Attourney General Letita James and Assemblyman marcos Crespo inside one of the eco-friendly trucks. Veronica Feliciano
replaced when the two
year lease expiries.
During the lease period,
the attorney general’s
offi ce will study the
performance of the electric
trucks deployed in the
project, documenting their
utility and performance.
The fl eet of all-electric
trucks are designed to
eliminate vehicle emissions
of all air pollutants,
including soot which is
a known contributor to
asthma, a respiratory condition
the south Bronx
knows all too well.
Crespo spoke about
bettering the respiratory
health of the south Bronx,
a place where residents
are victim to inhaling
truck exhaust emanating
from the industrial Hunts
Point area.
“For many years, communities
like the south
Bronx have been unfairly
exposed to negative environmental
impacts” he
said.
Over 20 trucks passed
by the market during the
brief press conference, to
put it in perspective.
“Moreover these communities
are are treated
negatively by policies and
leaders who completely
ignored the ramifi cations
and effects of poor air quality
on generations of Bronx
residents,” Crespo continued
while commending the
Jame’s initiative.
The use of these trucks
over traditional dieselfueled
types directly addresses
the soot problem
across the borough as well
as the entire city, according
to James.
Other citywide participating
non-profi ts in the
environmentally friendly
truck program are Big Reuse,
GrowNYC and Habitat
for Humanity New York
City.
After James hopped in
one of the trucks with Crespo
to check out its specs
fi rsthand, she told the
Bronx Times some of her
other environmental initiatives
for the borough.
“We need to utilize
more open space for
parks,” James said.
The attorney general
explained that expanding
the use of green roofs is
also pivotal, just like expanding
the use electric
trucks.
Allocating the proper
city and state funding to
make the Bronx greener is
also at the top of her list.
“We also have to fi x the
MTA so we can get cars off
the road,” James said.
posal in early 2018, the
road diet was sharply
criticized by an overwhelming
majority of
Community Board 11
as well as Councilman
Mark Gjonaj.
CB 11 chairman and
small business owner on
Morris Park Avenue, Al
D’Angelo, is currently
working with a legal
team to sue the city over
the road diet plan, he
said.
“It’s criminal what
they’re doing. It’s not
their livelihood here,
it’s ours,” the chairman
said.
D’Angelo’s primary
concern with the traffic
project is that the road
diet will harm the ‘mom
and pop’ businesses on
the avenue.
“There’s already no
parking whatsoever on
Morris Park Avenue,
adding a loading zone
means more parking
spaces will disappear
and double parking will
only continue to get
worse,” D’Angelo said.
“The business community
opposed this, the
Morris Park Business
Improvement District is
on record opposing this,”
he continued.
The president of the
Bronx Chamber of Commerce
Lisa Sorin publicly
ripped the ‘Vision
Zero Initiative’ plan.
In D’Angelo’ eyes, as
well as many others in
Morris Park, they view
the city’s road diet decision
as a David vs. Goliath
struggle, since Mayor
de Blasio is imposing the
plan on the community
eventhough it has made
it abundantly clear they
are opposed to the project
.“
They’re spending
a lot of money on this,
money that could have
gone to something more
beneficial,” D’Angelo
said, noting that the
DOT rejected the community’s
alternative proposals
to the road diet offered
months earlier.
Prior to reaching the
point of legal action,
D’Angelo, Gjonaj and
other road diet opponents
had thousands of
residents sign petitions
and held protests to have
their voices heard, but to
no avail.
When talks first began
on the road diet proposal,
Gjonaj remained
neutral, pledging to support
the community’s
wishes.
“I stand with my community
and will work
to stop this project,” he
said.
Gjonaj’s concerns
with the plan are that it
could lead to longer response
times for emergency
vehicles bustling
in and out of neighboring
Jacobi Hospital and
Montefiore Hospital,
while at the same time
inadvertently diverting
traffic to residential side
streets.
“These are just some
of the reasons that residents
are firmly against
it,” Gjonaj said.
The councilman also
expressed uneasiness
that the area’s congestion
will be at an all time high
once the Morris Park
Metro North Railroad
station is constructed in
several years.
Most recently, Gjonaj
published an ‘anti road
diet’ petition on Change.
org which has received
over 1,088 electronic signatures.
It can be viewed at
ht t ps://www.change.
org/p/bdeblasio- cityhall
nyc-gov-oppose-themorri
s -park-avenueroad
diet-plan
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