THE CONTEXT

Decades of our lived experiences, organizing, and research tell us that structural racism, climate change, and economic inequality are critical health hazards for the Bronx. Even as resources have been made available locally and nationally, Bronx residents, including Black and brown business owners, have been largely shut out of accessing these funds. Residential and commercial tenants continue to fight for rent cancellation as we edge closer and closer to an eviction and homelessness crisis. And the essential workers, who disproportionately come from our communities, continue to risk their health and safety to provide New Yorkers critical services.

As New York City negotiates what a just recovery looks like, we are clear that our strategies should not be focused on going back to normal. The “normal” that existed before the pandemic did not work for most of us. The future of the Bronx, and our whole city, must follow a different path. 

We are also tired of narratives that portray us and the Bronx as people and places only of poverty, desperation, and hardship. Yes, we are struggling. We’ve been struggling. But we are not defined only by our hardship. We are a multilingual, multicultural community with bustling commercial districts, creative energy, community institutions, and neighbors who support each other.

WHY DO WE NEED A PLAN? WHAT IS POSSIBLE WITH A PLAN?

A plan isn’t just a document, it is a social, political, and educational process. By working together to develop a shared vision, the outcome we produce is not just words and images on a page, but a shared understanding, and grassroots leadership with the skillset of thinking long-term and developing shared strategy. Planning “from below” in this sense, is a part of organizing and building power together.

Despite a constant focus on what the Bronx lacks, the Bronx already has much of what it needs to transform its local economy and become a thriving, healthy borough. However, Bronxites currently do not have enough meaningful ownership or control over our futures. A plan for a Bronx where we own and control our common resources and assets together is a Bronx where we can stay, grow, and build together.

To ensure existing residents who fought for the Bronx can continue to call it home for generations to come, our plan will lay out a vision for our Bronx that is grounded in economic democracy and shared ownership: an economic framework that shifts power and control away from absentee landlords and unaccountable financial and institutions towards people who live and work here everyday.

In order to address root causes, combat generational systems failures, and meaningfully respond to the urgent pressures that are threatening the Bronx’s status as the last affordable borough for low-income and working-class people in New York City, the Bronx requires a vision and plan for equitable economic development that is ambitious, coordinated, and long-term. This plan will also allow us to hold elected officials accountable to our vision and plan over time, and shift who leads, and benefits from, economic development and growth in the Bronx.

Over the long term, Our aim is to build a regional and democratic economy that centers racial justice and economic democracy, supports freedom and self-determination, and prioritizes dignity and wellbeing for all. For us, fighting forward looks like a Bronx economy that:

• Provides all workers with a dignified wage;

• Gives us the power to own, organize, and make decisions in our workplaces;

• Ensures that we are healing, not harming the environment;

• Invests in the people and guarantees quality, affordable healthcare, education, and housing as human rights;

• Invests in community-owned and controlled land that provides permanently affordable and cooperatively-owned housing, commercial and community space, green space;

• Fosters people-centered governance, which gives communities the opportunity to practice self-determination by working in deep partnership with public officials to make decisions about the policies and planning processes that impact our lives.

OUR TIMELINE