Through Project WASTE we tackled one of the river’s major pollutants—floatable garbage—by installing a boom to trap trash. A cadre of citizen scientists helped us analyze and clear the debris, while students participated in an associated street litter study. The curriculum we developed engages students in making connections between street litter and the river. So far we have trained teachers at five schools to use the curriculum and implemented it ourselves at two additional middle schools in the Bronx. As a result, students across the city are analyzing the impact of garbage on their local waterways and thinking about their own behaviors.
Celebrating a Greenway Milestone
This fall, we celebrated the groundbreaking for a link in the Bronx River Greenway that will provide access to Starlight Park for thousands of residents east of the river. Reclaiming the river is catalyzing a broad transformation in these South Bronx neighborhoods, including new affordable housing and a reconfiguration of the Sheridan Expressway into a boulevard to provide river access from west Bronx neighborhoods.
A Marked Reduction in Bacteria Pollution
Since 2014, we have led an intensive study on the lower river of enterococcus, an indicator of fecal bacteria (another major pollutant), and have communicated our results to Yonkers officials working to correct illicit connections. This year not only were we able to study the whole river, we were pleased to find a marked reduction in pathogen pollution in the freshwater stretches of the North Bronx—a huge victory for recreational and educational users of the river!
The Greenest Building in the South Bronx
by Helene Stapinski, July 8, 2016
“Near the elevated 6 train, past graffitied buildings and auto body shops, just off the trash-strewn Sheridan Expressway, a narrow, hidden river flows. And on its banks the greenest and most cutting-edge building in the South Bronx is rising.”
Read the full article about River House
