On a sunny Saturday afternoon in Mott Haven, the Maria Sola Green Space, a garden nestled beside the roar of the Major Deegan Expressway, filled with the sounds of live music, children on roller blades and residents learning how to compost.
South Bronx Unite, a local environmental justice nonprofit, and the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards co-hosted their annual Earth Day Fest on April 18th, drawing residents to a space that has been a symbol of community resistance for decades.
South Bronx Unite chose to host the festival at Maria Sola Green Space because it symbolized an act of communal resistance in an age of urban planning that deprioritized green spaces.
In the 1960s and 70s, as highways carved through the South Bronx and landlords burned their own buildings for insurance money, neighbors cleared rubble from abandoned lots and built gardens in their place.
According to the South Bronx Unite, Maria Sola is one of those reclaimed spaces, stewarded by volunteers for decades. On Saturday, South Bronx Unite was determined to make sure that history wasn’t forgotten.
“When you walk into these gates, you feel different,” said Mychal Johnson, a co-founder of South Bronx Unite, addressing a crowd gathered under the garden’s canopy of trees. “You start feeling the ground underneath your feet instead of the asphalt that magnifies the heat.”
Johnson spoke about the urgent need for more green space in a neighborhood that is one of the most park-poor in New York City. “This neighborhood has one park for 60,000 people,” he said. “Out of necessity, we are here in this space next to that highway, saying we need this and a lot more.”
The festival was a full afternoon of programming designed for all ages: children roller-bladed in the street, community members participated in acrylic bandana-making and woodworking and practitioners offered acupressure and Reiki on the hillside of the garden.
The event opened with a ceremony led by South Bronx Unite staff member Kaila Bule, who guided attendees through an appreciation ritual honoring the four cardinal directions and the earth and sun.
One of the afternoon’s highlights was a live performance by Taina Asili, a singer and environmental activist whose music weaves together themes of justice and resilience.
Throughout the afternoon, South Bronx Unite also distributed more than 70 DIY air purifiers to attendees, simple box-fan-and-filter devices that residents can build and maintain at home.
Melissa Bodley, South Bronx Unite’s Operations Manager, explained why air purifiers are crucial for the community. “We have the highest rates of childhood asthma hospitalizations,” she said. “Until we’re able to get rid of those polluting structures, we have to do some mitigation.”
The neighborhood sits at the confluence of some of the city’s heaviest polluting infrastructure, according to Bodley, the Major Deegan Expressway runs along the garden’s fence, a waste transfer station and a FreshDirect warehouse sit nearby, and four waterfront “peaker” power plants continue to burn fossil fuels on demand.
The Bronx has the worst air quality of any New York City borough, and asthma rates there are 2.5 times higher than in any other borough. In communities like the South Bronx with the most traffic-related air pollution, more than 30% of childhood asthma cases are attributable to that pollution, compared to an estimated 20% region wide.
Aurea Ortiz, 43, a Mott Haven resident who lives in public housing with two cats, a dog, and a five-year-old daughter, said she had come specifically to get one.
“My daughter and I were getting sick a lot,” she said, listing a string of her daughter’s respiratory illnesses — Respiratory syncytial virus, croup, bronchitis. “It’s all from the air quality.”
The programming also included asking the residents to envision the empty space under the Major Deegan highway next to the garden, which sits empty and is being used as an unauthorized parking lot.
Council Member Elsie Encarnacion, who was in attendance, expressed support for SBU’s idea to turn it into an extension of the garden. “It is empty, and the community should have access to it,” Encarnacion said. “What better way to combat what’s happening above it than nature?” she said.
South Bronx Unite holds monthly organizing meetings on the first Thursday of every month, and plans a spring and summer event series tied to their ongoing campaign to open the former Lincoln Detox Center, now called the Heart Center, as a community wellness and cultural space.
Carol Chen is a student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
