A Bronx mother is on a mission to bring better conditions to a Concourse Village sidewalk for her daughter and other children walking to and from school.
Felecia shared cellphone video with News 12 of what the path looked like while walking her daughter to school.
The video appears to show tree shrubs protruding onto the sidewalk, coupled with piles of litter on the ground.
"They had paraphernalia, glass bottles, empty bags. That's not something children should have to see right in the morning time or even after school," said Felecia.
The sidewalk is located near roughly a dozen schools in the area.
On Wednesday, the path to the sidewalk was more visible, with the vegetation trimmed down. However, trash remained along both sides of the narrow sidewalk.
"It's more accessible, but more work still needs to be done," shared Felecia.
Oscar Soto also spoke to News 12 on Wednesday about the challenges he typically faces when going along the sidewalk in his wheelchair. Soto said in the past he has been forced to ride along the street instead of the sidewalk
" I'm grateful, but the grass is going to grow again, and people are going to leave trash," said Soto.
Soto and Felecia said they are now hoping for more safety measures to come to the area for people who have to cross the street.
"It would be nice to have a little cross guard around here, like, allow someone to guard, you know? Control the cars and have more safety because there's multiple schools back behind me," shared Soto.
"Something that says slow down and something that tells that are children in the area besides regular, you know, people that are driving or the school buses, like you won't know someone could just come around the corner. There are no lights or anything right there, and I just don't feel like it's safe," said Felecia.
News 12 reached out to the Department of Transportation for a statement. A spokesperson stated that the department appreciates the community’s concerns and will review all requests.
News 12 also reached out to the Department of Sanitation and the New York City Economic Development Corporation for additional comment and is waiting to hear back.