Bronxites to NYSDOT: Three Kings' Day is a Bad Time for A Cross Bronx Expansion Meeting

BRONX, NY (01/05/2026) (readMedia)-- Tomorrow evening on Three Kings' Day, as the New York State Department of Transportation seeks to expand the Cross Bronx Expressway, state officials will hold the final public meeting for Bronxites to review the nearly 6,000-page environmental assessment for the Cross Bronx 5 Bridges Project. Despite months of advocacy from Bronx communities calling for stronger engagement and a series of poorly-attended meetings, the last-minute meeting comes just 3 days before the official public comment deadline for residents to assess the state's remaining expansion plans, and right as Latinx families across the borough mark the 12th day of Christmas - a major holiday for Hispanic communities worldwide. Community members are raising their voices for Governor Hochul and NYSDOT to extend the public comment period to 90 days, and eliminate plans for a bigger Cross Bronx.

Siddhartha Sánchez, Executive Director of the Bronx River Alliance, and member of the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition issued the following statement in response:

"The 5 Bridges project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to right the wrongs of the Cross Bronx Robert Moses imposed on our borough decades ago. But scheduling the final public meeting on Three Kings' Day - as Latinx communities around the world celebrate with their families - is the complete opposite of culturally responsive, equitable engagement. As things stand, NYSDOT officials are still looking to expand the Cross Bronx, which threatens substantial environmental impacts for Bronxites for at least the next 8 decades. This is our final opportunity to weigh in and make things right for local communities of color, who continue to suffer from skyhigh asthma rates and chronic sickness. We need Governor Hochul and NYSDOT to listen to us and give the Bronx a real opportunity to weigh in on our future."

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. Across the 2025 holiday season, Rep. Ritchie Torres, Senator Gustavo Rivera, and Council Member Justin Sanchez urged state officials to strengthen outreach efforts and extend the public comment deadline to ensure adequate community input. The state's expansion plans could bring significant community health and environmental impacts for the same residents battling some of the highest asthma rates city- and nationwide.

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 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 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.

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