City officials boasted in June of having spared libraries from budget cuts, while partially restoring funding for community composting.
But in the South Bronx, residents aren’t celebrating yet.
Branch libraries still closed
The Hunts Point and Melrose branch libraries have remained shut since they both closed for renovations since at least 2021. Residents are feeling the absence of these vital public spaces.
Les-lie Lopez, a 25-year-old Mott Haven resident who grew up near Southern Boulevard, said she has frequented the Hunts Point library regularly since she got her first library card there as a young child.
“Going to the library has been part of my routine my whole life,” said Lopez. “[The closure] has impacted me so hard. If it was open, I would be there every day, probably.”
If it were open, Lopez said she would use the library to work on her professional website and apply for jobs. Instead, she uses the WiFi in the painting studio she rents nearby from the nonprofit Inspiration Point, but finds it difficult to concentrate.
Lopez, an avid reader, said she has stopped by the NYPL’s Bookmobile near the corner of Southern Boulevard and Tiffany Street to take out books, but she said the selection is mostly geared towards children. The vehicle also doesn’t always run on schedule. On a recent Tuesday, it was not parked outside during the hours posted online.
A page on the library’s website indicates that both Hunts Point and Melrose library branches are slated to reopen in September. However, a spokeswoman for the New York Public Library, Lizzie Tribone, confirmed this date is inaccurate and said it would be removed shortly from the websites. Tribone declined to offer specifics on whether the city budget will address how quickly the libraries will reopen, despite $58.3 million being restored from the chopping block.
“We are grateful to Mayor Adams, City Council Speaker Adams, Finance Chair Brannan, Libraries Chair Rivera, and the entire City Council for fully restoring library funding,” Tribone said in a statement. “We look forward to reopening in the near future and will have a timeline soon.”
There are indications that the libraries may be opening soon, though. Lopez recently applied for jobs at both Melrose and Hunts Point locations.
Barbara Alicea, executive managing director at The Point CDC, said the closure of the Hunts Point library has left a void in the community.
“Having Hunts Point Library closed due to reconstruction, has had a major impact,” she said. “Without libraries, learning opportunities were lost when schools close for holidays and summer break.”
The Point CDC has collaborated with the Hunts Point Library in several ways. When the library was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and held events virtually, the Point promoted those events through their communication channels. Community members were also invited to register for a library card at The Point on certain days of the week.
“[Libraries] provide social resources for disadvantaged children or seniors, not to mention internet access for those who can’t afford it,” Alicea added. “These institutions represent our collective commitment to equal access to knowledge and information, regardless of status or income.”
Community composting on hold
The city budget deal restored $6.2 million for community composting citywide, and will fund the Lower East Side Ecology Center, Big Reuse, the New York Botanical Garden and other organizations throughout the city.
But that isn’t enough, says Dior St. Hillaire, whose composting co-operative GreenFeen OrganiX, collects and processes organic waste in the Bronx.
“I feel very heavily that the Bronx got left out,” said St. Hillaire, who grew up in the borough and chairs the Bronx’s Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB). Community composting helps educate the public about the benefits of composting, she said.
“I think the conversation always is that, ‘Bronx residents don’t care about this stuff. They don’t participate,” she said. “That’s even more reason why you need to put the resources here.”
Josue Mendez-Pietsch, who worked at a GrowNYC food scrap drop off site on East 139th Street that shuttered this spring due to budget cuts, agreed. When his site outside Padre Plaza Success Garden closed, he feared a golden opportunity to inform the public about responsible food waste disposal would be lost along with it.
“Now, not many people will be able to learn about composting and what the benefits are of composting fruits and vegetables,” said Mendez-Pietsch, a longtime Mott Haven resident.
GrowNYC was one organization that did receive funding in this year’s budget, but GrowNYC spokeswoman Andrina Sanchez said the $500,000 they received is just 10% of the organization’s previous budget and does not allow them to continue composting programs as they were.
She added that the organization is in the planning stages of partnering with the City Council to consider ways to best use the funding.
“All GrowNYC zero waste programming is paused and it is premature to comment on what future programming will be at this time,” she said.
For locals in Mott Haven looking to compost, there is a brown public food scrap drop off bin provided by the Department of Sanitation behind the Padre Plaza garden gate.
South Bronx residents can also have their compost picked up by GreenFeen OrganiX, and can sign up on the company’s website.
Looking to the future, St. Hillaire added that conversations around the future of community composting are being planned by Save Compost, a city-based coalition of sustainability advocates.
She encourages local residents interested in expanding composting to join the Bronx’s Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB), by emailing info@greenfeenorganix.com. Bronx SWAB will be hosting a work day at the New York Botanical Garden on August 15 from 10 a.m.- 1 pm.
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