Anthony Riccio runs a 104-acre property that is the beating heart of the working waterfront on the Harlem River. It is also a frequent target for critics who say it operates with little concern for – or accountability to – the surrounding community.
Mott Haven is at a turning point where visions of green space and waterfront access could become a reality at last. But new obstacles raise the question of why this poor, mostly minority neighborhood has once again fallen behind.
Find out who you have to go through to get to the Harlem River waterfront in Mott Haven. Our interactive map tells you who owns every property along the waterfront, what’s going on there now and what the future might hold.
As the recent controversy over FreshDirect shows, transitioning the Mott Haven waterfront from industry to green space is a delicate balancing act for city planners and public officials torn between the need to preserve jobs and community dreams for recreation.
The new Mott Haven already exists in the imaginations and on the drawing boards of urban planners. But getting it off the page and onto the streets is another matter altogether.
(GRAPHIC: The Missing Link – closing a gap in the Bronx greenway)
While activists push for public waterfront access, residents lobby for change in their own way – by getting out on the river, using access routes that are not always safe or legal
(AUDIO: Community Voices — sounds from the waterfront)
The southern Harlem River persists as a cesspool of waste flushed into the river after every storm. Learn what’s in the river — and how experts plan to clean it up.
(AUDIO SLIDESHOW: The Billion Mollusk Project is one way to clean the water.)