Sustainable South Bronx

Saving the world, starting in the South Bronx. Every one of our projects does two things: cleans the environment and produces local jobs - we never do one without the other.

Environmental Justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects informed by community needs.

B.E.S.T. - Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program: free green-collar job training for the people and places that need it most. after 4 years, we have 85% employment with 90% of those working in green-collar fields; 10% have gone on to college; over 90% were on public assistance before graduating from BEST.

SmartRoofs, LLC - Our for profit green roof installation company that helps pay for the BEST program while improving the environment across the City.

South Bronx Greenway - Pressuring the City of NY to follow through and intelligently implement the greenway plan made possible by Majora Carter's $1.25M Fed Transportation grant. This 11 mile network of on-street bike/pedestrian paths connects neighborhoods to waterfront parks and esplanades, and to each other. Not just recreation, the SSBx Greenway will serve as an alternative transportation route and small business magnet.

SSBx Greenway Stewards - initial funding for this program came from Barry Segal via the Clinton Global Initiative. Our Greenway Stewards are the horticultural engineers of the future S.Bronx Greenway. They are able to assess the needs of the community in terms of safety/street light penetration and energy consumption/shade cover, etc with on the ground knowledge of how both trees and neighborhoods operate. They encourage tree care, neighborhood improvement, positive employment through their daily examples throughout the South Bronx.

Sheridan Expressway Decommission - replace the 1.3 mile poorly planned and largely disused relic of the Moses Highway boom along the newly restored Bronx River with 28 acres for affordable mixed income green housing, small business space, and parks. Currently, the NY State D.O.T. wants to spend a half billion dollars to add more ramps into residential neighborhoods. Our community-centric transport plan solves several problems and takes into account the Metro North stations to be opened in 2011.

FabLab - M.I.T. and SSBx have partnered on a project that puts the power of digital design and fabrication into the hands of South Bronx residents. We are encouraging the FabLab users to design with materials found in the vast quantities of recyclables that flow through the South Bronx as "waste" now.

Hunts Point Hustle 5k - the Second Annual running on the future path of the South Bronx Greenway is happening on June 21st. This race encourages physical activity, community pride, and a chance for our runners to shine on their home turf instead of always having to run elsewhere.

We are cleaning the environment; training traditionally underemployed demographic groups for participation in the evolving clean energy economy; moving people off of welfare into growing, challenging, and impactful economic sectors; making the world think differently about "environmentalism" so that it includes poor people; giving hope to those most likely to be overlooked in our society.

1] Stop the 2000 inmate jail the Mayor Bloomberg has quietly included for the South Bronx as part of PlaNYC 2030
2] triple sponsorship dollars for the Hunts Point Hustle 5k race
3] quadruple the number of Greenway Stewards
4] triple the number of green roofs installed over last year
5] See the State approval to tear down the Sheridan Expressway

Majora Carter is connecting poverty alleviation & the environment - in ways that benefit both concerns, demonstrating Clean-Tech solutions for our most persistent urban public health & global climate concerns. By creating positive physical environments, demonstrating cool and green roof technologies, working to replace an under-utilized expressway with local-value driven development, and the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program - creating a skilled green-collar workforce with personal & economic stakes in their urban environment.

Majora Carter was born, raised, and continues to live & work in the South Bronx, an environmentally challenged community. She founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to fight for Environmental Justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by community needs. She earned a 2005 MacArthur Fellowship for her vision, drive, and tenacity as an urban revitalization strategist.

Michael Angst
Partner – Bluefin Partners
Chairman/CEO – Stolen Bases

Janine Daughtry
Strategy Consultant

Alan Gershenfeld
CEO
Netomat, Inc

Bruce Rabb
Counsel
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Hilary Semel, Interim Board Chair
Attorney
Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP

Janice Turner, MPH
Physician
Community Member

United States

New York

890 GARRISON AVE RM 4
BRONX, NY 10474-5354
Phone: (718) 617-4668
ssbx.org
EIN: 02-0535999