Healthy Bronx

On Friday April 23rd U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) delivered a press conference in the Bronx's Parkchester neighborhood calling for The American Job's Plan, President Biden's infrastructure bill, to include funding to transform The Cross Bronx Expressway. After the press conference Ritchie Torres joined Healthy Bronx for an interview to discuss why now is the time to reimagine The Cross Bronx Expressway. 

Nilka Martell is a community organizer and an environmental activist in the Bronx. She founded an organization called #Loving The Bronx, which is leading efforts to advocate for capping an exposed portion of the Cross Bronx Expressway, in her neighborhood, in Parkchester.   

Nilka tells us the story of how she went from being a concerned neighbor to leading environmental justice work throughout our borough over the past decade. Through an unrelenting, yet optimistic approach, Nilka fiercely advocates for environmental justice, to rectify Robert Moses's infamous construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway. 

Other voices are joining the call and helping to build the case for why it is time to reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway. Dr. Peter Muennig, a physician and public health researcher at The Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, published an article in 2018 in The American Journal Of Public Health that argued that capping the Cross Bronx Expressway will save money and lives. Justin Sanchez, Director of External Affairs at the Bronx Borough President's Office, is working to elevate proposals to cap the highway in local and municipal politics.

Tune in to hear from Nilka, Dr. Muennig & Justin. 

This episode was produced by Emily Nadal, a journalist for The Mott Haven Herald & Hunts Point Express, and Alexander Levine, a third year medical student at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 

Dr. Chidi Akusobi joined the Healthy Bronx Podcast Tuesday evening, January 19th, to translate the basic science behind the COVID-19 vaccine and to answer questions submitted from Bronx residents in the week preceding our recording. This episode was produced in collaboration with The #Not62 Campaign For A Healthy Bronx.

Dr. Akusobi completed his PhD in Infectious Disease last spring at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and he will receive his MD from Harvard Medical School in 2022. Dr. Akusobi was born in Nigeria and moved to the Bronx with his family at the age of 2. His parents and sister work as nurses in the Bronx, and thus he understands how challenging the last several months have been for our community.

He looks forward to sharing with you why he received the vaccine and to helping you understand the basic science behind the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

6:04 - COVID-19 Vaccine development and the basic science

31:50 - answering of questions submitted through Q+A form

The Hunts Point Produce Market is the largest produce market in the world and is located in the South Bronx. The majority of fruits and vegetables that find their way to your local supermarket, bodega, or your favorite restaurant likely passed through the Hunts Point Produce Market, as it supplies 60% of all of NYC's produce. 

Phillip Grant, the General Manager of The Hunts Point Produce Market, joins us to discuss his work since the pandemic began. We explore the operational challenges imposed by the pandemic on the market, and the produce market's ongoing charitable efforts to donate produce to food insecure Bronx residents. Additionally, we touch upon sustainability and resiliency projects at the Hunts Point Peninsula since Hurricane Sandy. 

This episode focuses on the Triboro Subway Proposal, through conversation with the Regional Plan Association's (RPA) Vanessa Barrios, Maulin Mehta, and Moses Gates. RPA has built support for the Triboro since 1996 and continues to advocate for this transformative infrastructure project for The Bronx, Queens, & Brooklyn:

'Running 24 miles on existing track from Co-op City in the Bronx to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, the Triboro would be an above-ground rail line connecting 17 subway lines and 4 commuter lines.'

Today's interview also touches upon the most recent federal budget allocations for public transit, public transit advocacy, and other proposed transit and planning programs for the Bronx.

Vanessa Barrios is Senior Associate, State Programs & Advocacy @ RPA

Maulin Mehta is Senior Associate, State Programs & Advocacy @RPA

Moses Gates is Vice President for Housing and Neighborhood Planning @RPA

For more on the Triboro: 

https://rpa.org/work/reports/the-triboro

https://citylimits.org/2019/06/19/call-to-study-new-transit-line-linking-bronx-queens-and-brooklyn/

The Bronx's economic anchor institutions, primarily universities and hospitals,  collectively spend  $9 billion dollars on goods and services annually. However,  small-business owners throughout the borough that span every sector, rarely receive these contracts. The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative understands that even when purchasers are willing to increase contracts with local businesses—especially minority-and/or women-owned businesses—they face challenges to doing so.

Michael Partis, Executive Director, & Gloria Alvarez, Strategic Partnership Manager, share with us how the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative  aims to engage anchor institutions and democratize economic development on behalf of communities and residents in the borough. 

Learn more about the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative at bcdi.nyc and consider donating to support their work. 

Dr. Oladimeji Oki, a Family & Social Medicine physician in the Bronx, discusses what primary care looks like in his practice and shares with us his work to build a pre-clinical medical curriculum to push students' understanding of health equity and community outreach. Our discussion of primary care touches upon: food activism; buprenorphine and opioid use disorder; and forces us to revisit digital equity, as gaps in high-speed internet access pose a barrier to successful video-visits for many patients. This episode also explores how Einstein's Family & Social Medicine Residency program trains physicians to work in and learn from their local community. 

Dr. Oki is the Theme Director of the Population Health Science Curriculum, Assistant Director of Medical Student Education, Assistant Clerkship Director,  and Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Social Medicine at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine.