Together We Move Hunts Point Forward

00:01 [Three aerial clips of Hunts Point neighborhood with “HUNTS POINT FORWARD” in green text at the center of each one.] [Music.] 

00:05 [Rafael Salamanca Jr., Councilmember for the 17th District, New York City Council.] Well, being born and raised in this community, you know I had the opportunity to really learn about the Hunts Point community and what it means. Hunts Point to me means an opportunity where individuals can look for work in the industrial part of Hunts Point. We also have the residential part of Hunts Point: These neighbors, these Bronx sites, those individuals from Hunts Point who never left when Hunts Point was at its worst.

00:34 [Maria Torres, President & Chief Operating Officer, THE POINT CDC.] What I love about Hunts Point is that it's a unique place. It's, I don't think there's another place like it in the city, or that has its story. Definitely not, and the way it's rebuilt itself... It's a resilient place, the people are resilient, and it's just this kind of little piece of the Bronx that's its own little village.

00:56 [Ralph Acevedo, District Manager, Bronx Community Board 2.] Being born and raised in Hunts Point, I've witnessed the development of buildings coming back. I grew up in Hunts Point where there were more abandoned buildings than actual residential buildings, and growing up, it made me realize we can change our community and erase the stigma that people attach to Hunts Point. That's always been a goal, and I take pride.

01:26 [Haydee Morales, Executive Director, Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education.] What I would love to change about Hunts Point is the heartbreaking data that's associated with it. That when I look at report after report, when I look at the historical reports decade after decade after decade, it continues to sit in the poorest congressional district in the United States, and that has to change.

01:48 [Ralph Acevedo] Hunts Point Forward; it's a new slogan. It's been something that we've been, for many years, are trying to develop and incorporate with the residents and the businesses.

02:01 [Rafael Salamanca] As a native Bronx site, someone from the South Bronx, and someone that was involved with the Hunts Point vision plan, we realized that we needed to take it a step further. Certain not-for-profits—such as Urban Health Plan, Casita Maria, THE POINT, The Southern Blvd BID—they created The Hunts Point and Longwood Coalition, an independent coalition to help share that information. And what we did is, we brought in EDC, and we created a division of the Hunts Point Forward where communities from Longwood and Hunts Point can sit down and plan what we want to see moving forward in the Hunts Point community in collaboration with the City agencies.

02:46 [[Haydee Morales] This plan has to take into consideration the impact of COVID, and for it to be successful, there has to be a commitment to reinvesting in this community at all levels. It's going to take everyone to make this vision a reality, and it will take a tremendous investment, which this community deserves.

03:13 [Paloma Izquierdo-Hernandez, President and Chief Executive Officer, Urban Health Plan (UHP).] What I see in Hunts Point in the next five years is hopefully an improvement in the mindset of people, because five years is not very long, and so I think that there has to be a mindset shift, which I think is happening. There are a lot of young people in the community who are very focused, and very committed to the community. I think that has to continue to increase.

03:36 [Four Casita Maria students in front of Casita Maria step-and-repeat.] Hunts Point Forward is about coming together for our future.

03:40 [Casita Maria student] The future of Hunts Point is us. [Music.]

03:42 [Aerial view of Hunts Point with “HUNTS POINT FORWARD” in green text at the center.] [Music.]