South Bronx Unite Unveils Plans for Community Center
The proposed site for the H.E.ARTS Center at 349 E. 140 St.
Photo: Adrian Childress
Bronx Times
By: Jason Cohen
A local nonprofit that works to improve the social, environmental and economic future of the Mott Haven and Port Morris sections of the Bronx unveiled plans for a community center last week.
On Nov. 10, Mychal Johnson, co-founder of South Bronx Unite, presented a proposal to the Community Board 1 Housing and Land Use Committee to launch the Health, Education and The Arts (H.E.ARTS) Center at 349 E. 140th St., the former site of the old Lincoln Recovery Center building. The site, which houses a 3-floor building with 23,000 square feet of space, has been vacant for a decade.
According to Johnson, given the myriad challenges faced by residents of Mott Haven and Port Morris — from air pollution to high unemployment rates to lack of public gathering spaces — there should be a community center every few blocks. But there aren’t any currently open to the general public, and none that serve as a multi-purpose, multi-use, multi-organization space where youth, adults and elders can visit for programming.
