Officials, residents plant trees in South Bronx to promote more tree canopy

NEW YORK – City officials in the Bronx are calling on the mayor and his administration to increase the amount of trees in the borough to improve the health and wellness of residents.
A fresh bag of soil and a handful of shovels were passed out, as residents and Bronx officials planted the first tree in more than a decade outside the Harlem River Yard Transfer Station along the water.
“This has been such a long time coming,” said Nilka Martell, of Loving the Bronx.
Martell was one of several environmental activists who joined Borough President Vanessa Gibson at a news conference Thursday to demand more tree coverage in the South Bronx.
“So, you have the pollution that is created by the trucks and the cars that are traveling through the neighborhood,” said Martell.
That pollution is a contributing factor to what is known as the urban heat island effect, where urban neighborhoods experience higher temperatures than surrounding suburban areas. The South Bronx has some of the highest rates of asthma in the city, and CBS News New York reported on the poor air quality because of congestion and lack of green spaces.
“One of the prevailing factors that is contributing to heat island effects is a lack of vegetation, an insufficient number of trees and green spaces,” said Borough President Vanessa Gibson.
CBS News New York’s reporting has shown the immense efforts groups like South Bronx Unite has done to prove poor air quality exists by installing air quality monitor boxes around hot spot polluted areas. But finally they say planting more trees could be the start of the solution.
“Tree coverage will help us breathe healthier air,” said Mychal Johnson, Co-Founder of South Bronx Unite. “Let this be the start to many more trees being planted in this area.”
Bronx resident Tiffany Emeric says the city needs to do more to improve the neighborhood.
“I’m an asthmatic and the smell of the garbage, the congestion of the gas, the traffic – it’s just a lot on someone’s chest, and then with the heat and no trees, there’s nowhere to hide from the sun,” said Emeric.
Officials say planting more trees could change the trajectory of the youth.
“It’s our children that are impacted if we don’t do this work. We should not have families that live with the highest rates of asthma,” said Gibson.
Borough President Vanessa Gibson is now pushing for the city to plant 1 million trees throughout the five boroughs and have more than 1% of the city’s total budget be allocated to the Parks Department in the next fiscal year.
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