VTMBH Article: Body
Since the mid-1990s, theres been an ecological and social battle to clean-up the Bronx River. Community activists, private citizens and students vigorously cleaned out garbage and waste from the river that spans six miles from the city to upstate New York. They believe it is their responsibility to preserve this natural resource before government or polluters will step-in and clean the ecological damage that has already been done. These eco-activists believe that its their responsibility as citizens to correct the damage done by polluters, industry and sewage plants.
Theres great potential for economic growth, said Janis Astor del Valle, project director of A.C.T.I.O.N., which works with The Point CDC and Casita Maria. We need to beautify our communities. We need to invest more time and money and energy into preserving our community.
Most of the clean-up efforts originated from Hunts Point where sewage treatment plants and water treatment plants exist along the river. The clean-up effort has recovered car parts, used diapers and dead animals during this process. Astor del Valle said that the land surrounding the river had great potential for creating gardens, a park, a pier, ferry service and a youth recreation center.
In the long run, the clean-up would revitalize the area, preserve the natural landscape and conserve water life in the river.
We need people to be accountable, said Astor del Valle, speaking of individuals and industries that pollute and refuse to admit any wrongdoing. The river and surrounding land has great potential for renovation. Hunts Point has had a bad reputation of garbage and prostitution. We can change that, Valle said.
To be sure, the complete clean-up of the Bronx River is far from complete. And activists, whove worked hard, face an uphill battle as pollution continues to build. However, the Point CDC has spearheaded the clean-up with a vigorous campaign of education and action directed at the problem.
The clean-up has restored and preserved some of the rivers natural beauty. Fishermen can now catch fiddler crabs, bluefish and striped bass. And as a recent New York Times article reported, marine biologists discovered the presence of the naked goby and the seaboard goby, two species never before detected in the Bronx River.
In spite of the rivers natural beauty, the Times reported that the scene was less than pristine. Just upstream from the crabs, wrote Seth Kugel in an article headlined Hoping Urbanites Will Venture Where Crabs and Killifish Thrive, a grapple hoisted hulks of twisted metal from the yard of Bronx Metals Recycling onto a barge. Soundview Park Homes, a public housing project, loomed behind fences. And the banks were littered with bottles and other trash.
Later in the article, Dr. Joseph Rachlin, a professor and director of the Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research at Lehman College, said, Most people think that the Bronx River is a sterile river, and its not. Its a very diverse and abundant river.
In 1998, The Point CDC, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice and Sustainable South Bronx, along with more than 60 other groups, began cleaning up the river and the surrounding lands.
Cleaning the rivers, said Majora Carter, one of the activists, its a continuing process.
The Point at first got a $10,000 grant from Partnership for Parks to begin the massive clean-up effort and start developing the surrounding park area.
Above the Bronx Zoo, said Carter, its respected as a river. Lower than that its been industrialized. At best it was neglected, at worst it was abused [We asked ourselves] Why are we being dumped on all of the time? If anyone is going to clean-up our environment, its going to have to come from us.
Another idea in the clean-up effort is getting the community to understand that the river belongs to the people who live in the community. Hector Rivera, another activist, said that the river clean-up was a way for the Bronx community to reclaim a natural resource.
Its all about cleaning up and creating open spaces for our kids, said Rivera. Were making proactive steps. This is how development should happenpeople should be held accountable. And community people, their vision, their needs need to be taken into account.
Theres great potential for economic growth, said Janis Astor del Valle, project director of A.C.T.I.O.N., which works with The Point CDC and Casita Maria. We need to beautify our communities. We need to invest more time and money and energy into preserving our community.
Most of the clean-up efforts originated from Hunts Point where sewage treatment plants and water treatment plants exist along the river. The clean-up effort has recovered car parts, used diapers and dead animals during this process. Astor del Valle said that the land surrounding the river had great potential for creating gardens, a park, a pier, ferry service and a youth recreation center.
In the long run, the clean-up would revitalize the area, preserve the natural landscape and conserve water life in the river.
We need people to be accountable, said Astor del Valle, speaking of individuals and industries that pollute and refuse to admit any wrongdoing. The river and surrounding land has great potential for renovation. Hunts Point has had a bad reputation of garbage and prostitution. We can change that, Valle said.
To be sure, the complete clean-up of the Bronx River is far from complete. And activists, whove worked hard, face an uphill battle as pollution continues to build. However, the Point CDC has spearheaded the clean-up with a vigorous campaign of education and action directed at the problem.
The clean-up has restored and preserved some of the rivers natural beauty. Fishermen can now catch fiddler crabs, bluefish and striped bass. And as a recent New York Times article reported, marine biologists discovered the presence of the naked goby and the seaboard goby, two species never before detected in the Bronx River.
In spite of the rivers natural beauty, the Times reported that the scene was less than pristine. Just upstream from the crabs, wrote Seth Kugel in an article headlined Hoping Urbanites Will Venture Where Crabs and Killifish Thrive, a grapple hoisted hulks of twisted metal from the yard of Bronx Metals Recycling onto a barge. Soundview Park Homes, a public housing project, loomed behind fences. And the banks were littered with bottles and other trash.
Later in the article, Dr. Joseph Rachlin, a professor and director of the Laboratory for Marine and Estuarine Research at Lehman College, said, Most people think that the Bronx River is a sterile river, and its not. Its a very diverse and abundant river.
In 1998, The Point CDC, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice and Sustainable South Bronx, along with more than 60 other groups, began cleaning up the river and the surrounding lands.
Cleaning the rivers, said Majora Carter, one of the activists, its a continuing process.
The Point at first got a $10,000 grant from Partnership for Parks to begin the massive clean-up effort and start developing the surrounding park area.
Above the Bronx Zoo, said Carter, its respected as a river. Lower than that its been industrialized. At best it was neglected, at worst it was abused [We asked ourselves] Why are we being dumped on all of the time? If anyone is going to clean-up our environment, its going to have to come from us.
Another idea in the clean-up effort is getting the community to understand that the river belongs to the people who live in the community. Hector Rivera, another activist, said that the river clean-up was a way for the Bronx community to reclaim a natural resource.
Its all about cleaning up and creating open spaces for our kids, said Rivera. Were making proactive steps. This is how development should happenpeople should be held accountable. And community people, their vision, their needs need to be taken into account.