It was Saturday evening, May 30th in the South Bronx, and the moon was almost at its fullest. What happens when you bring telescopes, free books, food, art, music, resources, and an opportunity to talk to your neighbors in a community garden?
With almost 100 people in attendance, Bronx residents were provided with a space to discuss how prepared they feel for the upcoming Summer season, eat delicious Mexican food, pick up a book or two to take with them home, artwork and zines, resources to survive another hot season – all while anticipating viewing the moon through telescopes into the evening.
In our modern age where the entire world is available in the palm of our hand, it’s important to foster neighborhood stewardship through localizing vendors.
Meet the Vendors
The food that came from La Casa de Los Pueblos on East 146th Street also hosts community events such as “Know Your Rights” training and free bi-monthly self-defense boxing classes. The Block Times are a grassroots bilingual newspaper covering everyday survival and resistance in the Bronx, and with their work completely funded by donations and their own paychecks, they cultivate the idea of having a neighborhood newspaper – news for us, by us.
Brandon “street librarian” Montes started Norwood Community Library in 2018 by placing his own books into milk crates, chaining it to his local bodega, and growing it from there. Recognizing, at the time, that The Bronx did not have any bookstores and had a huge literacy rate problem, he took matters into his own hands.
Zulie showcased her beautiful artistic zines that explores her journey into self-worth and love through the lens of an “alternative” Bronx Dominican woman along with her free zines for residents pointing to where to find their nearest food pantry. Zulie is not only an artist, but a veteran community organizer currently working for CASA, a tenant organizing project for New Settlement Apartments in the Southwest Bronx. Known for her community event organizing work in “Odiosas” and “Bronx Emo Night”, she understands that the Bronx is more than stereotypes. It is a borough with multi-dimensional residents.
South Bronx Unite is a non-profit organization striving towards a livable, and breathable, Bronx. With its programming curated towards bringing together residents, academic institutions, organizations, and allies, they seek to improve and protect the future of Mott Haven and Port Morris.
Waterfront Alliance shared resources for the adults for the upcoming summer season and provided activities for the kids to keep busy and learn about the moon’s impact on their city’s local waterways and marine life. Keeping up with the event’s lunar theme, our senior education manager Jesseanne brilliantly opened the kids’ minds to how nature connects within their cities via our waterways.
Why Should We Care?
The answer is access.
Growing up in Mott Haven, the South Bronx, I was raised to think that nature was separate from me. It was for school trips to upstate, NY. It was for the hour-long drives to Rockaway beach with my family that felt like an entire vacation. And it was for the train rides downtown to Chelsea to be in line for an hour to catch a glimpse of the full moon for even a minute through public telescopes provided by the High Line. No matter what, I had to travel elsewhere to seek a semblance of nature.
Those who stuck around to see the Full Moon through telescopes at Bruckner Mott Haven Garden gasped in awe – many had never seen the moon’s craters that close! The Full Moon Celebration was more than just an event that brought residents together in a garden. It was a space that provided artwork, news, food, information, activities for their children, literature, resources, an opportunity to discuss their worries as Bronxites and community members – all in their backyard!
With the night ending in Cupid’s Nemesis set of high-energy indie pop music that got everyone dancing, the event proved that community building can be joyful. It also proved that nature does not exist separated from us, even in an urban environment. It is with us, and it is for us. If only we had access to it.
