City Island Rising marked a recent round of infrastructure improvements in Pelham Bay Park following the completion of another partial street repaving by the New York City Department of Transportation, including work on the Hutchinson River Parkway exit ramp.
The Bronx-based community organization said the Hutchinson River Parkway resurfacing is the third such roadway improvement within the park over the past year, celebrating its partial resurfacing rather than simply filling potholes.
While lauding the progress, City Island Rising said its work isn’t finished.
The group said it plans to continue pushing for additional long-term resilience measures, especially as climate change increases the risks faced by communities surrounded by water.
“There is still much work to be done, but we are grateful for the tangible, concrete steps City Hall took to address these issues, particularly repaving portions of the roadways, before the winter season starts,” City Island Rising Board Members John Doyle and David Diaz said in a statement.
City Island Rising attributed the latest improvements to a coordinated, multi-agency walk-through organized by the nonprofit’s leaders in partnership with city hall.
The effort took representatives from outgoing Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Transportation through the area to bring renewed attention to long-standing infrastructure and safety concerns in the waterfront community.
Highlighting community concerns in person worked, according to City Island Rising and city agencies subsequently addressed recurring flooding issues in select areas of the park and completed repairs to 25 street lamps, which were rewired and restored over the summer to improve nighttime visibility within the park.
A previous partial resurfacing of City Island Road was completed in December 2024.
The nonprofit emphasized that the coordinated approach among agencies has been key to moving projects forward in an area where jurisdictional boundaries often overlap.
Looking ahead, the organization said it is eager to work with the incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani to increase the revitalization and services to Pelham Bay Park and City Island.
The community organization has a long list of projects and investments that it has advocated for over the years, including improving street safety through daylighting, increasing public transit access, water quality improvements, addressing the impacts of climate change on the island and even bringing a ferry terminal to the largely isolated patch of the city.
City Island Rising celebrated the recent improvements, noting that the Northeast Bronx community hoped they were just the beginning of more investments that will improve and protect the unique corner of the city for residents and the visitors who come to experience the coastal reprieve.
Reach Sadie Brown at sbrown@schnepsmedia.com or (214) 994-6723. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
