BRONX – Today, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr, and the New York Restoration Project announced $2 million in capital funding for the East 132nd Street Pier. The funding will support the stabilization of the vacant, derelict site and create the first publicly accessible waterfront site in the Bronx south of East 149th Street. The pier would be the first capital project implemented by NYRP as part of the Haven Project, a transformative open space plan developed collaboratively with the South Bronx community that aims to improve health and well-being at the neighborhood scale.

“The South Bronx is a community committed to turning the tide of socioecomomic inequality and disinvestment, and investing in vibrant open space is a critical part of that goal. The rehabilitation of Pier 132 will improve quality of life for residents, offer innumerable health and wellness benefits, and provide much-needed relief in an urban neighborhood. Residents, stakeholders, neighborhood-based organizations and activists came together through the Haven Project to address community priorities and needs in a collaborative, grassroots process and I look forward to working with the New York Restoration Project to realize and build on these goals,” said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

The New York City Council allocated $2 million in the FY17 budget to renovate Pier 132 for public use and to serve the 91,500 residents in the surrounding community. The pier will also provide recreation space and resilient design features to protect the industries along the waterfront.

“I am proud to have advocated for $2 million in funding to open the first public waterfront in the Bronx. The East 132nd Street Pier will be transformed into a beautiful community space aimed at improving the quality of life of resident of the South Bronx and all its visitors. I congratulate Speaker Melissa Mark-Viveriti and Council Member Salamanca Jr. for this victory for their community,” said Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland.

“What an exciting investment we are making today for the Port Morris neighborhood and for families across the South Bronx,” said Councilman Salamanca. “Without a doubt, providing waterfront access to our community through places like Barretto Point Park in Hunts Point and now the Haven Project in Port Morris make a huge positive impact for South Bronx residents. That’s why I was so proud to work with our Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, to secure this funding,” said Council Member Rafael Salamanca, Jr.

“NYRP is so grateful to Speaker Mark-Viverito. From our first conversations with the South Bronx community in 2014, we knew the Haven Project would be transformational, and these ambitions are now much closer to becoming a reality thanks to her support,” said Deborah Marton, Executive Director of the New York Restoration Project.

The renovation of Pier 132 is the first capital project to be implemented by NYRP as part of the Haven Project, a transformative master plan to renovate a network of open spaces in Mott Haven and Port Morris in the South Bronx. Spearheaded by the New York Restoration Project, the Haven Project was developed with the community and released in July 2015. For more information on Pier 132 and The Haven Project, visit https://www.nyrp.org/about/programs/the-haven-project/

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