Dear Neighbor,
Thank you for joining us for another week in review.
Our borough is mourning the tragic loss of sisters, 17-year-old Zainab and 18-year-old Aisha Mohammed after they were reported missing in the waters off Coney Island Beach hours after the lifeguards had ended their shift. As the city paused for the holiday weekend, this family was left to piece together the unimaginable loss of these two young women who had so much promise and potential. This heartbreaking loss is a reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of safeguarding our youth. We must come together as a community to support one another during this time of immense grief.
Sadly, this news came weeks after another set of teens drowned in the waters off Jacob Riis Park beach in Queens when there were no lifeguards on duty. These incidents are incredibly heartbreaking but are also preventable. As the temperature continues to increase and more families are going to the beach for relief, I am joining Assembly Member Landon Dais and Council Member Althea Stevens in adding our collective voices to those elected officials who are calling on the administration to prioritize extending the hours of our lifeguards past 6 pm, extending beach hours, particularly during heatwaves, investing in free swimming classes in our communities, and more education and outreach to New Yorkers on the dangers of swimming.
Black and brown communities face significant disparities in swimming skills and water safety education. It is imperative that we address these disparities. We must prevent such senseless tragedies in the future and ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe.
Let us continue to keep these families in our hearts and prayers in the coming days and weeks. We are asking our residents to join us in calling for changes to keep New Yorkers safe at our local beaches.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 718-590-3500 or email us at webmail@bronxbp.nyc.gov.
Click here for a list of City pools.
Click here for a list of City Beaches.
Click here for free swim classes.
Click here for information on how to become a lifeguard.
Click here for a list of cooling centers.
In partnership,
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson
IN THE COMMUNITY
Our residents in the Bronx deserve the very best, including affordable, safe, and quality housing with amenities that support our tenants’ emotional, mental, and physical well-being.
We are grateful to New York’s Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), Bank of New York, NEF, Lemle & Wolff, Webster Bank, Alembic Community Development, The Bridge, and my colleagues in government for their support of Betances VI Family Residence which reimagines underutilized land in our borough as affordable housing that will provide critical support for our residents in Mott Haven.
Amenities at Betances Family Apartments will include a children’s playroom, bike storage, an outdoor green roof terrace, and 24/7 building security. The ground floor will feature approximately 10,000 gross square feet of commercial space, adding to the busiest commercial district in the Bronx.
The development will provide 101 units of deeply affordable housing, including 70 homes for extremely low-, low-, and moderate-income New Yorkers, 30 apartments set aside for New Yorkers who had previously experienced homelessness, and 18 units reserved for NYCHA residents to receive priority housing.
Our concert at Orchard Beach was a huge success! Even the heat couldn’t stop us from enjoying part 2 of our Summer Concert Series.
Thank you to everyone who came out to support the event and to our amazing sponsors who joined us!
The renovations to the Bronx Museum of the Arts are the physical manifestation of our commitment to supporting culture and arts in our borough and preserving the Bronx Museum as a beacon of inspiration, education and innovation.
This groundbreaking ceremony symbolizes much more than the start of construction. It represents our collective commitment to fostering creativity and celebrating diversity through the arts.
I am proud to have invested funding into this $33 million expansion project as a Council Member and as Borough President.
As we turn this soil, we are not just laying the foundation of a new building but sowing the seeds for countless dreams and aspirations.
This is a historic week for the Bronx and for Salif Mane, a recent graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University and an alum of Taft High School’s Bronx High School for Medical Science.
On Sunday, June 30th, 22-year-old Salif Mane became the 2024 Team USA Track and Field Trials Gold Medalist – Triple Jump and is now headed to Paris to compete in the Paris Olympics.
We are all so proud of Salif’s accomplishments thus far and of the fact that he will soon proudly represent our borough on the Olympic stage!
Our young people are doing great things in the Bronx, and our collective responsibility is to highlight their accomplishments.
Congratulations Salif!
UPCOMING EVENTS
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