Bronx Electeds, Bronx River Alliance Hold Roundtable Discussion with State DOT About Cross Bronx Expansion

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BRONX, NY (10/10/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, Assemblymember Emérita Torres, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and the Bronx River Alliance led a roundtable with elected officials, state, and city agency representatives to identify community-backed solutions for the Cross Bronx Five Bridges Project.

SEE PHOTOS ATTACHED.

Yesterday, Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Transportation announced its decision to scrap plans to build a new traffic diversion structure for the Cross Bronx Expressway, in response to widespread community opposition to the project. The traffic diversion structure would have increased toxic emissions and pollution for nearly 64,000 residents living along the sited project area, including Black and Brown neighborhoods already living with some of the highest childhood asthma rates due to heavy traffic emissions and pollution.

In 2022, NYSDOT illegally dumped roadway debris directly into the Bronx River after demolishing a Cross Bronx entrance ramp during a similar rehabilitation project. Residents are concerned about similar actions during the Five Bridges project. Thanks to volunteer-led environmental remediation along the Bronx River, the community has recently welcomed back animal and plant life to the area, including herons, beavers, and dolphins.

Directly following the roundtable, community advocates led a river paddle-along highlighting key stretches along the Bronx River set to be negatively impacted.

"As state representatives witnessed firsthand on the river today, our borough's health and environmental outcomes are intimately tied to the Cross Bronx's continuing legacy of harm. But where we go next is an opportunity for Governor Hochul and NYSDOT to shape hand-in-hand with Bronx residents. We invite their partnership to realize a sustainable vision for our community and the Cross Bronx corridor, without expanding the highway," said Siddhartha Sanchez, Executive Director of Bronx River Alliance.

"Today's roundtable was the first-of-its-kind engagement bringing together city, state and federal officials, agencies, and community leaders to collectively discuss the impact of the $900 million Cross Bronx Expressway 5 Bridges Rehabilitation Project on the south Bronx. I applaud Governor Hochul and NYSDOT Commissioner Dominguez for eliminating all vehicular expansion options for the project and listening to our concerns about how such an expansion would have severely exacerbated health disparities in our community. The Bronx River Alliance and community stakeholders identified key infrastructure solutions that will benefit the Bronx while also supporting the project - from expanded bus lanes and street improvements to the expansion of Starlight Park - all of which must be strongly considered for funding and implementation. Our neighborhoods have long suffered from toxic air, high asthma rates, and the degradation of vital natural resources like the Bronx River. Today's fruitful discussion is the first step in creating a true partnership where we can rewrite the dark history of Robert Moses' Cross Bronx and move forward on a trajectory that truly centers our community needs in urban planning and design," said Assemblymember Emérita Torres.

BACKGROUND

The New York State Department of Transportation is currently pushing 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. The Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition is urging DOT and Governor Hochul to reject proposed options, conduct the needed standard bridge repair without expanding the highway, prepare a full environmental impact statement, and redirect funds meant to reconnect communities toward clean, community-led alternatives.

The Cross Bronx's Legacy of Harms

Born out of a history of racist urban planning led by Robert Moses, the Cross Bronx Expressway is already one of the nation's most toxic, congested roadways, long associated with racial health disparities like childhood asthma and heart disease in surrounding communities. Its initial construction decimated Black and Brown neighborhoods along the corridor while adding significant highway runoff pollution to the Bronx River and Harlem River, and contributing to some of the highest rates of asthma and heart disease in the country. According to a DOT study, idling cars on the Cross Bronx that have polluted the borough for decades drive chronic health issues among Bronx residents.

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. Research shows that expanding a highway leads to more drivers using it and more congestion, meaning that reductions in traffic are erased within a short period.

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 dolphins. But during ongoing river clean-ups with local volunteers, residents continue to find construction waste tossed from the expressway into the recovering waterway.

Community Alternatives for the Cross Bronx

Community members have long advocated, since the 1970s, for investment in safe, dignified, and simple improvements for these neighborhoods. Residents successfully advocated for the expansion of Starlight Park, which has doubled in size after years of organizing to transform the space into a vital community resource. But 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 broken ground, depriving local residents of accessible pathways. 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 and construct nearly a mile of new elevated highway.

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