Below the Bruckner Expressway that divides neighborhoods in The Bronx, a community group has transformed an unused lot into a public space. 

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ) on Friday officially launched the Soundview Economic Hub as a temporary public plaza on Bronx River Avenue beneath the expressway that’s now open every day from sunrise to sunset. 

YMPJ, a community-based organization focused on rebuilding “the neighborhoods of Bronx River and Soundview/Bruckner in the South Bronx,” secured the 7,500 square feet of space in an empty lot that’s remained unused for decades. 

They were ed by the Local Center, an initiative of the Urban Design Forum, and the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) that repurposes unused or little-used land into public spaces and put in $125,000 to cover the costs of art installations, vendor payments and labor.

“I’m really excited, man. You know, this is a historic, sort of monumental moment for us  in the project. We’ve been working for many years, but really intensely over the past few months to get all the permits and approvals that we needed to be able to start doing stuff,” YMPJ Executive Director David Shuffler told THE CITY at Friday’s event. “It’s been 10 years we’ve been sort of knocking around this idea.”

Visitors enjoyed guava lemonade and baked goods like brown butter cookies, orange cranberry muffins and vanilla bean croissants from Chrystina Casado, 48, chef and founder of Brunch at Zion’s.

There were children’s books, flowers and paper teacups of soil and seeds to take home from Concetta Gleason, founder of Wilde, Flowers & Books. Born and raised in Throggs Neck, Gleason grew up a few miles away from the new space where she’s now displaying her books and plants. 

“I always, always wanted a children’s bookstore in green space. I don’t even think I knew what a bookstore was until ‘You Got Mail,’ the movie. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a dream,’” Gleason told THE CITY. 

She is still seeking a more permanent location for Wilde Flowers & Books, potentially in a storefront around the corner from the hub. 

“We’re really trying to build a space where kids and families feel welcome to enjoy themselves, be healthy, and enjoy also access to green spaces,” said Gleason. 

‘Everybody Has a Life and A Story in The Bronx’ 

Visitors could also see seven wooden structures displaying 14 pieces of art that sought to capture what it means to hail from or live in The Bronx. 

One of them, created by Bronxite Suki Watashi, 22, who moved to the borough from San Pedro de Macorís in the Dominican Republic 15 years ago, has white tears with holes in them against a backdrop of “pretty much all of the colors known to man.”  

“I wanted the little holes to resemble windows and buildings, and what it looks like when you’re riding the train and you see all these windows lit up and stuff in buildings. I wanted to encapsulate pretty much that everybody has a life and a story in The Bronx,” said Watashi. “So pretty much by putting all different kinds of walls and stuff, I was trying to give light to everyone’s individuality.” 

Watashi said that a mean-spirited encounter with someone who lived in Brooklyn inspired her to create the piece. 

“I told them that I was from The Bronx, and they started bullying me. They started saying all kinds of things. They started saying that The Bronx was nasty and they would never come here. They started saying that it’s infested with rats. They said all kinds of things, but they never said anything positive.”

Roadside Revitalization

The new plaza is intended to be in the first phase of what Shuffler hopes will eventually be 30,000 square feet below the Bruckner Expressway used as public spaces on land owned by the New York State Department of Transportation but operated by the New York City Department of Transportation.

Shuffler said YMPJ had been eyeing the space for 10 years, and the state’s $1.7 billion Hunts Point Access Improvement Project helped prepare it for public use. Launched in 2019, the project is aimed at improving vehicle access to and from the Hunts Point Peninsula by reducing congestion, adding parking spots and making streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians. 

“It was homelessness. You had illegal dumping, and just, it’s just dirty, you know? And it’s unfortunate when folks from other boroughs talk about The Bronx, they talk about homelessness, crime and dirty streets. And when they would drive by, this is exactly what they would think about The Bronx is exactly what it was — dirty streets,” City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr. told THE CITY, referring to what the lot was like before the plaza emerged there. 

“And so we revitalized the space, cleaned it up. Now we’re taking back our streets. We’re taking back dirty land, and we’re converting it into a space that the community can utilize.” 

Shuffler said that YMPJ is working to fundraise $6 million to revitalize the additional 22,500 square feet as public space. The group plans to complete a feasibility study by the end of the year to identify “what’s permissible and what’s not permissible.”