Concern over air quality with congestion pricing in South Bronx, some parents say
Eyewitness News ABC7NY
By: Joe Torres
For many of the people who live, work, and play in the only borough connected to the mainland, the downsides of the MTA's controversial plan outweigh the upsides. And those drawbacks are based on an acknowledged reality from the MTA, less traffic in Manhattan's central business district will lead to more traffic in the crowded, residential areas of the Bronx. The Major Deegan Expressway is right near the Mitchell and Millbrook houses. Roughly 60,000 people live in a 2.5-mile radius of that location.
Environmental activists point out one in five children there suffer from asthma and they say the poor health is directly related to the traffic. "What is the cost-benefit of adding more traffic to a community that is overburdened?" said Mychal Johnson, South Bronx Unite.
Thirteen years ago the Mott Haven father of two co-founded South Bronx Unite. The environmental justice organization has 40 air quality monitors scattered throughout the borough."We are counting traffic and air. We've looked at increases in particulate matter, CO, NO. It is acknowledged even by the state that there are increases currently," Johnson said.
