Bronx River Houses Invites Governor to View Cross Bronx Expansion Site Harms for 3K+ NYCHA Residents

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BRONX, NY (02/11/2026) (readMedia)-- Today, Bronx River Houses Resident Association President Norma Saunders sent a letter inviting Governor Hochul to tour the proposed expansion site for the state's 900-million Cross Bronx 5 Bridges project, and discuss community alternatives to safeguard the health of more than 3,000 public housing residents living across the street. With construction set for this spring, Governor Hochul and NYSDOT are still looking to expand the Cross Bronx by another 50 feet, which would only exacerbate existing air quality issues and unsafe living conditions at the NYCHA complex.

Read the full letter here and view a rendering of the proposed expansion below.

As a result of Robert Moses's exclusionary urban design, families at Bronx River Houses - predominantly home to residents of color - continue to endure high rates of childhood asthma and the most toxic air quality in the entire Cross Bronx corridor. Under Moses' direction, officials razed local Black and Brown communities along the Bronx River to build the expressway, erecting parts of it directly above and around the public housing complex. Decades on, residents here remain sequestered from local amenities with limited, significantly slower transit options to connect to schools, hospitals, and other essential sites. For families at Bronx River Houses and residents across the borough, standard bridge repairs could help rehabilitate the Cross Bronx's aging infrastructure without expanding its existing carbon footprint.

In the letter, Saunders writes: "Bronx River Houses - home to 3,000 public housing residents, including seniors and immigrants, and recognized as one of the birthplaces of hip-hop - sits directly across from the planned construction site. To this day, the air pollution from the Expressway is already so severe that families here cannot safely open our windows. Despite the obvious threat, NYSDOT's own renderings propose expanding the Cross Bronx practically to our doorstep, and locking in and worsening environmental and public health burdens for at least the next 80 years."

As part of the Reimagine the Cross Bronx study funded by NYSDOT and NYCDOT, community members overwhelmingly supported options that reduce traffic, improve air quality, and increase green space and transit options, while reconnecting the neighborhoods long separated by the Cross Bronx.

"Families at Bronx River Houses have borne the brunt of the Cross Bronx's harms since the days of Robert Moses. After 7 decades of breathing in toxic pollution, the idea that the state wants to widen the expressway and bring it even closer to our doorstep is like a death threat. Why choose between our health and the highway when all the Cross Bronx needs is standard bridge repairs?" said Norma Saunders, president of the Resident Association for Bronx River Houses. "What happens next during this project could risk the future of our home for the next 80 years. That's why we're calling on Governor Hochul to come see what's at stake, and partner with our community on safer alternatives."

Letter

February 11, 2026

The Honorable Kathy Hochul

Governor of New York State

NYS State Capitol Building

Albany, NY 12224

Re: Invite to Tour Proposed Cross Bronx Expansion Site with Bronx River Houses

Dear Governor Hochul,

As a lifelong Bronx resident and the president of the Bronx River Houses Resident Association, which represents 3,000 local residents, I am writing with a timely invitation to join our community for a tour of NYSDOT's proposed expansion site for the Cross Bronx 5 Bridges project.

Ahead of the March 10th deadline for state officials to finalize construction plans, we believe it is essential that you hear directly from residents whose health and wellbeing will be massively impacted by this $900 million project.

The project's recent environmental review and public comment period deprived Bronx families of a meaningful opportunity to share our priorities for the Cross Bronx's future. Despite repeated requests from impacted residents, local electeds, and community organizations, we were only given one month during the holiday season to review a 5,600+ page technical document. Nevertheless, community members have identified significant health and environmental risks that would affect the 60,000-plus residents living along the proposed expansion site - concerns that demand your attention before construction begins.

Bronx River Houses - home to 3,000 public housing residents, including seniors and immigrants, and recognized as one of the birthplaces of hip-hop - sits directly across from the planned construction site. To this day, the air pollution from the Expressway is already so severe that families here cannot safely open our windows. Despite the obvious threat, NYSDOT's own renderings propose expanding the Cross Bronx practically to our doorstep, and locking in and worsening environmental and public health burdens for at least the next 80 years.

We are asking you to consider the impact of a rushed environmental review process on frontline communities that have suffered from toxic air quality for decades - families and children that are still fighting for clean air here and now.

No one knows the Cross Bronx better than Bronxites. For nearly 70 years, the Expressway has been a scar on our borough, and its extensive repair needs are in plain sight. With this knowledge, we share the goal of repairing its aging bridges. Nevertheless, the safest option for our communities is a standard bridge repair.

Bronx families are still fighting for our health – to close the gap between the health effects we experience because of race and location and the wellbeing that those in other parts of the city enjoy. As we struggle to close that gap, highway pollution and the plans that will increase it continues to widen it further. After suffering the highest asthma rates and worst health outcomes statewide year after year, it is essential that state officials avoid expanding the Cross Bronx's existing footprint.

For the thousands of residents who call this corridor home, Bronx River, Starlight Park, and the surrounding natural landmarks are critical spaces that our communities have tirelessly worked to protect. To make this project as successful as possible, we want to work with experts and state officials to solve traffic issues, and curb resulting air and water pollution throughout our neighborhoods. Investing in community-driven alternatives like stronger public transit, safer walking and biking routes, and Blue Highways, offers the state a reasonable path forward.

Our neighborhoods have waited long enough to remediate the Cross Bronx's harms. With construction approaching this spring, a site visit would give your administration an invaluable opportunity to witness firsthand the conditions our families live with daily, and better understand why this project warrants extra attention. We are eager to partner with government officials for an outcome that tactfully addresses our experiences of environmental, health, and racial inequity, and embraces our community's vision for the future.

Thank you for your consideration, and we hope to host you soon.

Respectfully,

Norma Saunders

President, Bronx River Houses Resident Association

CC:

Marie Therese Dominguez, NYSDOT Commissioner

Zohran Mamdani, Mayor, New York City

Michael Flynn, NYC DOT Commissioner

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, a figure that will increase if state DOT proceeds with its planned expansion of the structure.

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. 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. 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 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 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.

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