AM Torres, Sen Sepúlveda, and Community Push For Bill to Ban NYSDOT's Cross Bronx Expansion

Related Media

2f510721-1.png

BRONX, NY (04/29/2026) (readMedia)-- This morning, impacted residents from Bronx River Houses joined Assemblymember Emérita Torres and Senator Luis Sepúlveda for a virtual press conference urging state officials to halt the Cross Bronx expansion and invest in the future the South Bronx actually deserves: clean air and water, improved neighborhood infrastructure, and vibrant, accessible public spaces that are well-programmed and maintained. Assemblymember Torres and Senator Sepúlveda are currently sponsoring the Stop Highway Community Harm Act to ban New York from widening highways within 200 feet of public housing or in ZIP codes with high asthma rates. If passed this session, the new legislation would effectively outlaw the state's planned Cross Bronx expansion.

Watch a recording of the Zoom conference here and view a rendering of the proposed expansion below.

Despite the air quality crisis facing local communities, Governor Hochul and the State Department of Transportation are advancing plans to expand the Cross Bronx by up to 50 feet, right next to 3,000 public housing residents at Bronx River Houses who are battling skyhigh asthma rates. With state officials days away from issuing a final design plan and environmental determination, more than 64,000 local residents living along the sited project area are at risk of severe health impacts that could last for the next 80 years minimum.

"For far too long, transportation decisions have treated communities like mine as expendable. The Stop Highway Community Harm Act draws a clear line: we will not continue expanding highways in neighborhoods already overburdened by pollution, high rates of asthma, and poor health outcomes. My bill is about fairness-it recognizes that infrastructure decisions are public health decisions. We can maintain safe, effective transportation without deepening harm, and we have a responsibility to ensure that our most vulnerable communities are no longer paying the price for past policy failures," said Assemblymember Emerita Torres, Assembly District 85.

"For as long as I have been a Bronx resident and a public servant, I have warned the public about the lasting harm the Cross Bronx Expressway has had on the health outcomes of Bronxites. Expanding the Cross Bronx Expressway is not progress; it is the continuation of historic harm that has impacted entire generations. As a State Senator, I want to work with Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to halt this expansion and prioritize investments that reduce pollution, improve mobility, and create healthier neighborhoods for our families. Today, along with Assemblymember Emerita Torres, the Bronx River Alliance, and the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansión Coalition, we raise our voices to say: enough is enough. We will not accept further highway expansions that sicken our children, pollute our air, and divide our neighborhoods. The future of the Bronx will not be built with more concrete, but with environmental justice, public health, and respect for the people who live here," said Senator Luis R. Sepúlveda.

"We make up a community of more than 3,000 residents, where kids and seniors are forced to breathe toxic air every single day, thanks to the Cross Bronx. Harrod Avenue is the only thing standing between Bronx River Houses and the highway, and now the Governor wants to bring it 50 feet closer to our doorstep. Living in public housing doesn't give officials a free pass to stiff us with dirty emissions and it's time our laws reflect that. That's why we are calling on Albany to pass the Stop the Highway Community Harm Act and demanding that Governor Hochul stop the expansion. What the South Bronx actually needs is clean air, safer streets, and accessible public spaces that reconnect our neighborhoods. The Governor has an opportunity to make that vision a reality," said Norma Saunders, President, Bronx River Houses Resident Association.

"As a mother of five living at Bronx River Houses, expanding the Cross Bronx would devastate our community. My two girls were in perfect health when we first moved here. But after just a few years of breathing in traffic fumes, they developed asthma. My daughters didn't choose to grow up next to a highway, but now they're paying the price with their lungs. Our families want a safer, healthier corridor for our kids; the last thing we need is a wider highway. We are counting on Governor Hochul to stop the Cross Bronx expansion before it's too late," said Tiffane Thorpe, Bronx River Houses resident.

"With a bigger Cross Bronx on the horizon, the health and future of our entire borough hangs in the balance. But no one will bear that burden more heavily than the families living at Bronx River Houses. After spending decades restoring the Bronx River and the surrounding community from environmental damage, we refuse to watch officials take the Bronx back another 50 years with this expansion. Governor Hochul must listen to her constituents, invest in stronger mitigation measures, and deliver real benefits for the 64,000-plus Bronxites who will soon bear the brunt of a wider, more congested highway. We are calling on the State Legislature to pass this bill and ensure public housing residents are no longer subject to dangerous highway expansions," said Siddhartha Sánchez, Executive Director, Bronx River Alliance.

Before a decision is made, the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition is pushing state officials to commit to the following investments for a better Bronx:

• Protect and transform E 177 Street into a green corridor ($75-$150M): Fund the redesign of E 177 St to prevent traffic from re-clogging the street, including green infrastructure, pedestrian and bike safety features.
• Workforce development for climate resilience ($3.5M): Fund Bronx-based training programs with Bronx and NYC organizations in green infrastructure maintenance, ecological restoration, and water management, creating stable careers while protecting public investments in forest and river restoration.
• Invest in non-highway modes of transportation ($20M) to benefit local residents, through surface transit, train accessibility, and Blue Highways freight infrastructure.
• Support planning for a street-level protected east-west bike path across the Bronx through collaboration with relevant city agencies and stakeholders.
• Free field trips for Bronx schools ($1.175M): Remove cost barriers by funding buses, equipment, and instruction for the next decade so Bronx students can regularly access unique wetlands, forests, and waterways restored by Bronx community members through programs led by the Bronx River Alliance and others.
• Empower Bronx kids through nature and water access ($1.4M): Launch an initiative to fund free kayaking, river education, and ecological field trips with the Bronx River Alliance for 10,000 Bronx youth over the next decade, prioritizing environmental justice communities.
• Improve health outcomes through preventative care and education ($1.6M): Expand the Bronx Asthma Initiative and other community health services to support health programming and preventative care for respiratory illness.
• Clean air and water for the South Bronx ($4M): Accelerate state investment in air-quality mitigation, stormwater infrastructure, and river remediation along the lower Bronx River, where children deal with toxic waterways and the highest asthma and pollution burdens in New York State.
• STEM internships for Bronx youth ($1.6M): Support paid high school internships focused on building STEM skills through experiential learning in climate science and environmental education, building future conservation professionals rooted in the Bronx with the Bronx River Alliance and other organizations.
  

BACKGROUND

The New York State Department of Transportation is currently proposing the Cross Bronx "5 Bridges Project," a $900-million plan (including $150 million of federal funding for reconnecting communities harmed by highways) that threatens to exacerbate environmental inequities facing the South Bronx. Despite heeding community concerns and scrapping four of its most noxious plans - including a new mile-long polluting roadway - Governor Hochul and NYSDOT are not reducing traffic and are still proposing expanding the Cross Bronx by 50 feet.

The Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition is urging NYSDOT and Governor Hochul to conduct the needed standard bridge repair without expanding the highway, and work with community members toward more equitable, environmentally just traffic and air quality solutions for the corridor.

Why Expanding the Cross Bronx Isn't Viable

The Cross Bronx's enormous environmental footprint has only worsened over the years. In the U.S., fossil fuel-powered vehicles are a major source of air pollution and heat-trapping emissions, releasing more than 50% of the nitrogen oxide found in our air. Nearly 150,000 vehicles, including 18,000 trucks, use the Cross Bronx daily. State DOT's environmental assessment notes that during peak times, heavy truck traffic could increase by as much as 33% if the agency proceeds with an expansion.

In 2022, NYSDOT illegally dumped pieces of the roadway directly into the Bronx River after demolishing a Cross Bronx entrance ramp during a similar rehabilitation project. Even if the state files permits, local residents are still concerned that DOT's project may similarly impact the river, under the current "5 Bridges" project. Thanks to sustained remediation efforts, wildlife has slowly returned to the river following the incident, including threatened birds such as herons and even dolphins. But during ongoing river clean-ups with local volunteers, residents continue to find construction waste tossed from the expressway into the recovering waterway. State DOT's remaining plan threatens to reverse this hard-won progress and drive worsened air quality, increased pollution, and more chronic illness in an already overburdened community.

Community Alternatives for the Cross Bronx

Since the 1970s, community members have long advocated for investment in safe, dignified, and simple improvements for South Bronx neighborhoods. After years of grassroots organizing to expand and transform the former industrial site into a vital community resource, Starlight Park has recently doubled in size; the state-proposed expansion now threatens this precious parkland. Meanwhile, existing east-west corridors along the Cross Bronx, including some of its most dangerous intersections on 174th Street, 177th Street, and East Tremont Avenue have been ignored and neglected for decades.

In 2014, City Council awarded NYCDOT the funds to create signalized crossings at five intersections around E 177th St. and E Tremont Ave. Over a decade later, the project still hasn't been completed, depriving local residents of accessible pathways. The state's planned expansion ignores the rest of E 177th St and other proposed connections along the highway, in a departure from residents' top priorities. As outlined in the community's visioning process for the Cross Bronx, Bronxites are seeking alternatives that reduce traffic, restore community access to green space, and reconnect riverside neighborhoods along the expressway.

About Bronx River Alliance: The Bronx River Alliance serves as a coordinated voice for the river and works in harmonious partnership to protect, improve and restore the Bronx River corridor so that it can be a healthy ecological, recreational, educational and economic resource for the communities through which the river flows.

About the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition: The Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion coalition is composed of Bronx grassroots groups, environmental justice organizations, and advocates for safe and healthy transportation. Together, we are fighting to implement a positive community-led vision that reverses the harms done to the public health, environment, and social and economic life of the Bronx by the Expressway. To realize this vision requires stopping new highway expansions along the Cross Bronx – beginning with New York State DOT's current plan to widen the CBE.

###