Serrano, Salazar Announce New Bronx & Harlem River Initiative

Congressman José E. Serrano and State Senator José M. Serrano hosted Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the Roberto Clemente State Park last week to announce a new program by the Department of the Interior and other federal agencies to supplement local efforts to develop new recreational facilities and increase public access to the Harlem River. 

The event served as the local announcement of the Bronx & Harlem River Watersheds’ selection as one of seven pilot locations in the Urban Waters Federal Partnership—an effort by 11 federal agencies to stimulate regional and local economies, create local jobs, improve quality of life, and protect Americans’ health by revitalizing urban waterways in underserved communities across the country.

Secretary Salazar (at left) and Congressman Serrano listening to State Senator Serrano

Serrano and Salazar were joined at the park by National Park Service (NPS) Director Jon Jarvis; Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Regional Administrator George Pavlou; New York City Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland, and other officials from the City of New York and the NPS.

“We are so gratified to have Secretary Salazar here to launch the Urban Waters Federal Partnership, which will improve upon our efforts to clean and revitalize rivers in the Bronx,” said Serrano. “The setting for this announcement at Roberto Clemente State Park is fitting because there is such a need for increased access to the Harlem River here. It is illustrative of the efforts we have been making for years to connect communities to restored natural resources in their own neighborhoods. We will also now have the partnership and resources of the federal government to revitalize our rivers and the surrounding communities—and show the rest of the nation how this can be such a powerful tool for community and environmental development.”

“Roberto Clemente State Park is one of the top conservation priorities for the Obama administration, and we believe that the partnership we have with Congressman Serrano, the state of New York and New York City will be successful in reconnecting Americans with the great outdoors here along the Harlem River,” said Salazar. “This park is poised for a restoration that will make it a hub connecting neighborhoods and landscapes with the river.”

"Waterways like the Harlem and Bronx Rivers have the potential to be places where residents can connect to nature, relax and come together as a community," said George Pavlou, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator. "Thanks to efforts like those under the auspices of the Urban Waters Initiative, these rivers have the potential to be clean and beautiful areas where local businesses set up shop and hire workers, where fitness enthusiasts can bike and run and hike."

Roberto Clemente Park is situated in the middle of a developing greenway along the Harlem River. The state-run park serves an economically challenged community and hosts more than one million visitors annually.  Unfortunately, there is no public access to the Bronx side of the Harlem River because the only historic access in the park to the river is closed. 

For more information on the President’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, click here.