Scientists and Community Leaders Seek to Clear the Air in the South Bronx
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
By: Timothy Paul
The South Bronx is the birthplace of hip hop and one of New York City’s most culturally vibrant communities. Circled by highways and dotted with truck depots, waste transfer stations, and power plants, the area is also a dumping ground for pollution. A new collaborative effort between scientists and activists aims to expose those pollution sources with the goal of clearing the air.
A research project organized by environmental justice group, South Bronx Unite(link is external and opens in a new window), and environmental health scientists at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health will install 25 air pollution monitors in strategic locations throughout the neighborhoods of Mott Haven and Port Morris, as well as a control monitor in leafy Riverdale. Timed for Climate Week, a kick-off event in the María Sola Community Greenspace adjacent to the Major Deegan Expressway introduced the project to community members, activists, city agency staffers, and Columbia Mailman faculty and students.
