By Azriel James Relph
azriel.james.relph@gmail.com
Sycamore trees and egrets are not the only beneficiaries of the North Brother Island Initiative. The project gave 24 teens from ACTION and Rocking the Boat the chance to experience nature and history without ever leaving the South Bronx.
The North Brother Island Initiative is not only intended to rehabilitate the island for native plant species and birds, but also to enrich the teens’ lives as they learn about the history and ecology of their community.
The teens in ACTION are paid for their work. First semester students earn a bi-weekly stipend of $75, which can go up to $125 by their third semester. Instead of being forced to settle for the menial jobs that most 15- or 16-year-olds have to accept, they can participate in work that can lead to college or to a good job, explained Adam Liebowitz, program director of ACTION, which is based at The Point.p
“If your parents are well off, you can spend your extracurricular time on enrichment activities and cool after school stuff, but if you’re of low income, you don’t get that extra enrichment. By offering an incentive we can give opportunities to those kids expected to contribute, and we use it as job training,” Liebowitz continued.
Likewise, the students from Rocking the Boat learn job skills through maritime activities. They build and operate boats and learn science by studying the river, opening opportunities for future jobs or education.
All of the teens found the experience enlightening, though their impressions of the great outdoors differed. “Being on the water was so peaceful and nice. It’s something you don’t usually see here. I just had to stare out onto the water for a bit there,” said 16-year old Jenny Menna.Seventeen-year old Kyeesha Fountain however, hoped their work would ensure that the city’s natural and urban areas remain healthy and separate. “I’m scared of birds, so it was good to help them out so they can stay there, because we do not need them flying towards the Bronx,” she declared.
If there was one lesson that all of the teens learned, it was that there is more to the South Bronx than meets the eye. They all agreed that more residents of Hunts Point should become aware of North Brother Island so that they can keep it from being exploited. “People in Hunts Point should know what they didn’t know, that there is an island in the back of the neighborhood. A lot of people just know about the grocery store around the corner, but there is a lot of history here,” said 17-year old Dave Odon.
“People should learn the history. I went to Barnes and Nobles and couldn’t find a book on North Brother Island,” added Walker.
“I’d heard of a Typhoid Mary as an expression, but I never knew it came from right here,” said 14-year old Victor Davilla.
An island with so much history got the members of ACTION thinking about its future.
“The more people find out about it, the more they will want to go there. The more humans go there, it gets dangerous for the animals,” worried Menna.
Davilla summed up the feelings of most of the teens; “I just hope nobody tries to turn it into apartments or houses. I hope it stays a sanctuary for birds.”
“People don’t need to go there. If you want to go to an island, you can always go on vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii,” advised Menna.