H.E.ARTS
A Community Center for Health, Education and the Arts
Help inform what services and programming will be offered at the future HEArts Center within the themes of Health, Education and Arts and Culture.
Our community has been dreaming of and advocating for HEArts a community center for Mott Haven & Port Morris for more than 10 years, repurposing this vacant building for a space focused on holistic health, education, and the arts: The HEArts Center, and honoring and connecting to its community-driven social justice and health-focused roots.
We are now making that dream a reality.
The Campaign
South Bronx Unite began engaging the community in 2013 after the building became vacant, collaborating with local grassroots organizations to explore its potential redevelopment. By 2015, they formed the Port Morris-Mott Haven Community Land Stewards as a CLT to acquire and steward the space. In 2016, partnering with CCNY's Spitzer School of Architecture, they facilitated envisioning events, leading to a unified vision emphasizing Health, Education, and the arts - thus the HEArts Center vision was born.
Through activities like word exercises and discussions, community members expanded their understanding of community needs and solidified the vision for the space, forging new connections and possibilities for collective prosperity.
A Vision for the HEArts Center
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The HEArts Center will house organizations that provide programming ranging from healthy nutrition and yoga to maternal health and mental wellbeing. We envision exercise classes, health screenings, group counseling, new mothers support groups, and meditation circles, among other programs. The building will be outfitted with a new commercial kitchen and cafeteria area as a space for healthy cooking demonstrations, and a community kitchen
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Education-focused organizations at HEArts would offer workforce development training for industries as varied as food services and renewable energy, afterschool homework support, interview and resume writing instruction, STEM classes, and other programs. One organization that has expressed intent to become a HEArts tenant – Green City Force – would provide green jobs training to young people living in NYCHA developments.
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Arts programming at HEArts will include music instruction, drawing and painting workshops, theater, graphic design, dance, photography, and film. Rooted in the South Bronx’s legacy as a global center of cultural innovation—from hip-hop to muralism—these offerings build on traditions created from the ground up, often against structural inequities.
At a time when local cultural assets are too often appropriated while spaces for community artists disappear, HEArts will provide a dedicated home for creative expression and growth. Addressing the scarcity of performance venues in the neighborhood, the center will include a theater for rehearsals, performances, discussions, and community events. UpBeat NYC, a longtime local partner, has expressed interest in offering youth music programs and hosting performances at HEArts.
Lincoln Detox Center History Timeline
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1931
The Mott Haven Health Center opens as a neighborhood health facility, supporting the larger Lincoln Hospital within the South Bronx.
1931
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1970
Reacting to the poor conditions at the Lincoln Hospital, The Young Lords and Black Panthers made headlines by marching into Lincoln Hospital and staging a nonviolent takeover in 1970. This intervention had lasting effects for the community and led to the formation of new social justice and health focused initiatives within the South Bronx.
1970
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1970-1978
The Mott Haven Health Center became known as the Lincoln Detox Center, where the People’s Drug Program was established as a one-of-a-kind holistic drug rehabilitation program. This community-driven program pioneered the use of acupuncture as an alternative to methadone to treat heroin addiction.
1970-1978
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2013
The Center continued to provide acupuncture treatment as a NYC Health + Hospitals clinic, until the building was closed in 2013.
2013
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2013-2022
South Bronx Unite undertook a comprehensive community engagement process that brought together local grassroots organizations to envision what needs could be met through the redevelopment of the building.
2013-2022
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2022-2023
In 2022, in response to a decade of sustained advocacy and organizing by the South Bronx community, the city released a Request for Proposals to redevelop and operate the building. In Fall 2023, the HEArts Center was the selected proposal!
2022-2023
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2023-2025
As the HEArts Center moves toward implementation, the project team will:
• Seek and secure additional public and private funding
• Gain even broader public support
• Work with city agencies to obtain permits to allow construction to begin
2023-2025
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2025-2027
The remediation and renovation of the building will begin in 2025, and by 2027 the HEArts building will be completed and the Health, Education and Arts programming will begin!
2025-2027
A Victory for the Community
In September 2023, The Land Stewards and our joint venture developer partner, Alembic Community Development, were selected as the winning applicant to the Request For proposals issued by New York City Economic Development Corporation to redevelop the vacant Lincoln Recovery Center building into the HEArts Center!
The Land Stewards is now undertaking a bold campaign of resistance and hope — building the HEArts Center — to bring this project to life, and help protect and enhance the future of the South Bronx.
The H.E.Arts Center in the news
Next Steps for the HEArts Center
As the HEArts Center moves toward construction and operations, the project team is focused on the achieving the following milestones:
Deepen Support
Gain broader public support
Reconfirm community priorities through Programs and Services Survey
Participate in HEArts Community Center events and activities to continue building awareness
Secure Funding
Seek and secure public and private funding
Widen the network of partners
Complete $13M HEArts Capital Campaign
Renovate & Begin Programming
Procure general contractor
Finalize architectural drawings and obtain permits
Remediate and renovate building
Our Partners
Project Partners
La Peña del Bronx
Community Partners
Taller Experimental de Arte
Government Partners
Former Speaker of the New York City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito
Funders
Invite People to Support, Share and advocate for the HEArts Center
Reach Out
Please don't hesitate to contact us with any inquiries you may have by filling the form below or emailing us.
matthew@southbronxunite.nyc
127 Lincoln Ave., 2nd Fl