Jerome Avenue Community Redevelopment
In 2018 the New York City Council approved the rezoning of a 92-block stretch of the Bronx’s Jerome Avenue. This area, centered along Jerome Avenue from 165th to 184th streets, is slated for the development of 4,600 housing units, including 1,500 affordable housing units. These efforts will combat rising rents, displacement, and other adverse impacts on the local community.
Implement a survey of auto businesses along the Jerome Avenue corridor
Initiate door-to-door outreach to Jerome Avenue auto-related businesses to inform and engage them in the Eco-Quality Initiative
Provide information on the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Operation Eco-Quality Initiative and ensure that local auto shops are compliant with environmental regulations
Facilitate connections to Department of Environmental Conservation and SoBro business service representatives for technical assistance
In collaboration with the NYC Department of Small Business Services, the United Auto Merchants Association, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, SoBro has been engaged to:
Jerome Avenue Revitalization Collaborative (JARC)
In response to expressed community needs, SoBro is collaborating with a diverse group of stakeholders as part of the Jerome Avenue Revitalization Collaborative, an economic and workforce development community solution designed through JobsFirstNYC’s community-driven, demand-led innovation process. JobsFirstNYC creates and advances solutions that break down barriers and transform the systems supporting young adults and their communities in the pursuit of economic opportunities.
Operation Eco-Quality
Operation Eco-Quality is a strategic partnership between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the NYC Department of Small Business Services, and community stakeholders that focuses on mitigating business displacement and ensuring the survival of local auto businesses, strengthening local minority- and women-owned companies, and supporting the creation of quality and better-paying employment opportunities. The effort also seeks to prevent small- to mid-sized regulated facilities from violating New York State’s Environmental Conservation Law.
The Eco-Quality Initiative also aims to mitigate negative impacts on the environment and the quality of life for residents in neighborhoods that are calling for environmental justice protections. The program is delivered through a three-pronged approach: outreach, consultation, and compliance.
This collaborative will develop a strategy to ensure that the Jerome Avenue Corridor rezoning effort leads to inclusive economic growth and sustainability for residents, businesses, and workers affected by the Jerome Avenue rezoning.
Launched with funding from the NYC Department of Small Business Services, this effort is supported through the Children’s Aid Society’s Bronx Impact Initiative, an Empire State Reduction effort, the Altman Foundation, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Ira W. DeCamp Foundation, and the MUFG Union Bank Foundation.
Members of the JARC include SoBro, BCDI/BronXChange, SBS, BCC, Davidson Community Center, CB4, CB5, The Bronx PIC, WHEDCO, UAMA, The BJT Merchants Association, The Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Meta Bronx, and Spring Bank.
