Healthy Bronx Bronx One Policy

On Friday April 23rd U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) delivered a press conference in the Bronx's Parkchester neighborhood calling for The American Job's Plan, President Biden's infrastructure bill, to include funding to transform The Cross Bronx Expressway. After the press conference Ritchie Torres joined Healthy Bronx for an interview to discuss why now is the time to reimagine The Cross Bronx Expressway. 

Nilka Martell is a community organizer and an environmental activist in the Bronx. She founded an organization called #Loving The Bronx, which is leading efforts to advocate for capping an exposed portion of the Cross Bronx Expressway, in her neighborhood, in Parkchester.   

Nilka tells us the story of how she went from being a concerned neighbor to leading environmental justice work throughout our borough over the past decade. Through an unrelenting, yet optimistic approach, Nilka fiercely advocates for environmental justice, to rectify Robert Moses's infamous construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway. 

Other voices are joining the call and helping to build the case for why it is time to reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway. Dr. Peter Muennig, a physician and public health researcher at The Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, published an article in 2018 in The American Journal Of Public Health that argued that capping the Cross Bronx Expressway will save money and lives. Justin Sanchez, Director of External Affairs at the Bronx Borough President's Office, is working to elevate proposals to cap the highway in local and municipal politics.

Tune in to hear from Nilka, Dr. Muennig & Justin. 

This episode was produced by Emily Nadal, a journalist for The Mott Haven Herald & Hunts Point Express, and Alexander Levine, a third year medical student at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 



 

In today’s episode, we interview Carmen Mojica, a midwife and reproductive justice activist in the Bronx. We hear from Carmen about her work in the community supporting families through COVID-19, along with the many ways in which she advocates for Black, Latinx, and other POC individuals who are pregnant or giving birth.
We discuss the role of community, policy, and solutions that exist outside of the medical system in supporting birthing people in the borough, along with the barriers to enacting meaningful policy change. Finally, Carmen sheds light on how colonization, slavery and capitalism are inextricably linked to maternal health, and offers wisdom on healing from intergenerational trauma.
Carmen is a cofounder of Bronx Rebirth and Progress, a collective of birth workers and mothers seeking to build alternate solutions outside of the system that protect and honor birthing people in the Bronx. She is also a speaker, facilitator, writer, and faculty member at the Midwives College of Utah.
This episode is hosted by Ashley Castillo & Olivia Howell, both first year medical students at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 

This year's City Council elections promise to bring new inspiring leaders from the Bronx to City Hall. Today we focus on candidates contending for the seat in District-15, which became vacant after Ritchie Torres left City Council to become a US Congressman. We interview two candidates running in District-15, Elisa Crespo and John Sanchez; both Elisa and John have developed refreshing and creative policy platforms that will elevate the voices and needs of Bronxites in municipal politics. 
Each candidate was provided with a prompt to discuss a policy issue central to their platform that is connected to the health of the borough. Through these conversations we discuss proposals to build a birthing center in the Bronx, to combat food access injustices, and to devise a municipal public option for employment.
We look forward to continuing this coverage as the June 22nd City Council primary approaches. 
This episode was recorded on Friday, February 26th, 2020. 

How do the built and natural environments within the Bronx impact community members' abilities to achieve a healthy life? In this episode we explore how municipal policy around sustainability is connected to health equity. Our conversation considers how innovative policies around transportation, housing, and food can ultimately improve chronic disease outcomes and allow New Yorkers to better prioritize their health.  
Our guests are Mark Chambers, who is currently the Director of Sustainability at the NYC Mayor's Office, and an architect by training, and Dr. Earle Chambers, Ph.D, MPH, Director of Research for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Department of Family & Social Medicine. 

Dr. Chidi Akusobi joined the Healthy Bronx Podcast Tuesday evening, January 19th, to translate the basic science behind the COVID-19 vaccine and to answer questions submitted from Bronx residents in the week preceding our recording. This episode was produced in collaboration with The #Not62 Campaign For A Healthy Bronx.

Dr. Akusobi completed his PhD in Infectious Disease last spring at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and he will receive his MD from Harvard Medical School in 2022. Dr. Akusobi was born in Nigeria and moved to the Bronx with his family at the age of 2. His parents and sister work as nurses in the Bronx, and thus he understands how challenging the last several months have been for our community.

He looks forward to sharing with you why he received the vaccine and to helping you understand the basic science behind the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.



6:04 - COVID-19 Vaccine development and the basic science

31:50 - answering of questions submitted through Q+A form