Seven-Mile Route Will Restore Waterfront Access for Bronxites and Connect Van Cortlandt Park to Randall’s Island with Public Open Space and Bike Path
Adams Administration’s Nation-Leading Work to Reconnect Communities Divided by Highways Comes to Major Deegan Expressway, Which Separated Bronxites From Harlem River Nearly a Century Ago
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks) Commissioner Sue Donoghue, and New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball today announced a groundbreaking plan to deliver a critical public space to a community too often left behind by expanding the Harlem River Greenway to the Bronx.
Greenways are shared, linear spaces on public land, available for recreational uses like cycling, running, or walking. Beginning on April 18, 2023, the Adams administration will conduct public engagement and craft a plan for the new greenway. The route will span seven miles, connecting Randall’s Island at the southern tip of the Bronx to Van Cortlandt Park in the north, with continuous cycling and walking, including a critical north-south bike commuting corridor. The project represents a major new front in the administration’s nation-leading effort to reconnect communities divided by highways, focusing on the Major Deegan Expressway, which has cut off Bronxites’ access to the Harlem River waterfront since the 1930s.
“This administration continues to deliver for all five boroughs, and expanding the Harlem River Greenway to the Bronx is a huge win for equity and justice,” said Mayor Adams. “Our administration is leading the way in undoing the devastation caused by highways like the Cross-Bronx Expressway, the BQE, and now the Deegan — reversing the devastation left by others in communities of color. Greenways help us move forward while righting the wrongs of the past, give people a place where they can exercise and breathe freely, and create a sense of community by bringing people together. That’s what the Bronx deserves and what this project will deliver.”
“Historic disinvestment and highway construction has, for decades, severed Bronxites’ connection to their waterfront. This administration is centering equity in all its work — and that means ensuring communities in the Bronx have safe cycling connections and pedestrian access to and along the Harlem River shoreline, one of the city’s most beautiful natural landscapes,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “We look forward to working with Bronxites and our sister agencies in shaping this project as we continue work on our larger greenway development plans.”
“We believe that all New Yorkers deserve access to our city’s beautiful public parkland, and greenways often serve as critical connectors to our parks, waterfronts, and greenspaces,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Donoghue. “We are excited to work with our sister agencies to expand the city’s greenway network — including and especially in the outer boroughs — so we can strengthen the connections between parks and increase recreational opportunities for all New Yorkers.”
“Access to green and open spaces and safe biking infrastructure is vital to New Yorkers’ quality of life, and the Bronx Harlem River Greenway is a critical component to better connecting New Yorkers to our waterfront,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Kimball. “The Bronx Harlem River Greenway aligns with NYCEDC’s commitment to driving our city’s economic vitality and making New York City an even better place to live, work, and play. I look forward to working with Mayor Adams, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Parks & Recreation, and the community to make this vision a reality.”
The expanded Harlem River Greenway will restore Bronxites’ access to the waterfront with a network of off-street, multi-use, shared paths along the waterfront, as well as on-street bicycle facilities that will allow for safe and convenient travel along and around the river. The administration will identify high-priority, quick-build street redesigns to support larger projects, and the implementation plan developed through community engagement will include both short-term and long-term projects on identified preferred routes. Short-term projects will include the installation of markings, signs, and limited concrete work on city streets. Long-term projects will include more complex improvements to be constructed as future capital projects.
The community engagement process, launching next month, will outline a comprehensive strategy to create a continuous and accessible path along this corridor. At this first round of public workshops — with one workshop for each of the three segments of the planned greenway — DOT planners will discuss existing conditions along the waterfront and seek input from residents on how they would like to use this space through bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure upgrades. The agency will follow up with an additional round of public workshops this fall before an implementation plan will be published in 2024. DOT will also engage community members at pop-up events throughout the spring and summer, including at “Bike the Block” and “Car-Free Earth Day” events.
Community outreach will be conducted in partnership with the Bronx and Harlem River Urban Waters Federal Partnership and the New York-New Jersey Harbor and Estuary Program, which work to help reconnect community residents to their waterways. DOT is also collaborating with the Bronx Center for Environmental Quality and the Harlem River Working Group, which have long advocated for improving environmental quality and access to and along the Harlem River.
The expansion of the Harlem River Greenway follows the Adams administration’s receipt of a $7.25 million federal grant award to plan the city’s next generation of greenways, with a focus on expanding the network to historically underserved communities.
“Expanding equity of waterfront access is a key goal of our Comprehensive Waterfront Plan,” said New York City Department of City Planning Executive Director Edith Hsu-Chen. “This much-needed greenway extension will link more New Yorkers with their shoreline and lead to a healthier, more connected city for all.”
“Since its inception, the Harlem River Working Group has been led by community members working improve access to the Bronx and Manhattan side of the Harlem River and develop the Harlem and Putnam River Greenways,” said Chauncy Young, coordinator, Harlem River Working Group. “The city’s first greenway plan that included the Harlem River Greenway was developed under Mayor David Dinkins and Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer in 1993. Today, we can finally make those dreams a reality, and I commend Representatives Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres for their unwavering support to secure $7 million for the New York City greenway expansion, and Mayor Adams and Commissioner Rodriquez for prioritizing this environmental justice project once and for all.”
“Over the course of decades, the investment in the Bronx River Greenway has created acres of new parkland and invaluable connections between neighborhoods that were separated for so long,” said Siddharth Motwani, Bronx River Greenway coordinator, Bronx River Alliance. “Focusing on the Harlem River Greenway is an opportunity for the city to bring these same benefits to communities around the Harlem River. We applaud this investment and look forward to the development of accessible waterfront green spaces for the west Bronx.”
“The Randall’s Island Park Alliance is thrilled to learn of plans for increased connections to the island’s Bronx neighbors,” said Deborah Maher, president, Randall’s Island Park Alliance. “An expanded Harlem River Greenway will provide crucial commuting and recreational resources for New Yorkers and enable even more visitors to enjoy the park's resources.”
“Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is the coordinating organization of the New York City Greenways Coalition that has advanced the citywide cause of this vital open space and active transportation infrastructure,” said Hunter Armstrong, executive director, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. “In Brooklyn, we know how valuable it was when the New York City Department of Transportation developed the 2012 implementation plan for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Having this plan in place has enabled the City of New York to make steady progress towards building out the greenway in our borough. The launch of the Harlem River Greenway plan is a significant and tangible win for the residents of the Bronx, and the other communities that the coalition supports, and hopefully, a sign of additional implementation studies to come.”
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