckner.
Much like 55 Bruckner Boulevard, Weissman is looking to make sure the new buildings blend in with the existing architecture of the area.
55 Bruckner Boulevard, Weissman’s first market rate rental development in Port Morris was designed to fit in with the other, much older buildings along this stretch of Bruckner Boulevard.
The first to go up will be 136 Alexander Avenue at the corner of 134th Street and the Major Deegan Expressway and will be a 4 story building with a retail unit occupying the ground floor and 6 units above (2 units each per floor although Weissman is contemplating having 5 units with 1 unit occupying an entire floor. The units will approximately be around 650 square feet each (not sure I’d call that a loft except the 1,300 square foot one being considered). Some basic amenities will be indoor bicycle storage (which will come in handy for those wanting to commute to work by bike since the site is 2 blocks from the 3rd Avenue Bridge or simply enjoying the possible development of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront 1 block south which has been given priority status by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (you can still submit testimony in support of this project by clicking on this link) or the new Randall’s Island Connector scheduled to open by Summer 2015. The 2nd floor unit will have a private deck and the 2 top floor units will have exclusive access to the rooftop decks.
Construction is well underway at 136 Alexander Avenue
Directly across the street and adjacent to the popular Ceetay restaurant are two additional lots which Mr. Weissman will begin to develop as well within the next 6 months or so. The buildings will be identical to 136 Alexander Avenue except one will have 9 units since it will sit on a bigger lot. Combined, both buildings will have 3 ground floor retail spaces.
When asked what he thought about the effects of adding additional market rate apartments to a neighborhood that is already considered to be gentrifying, Weissman said that he wants to work with the community and hopes that people from within the community can be a part of it all. “The community needs to grow from within not from the outside”, added Weissman.
To that end, he’s currently seeking a tenant for the retail space at 55 Bruckner Boulevard but is willing to work with local groups and organizations to utilize the now empty space as a pop-up shop until a tenant is found.
Area resident Alex Brown, who lives just a few blocks north of the new developments and alerted us to the construction had his own mixed-feelings about what’s going on in the area:
“At first, it is exciting to see an empty lot being filled with more housing but I still got a chill up my spine. My first thought was fear and anger. As soon as [Borough President] Diaz got the waterfront plan in motion with all the re-zoning and marketing, the spread of development moved like wildfire. The exact feeling I was terrified of. I want to see my community develop, become even more cohesive and continue to work with each other on community needs, but my feelings are the newcomers are not going to enjoy its current charm. I noticed the construction sign while on my way with my camera to document what seems like a new movie being shot over at Club Miami. Another indication that The Bronx has opened all doors. I plea with the future residents of Alexander Ave Lofts to open their eyes and understand we have plenty of kind hearted souls contributing to this borough each and every way they can and to understand they need to be active. Consumer culture is atrocious. Be a citizen! Most importantly do not attempt to change what we have because you think it is better for my Port Morris and Mott Haven communities. We are loud, boisterous, very eclectic and refuse to submit to a homogenous, suburban lifestyle of Starbucks ice coffee. We are not and never will be Williamsburg, we are different. We have our own character. We got to know each other and share our ideas. We plan for fights against what we believe is not in our best interest, like the battle against Fresh Direct. “
Second Market Rate Condominium Development Coming To Mott Haven?
2610 Third Avenue, which sold earlier this year for $1.1 million now sits vacant and is rumored to be slated for market-rate condos according to a local area developer.
2610 Third Avenue sold earlier this year for $1.1 million and is a 4 story mixed use building with ground floor retail. It also happens to be on the same block as Bronx Bricks which was the first market rate condominium development in the South Bronx (and earlier this year also home to the $900,000 listing for one of the units — which was eventually pulled off the market). According to conversation with a local developer who preferred to remain off the record, the new owners are planning to convert the 4 story building into full floor market rate condominium units. Attempts to reach the new owners have been unsuccessful thus far but it wouldn’t be too far fetched considering all that is going on in the area.
Over the past 10 years The Bronx has experienced an unprecedented growth in our Mexican population mostly having settled in Mott Haven and Melrose neighborhoods of our borough from 1.7% of the population in 2000 to over 5% as of 2010. And it’s not just The Bronx but the city’s Mexican population has increased as well during the same time.
Lehman College in The Bronx responded to this trend by establishing the first ever Institute of Mexican Studies, otherwise known as The Jaime Lucero Mexican Studies Institute, in the East Coast.
Now, the Bronx Documentary Center brings us a landmark exhibition of Mexican photographers and documentary journalist showing us their community through their own eyes.
From the BDC:
Mexico is too often represented by American photographers traveling south across the border. In this exhibition, five Mexican and Mexican-American photographers reverse that dynamic, focusing their lenses on the complex duality of their lives and on the United States itself. In these photos, the gaze is not at a Mexico defined by the US, but at Mexicans exploring and defining themselves as they navigate the Mexican and Mexican-American experience today.
Ruth Prieto Arenas opens a window into the lives of Mexican immigrant women in New York City, where they are masters of their own world, where they control their time and their choices, where they have a safe haven. Chuy Benitez’s panoramic photographs capture Houston’s vibrant Mexican-American community at a moment of explosive growth. Fernando Brito’s images of bodies dumped in the Sinaloa countryside by drug cartels bring home the tragedy created by the United States’ insatiable drug consumption. Alejandro Cartagena has spent much of the last decade examining the Mexico-US relationship along the border in various documentary photo series, including Suburbia Mexicana, Between Borders and The Car Poolers. Mauricio Palos’ photos, from spring break in Cancun to Detroit’s bleak streets, brilliantly highlight the historic contradictions between our two countries. In this exhibition, the gaze is not at a Mexico defined by the US, but at Mexicans exploring and defining themselves as they navigate the Mexican and Mexican-American experience today.
EXHIBITION RECEPTION
Saturday, Nov. 15, 6:00PM – 9PM
Free and open to the public
ON VIEW
Nov. 15 – Jan. 12, 2014
Thursdays and Fridays 3PM – 7PM
Saturdays and Sundays 1PM – 5PM
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.
The connector is something which the community has been battling to get constructed for well over 20 years but due to lack of funding and interest from City Hall for so long as well as dealing with not just one but multiple agencies which the connector runs through, the process has been a lengthy one.
The tour was part of the New York Restoration Project’s ‘The Haven Project’ in which numerous organizations and residents came together collaborate on community improvements. According to their latest progress report the project is described as:
What Is The Haven Project? The Haven Project is a collaboration between the citizens of the Mott Haven/Port Morris Neighborhoods and a multi-disciplinary team of community leaders, academic researchers and urban designers lead by the New York Restoration Project (NYRP).
The Haven Project will be different. This is not a “pie-in-the-sky” masterplan for Mott Haven. The project will be specific in its implementation and pointed in its purpose. Goals will be attainable and will help cultivate larger changes in the physical and social fabric of the neighborhood.
The project will implement strategic community improvement projects that will better connect pedestrians and bikers of the South Bronx with their long neglected waterfront and to the soon to be completed Randall’s Island Connector, giving the community access to a world class recreational facility.
Community led design strategies will be directed at improving the health and well being of the neighborhoods. The Haven Project will identify and analyze metrics to determine design objectives that will be most impactful in creating and improving necessary connections and in advancing health outcomes.
Already the ground has been paved (just the first pavement, an final layer of pavement will be added to the connector) and landscaping has been done along the quarter-mile stretch adding plants, bushes and reeds with more to come.
The actual frame of the bridge going over the Bronx Kill and into Randall’s Island has been installed but yet to be complete. According to Kate Van Tassel of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and a construction worker, the costliest part and most time consuming part of the project will be the the safety gate to protect pedestrians from the CSX train which runs once a day into the New York Post facility once a day.
The gate will automatically close off the path onto the bridge when a train is approaching and keep pedestrians safely away from the train. Once the train moves away the gates will automatically open and allow for the flow of residents, whether on foot, bicycle, rollerblades or however they choose to get to Randall’s Island.
CSX rail tracks which will be blocked off by automatic gates to protect pedestrians. According to NYCEDC and NYRP the train only runs once a day to the New York Post facility and usually at night but the times do vary and schedules are never the same.
Robin Urquhart (left) of the New York City Montessori School along with fellow residents from the Morris Park neighborhood of The Bronx.
All these diverse business owners and organizations are excited about the new access that the area will gain once the connector is completed as well as the potential for the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan becoming reality now that the Department of Environmental Conservation has given the plan priority status and #8 in line among all plans being considered.
“My business is right across from Randall’s Island but there’s no way for me to get there unless I go over the Triboro (RFK Bridge)”, said Rafael Barbosa, owner of Port Morris Distillery. He added that, “My daughters have basically been lifelong residents of Randall’s Island, playing soccer there since they were 4 and 5 years old. It’s also a great opportunity for our business to be able to tap into all the people who will potentially come over from Randall’s Island and into The Bronx and vice-versa. Hopefully with this movement the government will see that there is a so much great interest in waterfront access by the residents that FreshDirect wouldn’t be allowed to locate here because we have a lot of people that want to be down there on that land and use it as open space.”
Once completed, the Randall’s Island Connector will only demonstrate further that the residents and businesses of Port Morris and Mott Haven not only deserve the waterfront which they have planned but that it should come off the drawing board and turn into a reality.
Courtesy New York Restoration Project
Edwin Torres, a Visual Journalist and local resident in the Melrose area of The Bronx, who also partook of the tour said, “It was great to see a behind the scenes look at the Randall’s Island Connector. I never imagined having bridge connecting the Bronx to Randall’s island. This will directly provide Bronx residents with easy access to the summer games and reputable concerts on Randall’s Island. It is an ideal gateway to quick summer retreats and picnics. “
It was very clear that everyone on the tour was excited about the connector finally nearing completion. Walking through the landscaped connector and seeing the how beautiful it already looks without even being complete gave me great pride and joy and it was easy to envision the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront alive with thousands of residents and Bronxites enjoying what all the 4 other boroughs of this great metropolis take for granted.
Randall’s Island Connector, highlighted in red, is a 1/4 mile strip under the Amtrak Railroad lines and begins at 132nd Street.
Big Bank Hank of the pioneering rap group the Sugarhill Gang poses for a portrait at Sugar Hill Records on November 7, 1983. (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images – Via LA Times)
Born Henry Lee Jackson in The Bronx in 1957, Big Bank Hank of The Sugarhill Gang has passed away due to complications with cancer. Big Bank Hank is considered to be one of the founders of Hip Hop with The Sugarhill Gang’s hit ‘Rapper’s Delight’ which was released 35 years ago this month.
Hank went to Bronx Community College where he received his Associates Degree in oceanography but was unable to find employment in his selected career. This eventually led to his path to becoming one of Hip-Hop’s pioneers.
For almost 30 years the 3 upper levels of the 4 buildings have been abandoned and the windows were filled in with cinder blocks and cement. Less than a year after the artist Banksy tagged the building, the owner is now converting the upper levels into residential units.
Last year, on October 21st, the infamous street artist known as Banksy struck in the Melrose neighborhood of The Bronx on E 153rd Street (just down the block from me) where Elton and 3rd Avenues meet prompting thousands of fans to trek to the area and catch a glimpse of his controversial ‘Ghetto 4 Life’ piece. The 4 story buildings have been vacant for decades (close to 30 years) with the exception of the retail spaces on the ground floor. Now the owner is beginning the process of converting the top 3 floors into market rate residential units.
“Lots of property owners now remove Banksy pieces so they can sell them at auction for pure (and enormous) profit. His “Slave Labour” stencil piece sold for $1.1 million last June; “Flower Girl” from an LA gas station went for $209,000 in December; “Kissing Coppers” from an English pub wall, sold for $575,000 in February. Banksy doesn’t condone removal, but he has never, as far as we can find, tried to stop a sale. Banksy doesn’t make street art anymore; he gives half-million-dollar gifts to people who own buildings.”
“A mum-of-five woke up to find her home had more than doubled in value overnight – after artist Banksy sprayed a £500,000 mural on her wall. Stunned Karen Smith, 48, heard voices outside in the early hours but thought nothing of it until she spotted men loading huge screens into a van in the morning. She watched them zoom off before finding a painting of three 1950s-style spies on the side of her £300,000 three-bed semi in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.”
But that’s not what pushed the building owner to renovate the derelict edifice according to a statement he made to Welcome2TheBronx.
“I know there is a demand for housing and have seen the positive changes in the neighborhood,” said building owner David Demaggi.
According to Demaggi, the process is in the very beginning phases as they work with the Department of Buildings to determine the number of apartments and bedroom counts, etc. They are also determining if the 4 buildings will be combined to create one single property. He went on to stress that this is very preliminary and that total number of units have yet to be determined let alone rents but the rents will indeed be market-rate.
Patricia Wheeler Bozza, who grew up in Melrose and lived in one of the buildings at 649 Elton Avenue (651 Elton is the one where the Banksy ‘Ghetto 4 Life’ is located), told us she lived there from when she was born in 1947 until 1967 when her parents decided to purchase a house and moved north near the Olinville Section of the Bronx.
“It was a railroad flat above stores and the rent started out at $27.30 a month and once we had radiators and risers, the rent rose to $43.80,” said Wheeler Bozza. “The bathtub was in the kitchen!” she added.
If indeed the units are market-rate, it will be the first of its kind in the area. All construction in Melrose so far has been mixed low and middle income rentals, condos and cooperative apartments.
Residents React
Melrose resident and homeowner in the area since the early 2000’s Dani, says she’s glad that, “Finally something is being done with the building.”
“I was tired of walking by that building and seeing it so abandoned and nothing being done with it for so many years. I think it’s positive for the neighborhood and making use of space that otherwise is sitting empty.” Dani added.
Other residents were a bit more cautious. 30 year old creative consultant Karah Shaffer said:
“As someone who moved into the neighborhood nearly seven years ago because of the inexpensive rent, express trains to Fulton Street, and lack of “cool” neighbors, hearing of the plans for the upper floors of the four story building at 3rd Avenue and 153rd to be renovated and offered at market rate is a bit bittersweet for me. I understand the elation of any newcomer to the neighborhood seeing the space they can get for the price per square foot. I also understand that the asking price of these units will likely far outpace what I and other neighbors pay per month, and those newcomers are far less likely to accept the neighborhood as it is than to wish for things that aren’t here. I hope potential new residents will be mindful of their surroundings and understand fully that Melrose and the Hub already have everything they’ll need, likely for a fraction of whatever neighborhood they’re moving in from would sell the same necessities for.
That Port Morris has the higher end sushi, galleries, and restaurant fare to enjoy a night out with friends or a cute date. That the people here have worked their fingers to the bone to maintain what some people might turn their nose up at– a friendly, welcoming, diverse, and active neighborhood with local shop owners and family-run businesses. The South Bronx does not need stamps of approval from would-be residents, it needs the respect of all who enter. So long as this attitude is adopted by potential renters, move on up!”
Located next to The Umbrella Hotel and in the middle of The Hub Business Improvement District, future residents will have easy access to shopping and many other amenities in the neighborhood. The Bronx Documentary Center is within 4 blocks from the site as is historic The Opera House Hotel. 3 blocks away will rise La Central which will include a 48,000 square foot YMCA and rooftop farm. La Central will include almost 1,000 units within 5 buildings and include an astronomy observation deck on the roof of one of the 21 story buildings.
Those looking for their fitness fix have Senshi Okami Martial Arts Cener where you can learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the legendary John’s Boxing Gym, Musoko’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy (at 686 Courtland Avenue), and of course the national fitness chains such as Crunch, Planet Fitness, Blink Fitness (Blink has two locations in Melrose), and Lucille Roberts for women.
The cinder blocks and cement that once sealed all the windows are now mostly gone. Windows are being installed. So now we sit tight and see what happens over at the “Banksy” Building as it continues its renovation and eventually begins to welcome new residents into an already dynamic and diverse neighborhood. Melrose is the most diverse it has ever been in its history — let’s make sure we can keep its diversity alive.
If you want to see what Food Justice looks like, its this; a rainy day in the Bronx where Karen Washington and the coalition of La Familia Verde farmers are having their weekly farmers market.
These women, some of who are in their eighties, are growing fresh food in urban gardens through out the neighborhood and are bringing it to the people in their community. Karen Washington and La Familia Verde work to remove the stigma and idea that your income precludes you from access to fresh produce.
For the farmers that come to this market, they know they’re not going to make a ton of money selling produce here – they’re here to make sure that everyone has equal access to their food thus helping build friendship and community.
2417 Third Avenue, with its Bronx Lofts Billboard, is under contract for $31 million. The building is directly across from the Mott Haven Bar and Grill
Will this transaction be followed by others? With so many similar properties in the Lower Concourse Rezoning District, it will be only a matter of time before everyone is ready to sell and then what?
2417 Third Avenue sits within the southern portion of MAP’s development plans for the Special Harlem River Waterfront District.
Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments section below.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Albert (right) and Chuck Davis in Albert’s Riverdale, Bronx home. The brothers fought in and survived the Battle of the Bulge — together.
Welcome2TheBronx salutes our veterans today and everyday. Here’s a heartwarming story about twins from Pittsburgh, one of which made his home in The Bronx over 50 years ago, and how they survived a major WWII battle:
“The 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in December has twins Albert and Charles Davis thinking back — and looking ahead too.
The 89-year-old brothers are the last surviving set of six pairs of twins to serve in the Army’s 17th Airborne Division in one of the most critical battles of the 20th century.
“I don’t remember that we worried about one another,” said Albert Davis, a retired teacher who has lived in Riverdale, the Bronx, for more than 50 years. “We were so naive and so young.”
“It’s incredible to think back on it now,” said Charles Davis, a retired advertising executive from Centerville, Ohio, who spent a week in September visiting his brother in the Bronx. “We’re twins, but we have very different dispositions. I’m more laid back and he’s more of a take-charge guy.”
Public Hearing to Stop Cuomo From Giving FreshDirect $10 Million To Cause Asthma in the Bronx Mon, Nov 17th, 5-9 pm;
4:30 pm Press Conference
Hostos Community College, Gymnasium
450 Grand Concourse, C Building
If link doesn’t work, cut and paste the below into an email, then print and bring it with you to the hearing to read it into the record.
TO: FreshDirect@esd.ny.gov
CC: southbronxunite@gmail.com
SUBJECT: I oppose the proposed ESD $10 million subsidy to FreshDirectTo Whom It May Concern:I oppose the proposed Empire State Development subsidy package for FreshDirect because the project: (1) runs counter to the needs, desires and well-established development plans of the local community (with multiple residential rezonings and State open space proposed prioritization of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan), (2) would have devastating environmental and health impacts on a community where one in four children has asthma (as the company would bring upwards of 1,000 diesel truck trips through the neighborhood every day), (3) has no requirement to pay its workers a living wage (including for the more than half of its workforce that is not unionized), nor add any jobs despite promises made to the public, (4) violates the constitutional requirement that the state-owned land on which it is proposed to be sited provide a public benefit and reduce truck traffic, (5) is inconsistent with efforts to protect the South Bronx waterfront flood zone in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, and (6) runs contrary to fair business practices – no analysis has been made of its impact on existing brick-and-mortar grocers nor on new entrants to the grocery delivery market; there is also no cost-benefit analysis regarding the potential loss of jobs of Queens residents, nor on the ability of FreshDirect to stay and expand in its already-subsidized Queens location, which it disclosed would be the most economical option.
Additional facts to learn more, share and build more in-depth testimony against this project if you have the time!
IMPORTANT UPDATES: We are winning, but we need everyone to get across the finish line.CLICK HERE for updates on our community’s ongoing litigation against FreshDirect (especially in light of newly disclosed information), overwhelming support for the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan (which does not include FreshDirect), and growing pressure on the de Blasio administration to stop the still-pending subsidies.
“But why care about sulfur? Even without the lessons learned from that episode of “Hey Arnold!” when the protagonist traveled into the sulfuric depths of a Brooklyn-esque city, most people would agree that the less sulfur they inhale, the better off their bodies. Indeed, the EPA warns of severe health dangers from even short-term exposure to sulfur. “Current scientific evidence links short-term exposures to SO2, ranging from 5 minutes to 24 hours, with an array of adverse respiratory effects including bronchoconstriction and increased asthma symptoms,” says the EPA’s website, “these effects are particularly important for asthmatics at elevated ventilation rates (e.g., while exercising or playing.)”
Studies show a connection between short term sulfur exposure and increased emergency room visits and hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses, according to the EPA. “SOx can react with other compounds in the atmosphere to form small particles. These particles penetrate deeply into sensitive parts of the lungs and can cause or worsen respiratory disease, such as emphysema and bronchitis, and can aggravate existing heart disease, leading to increased hospital admissions and premature death,” says the EPA’s website.”
Now CityLab from the Atlantic reports that there is a possible link between air pollution and adolescent ADHD in a study which focused on the South Bronx amongst several other NYC neighborhoods:
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.
The research team monitored 233 nonsmoking women living in Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Bronx. The women and their household pollutant levels were monitored from the time of pregnancy until their children reached the age of 9. Those living in highly polluted areas were five times as likely to give birth to a child that developed ADHD during the course of the study. (The researchers controlled a number of factors, including; sex of the child, the child’s ethnicity, the mother’s education level, maternal ADHD symptoms, and quality of home caretaking environment).
“This study suggests that exposure to PAH encountered in New York City air may play a role in childhood ADHD,” explains Dr. Frederica Perera, the report’s lead author.
Public Hearing
Stop Cuomo From Giving FreshDirect $9 Million To Cause Asthma in the Bronx* Mon, Nov 17th
6-9pm; 5:30pm Rally
Hostos Community College, Gymnasium
450 Grand Concourse, C Building
1) Prepare testimony
2) Show up to the public hearing
3) Sign up to read and submit your testimony
Use some, part or all of this set of facts to form your own statement against this project!
UPDATES: WE ARE WINNING, BUT WE NEED EVERYONE TO GET ACROSS THE FINISH LINE!
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!
Support the Proposed Prioritization by the State of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan – Our community’s plan for the waterfront – which does not include FreshDirect’s diesel truck warehouse – has received overwhelming support from City and State agencies, Speaker Mark-Viverito and more than 200 residents and orgs. If you have not already done so, submit your comments in support of the plan – LINK HERE.
Continue to Put Pressure on the de Blasio Administration – Mayor de Blasio has the power to stop this deal! More than 400 phone calls and emails have been made to his office asking him to stop this deal. If you have not done so already, contact his team today – LINK HERE.
South Bronx Unite is a coalition of South Bronx residents, organizations and allies working together to improve and protect the social, environmental and economic future of the South Bronx. South Bronx Unite formed in response to the proposed relocation of FreshDirect from Long Island City in Queens to the Harlem River Yard, a 96-acre Port Morris/Mott Haven waterfront parcel of public land leased by the New York State Department of Transportation to Harlem River Yard Ventures in 1991 for 99 years with no public benefit to the community. In an undemocratic and community-excluded process, Fresh Direct has aimed to secure nearly $140 million of publicly financed subsidies from the City and State to assist with its proposed move to the Harlem River Yard. Even though FreshDirect would introduce 1,000 daily diesel truck trips to South Bronx neighborhoods where 25% of children have asthma, the City and FreshDirect failed to adequately review the environmental impacts associated with the project and excluded the affected community from the decision-making process.
