Bronxites to NYSDOT: Is This What You Call Community Engagement?

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BRONX, NY (12/04/2025) (readMedia)-- Last night, outside NYSDOT's first official public hearing, Bronx community members led a rally urging Gov. Hochul and NYSDOT to extend the public comment period for its Cross Bronx environmental review and drop remaining plans to widen the Cross Bronx. Despite releasing the long-awaited Cross Bronx environmental assessment right before Thanksgiving, leaving community members with 31 weekdays to review nearly 6,000 pages of material amid a busy holiday season, an agency representative balked at the idea of giving Bronxites more time to weigh in. According to NYSDOT, expanding the public comment period to a January 9th deadline with several major holidays in between constitutes a "full engagement process," during which Bronxites have been held "very much in consideration." But at most, only 10 community members - with no ties to well-informed community groups - managed to attend last night's 3-hour hearing.

Watch a recording of the rally here and view attached photos of NYSDOT's engagement strategy featuring makeshift digital road signs directing Bronxites to the agency's scheduled hearings.

In response, Anna Berlanga, Uptown and Bronx Organizer for Transportation Alternatives and member of the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition issued the following statement: "It's entirely unreasonable that New York State expects us to read a 5,667 page assessment during the busiest month of the year. The Cross Bronx project is going to shape our neighborhood for decades to come, and such an expansive change deserves an equally large community engagement process. We're just asking for a little more time to read, digest, and comment on a project that'll impact the next several generations of Bronxites."

Just two nights ago, Congressman Ritchie Torres sent a letter to Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Transportation calling on officials to extend the public comment period for the ongoing Cross Bronx 5 Bridges environmental review process. But Rep Torres is only the latest in a chorus of Bronx voices raising concerns about the state's tight timeline. Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Senator Gustavo Rivera, Councilmember-elect Justin Sanchez, Bronx River Alliance, Transportation Alternatives, and a coalition of Bronx community groups and citywide advocates led a virtual press conference amplifying the call for a 90-day public comment period and stronger outreach to source meaningful feedback from busy residents. Last month, 21 local community and advocacy groups led by New York Lawyers for the Public Interest sent a letter to the Governor and NYSDOT originally requesting a 90-day comment period and enhanced outreach efforts to engage the 64,000 residents living along the project's sited area.

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 overall width of the Cross Bronx by at least 24 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 broken ground, depriving local residents of accessible pathways. The state's planned expansion ignores 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.

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