‘For us and by us’: South Bronx advocates celebrate progress on new community center

A mockup of the future H.E.A.rts Community Center was on display at the press conference on Feb. 22, 2024.

Photo Emily Swanson

A project that South Bronx community leaders have envisioned for over a decade is inching closer to fruition.

On Feb. 22, leaders from South Bronx Unite, the Mott Haven Port Morris Community Land Stewards, Alembic Community Development and other groups gathered for an outdoor concert and press conference to celebrate the vision of the future H.E.A.rts Community Center — and to remind elected officials of the hefty funding required to make it happen. 

The H.E.A.rts Community Center was the winning concept selected from a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the abandoned city-owned site, put out by the city in October 2022. H.E.A.rts was selected in summer 2023 and the project remains in the “pre-development” stage. 

The 22,500-square-foot yellow brick building at 349 East 140th St. has sat vacant for over a decade. The new center is a long-term collaboration between a number of local nonprofits, developers and architects who have long understood the positive correlations between health outcomes and the arts.

South Bronx nonprofit organizations have a vision for the new building that blends services for holistic health, education and the arts all under one roof — hence the name “H.E.A.rts.” 

According to information from South Bronx Unite, the future center will have a kitchen and cafeteria, black box theater, meeting rooms and other shared spaces that will provide a home to several local nonprofits and ample space for community gatherings. 

South Bronx Unite said that not only will the center become a hub of services designed by and for the community, but the land itself “will be fully community-controlled and held in perpetuity for public use.”

However, rehabilitating the long-abandoned structure won’t be cheap. Project leaders said H.E.Arts Center is an estimated $44M investment — and at the…