YMPJ Brownfields Program

YMPJ Brownfields Program
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Inc. (YMPJ) is an over 30-year-old, multi-service, community-based organization serving the Bronx River, Longwood, Soundview, and Cortona East neighborhoods of the South Bronx. A key area of our work is community-led planning for brownfield redevelopment, building on YMPJ’s tradition of transforming underutilized space in our neighborhood for community benefit.

Project update

We are working to update this webpage to share more information and resources about YMPJ’s past brownfield studies, including the Southern Boulevard BOA and YMPJ’s other recent brownfield planning work (website update expected May 2026).

In the meantime, we want to share an opportunity that may interest qualified environmental professionals (QEPs), urban planners, and other redevelopment professionals. YMPJ recently released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop a Brownfield Redevelopment Action Plan and conduct an Environmental Site Assessment for properties in our neighborhood. Please find additional information about this RFP below:

  • Brownfield Redevelopment Action Plan and Assessment RFP
  • RFP Timeline and Submission Details
    • RFP Response Period: 2/18/26 – 3/22/26
    • RFP Submission Deadline: 3/22/26 by 11:00 PM
    • RFP Submission Instructions: Submit proposals via email to brownfields@ympj.org with the subject line “Brownfield Assessment Proposal – [Firm Name]”.
  • 2/26/26 RFP Information Session
    • Information Session Presentation
    • Information Session Recording

Relevant Materials:

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Public proceedings for this RFP are more like Community Board meetings, or other existing public community meetings not organized by YMPJ specifically for this project, whereas “engagement activities” are more like planning charretes, community workshops, visioning sessions, tabling at community events to collect public input, and other related community engagement activities, and “public meetings” are more like a “townhall” meeting explicitly organized for sharing information or collecting feedback realted to this project. YMPJ and the project Steering Committee will work closely with the selected consultant to outline the Community and Stakeholder Participation Plan.

The majority of sites under consideration for environmental site assessment are privately owned, however there are a few publicly owned sites. YMPJ will facilitate and lead conversations with property owners around site access, visioning, and Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) with support from the seleceted consultant.

YMPJ has been involved in or conducted a number of site inventories of our area including the 2019 EPA Bronx River-Sheridan Expressway Area Wide Plan and the 2025 NYSDOS Southern Blvd Brownfield Opportunity Area Nomination Study (both linked above). These outline some of the existing/previously identified site redevelopment opportunities YMPJ is interested to build on. We have some initial instincts for the strategic sites, but we also want to allow space for a community process to help inform our selection of sites for the Brownfield Redevelopment Action Plan and site assessments, as well as weigh other factors like current land use, zoning, ownership, cost expectations for Phase I and Phase II ESAs, and other relevant considerations.

YMPJ will respond to the overall strength of proposals. YMPJ encourages all RFP respondents, regardless of pervious experience working within the EPA brownfields, program to demonstrate their technical experience/capability to tackle EPA related requirements.

a new brownsfield

We could use your help!

This ambitious project to revitalize the Brownsfield requires significant resources and donations to bring it to fruition. If you would like to contribute and support this endeavor, your donations would be greatly appreciated

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