2015 Year in Review I. Fighting FreshDirect, Fossil Fuel Power Plants & Waste Transfer Stations In 2015, FreshDirect began erecting its steel frame of environmental injustice on top of a Native American burial ground. With the ass of its new headquarters facing our borough, FreshDirect began building its diesel trucking operation in the face of an ongoing lawsuit and four years of community opposition. But, thanks to the WSJ, NYT, Guardian, BBC and Al Jazeera, among others, the world now knows about this company's environmental racism. It's not over... Meanwhile, our environmental defense of the South Bronx was expanded in 2015 to include two campaigns that resulted in more than 500 testimonies against the re-permitting of four New York Power Authority fossil fuel power plants (built in 2001 as temporary and now with routine emission limitation exceedances and no pollution mitigation plan) as well as against the expansion of a 3,000 ton per day Action waste transfer station (a site with overwhelmingly noxious air quality and routine permit violations, this facility already operates 24 hours a day Monday-Saturday and now seeks to operate on Sundays). Stay tuned for follow up actions on all of these movements in 2016! And if you haven't already, please send an email to Congressman Serrano asking him to urge the EPA to reject the NYPA fossil fuel plant permit renewal. II. Building Bridges with The New York Restoration Project to Create The Haven Project as Step 1 in the Full Implementation of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan Our Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan, the blueprint of seven interconnected waterfront projects along the Mott Haven-Port Morris coastline continues to gain traction as its priority status on the NYS Open Space Conservation Plan awaits final approval from the governor. In 2015, we spent significant time collaborating with New York Restoration Project in its Haven Project, which will develop two of the seven sites - the East 132nd Street Pier and the Historic Port Morris Gantries. III. Establishing Principles for Private Development In response to the wave of real estate speculation threatening the South Bronx and that stands to open the doors to hyper-gentrification, we have put forth a Statement of Principles on Private Development - covering jobs, housing, environmental justice, local economic empowerment and upliftment of local arts. These principles have been in the making for upwards of a year by members of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Trust (in consultation with experts in each area) in response to the decades of "development" without community engagement that has caused a health epidemic and now threatens mass displacement. As some of our elected officials choose to deny the existence of gentrification, many developers have already bought land, filed plans and erected buildings "as of right", and many are not requesting any zoning changes, variances or government subsidies that would trigger wider accountability. Over the coming weeks, members of the community will be assessing adherence to these principles of each developer - from Carnegie, Cheskel Schwimmer and Chetrit to Hornig, JCAL, Savanna and Somerset, among many others - and sharing the information publicly so that we can best direct the breadth of efforts to protect and uplift our community. IV. Grounding Our Platform in Action & Education We have reached thousands of people in 2015 through direct action/education initiatives that continue raising the issue of South Bronx social, environmental and economic justice - from waterfront justice bike tours (including celebrating the historic opening of the Randall's Island Connector!) to public hearings and tribunals challenging the impact of FreshDirect and fossil fuel power plants on air quality - and from presentations to middle schools, high schools, medical schools and law schools to discussions curated by museums and coordinated by documentary film makers. We also joined city-wide efforts such as the Municipal Art Society Jane Jacobs' Walk and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance City of Water Day, among others. V. Spreading Our Story Far and Wide Our story continues to be told with a reach into the millions - coverage in 2015 includes Al Jazeera, BBC, Bronx Talk, City Limits, Crains, Daily Kos, DNA, El Diario, Grist, Guardian, Mott Haven Herald, New York Daily News, New York Times, Politico, Streetsblog, Telegraph, teleSur and Wall Street Journal, among others. Gotham Gazette - Rift Between De Blasio and Diaz Jr Grows, Bronx Implications (Dec 22, 2015) DNA – ‘Piano District’ Billboard Has Been Replaced (Dec 8, 2015) Telegraph – Bronx gentrification leaves New Yorkers up in arms (Nov 17, 2015) El Diario NY – Protestan por extension de permisos a plantas de energia (Nov 17, 2015) City Limits – Bronx’s Asthma Alley Protests Plans to Extend Power Plant Permits (Nov 12, 2015) Streetsblog – Randall’s Island Connector to Open This Weekend (Nov 12, 2015) Politico – De Blasio, Mark-Viverito meet with foes of FreshDirect (Nov 10, 2015 teleSUR - N Don't Stop - #WhatPianoDistrict - Rebranding of the South Bronx (Nov 10, 2015) Crain’s – Bronx wins award for making strides in public health (Oct 30, 2015) Real Deal – Billboard dubs section of Bronx the “Piano District” (Oct 29, 2015) DNAinfo – South Bronx Is Now the ‘Piano District,’ Billboard Proclaims (Oct 28, 2015) Mott Haven Herald – Activists urge state to close power plant (Sept 28, 2015) Mott Haven Herald – Port Morris Distillery sides with community over FreshDirect (Sept 28, 2015) DNAinfo – South Bronx Residents Frustrated Over Lack of Hearing on Plants (Sept 24, 2015) BBC – Live from South Bronx, NYC (Sept 23, 2015) Wall Street Journal – Green Space and Health Linked in Vision for South Bronx (Sept 20, 2015) Daily News – From Port Morris to the Piano District: how a group of real-estate developers plans to change the face of the South Bronx (Sept 18, 2015) New York Times – The South Bronx Beckons (Sept 17, 2015) DNAinfo – Elected Officials Join Activists in Fight Against Bronx Power Plants (Sept 9, 2015) DNAinfo – Bronx Activists Petition for Public Hearing on Waterfront Power Plants (Aug 27, 2015) Mott Haven Herald – To the editor: MS223 students speak out on FreshDirect (Aug 21, 2015) New York Times – Bronx Legionnaires’ Outbreak Is Over, Health Officials Say (Aug 20, 2015) BronxTalk – South Bronx Waterfront and the New York State Open Space Plan (Aug 3, 2015) New York Times – Connector Between Randalls Island and Bronx Is to Open (July 28, 2015) Mott Haven Herald – Plans afoot to green Port Morris waterfront (July 10, 2015) Politico – Group would transform South Bronx Waterfront (July 8, 2015) DNAinfo – Bette Midler Nonprofit Unveils Plan to Build Bronx Waterfront Parks (July 8, 2015) Streetsblog – Want Safer Biking and Walking Across the Harlem River (June 18, 2015) DNAinfo – High Bridge Reopening Leads to Renewed Calls to Develop Waterfront (June 15, 2015) Al Jazeera – Fresh Direct Bronx dilemma: health or jobs? (April 14, 2015) Streetsblog – Creating Safer Streets Linking the South Bronx to Randall’s Island (April 14, 2015) Cornell Chronicle – Noliwe Rooks on food justice and Michelle Obama (April 14, 2015) Daily Kos – The South Bronx Fights Air Pollution in “Asthma Alley” (April 8, 2015) Mom’s Clean Air Force – The South Bronx Fights Air Pollution in “Asthma Alley” (April 3, 2015) Grist – The South Bronx isn’t falling for Fresh Direct’s dirty trucks (Mar 10, 2015) Guardian – Environmental racism: Bronx activists decry Fresh Direct’s impact on air (Mar 9, 2015) NY Daily News – EXCLUSIVE: FreshDirect will be sued for punishing workers (Mar 8, 2015) Voices of NY – Fresh Direct and the South Bronx (Mar 4, 2015) NY City Lens – The Bronx and Its Parks: Imagining Possibilities (Mar 3, 2015) New York Daily News – Parks-loving nonprofit to unveil five new proposed routes through Mott Haven to Randalls Island (Feb 3, 2015) New York Daily News – FreshDirect’s deal to develop a massive distribution center at the Harlem River Yards is rotten for the city (Jan 26, 2015)