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Opponents of a planned luxury residential complex in The Bronx are using a seemingly racist, anti-white symbol to stir up outrage over the project, critics say.
A flier promoting a rally against the Port Morris waterfront high-rise project includes a white figure — the familiar pedestrian “walk” signal — with a line through it. Below it are printed various hashtags including “#TheBronxIsNotForSale” and “#FightBackBx.”
“This picture, like the entire anti-gentrification protest movement, has racist undertones. We should make newcomers welcomed and new investors wanted,” said Juan Carlos Polanco, a Bronx Community College history professor and former Bronx Republican appointee to the Board of Elections.
“Code words, drawings, hidden messages have always been used by those espousing anger towards groups of people. This is no different,” said Polanco, who is of Dominican descent.
The flier, which was circulated over social media, also reads, “We must unite! To save our birthplace!”
The words “Gentrification” and “The Bronx Is Not For Sale” are printed over a photo of a “Welcome to The Bronx” billboard.
The project, by the Chetrit Group and Somerset Partners, would overlook the Harlem River near the Third Avenue Bridge in the so-called “Piano District.”
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has backed the plan.
But the developers angered community activists when they celebrated the project with a Halloween party that featured “Bronx is burning” imagery.
Guests at the Oct. 29 bash danced and drank around burned-out, bullet-riddled cars while bonfires blazed in trash barrels outside.
Longtime residents who lived through the arson outbreak of the ’70s said the party was insensitive.
Developers want to rename the area the “Piano District” after the piano factories that were once there.
A billboard at the Third Avenue Bridge touts the project as “Luxury Waterfront Living, World Class Dining, Fashion, Art & Architecture.”