Bronxites to NYSDOT: Nice Try… We Still Need 90 Days to Right the Wrongs of the Cross Bronx

BRONX, NY (12/23/2025) (readMedia)-- Last night, following weeks of advocacy from Bronx communities calling for stronger engagement and a series of poorly-attended meetings, the New York State Department of Transportation added one final public hearing for Bronxites to review its nearly 6,000-page environmental assessment for the Cross Bronx 5 Bridges Project. Set for January 6, 2026 on Three Kings' Day, the newly-added meeting comes just three days before the official public comment deadline for residents to assess the environmental impacts of the state's remaining expansion plans. The announcement comes as community members continue calling on Governor Hochul and NYSDOT to extend the public comment period to 90 days, and eliminate plans for a bigger Cross Bronx.

Dariella Rodriguez, Director of Community Development at the POINT CDC, and member of the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition issued the following statement in response:

"Nice try, DOT. We still need 90 days to review plans for the Cross Bronx. Scheduling a last-ditch meeting on Three Kings' Day - and three days before the public comment deadline - just isn't real engagement. Ask yourselves: what good are Spanish translation services at a hearing scheduled right when Latinx families are gathered at the dinner table? This is a $900-million-dollar project that has the power to hurt or help thousands of Bronxites, to clean up our communities or further harm them. But we're spending the little time we have fighting for more outreach, instead of laying the foundation for a successful project. It's completely unproductive. We need Governor Hochul and NYSDOT to listen to us and give the Bronx a real opportunity to weigh in on the future of our borough."

With no shortage of Bronxites voicing their concerns about the state's tight timeline, just a few weeks ago, an agency representative balked at the idea of giving Bronxites more time to weigh in - despite releasing the highly technical environmental assessment right before Thanksgiving. The state's expansion plans still threaten significant community health and environmental impacts for the next 80 years.

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 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.

###