Mayor Adams, Hunts Point Community Leaders Release "Hunts Point Forward" Plan

MAYOR ADAMS, HUNTS POINT COMMUNITY LEADERS RELEASE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN HUNTS POINT

Backed by a $40 Million Commitment From Mayor Adams, ‘Hunts Point Forward’ Outlines Vision Shared by City and Community With Over 70 Short- and Long-Term Recommendations

Plan Delivers on Commitment in Mayor Adams’ Blueprint for NYC’s Economic Recovery

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Hunts Point community leaders today released ‘Hunts Point Forward,’ a comprehensive plan to create economic opportunity and improve quality of life for New Yorkers in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx. Backed by an initial $40 million commitment from Mayor Adams, the plan outlines a 15-year vision shared by the city and the community with more than 70 short- and long-term recommendations for creating family-sustaining jobs, improving public safety, enhancing community health and access to healthy food, promoting environmental justice, and delivering upgrades to open space, transportation, and other key community infrastructure.

Building on the city’s previous work in Hunts Points and shared goals of centralized coordination and accountability, ‘Hunts Point Forward’ offers 73 short- and long-term recommendations shaped by extensive community input. Last year, NYCEDC and several city agencies, Councilmember Salamanca, the Pratt Center for Community Development, and the Hunts Point-Longwood Community Coalition (HPLWCC) led extensive outreach to hear from residents and community-based organizations about the community’s needs and priorities. Engagement included remote and in-person public events, community board briefings, a community survey that received more than 400 responses, three public workshops, and focus group meetings conducted in English and Spanish.

‘Hunts Point Forward’ delivers on a key commitment that Mayor Adams made in his Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery to invest $140 million in Hunts Point infrastructure and community priorities, including $40 million in city capital funding that Mayor Adams has allocated for investments in local open space and infrastructure. As part of the plan, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will upgrade Barretto Point Park — providing more park space for visitors, restoring a portion of shoreline, and making the park more resilient.

In addition, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) will address the history of crashes on Hunts Point Avenue involving pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers by redesigning the roadway to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street and encourage drivers to slow down. DOT will also close a gap in the Hunts Point Avenue bike lane between East Bay Avenue and Randall Avenue and complete a survey to inform improvements that will be made to street lighting.

Key recommendations in the plan include:

• Making the neighborhood safer by improving street lighting and redesigning key streets and intersections for street safety;

• Connecting Hunts Point residents to local industrial jobs through a variety of workforce development strategies, including a partnership between the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and Food Distribution Center tenants to broaden access to open positions;

• Increasing access to affordable fresh produce through youth-run farm stands and a new grocery store in The Peninsula redevelopment;

• Expanding health care access through pop-up health clinics and screenings, as well as a permanent health care facility in The Peninsula redevelopment project;

• Making the neighborhood a model of industrial sustainability and resiliency, while addressing decades of environmental injustices, by continuing to invest in facilities within the Food Distribution Center that are vulnerable to climate change, identifying the next phase of resiliency investments, and continuing to advocate for funding to redevelop the produce market into a modern facility;

• Closing the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, an 800-bed jail barge, and starting a community engagement process to repurpose the adjoining city-owned parking lot; and

• Expanding open space and enhancing area parks and green spaces, including expanding access to Barretto Point Park.

As the relevant city agencies partner on the capital projects and key programmatic initiatives in ‘Hunts Point Forward,’ the city will continue advocating for state and federal funding to help address the community’s and the city’s most pressing needs.

Barretto Point Park

1121 Viele Avenue (Viele Avenue and Tiffany Street)

Bronx, NY 10474

June 15, 2022