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Information below
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For
Immediate Release
Contact: LCG Communications
-- 718.853.5568; March 13, 2001
917.775.1940; info@lcgcommunications.com
Majora Carter to Head New South Bronx
Initiative, “Sustainable South Bronx” After four years at the helm of the “Hunts
Point Re-Envisioning Project” at The Point CDC in the South Bronx, Majora
Carter, with initial assistance from The Point, will develop a new project
called “Sustainable South Bronx.” “Sustainable South Bronx will research and
devise strategies that will result in the implementation of real projects for
the South Bronx based on the plans of the community,” said Ms. Carter. “The projects selected will hopefully
lead to long-term and sustained development in the South Bronx. For too long, the South Bronx has
suffered the effects of over-industrialization, poverty and neglect. This initiative will give the people of
the South Bronx a pro-active way to take hold of their community’s development
now and into the future,” she added. The new initiative will be a subsidiary of The
Point CDC that will be spun off as an independent non-profit. “Sustainable South
Bronx will provide The Point and other community groups with a way to move
beyond our roles as initiators of community planning processes into one that
identifies real projects that can be developed,” said Paul Lipson, Executive
Director of The Point. “We’re very
proud and eager to support Majora as she embarks on this very important
undertaking,” he added. Ms. Carter, a life-long resident of Hunts
Point, is well known in the Bronx, having worked for many years as a community
activist, most recently as head of The Point’s “Hunts Point Re-Envisioning
Project.” She was named by the
Daily News as one of the top “100 New Yorkers to Watch” in 2001. She had recently considered a run for
City Council, but decided instead to take on the challenge of the Sustainable
South Bronx project. Some of Ms. Carter’s other accomplishments
include co-designing the proposal for “CityRiver,” a job-creation, economic and
ecological development for the Bronx River and spearheading the development of
the “Hunts Point Riverside Park,” the first waterfront park the Hunts Point
peninsula has had in over sixty years. She was awarded the 2000 Environmental
Advocate Award for Achievements in Community Development, and her efforts
have prompted praise from elected officials from the City and the state
including Governor George Pataki, Councilmember Adolfo Carrion, Assemblymember
Ruben Diaz, Jr., Councilmember Pedro Espada, Jr. and Congressmember Jose
Serrano. Movie and recording artist and founder of the New York Restoration
Project, Bette Midler, visited Hunts Point last spring and worked alongside Ms.
Carter at the Hunts Point Riverside Park. Under Ms. Carter’s direction, Sustainable
South Bronx will use real estate, financial and marketing services to implement
projects and will explore methods for obtaining site control
-more- Majora
Carter/Sustainable South Bronx --
pg. 2 and other financial resources to ensure future
site development. “People very rarely think of sustainable
development in relationship to urban neighborhoods,” commented Ms. Carter. “When people think of sustainable
development, they often think of it in relationship to an organization like the
United Nations, which promotes sustainable development in countries throughout
the world. It’s time that we think of how to apply those same principles to our
communities. If we do it right,
then the South Bronx will secure an economically and environmentally viable
future,” she added. Sustainable South Bronx’s headquarters will be
on Hunts Point Avenue. The space is
currently under renovation and should open “officially” some time in
April. -30- |