Communities Across New York Demand No More #HochulHighway Expansions

As NYS moves ahead with projects to widen polluting highways across the state, more than 45 organizations and elected officials rallied with Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens residents for safe, sustainable alternatives to get around

BROOKLYN, NY (08/11/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, members of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Environmental Justice Coalition and the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition rallied for city and state DOT to halt plans to expand interstate highways, and instead pursue community-led alternatives that prioritize the safety, health, and well-being of people living, working, and studying in neighborhoods impacted by these highways. Currently, Governor Kathy Hochul and the Department of Transportation are considering plans to widen the Cross Bronx and Brooklyn-Queens corridors, in addition to the Hudson Valley's Route 17, despite widespread pushback from community members and elected officials.

Watch a recording of the event here.

Joined by Comptroller Brad Lander, Senator Nathalia Fernandez, Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, local residents from Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and the Catskills highlighted the far-ranging environmental and public health harms tied to Robert Moses' history of racist urban planning. Both expressways collectively carry nearly 300,000 polluting vehicles daily - including 18,000 trucks on the Cross Bronx and 13,000 trucks on the BQE - directly adjacent to schools, playgrounds, housing, and public spaces in neighborhoods that low-income residents, immigrants, and people of color predominantly call home.

Research shows that expanding a highway leads to more drivers using it and increased congestion, meaning that speed improvements are generally erased within a few years. For neighborhoods like East Tremont in the Bronx, Los Sures in Williamsburg, and East Elmhurst in Queens, who are divided by these expressways, vehicle emissions jeopardize air quality and threaten vital green space, already a limited resource. Under city and state DOT plans, these problems would only worsen by widening the cantilever section of the BQE and adding a new parallel roadway to the Cross Bronx. In Orange and Sullivan Counties, widening Route 17 would not solve traffic issues but instead, increase traffic and pollution, while costing taxpayers over $1 billion dollars.

In Los Sures, the Southside of Williamsburg, high levels of pollution from traffic on the BQE have contributed to asthma rates that are twice the citywide average. The highway, along with its access ramps and truck routes are adjacent to playgrounds, parks, and other public spaces, overburdening residents with contaminants. Streets surrounding the highway and nearby bridge are also dangerous, with traffic speeds endangering students and seniors walking to and from schools and senior centers.

El Puente, alongside youth from the neighborhood, is calling on NYC DOT to address these impacts on community health and safety by investing in pollution mitigation strategies, such as reducing truck traffic and increasing the tree canopy and green spaces in Continental Army Plaza and La Guardia Playground. The BQE EJC, composed of organizations from across Brooklyn and Queens including El Puente, is urging NYC DOT to implement community-led mitigation strategies across neighborhoods in the short term. In the long term, the coalition is demanding that city and state DOT invest in a community-led and environmental justice-centred comprehensive plan to transform the entire BQE corridor.

Similarly in the Bronx, the state DOT's $900 million Cross Bronx "5 Bridges Project," would directly threaten residents across the borough, with greater harm to the neighborhoods of West Farms, Crotona, Bronx River, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Longwood and, in particular, the thousands of public housing residents across the street from the proposed highway expansion. The initial construction of the Cross Bronx decimated Black and Brown neighborhoods, while adding significant highway runoff pollution to the Bronx River and Harlem River, and contributing to some of the highest rates of asthma and heart disease in the US. With NYSDOT's history of illegally dumping pieces of the roadway into the Bronx River during a 2022 Cross Bronx rehabilitation project, this expansion would have residents facing worsened air quality, increased pollution, and more chronic illness.

Community members have long advocated, since the 1970s, for investment in safe, dignified, and simple improvements for these neighborhoods. 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 addition to improving transit options, regional solutions discouraging interstate traffic travelling through the Bronx are needed to address the past, current, and future impact of the Cross Bronx. The Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition is urging NYSDOT and Governor Hochul to conduct standard repairs to the Cross Bronx's aging bridges, prepare a full environmental impact statement, and redirect funds meant to reconnect communities toward functional, sustainable, community-led alternatives - without expanding the highway.

Meanwhile, in the Hudson Valley and Catskills region, the ReThink Route 17 Alliance is fighting Governor Hochul and NYSDOT's proposal to spend $1.4 billion widening 20 miles of State Route 17 between Harriman and Wurtsboro. Rather than fixing existing roads, this expansion would prioritize highway construction while subsidizing sprawl development that threatens the region's rural character. With over 60% of Hudson Valley roads currently in poor condition, the same $1.4 billion could instead fund hundreds of community-led transportation projects, including regional transit connections, safety improvements at dangerous intersections where most crashes actually occur, rail trails, sidewalks, and repairs to existing infrastructure. Like the Cross Bronx and BQE expansions, widening Route 17 will ultimately increase traffic congestion rather than solve it, while diverting resources from the maintenance backlog that leaves drivers navigating dangerous potholes and deteriorating conditions.

Advocates urged the State to prioritize New Yorkers' demonstrated needs and invest in sustainable alternatives for each corridor, rooted in environmental justice.

"The Cross Bronx and Brooklyn-Queens Expressways are two of the dirtiest, most congested expressways citywide. Expanding them will only bring more harm to New Yorkers of color and increase traffic in the worst places - right through the heart of neighborhoods that for decades have experienced some of the worst air pollution in the country. We don't need more asphalt, we need less traffic, cleaner air, safer streets, and more green space. The State needs to work with our communities to permanently reduce traffic and improve the health of our communities as we rebuild infrastructure for the generations to come," said Siddhartha Sánchez, Executive Director, Bronx River Alliance.

"Governor Kathy Hochul must cancel the planned expansions of the notorious Cross Bronx and Brooklyn-Queens Expressways. Rather than double down on the failed approach of Robert Moses, our governor needs to invest precious public resources in safe and affordable ways for us to get around. The governor is burnishing an impressive public transit record and she should not tarnish her legacy by widening highways and casting bigger shadows over New York's communities," said Danny Pearlstein, Policy & Communications Director, Riders Alliance.

"Red Hook Initiative stands in solidarity with our partners from across New York City to demand a halt to harmful highway expansions and a commitment to comprehensive, community-led planning. Environmental justice communities like Red Hook - already burdened by pollution and disinvestment - must be at the center of decisions that shape our neighborhoods," said Michael Partis, Executive Director, Red Hook Initiative.

"For decades the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the Cross-Bronx Expressway have torn through our city, bringing pollution, noise, congestion, traffic violence and filth to the literal doorsteps of hundreds of thousands of people. Today, we're calling on New York City and New York State to immediately start a community-led planning process for the future of these decrepit urban highways that prioritizes public health, climate resilience, investments in transit and sustainable freight delivery, and fundamentally puts people first," said Lara Birnback, Executive Director, Brooklyn Heights Association.

"New Yorkers don't have billions of dollars to waste on unnecessary highway expansions that continue to harm our communities with worsened air quality, higher tax burdens, and increased congestion. It's time to stop the highway heist and re-center community needs, affordability, and equity in transportation planning to ensure that everyone, whether in NYC, the Hudson Valley or beyond, can get where they need to go," said Taylor Jaffe, Program Manager, Catskill Mountainkeeper.

"For decades our communities across Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx have been experiencing the cumulative health and environmental impacts of living and working, next to these highways. Here in the Southside of Williamsburg, our children are playing in playgrounds and parks that are right next to the BQE and breathing in toxins. Both youth and elders are endangered by trucks and vehicles entering the highway at high speeds on their way to schools, senior centers and their homes. It is long overdue for our state and city agencies to support transformative change in our communities that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of our communities," said Maria Fernanda Pulido-Velosa, BQE Environmental Justice Coalition Organizer at El Puente.

"Street Works joins communities across New York in rejecting the false choice between crumbling highways and wider ones. Highway expansion is a failed playbook affecting EVERY neighborhood divided by their concrete and poisoned by their air. We call on Governor Hochul and NYSDOT to halt these plans and support community-led solutions that center the vibrant lives of the people who live, create, and dream along these corridors. As artists, organizers, and neighbors, we know another future is possible, and we won't accept harm disguised as progress or pragmatism," said Anjali Deshmukh, Street Works and Make Justice Normal co-founder.

"The BQE and the Cross Bronx Expressway cut through many communities and are major sources of air pollution. We cannot extend the harmful legacy of Robert Moses and must center racial and climate justice solutions for these corridors. Now is the time for both the City and State to come together with communities along the corridors to reduce our reliance on truck dependency and provide cleaner modes of transportation," said Kevin Garcia, Senior Transportation Planner for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.

"We proudly support New Yorkers standing up to fight the business-as-usual approach of City and State transportation agencies, who continue to expand highways against our communities' wishes," said Caroline Chen, Director of Environmental Justice at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. "Facilitating more truck and vehicular traffic instead of meaningfully implementing accessible public transit plainly contravenes the spirit of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, which mandates strict air pollution reductions and requires elevated considerations of impacted environmental justice communities. We will never stop fighting for clean air for New Yorkers."

"Expanding highways fuels more traffic, more pollution, and more disruption to local communities. We urge Governor Hochul to stop wasting billions on outdated, harmful infrastructure. New York must invest in clean and equitable transportation initiatives - not more lanes for more cars. Reducing vehicle miles traveled is essential to creating livable communities and ensuring environmental justice. Now is the time to act before we lock in decades of environmental, economic, and social harm," said Adrian Cacho, Senior Organizer, and Emily Chingay, Advocacy & Engagement Associate, Open Plans.

"Planned expansions of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and Cross Bronx Expressway are the wrong approach for New York City, and will lock in future generations of New Yorkers into unhealthy and polluting forms of travel and overburden communities adjacent to these massive expressways. Now is the time to correct these destructive mistakes, rethink our city, and design it for human safety, human health, and prioritize investing in better transit, cycling, and walking," said Hunter Armstrong, executive director of Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and co-chair of NYC Greenways Coalition.

"In a time when we are directly experiencing the effects of climate change with hotter drier summers and decreasing air quality due to wildfires, including right here in Brooklyn last summer, we need to be decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels, including within the transportation sector. Only about 10% of the traffic on the BQE is from trucks transporting goods, which means 90% is individual cars and commuters. Increasing lanes on expressways will only increase individual car use while continuing a legacy of environmental injustice created by this infrastructure in the first place. Instead, these investments should be used to increase the ease of getting to and around NYC by public transit. This will serve all New Yorkers, contribute to air quality and the health of those living and working around these expressways," said Lynn Neuman, steering committee member of 350Brooklyn.

"We at East Coast Greenway Alliance stand in solidarity with communities across the city calling for an end to highway expansion, which exacerbates air pollution, extreme heat, and climate change. We call on our elected leaders to instead boldly invest in sustainable, equitable transportation solutions such as greenways and active transportation, which will help us build a more just and resilient New York," said Sofia Barandiaran, New York & New Jersey Manager, East Coast Greenway Alliance.

"While the Trump Administration makes empty threats to halt congestion pricing and cuts New York's vital transit funding, New York State should not devote more resources to widening highways that causes gridlock and fracture neighborhoods," said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. "Expanding the Cross-Bronx and Brooklyn-Queens Expressways will repeat the old infrastructure ills of the past and condemn environmental justice zones to a lifetime of noise and pollution. Black and Latine communities deserve real investments that secure a healthier future for all."

"Our waterways are a reflection of the health of our communities, and protecting them means addressing the sources of pollution that threaten them. We should be improving the infrastructure we have, not creating more pollutants that harm our air, water, and neighborhoods. I stand with the Bronx River Alliance and all the advocates working toward environmentally sound solutions like capping the Cross Bronx Expressway, which would reconnect communities, create green space, and help ensure a healthier future for all," said State Senator Nathalia Fernandez (D-34).

"It's time to build transportation infrastructure that brings us to a better future-not destructive, polluting highways that drive us back to the past," said State Senator Andrew Gounardes (D-26). "Our approach to expanding highways just isn't working. It divides our communities instead of connecting them, creates more planet-warming emissions, and it makes traffic worse instead of better. Whether it's improved public transit, more walkable streets or better bike infrastructure, we owe it to New Yorkers to invest their taxpayer dollars in safer, cleaner and greener options that actually work."

"As discussions around the future of the Cross Bronx Expressway continue, it is essential that the process be guided by complete transparency and full community participation. For decades, residents living along the corridor have experienced the environmental, social, and economic impacts of this major roadway. Their voices must be at the center of any planning and decision-making. We have an opportunity to reimagine infrastructure in a way that prioritizes environmental justice, public health, and equitable transportation - goals that can only be achieved through genuine collaboration with the communities most affected," said State Senator Luis R. Sepúlveda (D-32).

"The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway cuts through my entire district, so I am intimately familiar with the harms of the traffic violence, pollution, and negative health impacts it causes - particularly for Black, Brown, and low-income New Yorkers. A wider BQE is going to be exponentially more harmful for my community and others like it. My constituents are clamoring for more reliable transit options, parks and green spaces, safer streets, and cleaner air. The Governor should focus on prioritizing projects that allow us to deliver those things, not projects that erode the health and safety of New Yorkers. This expansion is a step in the wrong direction, and it should not move forward," said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (D-50).

"Over 70 years ago, the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway carved through neighborhoods like the East Bronx, breaking up communities and exposing generations of Bronx residents to toxic air and chronic illness. Despite still living with those consequences today, the state is continuing to rely on a model that has not delivered the results our communities need. What this expansion plan really does is build over homes, schools, and parks - trapping our community in more traffic, pollution and noise. I would like to see Governor Hochul pause and reconsider her support for this project. We have a chance to chart a new course - one rooted in public health, climate resilience, and equity. Instead of expanding highways, let's invest in clean public transit, greenways, and infrastructure that bring our communities together," said City Council Majority Leader Amanda Farias (D-18).

"For decades, the BQE has funneled dangerous truck traffic, toxic air, and noise pollution right through the heart of Williamsburg, displacing communities and threatening the health of our children and seniors. Expanding this highway is not a solution - it's an insult," said Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez (D-34).

"We urgently need to address the state of the BQE-but the answer to fixing this deteriorating infrastructure is not to add more lanes of traffic or perpetuate these problematic highways indefinitely. We need to prioritize solutions that protect the health of New Yorkers, especially the vulnerable communities that have been most impacted by this harmful truck and car infrastructure," said Councilmember Lincoln Restler (D-33).

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 El Puente: Based in NYC and Puerto Rico with national and international impact, El Puente creates community-led movements of self determination among low-income, oppressed peoples, Latine and communities of color through a holistic leadership and membership model, and high impact youth and community development programs.

About the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition: The Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion coalition is composed of Bronx grassroots groups, environmental justice organizations, businesses, 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 the New York State and DOT's current plan to widen the CBE and construct nearly a mile of new elevated highway.

About the BQE Environmental Justice Coalition: Composed of organizations from across Brooklyn and Queens, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Environmental Justice Coalition remains committed to advocating for the rights of affected communities and promoting sustainable and equitable solutions to the challenges posed by the BQE.

About ReThink Route 17 Alliance: The ReThink Route 17 Alliance represents workers, families, and individuals in the Catskill region who seek improved and increased transportation choices. We stand for affordable, accessible, reliable and environmentally sustainable transportation choices for our communities. By providing a range of options that enable all residents and visitors to get to work, school and our main streets safely and affordably, we can improve our quality of life and economic opportunity by reducing car dependence and pollution.

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