Creating a Resilient Bronx River Community

By: Maya Ray, 2024 Long Island Sound Study Intern

Concrete Plant Park in the Bronx, New York, established in 2009, demonstrates both the contrast and harmony that can exist among people, industry, and nature. The park, located at the site of a once neglected and derelict concrete facility, was abandoned from 1987–⁠2000 until the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and Bronx River Alliance, filled with artistic vision, turned the area into a flourishing green space. In 2017, New York City’s only public edible food forest, The Bronx River Foodway, was established on site. Populated with edible and medicinal plants, its biodiversity sharply contrasts the park’s remaining concrete structures.

Through support from the inaugural round of the Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund, the Long Island Sound Study and Restore America’s Estuaries awarded the Bronx River Alliance $48,951 to engage and educate the Bronx River community in the restoration and protection of Long Island Sound at Concrete Plant Park.

Journei Bimwala, artist in residence for the Bronx River Alliance, was born in the Congo and raised worldwide. She has been living in the Bronx since 1997 and draws much of her artistic inspiration from the environment, dabbling in dance, fashion, drawing, and painting.

“Nature is all about creativity, art, and healing,” said Bimwala. “That’s me, 1000%.”

Bimwala, in addition to being an artist, is a clinical herbalist and foraging practitioner. She often uses native plants as a public education tool drawing in anyone from amateur herbalists to the curious through workshops where Bronx residents can learn how to harvest, prepare, and eat plants from the Foodway.

According to The Bronx River Alliance, the Foodway is the only public place within New York City where foraging can be done without incurring a fine. Many community members use the edible plants, while also taking on jobs managing and maintaining the area. The Foodway has become a hub for locals to build meaningful relationships with the land, and with each other. Residents have the opportunity to grow their own plants at the site, and forage from natives like elderberry, chestnut trees, echinacea, black raspberries, and various fungi. Once completed, The Bronx River Alliance intends for the Foodway to span 23 miles, extending the length of the Bronx River.

“I specifically focus on edible and medicinal plants that you can forage, where I get to connect people to nature, back to the land, and giving people back what was always theirs to begin with,” said Bimwala.  “We all have a responsibility to nature, just like nature has a responsibility to all of the species of this planet.”

Through activities at the park and expanding the foodway, the Bronx River Alliance aims to build a stronger community connection and sense of duty to the waterway and Long Island Sound. This will be done by using public stewardship events, accessible educational programs, and public outreach on social media. The goal is to educate more than 200 members of the community, while also getting people interested in the protection and stewardship of not only the park, but other areas along the Bronx River as well. 

Bimwala also notes the importance of green spaces historically, as a lack of access to them has had disproportionate effects on marginalized communities.

“We learned during the pandemic that Black folks have one of the worst health statuses in the country,” said Bimwala. “Why is that? We were no longer able to practice our own healing arts. We lost access to nature… My work is to take a stab at that injustice and give people back access to nature freely with no restriction and also have people realize that nature is not the enemy. Nature is your ally. Nature is your foundation.”

The park has many facilities for communal use, such as entrances for extended community access, a shared garden, and a reading circle. The Bronx River, which feeds into the Long Island Sound, is next to the park and is an important asset to the community, used for kayaking, crabbing, and fishing. The Bronx River Alliance hosts free community paddling events every other Friday, letting people engage in no cost fun on the waterfront.  Other engagement events also include “Gardening Tuesdays” and “Community Fridays”, where people can learn how to be stewards of the river, forage freely, and build relationships with their neighbors.

“People will take care of the land better, because now it has a meaning for them.” said Bimwala.  

There are plans to establish a meadow within the park, building habitat for diverse wildlife, while also adding aesthetic value. Determined to create a safe, clean, accessible Bronx River for all, the alliance hopes to continue inspiring people to create their own unique relationship with the outdoors, and protect it for years to come.

“It won’t happen in our time, but it can happen for the future generation. It can happen for folks 15, 50, even 100 years from now, and that’s perfectly fine, “ said Bimwala. “ But in order for us to give that back to the state that nature gave it to us, we need to start doing the work now.”