Bronx River Houses Pres to Governor: Our Door is Still Open, Come Tour Cross Bronx Site Before Time's Up

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BRONX, NY (03/10/2026) (readMedia)-- Today, as state officials reach the federal deadline to finalize design plans and an environmental determination for the Cross Bronx 5 Bridges project, Governor Hochul has yet to accept an invitation to tour NYCHA Bronx River Houses - home to more than 3,000 public housing residents struggling with toxic highway pollution, directly across the street from the proposed expansion. Rather than meet personally with impacted families, the Governor has opted to send an agency representative in her place. With construction set to begin this spring, the State Department of Transportation is pushing to widen the Cross Bronx by another 50 feet, a move that would only deepen the air quality crisis and unsafe living conditions already threatening this community.

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

Bronx River Houses Resident Association President Norma Saunders, member of the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition, issued the following statement in response:

"With a 50-foot Cross Bronx expansion now looming, families at Bronx River Houses are terrified for our safety, and the health and future of our children. After personally inviting the Governor to come view the project site from our home a month ago, her decision to send a representative instead of coming herself speaks volumes. We make up a community of more than 3,000 residents, where kids and seniors are forced to breathe in toxic pollution every single day. This is already a place she doesn't visit very much and that absence is felt by every one of us here. Respect looks like showing up, spending a day in our shoes, and seeing with her own eyes what her constituents are living with. Before the deadline passes and construction begins this spring, the people of Bronx River Houses deserve that much."

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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