![\"AOC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2025-04-16T002329Z_118370898_RC2CYDAY8F87_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-DEMOCRATS.jpg\" "\\"AOC")
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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a stop on the \u2018Fighting Oligarchy\u2019 tour with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (not pictured) at the Dignity Health Arena, Theater in Bakersfield, CA, April 15, 2025. <\/p>\n
REUTERS\/Aude Guerrucci<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week lent her sizable megaphone to the fight against a New York State Department of Transportation plan<\/a> that would widen the Cross Bronx Expressway<\/a>.<\/p>\n AOC \u2014 a Democrat who represents swaths of the east Bronx and western Queens \u2014 sent a letter<\/a> to Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday, urging the state\u2019s top executive not to pursue any plan that involves expanding the highway.<\/p>\n \u201cOn behalf of my constituents and nearly 64,000 local residents impacted by this project, I am requesting that your administration reject any plans to expand the Cross Bronx Expressway beyond its current footprint,\u201d she wrote in the letter.<\/p>\n The democratic socialist lawmaker fired off her missive ahead of an April 7 deadline by which the NYSDOT must submit its final design plans for the $900 million undertaking \u2014 known as the Five Bridges Project \u2014 to the Federal Highway Administration. <\/a>The feds extended the deadline from early last month<\/a>, when the state was originally supposed to submit its chosen plan.<\/p>\n The 6 \u00bd mile-long highway is infamous because Robert Moses \u2014 the official who designed the Cross Bronx \u2014 built it by raising entire neighborhoods and cleaving the borough in two. For over half a century, the road has subjected thousands of Bronx residents who live along it to disproportionate amounts of air and noise pollution emanating from its six congested traffic lanes.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s plan aims to rehabilitate five elevated portions of the Cross Bronx, which are in need of major repairs, between Rosedale Avenue and Boston Road.<\/p>\n But all three design options under consideration include widening the road\u2019s shoulders by 25 feet on both sides to comply with federal regulations, while two of them call for adding a pathway along the highway\u2019s southern end to support construction. The path would then be converted into a bike and pedestrian passage.<\/p>\n In her letter, Ocasio-Cortez echoed the central argument advocates fighting the project have been making for months: that any widening of the highway\u2019s footprint would only compound the rampant air and noise pollution it has inflicted upon Bronxites for decades. She also reiterated their arguments that the state\u2019s environmental review and public engagement process did not give the 64,000 residents living around the project site adequate time to weigh in on it<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA $900-million repair project in one of the state\u2019s most congested and environmentally overburdened corridors demands rigorous planning that puts residents first. Given the environmental and health hazards associated with NYSDOT\u2019s proposed expansion options,\u201d her letter reads. \u201cI am concerned that any of the proposed expansion alternatives, including the addition of a shared-use path, would only deepen the burdens our communities have long endured.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, State DOT spokesperson Glenn Blain insisted in a statement that the agency has \u201cengaged with the community at every step of the way, making substantial changes to the proposed alternatives in direct response to public feedback.\u201d He also pushed back on the notion that the project is expanding the roadway, saying rather, \u201cit is a needed safety project.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNYSDOT is committed to maintaining a safe transportation system for all users, and this project on the Cross Bronx is needed to keep travelers, as well as the community, safe \u2014 as the infrastructure is in need of critical repair,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ocasio-Cortez pointed specifically to the potential that widening the highway\u2019s shoulders could bring exhaust-spewing vehicles even closer to the Bronx River Houses, New York City Housing Authority development, which sits adjacent to the highway.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrent renderings propose extending the Cross Bronx Expressway up to 45 feet closer to Bronx River Houses, home to 3,000 public housing residents living directly across the planned construction site,\u201d she wrote. \u201cFamilies in this neighborhood are already battling some of the highest asthma rates statewide as a result of Cross Bronx pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"view](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/BAV3454.jpg\" "\\"AOC")
A view of traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway.Photo by Jonathan Portee<\/p>\n