Council Members Vanessa L. Gibson and Fernando Cabrera appeared on BronxNet television on Monday, Oct. 19, to endorse Neighborhood Health Plan recommendations put forth by the Jerome Avenue Public Health Task Force. These recommendations were drafted after 18 months of meetings with both Council Members, the Bronx Neighborhood Health Action Center of the NYC Health Department, and various community stakeholders after the passage of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan.

 

The recommendations are organized into six overarching domains of education, public outdoor spaces, healthcare quality and access, food environment, housing and local economic development to improve the health of the residents along the Jerome Avenue corridor.

 

“The Neighborhood Health Plan Recommendations put forth by the Jerome Public Health Task Force are a testament to what can be accomplished through a partnership between community and government,” said Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson. “Since the passage of the Jerome Neighborhood Plan, we have worked tirelessly to engage residents, business owners, community organizations and other stakeholders to develop a cohesive and comprehensive plan to address systemic health inequities along the Jerome corridor that contribute to high rates of diabetes, asthma and hypertension and lower life expectancy.”

 

The councilwoman said the recommendations are the cumulation of 18 months of input from the community to holistically address health disparities along the Jerome corridor and could serve as a blueprint for the rest of the borough. “I want to thank the Jerome Public Health Task Force, the Neighborhood Health Plan, the [New York City] Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)`s Center for Health Equity, my colleague Council Member Cabrera, and all of the community partners that helped put this plan together,” she added.

 

Cabrera said he was proud of the work done through the Jerome Avenue Public Health Task Force. “Public health is a critical part of the re-imagining and rebuilding of this community, whose current land use pattern is almost 100 years old, and as evidenced by the public health outcomes in our community, is not supporting our people,” he said.

 

“Affordable housing, light, accessible green spaces, community facilities, clean air, and availability of healthy foods, are critical for health; the final recommendations of the Jerome Neighborhood Health Plan reflect a thoughtful, inclusive process that contemplated multiple touch-points between the built environment and public health to craft achievable solutions that will benefit our community for the foreseeable future,” he added.

 

The Jerome Avenue Public Health Task Force was brought into existence as stipulated in the Points of Agreement document signed by Deputy Mayor Glen on March 6, 2018 as part of the Jerome Avenue Rezoning Process. Meetings were held between December 2018 and January 2020 to discuss the health disparities within Bronx community districts 4 and 5, and the systemic inequality that contributes to poor health outcomes for residents along the corridor.

 

“When a person goes to the doctor or to the hospital, that is only a measurement of that person’s health,” said Gus Stavroulakis, Jerome Public Health Task Force Member.“Those measurements are a story of how a person lived and how society has treated them. These Task Force health recommendations, which include many parts of a person’s life, is essential to improve health. This is a monumental first step in building our city, with the goal of people living healthier lives.”

 

For years, the Bronx has been tied to high rates of diabetes, asthma and hypertension and other illnesses that contribute to the borough ranking as the unhealthiest county in the state. This was further exacerbated during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, when Bronx residents died at higher rates than in other boroughs. Although the recommendations were decided on prior to the pandemic, it still offers a blueprint to address the health inequities that contributed to high mortality rates in the Bronx.