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South Bronx Unite (SBU) is a coalition of environmental justice, land and anti-displacement activists in the Mott Haven-Port Morris section of the South Bronx. The group was founded in early 2012 in response to the relocation of a Fresh Direct warehouse at the Harlem River Yards, a 96‐acre publically owned waterfront in Mott Haven-Port Morris.

History South Bronx Unite formed after the diesel truck-intensive grocery delivery service Fresh Direct reached a deal with the New York State Department of Transportation to move a Queens delivery hub to the Harlem River Yards in the South Bronx. As part of the deal, Fresh Direct was offered $128 million in public subsidies and the remainder of a 99-year lease for the land that was originally signed by Harlem River Yards Ventures in 1991. Community members argued that the new facility would bring thousands of new vehicle – especially diesel truck - trips and an increase in air pollution to a neighborhood that already had some of the highest rates of asthma in the country. Charging that the deal was made without proper environmental review as required by state and local laws and that the affected community was excluded from the decision-making process, protestors argued for the creating waterfront access and green space, instead.

Since, South Bronx Unite has developed and secured priority status at the New York State level for its own waterfront plan, advised the New York Restoration Project on the Haven Project to create a network of connected open spaces in the South Bronx, advocated for sensible redistricting of the local city council district, organized a boycott of Fresh Direct, conducted educational programs and environmental justice tours, developed a set of principles for responsible private development, and organized the annual H.E.Arts Festival to celebrate the community and advocate for the creation a community-owned space for local nonprofits and cultural organizations, called the H.E.ARTS Community Center (health, education, and the arts).

In 2016 members of South Bronx Unite helped form the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards, a local community land trust (CLT) established “to acquire and hold in perpetuity real property to ensure that community members preserve a stake” in the neighborhood.

In 2017, a proposal submitted by South Bronx Unite and its partners, the New York City Community Land Initiative and the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards, was named one of two winners of the Design Trust for Public Space Call for Project Ideas competition, Public for All: Rethinking Shared Space in NYC.

That proposal, “Community Land Trust as a Model for Public Space,” called for the use of asset mapping and community-driven neighborhood planning to explore the potential for the community land trust model of community ownership to be applied to public space. That effort, officially called “Power in Place: Building Community Wealth and Well-Being in Mott Haven-Port Morris, was launched on Dec. 2, 2017. One of its goals is to identify underutilized spaces in those neighborhoods, like empty lots or abandoned or vacated properties, that can be used for community needs like recreation, education and health.

Mission As stated on South Bronx Unite’s website, “South Bronx Unite is a coalition of South Bronx residents, organizations, and allies working together to improve and protect the social, environmental and economic future of the South Bronx.” In line with this mission, SBU is committed to an open, community-based planning process for all future development that includes new affordable housing based on the current average median income of the South Bronx as well as the provision of living-wage jobs for South Bronx residents, and dedicated public green space, parks and waterfront access in Harlem River Yard.

Programs and Projects Mott Haven-Port Morris Land Stewards is the not-for-profit community land trust (CLT) sponsored by SBU that seeks to acquire ownership of vacant properties in the neighborhood for community use and control. It is a member of the New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI), an alliance of social justice and affordable housing organizations. In 2017, NYCCLI was one of four New York City organizations included in a $1.65 million grant from the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation as part of the Community Land Trusts Capacity Building Initiative, a program started by Enterprise Community Partners and the New York State Attorney General’s Office to create or expand local community land trusts. The grant, part of which was used to create the NYCCLI’s CLT Learning Exchange, came from the Attorney General’s settlement with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for practices that contributed to the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis https://citylimits.org/2017/07/19/city-dips-toe-into-funding-community-land-trusts/.

“Power in Place” is a community asset mapping and planning project in conjunction with the Design Trust for Public Space that supports the development of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards community land trust (CLT). The project’s efforts include creating a mapping framework for identifying opportunities, constraints, and requirements for the creation and use of public space; develop a community-driven plan for creating new and strengthening existing public space utilizing the CLT model; and build a communication toolkit to serve as an advocacy and educational tool about the CLT model.

H.E.ARTS Community Center SBU proposes converting the 22,750-square-foot, New York City-owned former Lincoln Detox Center on West 140th St in the South Bronx into a permanently affordable, community-owned space for local nonprofits and cultural organizations https://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2017/12/12-hearts-2017-03-24-bx.html. The group envisions that the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards community land trust would own title to the land while South Bronx Unite would hold the lease to the building.

Mott Haven-Port Morris Waterfront Plan is a community-generated proposal to redevelop portions of the heavily industrialized 96-acre Harlem River Yards into a community-owned public park in order to counteract negative health impacts – including those generated by nearby major highways, power plants and waste treatment facilities. The redevelopment proposes providing access to the waterfront at seven points throughout the South Bronx peninsula.