It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Ruth Anderberg, founder of our predecessor group, Bronx River Restoration.
Stephen P. DeVillo, author of The Bronx River in History and Folklore, writes "when [Ruth] first organized the Bronx River Restoration in 1974 The Bronx, along with the rest of New York City, was reaching its nadir, and to many people the thought of restoring the Bronx River was, at best, a quixotic notion. Ruth, though, persisted, and in time the Bronx River Restoration gave rise to the Bronx River Alliance, along with a host of other citizen organizations along the river."
Stephen continues, "today her vision is fufilled by new riverside parklands, a Bronx River Greenway, and an increasingly revitalized Bronx River, down which in a couple of weeks some 70 canoes and watercraft will float in the annual Amazing Bronx River Flotilla. All of us here in The Bronx owe an immense debt of gratitude to Ruth Anderberg, and to her unstinting pursuit of a once seemingly impossible idea — that of a trashed and maligned river returned into a cherished natural resource."
Thank you to Ruth for your momentous contributions to the Bronx River! We continue to build on your legacy as we work to make the river more accessible, beautiful, and ecologically valuable for Bronx communities.
