Cross-Bronx Expressway History
The Cross-Bronx Expressway was planned by Robert Moses in the 1940s as part of the larger highway system connecting the New York metropolitan area. Local residents, tenant organizations, and community activists in neighborhoods such as East Tremont protested the route because it required large-scale displacement of families and destruction of apartment buildings. Once completed the expressway became a symbol of social and economic disruption caused by urban renewal policies.
Timeline
1929: Regional Plan Association (RPA) proposes the Metropolitan Loop Highway.
1945: Robert Moses proposes a six-lane Cross Bronx Expressway.
1946: The Cross-Bronx Citizens’ Protective Association is formed to oppose the highway and accompanying displacement of thousands of families.
1954: Bronx residents lose fight when the Estimate Board affirms the route by voting to buy mid-section land.
1955-1961: Construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway.
2022: The Reimagine the Cross Bronx Study is announced by Mayor Eric Adams.
2025: The final vision of Reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway is released.
Moses’ remarks at the Bronx Board of Trade Dinner, 1947
Moses papers. Manuscripts and Archives Division. The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Robert Moses uses these remarks to argue that progress in New York City comes through steady reconstruction, infrastructure expansion, and strong public support for urban development projects. His tone is confident and pragmatic, presenting highways, housing, and public works as necessary solutions to overcrowding and postwar growth while expressing frustration with delays and political obstacles. Moses portrays himself as a determined builder focused on modernization and efficiency, minimizing the social costs of displacement in favor of broader civic progress. He ultimately seeks to persuade business leaders and the public to actively support and fund his redevelopment agenda.
Media Coverage
Source: The New York Times, “540 Bronx Families To Get New Homes,” April 1946.
Source: The New York Times, “Bronx Expressway Dispute Has Estimate Board Fuming,” April 1953
Media coverage of the Cross-Bronx Expressway during this time emphasized modernization and engineering progress, while reporting of displacement and destruction received less attention. Community activism shown by Lillian Edelstein was barely mentioned and as a result often overlooked in the history of the Cross-Bronx Expressway. In contrast, coverage of the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX) was highly reported and focused on public opposition, preservation, and activism led by Jane Jacobs.
Construction
Construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway displaced thousands of residents through the demolition of homes and businesses across working-class Bronx neighborhoods. Those who remained near the highway faced years of noise, dust, pollution, traffic disruption, and long-term social and economic decline as communities were divided by the expressway.
The displacement that occurred contributed to rising rents, a shortage of affordable housing, and long-term decline of affected neighborhoods through increased crime, unemployment, and weakened community ties.
Present day
In December 2022, Eric Adams announced a landmark, community-driven study to “Reimagine the Cross Bronx” and address the long-term environmental, health, and social impacts caused by the Cross-Bronx Expressway.
Funded through a $2 million federal grant, the study aimed to explore ways to reconnect neighborhoods divided by the highway, reduce pollution and traffic dangers, improve public health, and potentially create new green spaces and capped sections over the expressway.
According to Reimagine the Cross Bronx: Identified Issues (June 2024), studies conducted in 2023 on people who live, work, and travel near the Cross-Bronx Expressway found major health impacts linked to air and noise pollution. Children and adults in the area are four times more likely to visit the emergency room for asthma than residents in the rest of New York City, while adults are twice as likely to suffer from diabetes and obesity and four times more likely to lack access to medical care. The study also found that noise pollution contributes to sleep disturbances, stress, cardiovascular disease, and hearing loss.
Source: Reimagine the Cross Bronx: Identified Issues, June 2024.
During protest against the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX), residents became concerned with the negative health impacts of living near an expressway.