An Interview with South Bronx Unite Executive Director Arif Ullah
Photo courtesy of Gillian Murphy.
Bustling highways cut through the neighborhood, with trucks carting FreshDirect groceries and FedEx deliveries spewing exhaust. Trash from various boroughs is diverted through a waste transfer station before being sent to other states. Nearby, a peak power plant produces dirty energy, and by the waterfront, a chain link fence and decrepit infrastructure prevent the community from access.
All of this unfolds in the South Bronx, a majority Black and Brown area of New York, which faces compounding environmental and climate issues – such as rampant pollution and inadequate access to green space. The South Bronx is nicknamed “Asthma Alley” for its disproportionate air pollution, which has led to one in five children suffering from asthma. Despite a lack of city support and funding, local leadership and communities have stepped up to create public policy proposals and advocate for environmental justice.
One group leading the charge is South Bronx Unite, an organization combining environmental solutions with community-building. Founded in 2012, their mission is to bring together “neighborhood residents, community organizations, academic institutions, and allies to improve and protect the social, environmental, and economic future of Mott Haven and Port Morris.” Their projects tackle a wide range of issues: building a community center, collecting air quality data, creating a plan for a revitalized and accessible waterfront, and liaising with government officials to enact sustainable policies.
Arif Ullah is the Executive Director of South Bronx Unite and a longtime community advocate. In this interview, he outlines recent efforts in the South Bronx, shares lessons for diversifying the environmental space, and provides lessons for policymakers and other justice organizations. In a time when environmental justice is becoming increasingly recognized, particularly amidst the climate crisis, his perspective serves as an important guide as to how grassroots initiatives are often the backbone of environmental progress.
Gillian Murphy 0:00
Could you start by telling me how you came to South Bronx Unite?
Arif Ullah 0:39
I have been doing justice-related work for some time now. I started out as a community organizer right out of college, working with women using public assistance - I learned so much from them. And then after graduate school, I worked as an immigrants rights advocate and organizer. Following that, for several years, I supported small grassroots groups in their self-determined efforts to improve their neighborhoods, particularly in under-resourced areas of New York City. And then I landed at South Bronx Unite, attracted to it by the important work they were doing.
GM 1:35
Absolutely. One of the things that I'm most impressed by even just looking through all the work that South Bronx Unite does is how it spans across so many areas – health, environment, socio-economic justice. What has South Bronx Unite been doing most recently? Have there been updates on The HEArts Center [(A Community Center for Health, Education and the Arts)] or other initiatives?
AU 1:59
Thanks for noting that. All of these issues are connected, intersectional. HEArts is moving full steam ahead. Regarding HEArts, we have been working with our architects on the design and layout of the building, and just recently brought on a consultant to help us design the theater and performance space. We are also very focused on making sure that the building has as low a carbon footprint as possible. [...]
Our air quality monitoring work is moving as well. We've deployed 27 air quality monitors, primarily in Mott Haven Port Morris, but we have another approximately 40 that we will be deploying to different parts of the South Bronx – we are currently confirming and solidifying locations for those additional monitors. We continue to do advocacy around our waterfront plan; we are preparing to submit an application for the EPA Community Change Grant, we’re requesting $20 million for two sections of our waterfront plan. So we've been very busy in conversation with the city, different city agencies, state agencies, other partners, and engaging our community in the process
Of course, extreme heat is something that has been on our minds. We have continued to engage with the Extreme Heat Coalition and to raise awareness around the dangers of extreme heat and how that impacts particularly low income communities. We're moving forward with our Greenspace Equity and Community Land Trust work through our sibling organization, the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards. As a pollution-burdened community, there is a real correlation between lack of green space and extreme heat and poor air quality, etc. Pollution exacerbates the impacts of extreme heat, particularly respiratory illnesses like asthma. So we’re moving that forward.
GM 5:05
I'm curious about one thing that you mentioned, the EPA grant. And I believe South Bronx Unite has worked with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) before, on temperature monitoring. In your efforts, whether it be air quality or seeking funding for different projects, how closely do you work with local, state, or federal agencies? Do you try to establish collaborative relationships with the government, or more activism, such as pointing out the flaws in government planning in the South Bronx? How do you balance that line?
AU 5:44
Yes, all of it, both partnerships, as well as accountability. We don't ever walk away from a potential conversation with an agency or an elected representative. We do believe that, to bring about substantive, long lasting change, the change has to come on a policy level, on a systems level, and a structural level, even as we organize and build power in our community. And for that to happen, it requires changing, improving, and introducing new policies. And so whether that's legislation, or existing policy that needs to be tweaked, we're interested in any and all of that. And in situations where government agencies or elected representatives need to be held accountable, we're not shy about that, either. I mean, our organization was founded and established as a result of the proposed relocation of FreshDirect to the Mott Haven Port section of the South Bronx. And that meant speaking very loudly against political representatives who were championing the relocation, with 130 plus million dollars in city and state taxpayer subsidies, no less. We are very vocal about our positions, and if that’s not something that sits well with elected representatives—so be it. [...] We assert ourselves in those discussions and make it clear to them what our position is, and at the same time, invite them to be partners and champions of our issues. I mean, we don’t want to create an adversarial relationship—we would much prefer to actually have agencies and elected representatives on board with us, because that will just be better for the work that we’re doing. But, again, all of these are tools and strategies and tactics that we have used, and that we will continue to use as part of our larger campaigns to achieve justice and equity for the people of the South Bronx.
GM 8:33
I saw a recent example of this on the South Bronx Unite website, regarding the congestion pricing program—it seems your [South Bronx Unite’s] position is very opposed to the tax. There has been a lot of backlash to Governor Hochul halting the congestion pricing program—particularly because money from the program was going to important initiatives such as an asthma center in the Bronx. Could you tell me a bit about that specific issue?
AU 9:17
I want to preface my response with this: we are supportive of congestion pricing in principle. We believe that congestion pricing, in principle, is a good idea. We are not supportive of any of the seven scenarios that have been proposed by the MTA. And the reason for that is all seven scenarios result in additional traffic on our roadways, particularly the expressways and highways that slice through, cut through, and strangle the South Bronx. This is a community that is already far beyond burdened with existing levels of traffic, and any proposal that would add additional traffic to any of these roadways is just simply unacceptable to us.
In terms of more funding for public transportation, of course, that’s necessary. We want more investment in public transportation. In terms of more funding for programs that would expedite the transition of trucks to electric—yes, we would want that. And we also understand that one of the revenue sources for a program called the Clean Trucks Program could have been from the congestion pricing program. You mentioned an asthma center: that could have been funded by the congestion pricing program. Adding more green infrastructure, more real green spaces could have been made possible through the congestion pricing program. Having said that, these should not be bargaining chips for congestion pricing. These are all things that the community has needed for decades. We need these things, and we don't need congestion pricing, there is no sort of bargaining and negotiating with this.
Many environmental organizations are pro-congestion pricing. For some of those organizations, we're not surprised. For some organizations, we’re disappointed. Particularly at a time when environmental justice has become mainstream and larger environmental organizations express support for it, – well, how are they practicing that support, how are they in solidarity with a community that has been bearing, for decades, the brunt of the fossil fuel economy, and has been burdened with nothing short of environmental racism?
GM 12:42
Historically, and still, the environmental space is very white. It can be hard to break into a space that's often advocacy- and nonprofit-based, where people don't necessarily make high salaries and it's a privilege to be able to organize and to get involved. So in the South Bronx, where there are a lot of socio economic roadblocks to getting involved, where it’s a majority Black and brown community, how do you support people to find the time and the energy to advocate for themselves when they're already facing so many other burdens? How can we get people into the advocacy space for environmental justice?
AU 13:41
In addition to the burdens that frontline communities are experiencing and enduring, there is also the element of fatigue from agencies, organizations, reporters, institutions, constantly requesting our thoughts, input, etc. As much as that’s progress from a past where our voices were deliberately excluded, now we have a situation of offering input and not feeling like it really changed the original plans, like it was a checkbox for the entity that asked for our input. To be clear, that’s not always the case. There is also a long-standing and justifiable disillusionment and distrust of government, of academic institutions, etc. So we’re up against all of that. I think what works for us is that the organization was founded by and is still led by people who live in the community, so community residents are at the helm. And we meet people where they’re at. What I mean by that is, we have our community events on Saturdays, when more people are available than not. We're not organizing events midday on a weekday, right. So, really trying to accommodate people's schedules. And going out to where people would be anyway – for example, next week and over the next couple of weeks, we're going to be tabling at some of the NYCHA [(New York City Housing Authority)] public housing developments. Annual Block Party type days, where people are going to come out, they're going to be there, and we're going to be there too.
I think the other thing that helps us engage people is the understanding that our plans, these large plans that we have, whether it's the HEArts Community Center or the waterfront plan, are informed by the community. This is the community's vision that is reflected in these plans. These are not the ideas or visions of a landscape architecture firm, or city agency. And so I think there's an appreciation of that among community members and an awareness that, here's an opportunity to really self-determine our future in the neighborhood.
GM 16:44
Do you think that there's a way that policymakers in Washington DC are able to make legislation that can impact and help communities like the South Bronx, without addressing necessarily every community-specific needs? What would you hope federal policymakers could do that would help communities like the South Bronx and across the country?
AU 17:37
We’ve been working with a national coalition of BIPOC-led, EJ [environmental justice] organizations that has been led by WE ACT [for Environmental Justice] and convened by WE ACT. Our partnership with WE ACT and these organizations has allowed us to inform, for example, national ambient air quality standards, pollution emissions standards, vehicles emission standards—all of these are absolutely connected to the local reality. And I think that those are examples of policies on the federal level that certainly, even if broad, have really meaningful impacts and consequences on the ground in frontline communities like the South Bronx.
GM 23:54
It’s a very impressive and well-articulated vision that South Bronx Unite has put forward. I was wondering if there’s any last words you have, any advice for other communities that are working on similar issues, or any message that you’d hope to convey?
AU 24:29
To other frontline communities, just thank you for their solidarity. Thank you for the good work that they're doing. I think that we are constantly learning from other communities, from their efforts. I think we all need to continue to be adamant, continue to speak truth to power, and continue to be uncompromising when needed, at the same time that we are open to engaging in conversations in partnerships.
I think to government agencies, I would say listen, sincerely listen. Not just a checkbox, where now that there's a community engagement requirement, now that there's an equity requirement, we're required to listen. No. Listen attentively, listen sincerely. And let that listening, that input, advice, suggestions, and recommendations that communities like ours are making actually inform public policy, and not just be superficial learning points for government agencies. So that's the advice that I would give to government.
To academic institutions and students, I would say, be in true partnership and alliance with us. One part of that is to again, listen, but also be considerate of the time demands that you're coming to us with. Like, believe me, there are many conversations that I've had, where it's like, “What do you mean, you only have half an hour, I need more of your time,” but it's just that sensitivity and awareness isn’t there. And often that research is taken and we don't know what happens to it. So be in true alliance and true partnership with communities like ours. And that means letting us lead the thinking, seeing how you can be a true ally, support[ing] the work, and also sharing the findings – in a very real way. Like not in academic language. If you're collecting information that we're facilitating, then produce something that makes sense to our community, that can be shared with our community, and doesn’t simply end up being a journal article that other academics read. So, those are some pieces of advice and requests that I have for different stakeholders.
Environmental injustice in the South Bronx is not an unsolvable tragedy. Residents and community organizers have rallied and designed a better future for themselves, through town halls and outreach and forging community spaces. Yet, they have not been given a proper seat at the table, preventing their valuable perspectives from being represented on the policy level. Local, state, and federal governments must look to communities for their expertise and opinions when designing and enacting legislation, particularly given the government’s role in perpetuating historical environmental injustice.
There is a true urgency for participation in the environmental justice movement, particularly with the upcoming shift from a presidential administration that has invested in environmental justice through the Justice40 initiative to an administration led by a man who denies climate change and dismantled environmental policies. On the local level, every community should be reflective about its local inequities and ways to relieve the burden on EJ communities, whether that be through altered zoning laws, investment in co-produced research, and more transparent and accessible decision-making.