The South Bronx is home to a diverse community of committed residents, activists, artists and thinkers with exceptional resourcefulness and ingenuity who sustained the area through decades of environmental injustice and economic neglect.

The industrial waterfront community of Mott Haven-Port Morris in the South Bronx faces asthma rates eight times the national average. 38% of the area’s residents and 49% of its children live in poverty, with an average median income of $19,454 – the lowest in the state – and an unemployment rate more than three times the national rate.

Now a wave of real estate speculation, including 12 market rate rentals and six hotels, aims to bring thousands of luxury residential units to Mott Haven-Port Morris. 

A team of Fellows, comprising expertise in mapping, community planning, and participatory design, worked closely with South Bronx Unite and Design Trust, and have compiled research and analysis of 23 plans and studies for the Mott Haven – Port Morris area, which will support South Bronx Unite’s efforts to carry a community-driven planning process forward.

background