The Fight for Change in Asthma Alley
Sustainability & Environmental Justice
By Joanne Guerra
When you’re born and raised in New York City you learn to deal with all kinds of smells. Smells that range from sizzling scrumptious pizza to week-old garbage. The first time I ever left Queens to go into the big city I remember coming out of the subway and immediately feeling my lungs almost collapse because the air was so different (read: polluted). The air was thick and the buildings made me feel smaller than what I was. I became claustrophobic in a large open street. I had that same kind of experience when I visited the South Bronx.
Our SUS 200 class had the pleasure of having a tour guide throughout our class trip. Mychal Johnson, co-founder of South Bronx Unite (southbronxunite.org) and active member of his community acted as our tour guide while in the South Bronx. Johnson had a wealth of knowledge about the area and was greeted enthusiastically everywhere we went. We walked past Interstate 87 and finally made it to the Harlem River. As Johnson began explaining the Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan my throat began to get itchy and I could feel my sinuses start to work overtime. The thickness of the air took me by surprise and I tried coughing to clear my throat. Johnson gave me a knowing head nod. I was in the heart of “Asthma Alley.”
