The rollout is an outgrowth of congestion pricing, the Manhattan vehicle-tolling program launched in January 2025<\/a>, which MTA officials credit with funding upgrades to the mass transit network<\/a> and reducing the number of vehicle trips south of 60th Street by 27 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a lot less traffic, a lot cleaner air and a lot of other good stuff,\u201d Janno Lieber, MTA chairperson and chief executive, said Wednesday at the sprawling 113-acre South Bronx facility. \u201cBut many people don\u2019t realize that we\u2019re using the revenues not just to improve mass transit \u2014 but also to pay for clean investments including right here at the Hunts Point Produce Market.\u201d<\/p>\n Replacing transport refrigeration units is among congestion pricing\u2019s promised mitigation measures for The Bronx, where total asthma emergency room visits from 2022 to 2024 far outpaced rates from other boroughs, according to state Health Department data<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRepeat asthma hospitalization is so common here in The Bronx that we accept it as normal,\u201d Rep. Ritchie Torres said. \u201cWe accept it not as a bug, but as a feature of growing up in The Bronx, so we\u2019re fighting to change that reality.\u201d<\/p>\n The 20 new units cut into emissions from trucks at the market that annually distribute more than 2.5 billion pounds of produce. Another 75 will be replaced later this year, officials said.<\/p>\n \u201cReplacing just one of these units avoids the particulate matter, the emissions, of 330 truck trips per day on the Cross Bronx Expressway,\u201d Lieber said. \u201cTimes 20 \u2014 which is what we\u2019ve already done \u2014 that\u2019s enough emission reduction to be the equivalent of removing 6,000 trucks per day from the Cross Bronx Expressway.\u201d<\/p>\n The refrigeration units are among the first visible gains from congestion pricing for the South Bronx, which historically has been disproportionately impacted by air pollution.<\/p>\n Bronx communities have been promised $330 million in mitigation steps<\/a> that include the creation of asthma case-management centers, parks renovations and the expansion of the city Department of Transportation\u2019s Hunts Point Clean Trucks Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since 2012, the DOT initiative to replace, retrofit or scrap diesel trucks has taken 711 particulate-spewing vehicles off the road, according to the agency.<\/p>\n Officials also said the fear of an increase of more vehicles from motorists taking alternate routes to dodge Manhattan congestion tolls has not materialized in Bronx neighborhoods or other so-called environmental justice communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBefore we turned the cameras on, a lot of people were worried \u2014 and it was understandable concern \u2014 that there would be an influx of cars and pollution in The Bronx from drivers who were avoiding the toll,\u201d Lieber said. \u201cSo far, that has not happened, not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n A December 2025 study from Cornell University<\/a> found that air pollution has fallen by more than 20% within Manhattan\u2019s \u201ccongestion relief zone,\u201d with reductions also seen elsewhere in the city and the surrounding suburbs.<\/p>\n It\u2019s among the benefits of the first-in-the-nation congestion-tolling plan that has also increased bus speeds<\/a> and improved trip times for New Yorkers with disabilities<\/a> who rely on the MTA\u2019s Access-A-Ride service.<\/p>\n In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul called congestion pricing a \u201conce-in-a-lifetime success story,\u201d whose benefits extend beyond Manhattan.<\/p>\n Jeffrey Miner, a 68-year-old Hunts Point resident who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and carries a portable oxygen tank, said he welcomes any efforts to make breathing easier in the South Bronx.<\/p>\n \u201cSay, from one to 10, with 10 being the worst, it\u2019s an eight,\u201d Miner said of the air quality while waiting for a Bx6 bus on Hunts Point Avenue. \u201cSometimes, it\u2019s hard for me to breathe, like on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Diesel-powered refrigeration units that have long spewed toxins into neighborhoods with some of the country\u2019s highest rates of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":698432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,13845,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,5305,292073,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-698431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-congestion-pricing","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-transporation","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116332329057332560","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bronx](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040126_mta_hunts_point_market-7.jpg\")
Bronx commuter Jeffrey Miner, 68, spoke about living in an area with high asthma rates while living with a respiratory illness, April1, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040126_mta_hunts_point_market-4.jpg\")
A Hunts Point Produce Market worker moves produce, April 1, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n![\"Delivery](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/040126_mta_hunts_point_market-3.jpg\")
Delivery trucks at the Hunts Point Produce Market had new refrigeration units, April 1, 2026. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n