MOTT HAVEN — A group of housing projects in the South Bronx will be getting daffodils and a sprucing up this weekend.
NYCHA, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation NYC and building tenant associations will join together on Saturday, Oct. 25 to clean up and plant flowers at Betances, Mill Brook, Mott Haven, Mitchel and Patterson Houses, all located relatively near each other in Mott Haven.
The project stemmed from work NYCHA and LISC had been doing on the Mott Haven Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, a plan to make the community healthier and safer that the organizations are developing thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"[Residents said] they would like more cleanups to instill ownership and just to bring the community together," said Helga Nyanffor, project manager at NYCHA's Department of Development.
Participants will pick up trash, have an introductory gardening course and plant seeds to bloom in the spring. There will be a celebratory lunch at St. Mary's Park after the cleaning and beautification efforts.
The event will start at 9 a.m. and go until 2 p.m. Cleaners should meet at each project's community center. Breakfast, lunch and supplies will be provided.
Nyanffor said she would like the projects' tenant associations to keep the cleanups going after this weekend.
"We hope that they like it and want to continue it," she said. "Then they can do it every quarter."
