Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan

Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Planning Study

DCP Bronx Office updated the City Planning Commission on the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan implementation progress. To watch the update, visit DCP’s YouTube page: January 31st, 2022: City Planning Commission Review Session.

Through the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan the city continues to make progress on transformative investments in the West Bronx. 

  • More than 1,000 affordable homes have been created in the area since rezoning was approved in March 2018; more homes are planned to meet the needs of senior and low-income households and formerly homeless families and individuals, and to provide home-ownership opportunities.
  • Grant Park, Corporal Fischer Park, and Aqueduct Walk, Morton Playground, and other parks and playgrounds have been funded and designed.
  • Fifty-nine businesses on the corridor have been brought into compliance with environmental regulations, making them better neighbors and businesses.
  • To provide much-needed equitable access to transit, the MTA is hard at work installing elevator service to the 170th Street station on the 4 line, including improvements to Keltch Park.
  • New elementary schools are under construction on Morris Avenue and Edward L Grant Highway. 
  • The Jerome Avenue Public Health Plan, the product of collaboration under the leadership of Councilmembers Vanessa Gibson and Fernando Cabrera, is shaping city budget requests and planning to address health inequities.

For a full list of commitments, visit the commitment tracker page and for a more detailed description of the progress on Jerome Avenue, view the presentation

On Thursday, October 3, 2019 from 6:30-8:30PM in the cafeteria of The Family School, Offices of Council Members Vanessa L. Gibson, Bronx Community Board 4, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP), hosted a  community visioning workshop to gather residents' ideas related to types of affordable housing, community amenities, and urban design on two City-owned sites in the Southwest Bronx. The City gathered input on what residents hope to see on these sites, to inform the development of a Requests for Proposals (RFP). The first site is a parking lot located on the corner of River Avenue and East 168th Street, adjacent to the Morrisania Diagnostic Treatment Center. The second site is a small vacant lot located on 1640-1642 Anthony Ave adjacent to the Labor Bathgate Child Care Center by Claremont Park. This event and initiative is part of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan.

Visit the project page to learn more about the sites and read the Community Visioning Report.”

cover of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan Progress

The Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan is the product of nearly four years of community planning work. The Plan establishes a framework to achieve community goals including a commitment to investing in critical neighborhood resources and services along the Jerome Avenue Corridor in the Bronx. The Plan includes investments in affordable housing construction and preservation, new and improved parks, new schools, safer streets and much more.  One year after the City Council passed the land use and zoning components of the Plan, the communities and people of the Southwest Bronx have already started to see these transformative investments take shape.

Read the press release.

The City Council voted to approve the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan with modifications. The zoning changes are now in effect.

cover of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan Brochure. The cover features photographs of the elevated rail line, Clifford Place, participants in a community workshop, a park, and an apartment building. Text reads: Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan, Building the Plan Together

Implementation of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan is underway. See the brochure in PDF Document English or PDF Document Spanish to learn more about the investments in affordable housing, parks, schools, workforce development and more.

November 2017 Updated Map

On November 1, 2017, the Department of City Planning filed an A-Application as part of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan. The A-Application slightly extends the zoning boundaries to include additional sites that would facilitate the development of affordable housing along the corridor.

PDF Document View a larger image.

October 2017 Draft Plan

The Draft Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan is a comprehensive overview of plan elements related to Housing, Economic & Workforce Development, Land Use & Zoning, Open Space & Access, and Community Resources.

The Plan is part of an on-going community engagement process that identifies opportunities to fulfill the vision for Jerome Avenue as a vibrant activity center which both supports and serves as the centerpiece of the surrounding neighborhoods. The Plan is a part of Housing New York, the Mayor’s plan to build and preserve affordable housing throughout New York City in coordination with strategic infrastructure investments to foster a more equitable and livable New York City through an extensive community engagement process.

You can view the PDF Document full draft plan.

Public review of the land use component of the City’s multi-faceted Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan started in late August. See the Rezoning Public Review tab for more details, including the City Planning Commission presentation on the Plan. The application will be under review at Community Boards for 60 days.

September 16, 2017 Open House
September 16, 2017 Open House

Community Boards 4 and 5 sponsored a public Open House on September 16, 2017 to share the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan recommendations and strategies. DCP and sister agencies were on hand to answer questions and receive comments about all aspects of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan – Housing; Economic & Workforce Development; Parks, Open Space & Transportation; Community Resources. View the PDF Document Boards in English , PDF Document Vea los materiales de la presentación en español.

Public review of the land use component of the City’s multi-faceted Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan started on August 21, 2017. See the Rezoning Public Review tab for more details, including the City Planning Commission presentation on the Plan.

For nearly three years, residents, business owners, other stakeholders, and City agencies have been working together to build the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan. In that time, we have collaborated to identify local issues, exchange ideas, reach consensus on Plan goals, create a vision for the communities along the corridor, and advance recommendations for community improvements and plan for future growth.

During the study and planning process, we came to a consensus around key plan goals: Housing; Economic & Workforce Development; Parks, Open Space & Transportation; Community Resources. The final Plan will include recommendations and strategies to address these goals; starting in May 2017 and throughout the summer, DCP has been at local events discussing the draft plan strategies and recommendations. See a summary of the goals and recent accomplishments - ( in PDF Document English or PDF Document Spanish) and check back for draft plan documents.

DCP discusses draft Plan recommendations with Community Board 4, May 2017
DCP discusses draft Plan recommendations with Community Board 4, May 2017
Residents and planners discuss Jerome at Boogie on the Boulevard, June 2017
Residents and planners discuss Jerome at Boogie on the Boulevard, June 2017

Plan recommendations include proposed changes to zoning to accommodate future growth, encourage affordable housing development, and meet the retail needs of local communities. There will be multiple opportunities for public input on the zoning changes and all recommendations and strategies, throughout the ULURP process and beyond.

Community Boards 4 and 5 are sponsoring an Open House in September to share the plan recommendations and strategies. DCP and sister agencies will be on hand to answer questions about the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan. Details will be posted here soon.

Since the start of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Study, the Department of City Planning has been working hard alongside a number of agency partners including: the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Department of Small Business Services, Department of Transportation, the Mayor’s Office of Remediation, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, among others. While there is still more to do, we are excited to provide an update of some of the work being done as a result of the planning process.

This PDF Document document summarizes only some of the recent work in the Jerome Avenue area. More to come as we create the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan . 

Public Scoping Meeting

In late August, The Department of City Planning published the Draft Scope of Work (DSOW) for the land use actions associated with the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Study. A Public Scoping Meeting was then held at Bronx Community College in September. Materials can be found here.


Summer 2016 Event

Over the summer months, DCP actively engaged community stakeholders at more than six day-long public events across the study area - from The Grand Concourse to Burnside Avenue to Devoe Park.  Participants discussed neighborhood investments in support of the plan goals. They considered trade-offs among varied and competing strategies to decide their priorities for their neighborhood. DCP will tally the results and share later in the fall.

PDF Document View a full recap of the summer events.

Summer Event
Summer Event


To see the latest information on the zoning proposal and plan, click the links below:

City Planning continues to work with sister agencies and the community to identify opportunities to improve community resoures in the study area; see the PDF Document Community Resources Map.

At the request of Council Member Gibson and in response to community comments, the City has built extra time into the process to continue intensive community engagement on the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan. This is a complex planning process that will involve weighing trade-offs and priorities, which we will continue to discuss with local stakeholders as we develop a proposal to take into public review later this year. The goals of the work on Jerome Avenue include

  • Neighborhood revitalization
  • Creation of affordable housing and preservation of existing affordable housing
  • Support for businesses and entrepreneurs including auto-related businesses and workers
  • Diversification of retail and services
  • Creation of safe walkable streets
  • Improve the quality of life and health in the neighborhood.
Building the plan together. Jerome residents shared community goals for the plan and discussed density and uses along Jerome
November 2015 Open Houses
Building the plan together. Jerome residents shared community goals for the plan and discussed density and uses along Jerome.


Over the coming months, join the Jerome team at the following events:

  • June 26, July 31, August 28: Boogie on the Boulevard, Grand Concourse between 161st & 164thStreets, Noon - 4:00 PM
  • July 23, July 30, August 6: Burnside Summer Walks, Burnside Avenue between Davidson & Jerome Avenues, Noon - 5:00 PM
  • Ongoing: Small Group Meetings with key stakeholder organizations
  • June-July: SBS Neighborhood 360:  Public presentations on the work of SBS and neighborhood partners WHEDco and the Davidson Community Center - Times and Locations TBD
  • September 8: Save the Date! - Jerome Avenue Public Plan Review & “Environmental Review 101” - Time and Location TBD
  • September: Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Study Environmental Review Scoping Meeting - Time and Location TBD
  • Monthly: The best way to stay in touch over the summer months. Sign up for the monthly e-mail update by e-mailing us at JeromeAvenue@planning.nyc.gov

In November, DCP, in partnership with Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson, hosted two open houses, one at Davidson Community Center and another at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. The open houses provided an opportunity for the interagency team to share draft recommendations and strategies for Affordable Housing, Community Resources, Jobs and Businesses and Land Use and Zoning to support the goals and vision created by community stakeholders during the outreach process.

November 2015 Open Houses
November 2015 Open Houses

To review the draft zoning proposal and draft strategies and recommendations, you can view the materials in PDF Document English and Spanish.

May-June 2015 Workshop and Vision Session
May-June 2015 Workshop and Vision Session
May-June 2015 Workshop and Vision Session

DCP hosted, in partnership with Community Boards 4 and 5, a Community Workshop and Visioning Session in May and June 2015, respectively.  These sessions allowed community members to engage in meaningful dialogue with representatives from various city agencies about their goals for Housing, Jobs and Businesses, Community Resources and Access, Mobility & Circulation. The workshops included “My Neighborhood,” an interactive exercise where participants identified on a map of the study area where they live, what routes they take to school and work, where they go for recreation and entertainment, what streets they avoid.

During the visioning sessions, community members were divided into five different groups where each group focused on a distinct subarea of the study area. Using a variety of tools, colored poker chips representing different land uses, images and icons, each group developed visions for their specific subarea, taking into consideration the overall community goals and potential tradeoffs. DCP urban designers were part of each group and sketched out the various scenarios developed.

Take a look at PDF Document the community’s vision for the Jerome Avenue corridor

Three Open Houses were hosted in March, including an event in Spanish, to launch the public planning events. The Open Houses were designed to provide casual opportunities for community members to participate, ask questions, and share. The open houses included staffed stations on the planning process, zoning, housing, jobs and businesses, and community resources such as parks and transportation, and more. Special activities created opportunities for community members to express the issues and goals they see for their neighborhoods. The Open Houses were co-sponsored by Community Board 4 and 5 and the Davidson Community Center.

View PDF Document detailed summary of stakeholder feedback from the three Open House events

If you missed the live Open Houses, it’s not too late. You can join the Virtual Open House.

March 2015 Open Houses
March 2015 Open Houses
March 2015 Open Houses

Welcome to the Jerome Avenue Virtual Open House

To launch the formal outreach process in March 2015, DCP, Bronx Community Boards 4 and 5, and the Davidson Community Center sponsored three open houses to share information related to zoning and land use, the planning process, transportation, affordable housing and to hear directly from the community members about their goals and vision for their neighborhoods. Take a sneak peek at the issues and goals identified by community members and learn what people love about their neighborhood. Also preview materials from our first Spanish Language Session.
PDF Document View more information.
PDF Document View more information in Spanish.

Neighborhood Profile

How many people live in the area? What types of businesses are in the area? Learn key facts about the area, including population trends and jobs data by key business and employment sectors.
PDF Document View the neighborhood profile.
PDF Document View neighborhood profile in Spanish.

Planning & Zoning

What is the Jerome Avenue Community Plan and how will it be created? How can I get involved? What is zoning and what does it do? How does zoning relate to the plan? Learn answers to these questions and more including snapshots of previous city-sponsored rezonings and plans, area assets, and future planning events.
PDF Document View more information on Planning & Zoning.
PDF Document View more information on Planning & Zoning in Spanish.

Housing

What is the makeup of the existing housing stock in the area? What recent investments have been made related to new construction and preservation of affordable housing? How can I access affordable housing in the city? What should I do if I’m being harassed by my landlord? Learn from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) about these topics and more and learn how to access the various HPD resources including Community Partnerships and Housing Connect.
PDF Document View the housing information.
PDF Document View housing information in Spanish.

Community Resources

Where is your nearest park? What has been done to make the streets safer? Where do issues remain? Parks, schools, and transportation play a crucial role in the everyday lives of area residents. Learn more about these important resources including recently completed and future projects from the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of City Planning (DCP). PDF Document View the community resources.
PDF Document View community resources in Spanish.

“Under the Elevated”

The elevated train is a main feature of Jerome Avenue. Tell us about your experience under the elevated. What would you like to see? Art? Better lighting? Retail space? Public space? What other amenities do you envision for Step Streets?
PDF Document View more information..

Tell Us About You

Show us where you live and work. Stakeholders indicated with colored dots on the big map. PDF Document View more information..

What I love about my neighborhood

Share what you love about your neighborhood: a favorite restaurant, your local park, the short walk to the bus stop, your neighbors. Whatever it is, share it.
PDF Document View more information.

Issues and Goals

You’re the expert. You shared your issues and goals with us. Here’s what you said. Coming soon: a summary of all that we heard.
PDF Document View more information.

As part of the City’s commitment to coordinated neighborhood planning, DCP is working closely with a number of city agencies and community stakeholders to identify neighborhood needs and strategies and recommendations to address those needs today and in the future. DCP partners on this study include: the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), School Construction Authority (SCA), NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (MOER), and the New York City Department of Transportation (CDOT).

In support of the planning study, DCP has also been involved in a transportation-focused study of the area to identify existing problematic locations in terms of traffic and transportation, and identify ways to improve circulation, mobility, safety and access, with an emphasis on pedestrian safety and walkability.

Community engagement is critical to the neighborhood planning process and the development of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood plan.

A planning group was established in September 2014 to advise the interagency team on the study, establish a framework for community goals and priorities and provide input on the most effective means of communicating and engaging the community. The group includes Bronx Community Board 4, Bronx Community Board 5, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Council Member Vanessa Gibson, Council Member Fernando Cabrera, WHEDCO, New Settlement Houses, Highbridge Community Development Corporation, Mount Hope Housing, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, Bronx Works and others.

Members of the Cromwell-Jerome Planning Group review the group’s mission and discuss ground rules.
Members of the Planning Group review the group’s mission and discuss ground rules.
Planning group member Tom Herrera discusses assets and challenges related to transportation in the study area.
Planning group member Tom Herrera discusses assets and challenges related to transportation in the study area.

From September 2014-February 2015, the Planning Group discussed a range of topics including: the Planning Process, the Mayor’s Housing Plan, overviews of the respective agencies, and their roles within the city. The Group also did some brainstorming on public events and drafted a detailed profile of existing neighborhood conditions.  The Planning Group provided the foundation for the on-going community engagement process. 

Learn more about the PDF Document planning process and housing plan overview and about the PDF Document key agencies, public events and neighborhood profile.