Address “The Injustice”
New York, Jul 26 (EFE).-
New York City wants to address “the injustice” committed by urban planner Robert Moses, one of the most powerful and influential figures in the city’s history.
Robert Moses (Dec. 18, 1888 – Jul. 29, 1981) was a prominent American urban planner and public official active in the New York metropolitan area throughout the early to mid-20th century.
Moses prioritized highway construction that divided neighborhoods and prevented many from accessing the Harlem River shoreline, which separates Manhattan and the Bronx.
One of the major projects currently in the public input phase is the seven-mile greenway that will connect Randall’s Island in Manhattan to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York’s second largest park.
Congressman Adriano Espaillat led a boat trip across the Harlem River on Friday, for the third time, along with a group of environmental activists and New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez.
They will evaluate what projects are necessary to give residents access to more green spaces and the riverbank, he told EFE.
Espaillat identified among these projects a private housing development on the riverfront in Upper Manhattan.
At the moment, he said, the city was listening to the developers to make sure the project would be “community-friendly,” with water access and several units of affordable housing.
Another project is a private developer’s proposal for a water taxi that would run from 125th Street in lower Manhattan to the marina north of the borough, an attractive area where several restaurants have sprung up. Columbia University is conducting this environmental study.
Rodríguez explained that the project to connect Manhattan and the Bronx “is one of the most ambitious” proposed by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, announced last May.
The route will cover seven miles and connect Randall’s Island in the southern Bronx with Van Cortlandt Park in the north, featuring green spaces for walking and a north-to-south cycling corridor.
The project represents a significant effort to reconnect communities divided by roads and correct “the mistakes of the past,” focusing on the Major Deegan Expressway, which has cut off Bronx residents’ access to the Harlem waterfront since the 1930s, according to the mayor’s announcement.
According to Rodríguez, they are in the process of listening to the communities before moving forward with the project, which will cost “hundreds of millions” of dollars.
He highlighted that “the construction of highways like the Deegan was the injustice committed by Moses (1888-1981)” and that this project “seeks to restore environmental justice.” EFE
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