Lt. Gov Antonio Delgado + Community Members Tour Proposed $900M Cross Bronx Expansion Site

BRONX, NY (07/22/2025) (readMedia)-- This morning, Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado joined Bronx residents, the Bronx River Alliance, and the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition for a community-led walking tour along the proposed Cross Bronx Expressway expansion site. On the tour, LG Delgado spoke with residents already negatively impacted by the Cross Bronx Expressway about why they're against state plans to widen the highway.

View photos and video from the tour here.

Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Transportation are currently advancing a $900 million project (including a $150 million federal grant) to repair five bridges along the Cross Bronx Expressway, while expanding the Cross Bronx and building a new elevated highway structure that would go over parts of the Bronx River and Starlight Park. Already one of the most congested and polluted corridors in the country, the Cross Bronx Expressway carves through low-income Black and Brown neighborhoods with some of the highest childhood asthma rates in the nation. Residents and advocates are urging the Governor to repair the bridges without expanding the highway, and to adopt community-driven alternatives that reduce traffic and offer safer, greener, and more equitable outcomes for Bronx residents along the expressway.

"I'm grateful to the Bronx River Alliance and local advocates for leading today's tour and sharing their vision for a healthier, safer Bronx. Walking the corridor and hearing directly from residents underscored how important it is that the state truly engages with the community. Folks here are asking for clean air, safe streets, and a plan that puts their health first - and that's the conversation we need to be having," said Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado.

"As Lieutenant Governor Delgado saw today, the Cross Bronx Expressway is a relic of racist urban planning that has polluted and sickened Bronx residents for decades. The state's plan will only build on that legacy and harm more Black and brown lives. Instead of expanding the highway, Governor Hochul, LG Delgado, and NYSDOT should take the opportunity to begin to build a Cross Bronx that actually serves the Bronx," said Siddhartha Sánchez, Executive Director of Bronx River Alliance.

More than a dozen Bronx-based and citywide organizations recently sent a letter calling on the State DOT to withdraw its current proposals, following widespread community backlash regarding their potential to "amp up pollution in a neighborhood where children face higher rates of asthma-related hospital visits than any other borough." Bronx residents also rallied outside a public NYSDOT meeting last month to oppose the planned expansion of the Cross Bronx Expressway, and called out the agency's limited community engagement. Leaders at the NYCHA development Bronx River Houses in front of the proposed new highway are outraged, with Tenant Association president Norma Saunders sounding the alarm, "Currently, the air pollution from the Cross Bronx Expressway is so toxic that those of us who live in Bronx River Houses cannot open our windows. Ever."

BACKGROUND

The New York State Department of Transportation is currently pushing the Cross Bronx "5 Bridges Project," a $900 million plan (including $150 million of federal funding) that threatens to exacerbate the environmental inequities facing the South Bronx The project will directly impact the Bronx overall, with greater harm to the frontline Central Bronx neighborhoods of West Farms, Crotona, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Longwood and in particular the over 3,000 residents at the fenceline NYCHA development across the street from the proposed expansion. Following an exclusionary engagement process that offered community members few opportunities for public comment, State DOT has proposed two options that, in addition to replacing the five I-95 bridges along the expressway, would add an unnecessary highway structure over the Bronx River and Starlight Park.

The Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition is urging DOT and Governor Hochul to reject both options, conduct the needed standard bridge repair without expanding the highway, prepare a full environmental impact statement, and redirect funds meant to reconnect communities toward clean, community-led alternatives.

The Cross Bronx's Legacy of Harms

Born out of a history of racist urban planning under Robert Moses, the Cross Bronx Expressway is already one of the nation's most toxic, congested roadways, long associated with racial health disparities like childhood asthma and heart disease in surrounding communities. Its initial construction decimated Black and Brown neighborhoods along the corridor while adding significant highway pollution to the Bronx River and Harlem River. According to a DOT study, idling cars on the Cross Bronx have polluted the borough for decades, driving chronic health issues among Bronx residents.

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 is guaranteed to increase if State DOT proceeds with its planned expansion.

In 2022, NYSDOT illegally dumped concrete and other construction debris directly into the Bronx River after demolishing a Cross Bronx entrance ramp, as part of a similar infrastructure 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 dumped from the expressway into the recovering waterway. State DOT's planned expansion threatens to reverse this hard-won progress and worsen conditions for a community already overburdened by pollution.

Community Alternatives for the Cross Bronx

Community members have long advocated for investment in safe, dignified, and simple improvements for existing east-west corridors along the Cross Bronx, including some of its most dangerous intersections on 174th Street, 177th Street, and East Tremont Avenue. In 2014, City Council awarded NYCDOT the funds to create signaled crossings at 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 these neglected connections along the highway, in a departure from the community's 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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