Gov. Hochul wants to build a wider highway through the South Bronx. Advocates opposed to that idea want her to come see it for herself.
Bronx River Houses Resident Association President Norma Saunders penned a letter to Hochul on Feb. 11 inviting the governor to tour the area around the Cross Bronx Expressway where her Department of Transportation plans to widen the highway's shoulder lanes.
"Ahead of the March 10 deadline for state officials to finalize construction plans, we believe it is essential that you hear directly from residents whose health and well-being will be massively impacted by this $900 million project," Saunders wrote the governor. "To this day, the air pollution from the Expressway is already so severe that families here cannot safely open our windows. Despite the obvious threat, NYS DOT's own renderings propose expanding the Cross Bronx practically to our doorstep."
Saunders conceded that the highway's bridges need repair, but questioned the wisdom of expanding them by building out wider
"No one knows the Cross Bronx better than Bronxites," she wrote. "We share the goal of repairing its aging bridges. Nevertheless, the safest option for our communities is a standard bridge repair."
South Bronx advocates fighting the highway expansion previously invited Mayor Mamdani and city Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn to tour the area. They have yet to oblige that request.
Much to advocates' frustration, time is running out, as Hochul's administration will soon wrap up the review process for the project after putting the kibosh on an earlier plan that would have added even more highway infrastructure to the area.
In other news:
- DSNY suspended a supervisor amid an investigation into whether improper snow removal on his watch led to a fatal crash on the Long Island Expressway. (Daily News)
- NYPD released the name of the second man sought for questioning in the 2024 killing of cyclist Amanda Servedio in Astoria. (S.I. Advance)
- Mayor Mamdani's proposed budget is a letdown for advocates who believed him when he said he'd increase funding for parks and libraries. (The City)
- The Post followed our reporting on Lyft's lack of attention to digging Citi Bike docks out from the snow.
- The city is turning a cop parking lot outside the 25th Precinct house into affordable housing. (NY Times)
- The number of cyclists crossing the East River bridges hit an all-time high in 2025. (NYC DOT)
- Tourists love leaving garbage tied to the Brooklyn Bridge. These New Yorkers are cleaning up after them. (New York Groove)
- Judges released at least three of the men arrested by ICE while hawking counterfeit goods on Canal Street after determining their arrests violated the law. (Gothamist)
- An LIRR exec retired last year after getting caught using his position to get his son a job with an agency contractor. (NY Post, PIX11)
- Five people suffered injuries when their B36 bus collided with an "elevated platform" being transported by a truck in Coney Island. (News 12 Brooklyn)
- U.S. DOT is forcing states to yank the driver's licenses of immigrant bus drivers. (Gothamist)
- A federal judge dismissed Ex-NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon's lawsuit against Eric Adams and the city. (NY Times)
- DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn's Bogota shoutout made the news in Colombia. (El Tiempo)
