A buildout of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, which is expected to become a major tourist attraction. Its founder and CEO, Rocky Bucano, contributed to the 50 Ideas report.
Photo Sylvester Zawadzki
New Yorkers are all too accustomed to hearing about problems within the Bronx. But when it comes to solving complex challenges, people who know and love the borough are often best equipped to offer innovative solutions.
The Bronx Community Foundation and local think tank Center for an Urban Future recently tapped into this idea with their report, “50 Ideas for a Stronger and More Equitable Bronx,” which gathered ideas big and small from some of the most influential Bronxites with a variety of expertise.
The Bronx is “overflowing with opportunity,” the report said, citing its strong post-pandemic business recovery and progress on infrastructure projects such as the new Metro North stations.
But the report also sought to address the borough’s many inequities. Despite its cultural uniqueness and numerous community organizations, the report said, “far too many Bronxites still face grave affordability challenges, as well as gaps in access to health care, open space, technology, and financial services.”
The report compiled ideas “both practical and visionary,” some already in the works and some novel, some specific and some broad.
Suggestions ranged from expanding mental health care; environmental justice goals such as increasing public waterfront access and capping the Cross Bronx Expressway; beautification, including more trash cans and trash pickup; and economic initiatives such as increasing the minimum wage, mandatory financial literacy classes, recalculating the city’s Area Median Income and more support for small businesses.
Many ideas also focused on education, such as offering free internet access and mandatory college prep classes. Cultural ideas included a pass that would give Bronx kids free access to museums and…
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