Asthma Alley: Deepening Data Collection in The Bronx, NYC
Written by Laya Hartman
In early December, La Peña, a local environmental justice group, organized a craft fair in the office space of South Bronx Unite, an organization which fights for Environmental Justice in the Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven. The women of La Peña had much to discuss beyond the clothing, jewelry, and pottery they made.
Craft sale at South Bronx Unite. Photo by Laya Hartman.
Esperanza Martell, a Puerto Rican craftswoman and environmental justice advocate, spoke of what she called discriminatory infrastructure in the Bronx since she came to the United States at five years-old. Martell, now older, is experiencing severe asthma.
“It’s not that people in the Bronx are not conscious of the environmental issue of the level of pollution, you know, which didn’t start four years ago,” said Martell.
But for Martell, New York is her home. La Peña and South Bronx Unite fight for Bronx residents to live safe and healthy lives– but structural issues in the Bronx make this a steep challenge.
The Bronx absorbs much of the city’s pollution, and this was no design flaw. In the South Bronx are four Peaker Plants, waste management plants (handling a third of New York City’s waste) a water front made inaccessible by factories, and four major highways: the Major Deegan, Bruckner, Sheridan, and the Cross Bronx expressways which run directly next to homes and playgrounds. The pollution from these cars and diesel trucks contribute to the poor air quality that gives locals severe asthma. All of these major infrastructures still exist today.
View from Third Avenue Bridge to Willis Avenue Bridge. Photo by Laya Hartman.
As a result of red-lining in the early to mid 20th century, many Black and Hispanic residents were forced to live in areas with structural dangers. This is seen today as the South Bronx reports the highest levels of toxic emission in all of New York City, and is majority Black and Hispanic.
Professor Neal Phillips at Bronx Community College has done extensive work with air quality and pollution in the United States. Phillips believes that the Bronx needs a lot more air quality research and public knowledge of these issues. “I think the government needs to make more funding available so people can do more research and develop low cost sensors for air quality indoor and outdoor air quality,” Phillips said. “If I can buy one for $10, I could put it in my home, every bedroom.”
The goal is for citizens to be able to monitor their own areas of living. If air quality is poor in a specific area one day, then that person should try to avoid that area.
Retired Professor Angelika Winner at Lehman College in the Bronx believes that working with the communities that are affected and know the areas well is essential to solving environmental issues. “Scientists need to do a lot better in making their research more accessible, but also from the ground up, to not just remain in your ivory tower, but actually work with the community,” said Winner.
Air quality devices can be very expensive. Winner believes that the lack of research sites could be a result of officials not wanting to invest money to fix these issues. “It’s better not to know in some ways for the officials,” said Winner. A mix of monetary expenses, and giving away individual freedom are several factors Winner believes could hold officials back from more research and taking necessary steps to solve the problems found.
For example, on a day when high ozone values are found in a city, Winner believes all private traffic must be stopped in particular areas. “I think in the US there’s a constant clash between individual freedom. Like you can’t take my right away to drive into the city,” said Winner. Communities working as a collective, where actions have a positive effect on the next person, could help mitigate poorer air quality and other environmental issues.
Groups like South Bronx Unite work to connect air quality research with policy and solutions. Leslie Vasquez, an activist working for South Bronx Unite, spoke on how green spaces in the South Bronx are underutilized. “It’s a tricky situation when you want to advocate for something And it just doesn’t happen because of the lack of funding that these programs have,” said Vasquez.
St Mary’s Park, one of the largest parks in the South Bronx, lies in Mott Haven. According to Mark Naison, a researcher at Fordham University, the park has three needle boxes where heroin and methadone users can discard their works. The existing green spaces are not always child-friendly.
Community activist Nieves Ayress is a former political prisoner of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinoche in Chile. Ayress, speaking little English, had a translator paraphrase her disapproval of the United States Government’s efforts to address many environmental issues in the South Bronx. “Whatever pieces of goodness that you find in the Bronx, don’t think it’s because the authorities are good…It is because the community has been working together,” said Ayress.
Nieves Ayress stringing jewelry at Craft Sale. Photo by Laya Hartman.
Martell agrees with Ayress in their disapproval of the city’s efforts to re-invision spaces in the South Bronx. “I mean, they [the Government] always blame the victim. It’s always the people’s fault. But the people organize themselves.”
Le Peña brings awareness to these issues in the community. To Martell, the changes that have been made in the Bronx have been pushed by the people to fight resistance from the government’s lack of urgency and funding. “We gotta fight back, and we fight back,” said Martell. Where waste plants and factories exist, La Peña would like to see community gardens, parks, and child-safe playgrounds.
Efforts that have been made by La Peña to help solve these issues have included painting murals around the South Bronx. Several members of La Peña added to the creation of these murals. The most recent mural painted in 2023.
But optimism remains in the minds of many researchers and citizens. Fighting for environmental justice is not an impossible mission, with the help of community organizations, working with scientists and researchers to raise awareness and advocate for change in their communities. “You start somewhere and make things more available to the regular people, then that’s a step in the right direction,” said Phillips.
