The Port Morris gantries. Photo by Alexandra Corrazzo

New use sought for rusting Port Morris towers

The word “gantry” doesn’t mean anything to longtime bakery owner Errol Bier, but when he sees a photo of the rusted, towering structures that stand next to his Port Morris shop, he nods.

“That’s where I used to ride the ferry,” said Bier, who owns Miss Grimble on 135th and Locust Ave. 

Bier, who has been coming to the neighborhood since he was a child, recalled a time when the gantries were filled with passengers going to visit family members interned at Rikers Island. Today, the massive structures stand desolate in a fenced-in field of weeds, surrounded by construction cranes and “No Trespassing” signs.

But the local community group Friends of Brook Park has big plans for the site. Its members want to turn it into a waterfront recreational area in a neighborhood starved for open space.

Earlier this month, the Historic Districts Council, an advocacy group that fights to preserve New York City neighborhoods, put the site on its highly selective annual list of historic sites in need of protection. The council says it will collaborate with the Brook Park group to try to get the gantry site on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We don’t often visit places like this that are so visually striking and make you feel as though you’re experiencing a different time in history,” said Simeon Bankoff, the preservation group’s executive director. “It really brings us back to our foundation and reminds us that New York is a city about water. It’s a really evocative space to think about new opportunities for the community.”

The two structures were built a century ago to load cargo and passengers onto ferries that sailed to Queens and back.

Randall Comfort, in his 1906 book “History of the Bronx Borough, City of New York,” described the opening of the ferry station. “The beautiful, tastefully, and practically arranged ferry house became the talk of the whole Borough of the Bronx, and now especially on a fine summer day, it is a great sight to see the throngs go over the ferry to North Beach,” he wrote.

After the private company that owned the gantries and ferries dissolved in 1918, the city cut service, opting to run ferries only to Rikers for inmates and their families, and to North Brother Island for patients at the sanatorium.

The ferries continued to operate until the mid-1960s when the Francis Buono Bridge, better known as the Rikers Island Bridge, was built and the North Brother hospital was mothballed, making ferry service to the islands unnecessary. North Brother is now a protected bird sanctuary owned by the Parks Department, which has worked with teens at The Point Community Development Corp. to restore native plants.

Harry Bubbins, director of Friends of Brook Park, has been working with architects from City College’s School of Architecture to attain historic preservation status for the site, and envisions turning it into an educational hub that would combine art and ecology lessons for the public, similar to a site in Queens that turned its rusted gantries into a public education space. Bubbins sees the Historic Council’s ’s selection of the site as a first step.

“There’s six miles of shore where there’s no waterfront access,” said Bubbins. “It’s an absolute tragedy.”

The project has received support from Congressman Jose Serrano, who in a June 2010 letter to the state’s Office of Historic Preservation said, “The Morris Gantries are the last historic vestige of the South Bronx’s once thriving industrial waterfront. The gantries have been in existence for many decades and remain a striking visual reminder of a time when our waterways were utilized by substantial numbers of New Yorkers.”

Bubbins says local residents should be encouraged to visit the gantries, but some Port Morris residents don’t agree. John Lekas, who lives in the neighborhood and owns the Locust Restaurant, is skeptical a recreational space in this isolated industrial neighborhood can succeed.

“This isn’t the kind of neighborhood where people come and sit outside with a magazine,” said Lekas. “People come here to work, or for temporary residence.”

Errol Bier, whose bakery has existed for almost as long as the gantries, thinks a park would be uplifting, and would be good for businesses like his and Lekas’s.

“It would beautify the neighborhood,” said Bier. “And maybe then people will stop building recycling plants here.”

Members of Friends of Brook Park canoe on the Harlem River, but it's not easy to get to the shore. That may change.

The Harlem River was once one of the city’s great playgrounds: colorful boathouses dotted its banks; riders on horseback promenaded and raced along the Manhattan shore; the bluffs above the river were home to an amusement park, as well as the Polo Grounds, which later became the home of the New York Giants, and, of course, to Yankee Stadium.

As the river was industrialized, though New Yorkers turned their backs on the Harlem.  Now, with much of the industry gone, Bronxites hope to reclaim the river.

For years, organizations like Friends of Brook Park and the Bronx Council on Environmental Quality have looked at the Harlem and seen a necklace of green the length of the borough. A greenway would connect existing parks, like Mill Pond and Roberto Clemente, along with new parks built on unused land.  Some of them would include fishing piers, places to launch kayaks and canoes, eco-classrooms and gardens.

Pie in the sky? Not really. To see the future, just look at the Bronx River. Not so long ago, it was an open sewer and garbage dump. Today, thanks to the hard work of volunteers whose efforts led to the formation of the Bronx River Alliance and the investment of millions of federal dollars, wildlife has returned, fish thrive, ospreys soar and egrets nest. People play in new parks, stroll and bicycle on the shore and canoe in the water.

Five years ago, Harry Bubbins of Friends of Brook Park urged the formation of a Harlem River Alliance, drawing on the experience of the Bronx River Alliance. Now the federal government has given advocates’ efforts a boost.

Last month, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar visited Roberto Clemente State Park to announce that the Harlem River would be one of a hundred projects nationwide aimed at restoring neglected rivers to the people who live near them. Rep. Jose Serrano, the chief benefactor of the Bronx River, who accompanied the secretary, pointed to the lessons of the Bronx River.

There are plenty of obstacles. Ways have to be found for a greenway to wind through or around a maze of industrial facilities. The city or state will have to seize junk yards. Thusfar, the state has not even been persuaded to designate the Harlem a sensitive area protected for recreation, turning down a request to do so from the Bronx Council on Environmental Quality in a blizzard of bureaucratic initials.

The city’s 2009 Lower Concourse rezoning, which envisions riverside promenades, has yet to attract the development that would yield them, and the boundaries of the newly-zoned area left out the southern end of Park Avenue, where Friends of Brook Park hopes to see a boat launch built.

But the pledge of federal assistance is a game-changer. The Bronx Council on Environmental Quality, which completed a comprehensive plan for a Harlem River Greenway from Highbridge to Spuyten Duyvil four years ago, has also formed a Harlem River Working Group, which has enlisted community organizations and parks groups the length of the river. Energized by Salazar’s visit, it envisions the Harlem Greenway joining the South Bronx Greenway at the bridge to Randalls Island, says its coordinator, Chauncy Young.

The effort to revive the Harlem River can bring jobs and economic development opportunities to the area, give Mott Haven residents a larger role in deciding how waterfront development will proceed once the economy improves and, above all, offer parks-starved Bronx communities a place where they can find beauty and ease at their doorstep.

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence brought a giant puppet to the 40th Precinct, where they joined with Occupy the Bronx to protest the arrests at Morning Glory Garden. Photo by Elizabeth Chen

Five arrested at Morning Glory Community Garden site

Police arrested five people at the Occupy the Bronx general assembly in Mott Haven Saturday, preempting the organization’s plans to hold a rally and “festival” in a community garden fenced-off by the city in mid-November.

“Of the general assemblies I’ve attended, this is the first that I’ve seen this kind of police presence,” said Carl Lundgren, a member of Bronx Greens, a local environmental advocacy group.

The group had publicized plans for a “day of festivities” at Morning Glory Garden a vacant lot on Southern Boulevard and East 147th Street, where gardeners, many of whom are also among the most active people in Occupy the Bronx, had grown flowers and vegetable for the last two years.

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development kicked the community group out out and tore up the garden, where it plans to build housing.

In protest, participants in Occupy the Bronx had briefly occupied the offices of Community Board 1, demanding that the board support its efforts to meet with the city housing department.

According to Elliott Liu, both a gardener and a member of the Occupy the Bronx facilitation working group, police ordered the protesters to “keep moving,” saying their meeting was blocking the sidewalk. Although the group did move, Liu said, the police arbitrarily singled-out people to be arrested.

According to NYPD spokesman Mike Wysokowski, the five people were arrested for “blocking pedestrian traffic.”

A video taken by a member of the organization seems to confirm the protesters’ claim that they did not block the sidewalks. It shows the general assembly moving to the fence around the garden, leaving ample room for others—including police officers—to walk by.

In the video police are shown interrogating a News 12 reporter and arresting a freelance journalist, Carla Murphy.

In weekly meetings since mid-October, including one at the Hub on Nov. 17, police stood by while the group held its general assembly, and even provided free entrance to the subway on Oct. 15, when protesters marched from Fordham Plaza to head downtown to Zuccotti Park, headquarters of Occupy Wall Street.

“I’ve been doing this type of work for 15 years and this was the most quiet, peaceful convening I’d ever seen,” said Lisa Ortega, a mainstay of Occupy the Bronx and a leader of the Hunts Point-based organization Rights For Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities. Ortega’s husband, Carlos Sabater, was one of those arrested. “NYPD was already very hostile and aggressive when we got there,” she said.

After the arrests, the general assembly, swelled by marchers from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence who had been protesting violence in the community and by others made aware of the arrests via messages on Facebook, moved to a street corner directly across from the 40th Precinct on Alexander Avenue and demanded the release of those arrested.

“Let them go!” the crowd chanted at the precinct, while holding up a giant, dancing Statue of Liberty puppet draped in the Puerto Rican flag.

The protesters were released from the precinct’s holding cell in the afternoon after being detained for about three hours. They were given summonses to appear in court.

Alex Kahn, a 25-year-old software developer was among those arrested . This was his first time attending an Occupy the Bronx general assembly.

“It was a little scary, but I was with people who I felt safe with,” said Kahn. “It’s the kind of experience that makes it clear that what the role of the police is in society. If their job was to protect the community, they wouldn’t be arresting people for having a meeting.”

After celebrating the release of their comrades, the general assembly joined the anti-violence march.

Occupy the Bronx members say they plan to continue to defy orders to stay away from Morning Glory Garden. Next Saturday, they say, they will meet at the corner of 149th St. and Third Ave. in Mott Haven to rally again.

They are also asking supporters to attend the 40th Precinct Community Council meeting on Wednesday, where they plan to interrogate officials about the arrests of their members.

“We’re community residents who’ve been oppressed for a long time and we don’t intend to back down by any means,” said Ortega. “And if it means that tons of us will continue to be arrested, we’re willing to do so. We’re not afraid.”

Activists invaded Community Board 1’s office on Monday, using Occupy Wall Street tactics to protest the city’s eviction of the Morning Glory Community Garden at Southern Boulevard and Union Avenue.

They demanded to speak to District Manager Cedric Loftin, and when they were told he wasn’t there refused to leave. Instead, they recited their grievances and telephoned board members, producing the video that accompanies this story as the office receptionist Annie Rojas ordered them to stop.

The demonstrators, who have been active in Occupy the Bronx, say the community board has failed to listen to them. It took the part of the city’s Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development, which destroyed the garden, and canceled the November meeting at which they had signed up to speak.

When board member Freddy Perez showed up, they repeated their demand that the board set up a meeting with HPD before the city agency filed plans to develop the lot.

When they finally left, they chanted, “We’ll be back.”

Elliott Liu, one of Morning Glory’s founders, said the group doesn’t have definite plans to revisit Board 1’s office but will keep asking for support.

“Our understanding is that the Board won’t pay attention to you unless you’re a local business or someone with a lot of connections in government,” said Liu.

“They’re more focused on serving developers’ interests than serving as a forum for the community.”

District Manager Loftin did not respond to requests for comment on the protest.

Photo by Lily Kesselman Mott Haven's newest resident gets a big hello.

Event organizers Danny Barber (left) and P.O. Irizarry (right) talking with a local resident at National Night Out on Crime (photo credit: Flonia Telegrafi)

Advocates and police partner at Night Out Against Crime

By Kathy Conkwright

conkwright@motthavenherald.com

The first time Angel Irizarry and Danny Barber met one another six years ago, they butted heads.

”I didn’t really like Danny,” said Irizarry, the community affairs officer for PSA-7, the  NYPD branch assigned to patrol public housing complexes in Melrose.

“I’m not sure why. I think we were just coming from two different positions,” he said, recalling their first tense exchange at a local meeting between community and police.

So he thought at the time.

Barber, an outspoken tenant advocate from the Andrew Jackson Houses in Melrose, had his own less-than-flattering opinion of anyone in a blue uniform with an NYPD badge at the time. To him, Irizarry was no different than the others.

Now close friends, Barber and Irizarry joined forces to organize National Night Out on Crime, an annual event held to strengthen police-community partnerships. This year’s Night Out was held at the Andrew Jackson Homes on Aug. 2nd.

Serving up free food, drink, music, a large Spiderman contraption for kids and the spectacle of police officers break dancing, Barber and Irizarry hoped to help thaw relations between residents of Mott Haven and Melrose and local law enforcement.

Although they represent different sides of the community, Barber and Irizarry have tried to bridge the growing divide between cops and residents by getting the two to talk to one another.

“For some reason we’ve lost that connection,” Irizarry said, “especially here in the South Bronx where there’s a real  ‘us against them’ mentality.”

“We do have officers who get crazy and overreact,” said Barber’s brother, event organizer Russell Alston. “But we also have young men, young women and old men who give police a hard time. It goes both ways.”

Irizarry takes rookies on a tour of the neighborhood when they join the department, to meet shop owners, clergy, elected officials and local organizers – all in an effort to learn the neighborhood and forge bonds.

Irizarry’s path to policing started in an unlikely place. He grew up five blocks from Yankee Stadium, and began his career as a community organizer working for a non-profit organization in Highbridge.  By the age of 21 he was coordinating an anti-violence program in the Dinkins administration.

“I didn’t have opportunities. I didn’t have a father,” he said. “I understand that state of confusion and no sense of direction.”

Captain Erik Hernandez, Executive Officer for PSA-7, line dancing with residents

“I want the community to see that we are people, not just robots,” Captain Erik Hernandez, Executive Officer for PSA-7, explained after finishing an impressive round of line dancing alongside community members and police officers.

“A lot of times, he said, “we are just seen as law enforcement and not helping people. I want them to see the human side of crime reduction.”

While flipping hundreds of burgers for residents and police at National Night Out, a soaked towel covering his head to block the smoke and sweat, Alston pointed out that the event gives police a chance to meet people on neutral ground and learn who lives in the neighborhood.

“It makes me feel safer,” said an Andrew Jackson Houses resident named Gerri, “because any other time when the police are around I don’t feel that safe. We really need this to bring the community together.”

But one young man who wouldn’t give his name said the once-a-year outdoor event didn’t change his mind about police. “This is just one day,” he said. “Tomorrow they’ll be back at it the same way.”

“We won’t be here dancing, kids won’t be jumping,” Hernandez responded, admitting that it’s impossible for the police to have a great relationship with the community every day. “There is crime and it is a necessity to enforce the law. Our biggest challenge is to keep this momentum going after today.”

The day before the event there was a homicide just down the street, he pointed out.

“Violent crime happens every day,” Hernandez said, “particularly in this neighborhood.  Sometimes people can feel helpless. We hope this event can give them a sense of hope.”

Photo by Matthew J. Perlman. Padre Plaza at E. 139th St. and St. Ann's Ave offers fresh veggies in exchange for coupons from the Dept of Health on Wednesdays.

A  Department of Health program called New Bucks will provide Mott Haven residents with fresh produce,  free milk and cooking demonstrations.

Farmer’s Markets are accepting coupons worth $2 each for fresh produce and milk. Two local markets are participating in the city’s Health Bucks program, the Mott Haven Farmer’s Market at 139th St. and St. Ann’s Ave, which is open to the public on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. -5 p.m., and the Lincoln Hospital Greenmarket at the corner of 149th St. and Morris Ave Tuesdays and Fridays between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Both markets accept food stamps.

Residents can get coupons by contacting the Bronx’ main Dept of Health office at 718-466-9178.

For a full list of locations across the Bronx, click on http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cdp/healthbucks_bronx.pdf.

For every $5 customers spend using SNAP / EBT at participating markets, they will receive an additional health buck coupon, at farmer’s markets where food stamps are accepted.

Gray skies above couldn’t dampen the spirit of green below.

Hundreds streamed into St. Mary’s Park for the fourth annual South Bronx Earth Fest on April 16 for music, dancing and educational events, but one thing was clear: the environment was center stage.

Green-themed games abounded, such as a Butterfly Project table, where kids crawled around while learning about butterfly habitats, and Materials for the Arts, in which children created masks from recycled materials, with the help of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.

Members of the group GrowNYC provided recycling demonstrations and helped kids make solar ovens out of tin foil and pizza boxes. Although rainy conditions didn’t allow 12-year-olds Wasan Bonilla and Gavin Thomas from Mott Haven to make s’mores, , they were among dozens of kids busy crafting ovens.

“I think it’s great, because it’s helping people go green and help the Earth. It’s very helpful to show people how to help the Earth,” said Bonilla.

Contestants were required to get stamped by one of the many volunteers working the tables, in order to win a prize. In turn, the volunteers helped educate them about the environment.

“It’s not just a one-shot deal,” said John H. Johnson III if GrowNYC, which helped organize this year’s festival. “We want to make sure that people walk away with something other than a prize and free food, but some information and knowledge on how to make the planet a much better place.”

On the other side of the pavilion, volunteers staffed prize tables with books, frisbees and organic snacks, while two Green Carts loaded with mangos, apples and other produce added a nutritional component.

Mott Haven resident Donnie Jones Wilson came to spend the day doing something positive with his family.

“I like the fact that it’s a positive thing, and I can bring my children out here and not have to worry about any negativity going on,” he said. “It’s just a good day. Even though it’s cloudy, it’s a great day.”

He said Global Man was his favorite part of the day, and he wasn’t alone. The green-masked avenger mingled with the crowd and pointed out litter. That needed to be thrown out. And he brought green-masked young acolytes along, to help him recruit newer members.

“I think the young people that support, educate, walk around and clean-up and recycle,” said Jean Pierre LaCour who played Global Man, “it shows a lot of faith that young people really believe what we’re doing.”

His message — that everyone can be a superhero for the environment — seemed especially plausible, as volunteers at every table recommended different ways for festival attendees to green the environment.

Adam Liebowitz, director of community development for Hunts Point’s The POINT CDC, told the crowd about some of that organization’s current initiatives, including teaching urban agriculture, helping plan construction and implementation of the South Bronx Greenway project along the Bronx River, and launching a community garden in Hunts Point that will offer low-cost, locally-grown vegetables for low-income residents.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. praised the volunteers, saying, “It really shows that we can care about Mother Earth,” he said,” pointing out projects such as the vertical farming project at Discovery High School, where students grow food.

Rain forced some tables to pack up early, but a committed crowd sought shelter under a tent while watching environmentally-themed performances like a hip-hop performance by Wildlife/ATM.

Despite the damp chill and dark skies, activists for the environment were undaunted. Marta Rodriguez, who administers a green jobs training program at Sustainable South Bronx in Hunts Point, got through the afternoon just fine.

“It’s just Mother Nature telling us she’s giving back, so we have to give back to her,” said Rodriguez.

With warm weather around the corner, seasoned gardeners and novices will be looking for ways to spruce up their gardens.

Gardening organizations like Bronx Green-Up and the New York Botanical Garden can help by connecting gardeners with managers of local gardens with plots that need tending.

But what if you’re a gardener hoping to work in a garden where available plots are scarce?

According to Mario Martinez of United We Stand Garden in Mott Haven, the key to obtaining a plot in an in-demand garden is simply to show up.

“The people on the list, you never see them,” said Martinez. “Either that or they’re always waiting, waiting, but they never show up to the garden and do any effort.”

Gardens require a lot more than just planting in order to make them look presentable, and would-be gardeners should be ready to do a little of everything to help in the garden’s upkeep, Martinez and others say.

One key to keeping a garden beautiful is having enough volunteers.

“Everybody’s not a gardener, but to make a garden a whole green space, you should involve artists, craftspeople,” said Stephen Kidd, 62, a Harlem community gardener.

Genuinely gifted gardeners, however, are in demand.

“You need to go through a dozen people to find one that’s really good,” Kidd said.

Six out of eight new plots planned for Padre Plaza in Mott Haven will be wheelchair accessible.

“Right now most of our plots are two feet from the ground.” said Michael Young who manages Padre Plaza, explaining the plots will be wide enough to attract wheelchair-bound gardeners.

Planting early can be a challenge, but one that can be overcome. By using boxes with transparent lids, known in gardening parlance as cold frames, gardeners can start planting up to a month early, rather than starting indoors and transplanting.

“The earlier you can get it out there the better,” said Bronx Green-Up Community Horticulturist Sara Katz, who recently led a cold frame building workshop at River Garden on E. 180^th St. in the Bronx.

“Your cold hardy greens will grow earlier into the season,” Katz said. “Kale, collard greens, things like that.”

The transparent top part of the cold frame can be made from found materials, such as windows or thick plastic.

Cold frames should face south to maximize light, and should be vented on warm days.

Garden experts also advise gardeners to pay particular attention to pruning. Certain plants require more pruning than others.

George Clardy, 83, attended a pruning workshop at Daly Avenue Community Garden, where volunteers cut away more than half of a grape vine.

“Roses, given a chance, they’ll grow wild on you,” said Clardy, who grows roses at Townsend Community Garden, adding he cuts them “back to the ground” so “they always come back beautiful.”

For tips on gardening from the New York Botanical Garden, visit www.nybg.org/hgc_online/tips.php.

City officials and residents were on hand for the 60^th anniversary of the center’s opening on March 30, joining the chair of Community Board 1′s parks committee Herman Francis, and local senior dance group Tradicion y Cultura.

The building on St. Ann’s Ave originally served as the pilot project for eight other indoor recreational centers in the other boroughs, built with the idea of giving young people a warm place to play during the cold winter months.

“Today, this center stands as a jewel among more than 30 Parks Recreation Centers throughout the city,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.

“From free swimming lessons to senior programs to salsa classes, this historic center is a destination for the entire family,” Benepe continued.

St. Mary’s Park, which surrounds the center, was created in the 1880s and named for a Protestant Episcopal church which stood nearby until 1959. The first playground in the Bronx opened in the park in 1914, and three additional playgrounds joined it in 1938 as the city’s response to rapid population growth in the neighborhood.

Community residents have worked together with city parks workers over the years to help revitalize the center. Projects have included the repainting of a 1970s superheroes mural, refurbishing of the lobby, and dismantling a large concrete pillar in order to make a new reception desk.