PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release*
Creating A Pedestrian Bridge to Re-Unite Neighbors:
A Broken Promise that We Will Make Right
Saturday, March 29th, 2014
Van Cortlandt Park
Pictured above: General location of where the Pedestrian Bridge (green line with black bars) would be located over the Major Deegan- taken from the Master Plan for Van Cortlandt Park.
The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and Bronx Community Board 8 are hosting a Rally to highlight a broken link and a broken promise in Van Cortlandt Park: the Pedestrian Bridge over the Major Deegan Expressway that connects its eastern and western halves and connects the broken Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. In 1999, the New York City Council determined that NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) should build a Pedestrian Bridge if it was “feasible”. A feasibility study was conducted and determined that it was feasible but DEP has refused to pay for it. We are asking our community, our elected officials, and all those who love Van Cortlandt Park to join together and demand that DEP keep its promise to the Bronx. The Pedestrian Bridge is now a part of Van Cortlandt Park’s Master Plan. The time for action is now!
Day of Rally Schedule:
10AM- Meet inside the Park at last stop of the #1 train (Broadway and West 242nd St.) or #4 train (Jerome and Bainbridge Ave). FVCP staff will lead a walk to rally locations on west and east side of the Major Deegan where the proposed bridge should be built. Help us create a Virtual Bridge through social media and photos to bring us all together.
12PM- Press Conference/ Rally at Shandler Recreation Area Parking Lot (enter the Park at Jerome Avenue between Bainbridge Avenue and East 233rd Street). Join us as we show Elected Officials and the Press that the community supports the Pedestrian Bridge.
Scheduled Speakers (as of 3.10.14): Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Congressman Eliot Engel, State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, State Senator Jeffrey Klein, State Senator Jose M. Serrano, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, Councilman Andrew Cohen, Councilwoman Annabel Palma, Robert Fannuzi (CB8), Bob Bender (CB8), Christina Taylor (FVCP) and several community members.
Pedestrian Bridge Supporters (as of 3.18.14): Above speakers plus State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Councilman Fernando Cabrera, Amalgamated & Park Reservoir Houses, Bronx Community Boards 7, 8 and 12, Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, Harlem River Working Group, Mosholu Preservation Corporation, New York- New Jersey Trail Conference,Transportation Alternatives Bronx Activist Committee and Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy.
Press contact: Christina Taylor, Executive Director of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park
Phone: 718-601-1460
Email: christina@vancortlandt.org