90 Years Later and The Bronx is Still Seeing Environmental Impacts of Redlining

By Deven Chitkara

Encompassing 40% of the Bronx’s population, the South Bronx, an essential part of New York City, is made up largely of Black and Hispanic people and is a host for the intersection of several different cultures, evident in the variety of restaurants, businesses, and people. In the South Bronx, however, residents live with some of the highest asthma rates in the United States. In the  most affected area, Mott Haven, there is a rate of asthma hospitalizations 5 times higher than the national average and 21 times higher than other New York City neighborhoods. 

The asthma crisis in Mott Haven can be traced back to the 1930s and 1940s when the Home Owners Loan Corporation, began a campaign supported by the US Congress, with the purpose of preventing foreclosures (making sure people could afford their homes). The corporation rated neighborhoods across the Bronx on a color-coded map, marking off predominantly African American and Puerto Rican communities as "detrimental,” and ultimately as unworthy of loans, home or fire insurance. This severe economic blow to Mott Haven, almost entirely composed of Hispanic and Black residents, had far-reaching implications beyond promoting white flight from urban areas.

Particularly noteworthy were its environmental effects, which fuelled the asthma crisis. Many buildings throughout the Bronx became vacant (since urban renewal plans deprived residents of the finances to maintain their homes). Unscrupulous landlords resorted to arson, burning their largely vacant- and occupied- buildings to collect fire insurance money. Since landlords did not have to fix the buildings, they faced few consequences. They could simply take the money and walk away. Even today, buildings subject to the Bronx Fires have not been rebuilt due to the lack of funding that began in this era.

A lack of care for the well being of Mott Haven residents persists. To this day, truck routes, printing presses, and highways have been allowed to run throughout the neighborhood and as a result generate poor air quality in the area. Reflectively, regular Air Quality Index (AQI) readings indicate that Mott Haven's air quality, hovering around 75 AQI, is markedly worse than other New York areas, which average about 20 AQI.

Deven Chitkara is a high school junior from New York City, and the founder of Bronx Out Loud. 

Over the past ten months, he has worked to comprehend the depth of the issues mentioned by conducting interviews with community leaders and residents of the South Bronx. His goal has been to understand environmental racism and redlining from the perspective of residents or those who work to fix them and share their hopes for the future. 

Throughout his research, he has had the opportunity to learn about several organizations who are working to solve these issues, one being South Bronx Unite. South Bronx Unite’s 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.” South Bronx Unite along with other organizations based in the Bronx, such as We Act organization and Living City Project, are working to fix the issues of Environmental Racism and Redlining, but an obstacle for their efforts has been limited awareness and funding.  

Using his platform Bronx Out Loud, Chitkara is working to reveal these harsh realities through community leaders and resident perspectives. You can learn more about the stories Deven has heard by visiting his website here.