A Better Bronx

  • “A Better Bronx” visually depicts community members enjoying the waterfront, honoring all of their hard work to gain access to and transform the Bronx River.
  • On a field trip, the team enjoys a day of on the Bronx River, led by project partner Rocking the Boat.
  • During the last few weeks of the SLI program, the youth muralists work hard to develop their design into a vibrant mural.
  • A few members sit on the scaffold to reach the top of their mural, while another teammate works on a tree surrounded with shrubbery.
  • At the completion of the intensive program, Groundswell and our partners host a mural dedication. Amy Sananman, Founder and Executive Director of Groundswell, presents “A Better Bronx” to community members and partners.
  • The riverfront is represent in the mural as a place for all members of the community to use, engage in, keep clean, and enjoy.
Groundswell Community Mural ProjectStreetwise: Hunts Point

Project Description

“A Better Bronx” was created in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation and Majora Carter Group and highlights the importance of a sustainable environment to a waterfront community. Located at the entrance to Hunts Point Riverside Park, on the side of youth development organization Rocking the Boat, “A Better Bronx” encourages sustainable industry in an area that was once home to one of the most blighted waterways in the United States. The mural celebrates all that the community has achieved to gain access to and transform the Bronx River. The design’s focal point is a series of vignettes showing Hunts Point residents enjoying a beautiful, green park on the waterfront. The mural also provides a platform to educate the community about the many transformative transportation initiatives planned for the area. “A Better Bronx” was completed as part of StreetWise: Hunts Point, a two-year campaign to engage community members in identifying and prioritizing transportation and related-environmental concerns in their South Bronx community.

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Project Info

Fun Facts

Quote
“With just paint, brushes and imagination, these students have enlivened and enlightened these neighborhoods and proved once again that you’re never too young to care about safer streets.”—Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan
Suggested Activity
Spend a weekend visiting Hunts Point Riverside Park. Make sure you check out “A Better Bronx” and stop by Rocking the Boat to learn more about its programs to teach youth boatbuilding, sailing, and environmental restoration.
Fun Fact
Hunts Point Riverside Park is a 1.4-acre park along the Bronx River, tucked between a metal-recycling yard and a giant wholesale produce market, on the far side of a six-lane highway and a pair of active freight train tracks.