Business in the Crotona Park section of the Bronx is finally on the rise again after the pandemic, with a new grant helping to revitalize the area.

Bronx nonprofit Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation received the Neighborhood 360 Grant from New York City's Small Business Services to revitalize the neighborhood in July 2022.

WHEDco says the funding has allowed it to provide merchants along Southern Boulevard’s commercial area with marketing and legal services, graffiti removal and private sanitation services seven days a week.

“We were not surprised when community members told us in the assessment, as well as merchants, that they just wanted to see a cleaner neighborhood,” said Kerry A. Mclean, vice president of community development at WHEDco.

William Bryant, the owner of Juice Ade, is one of those merchants. He said, “With the block being opened now and looking presentable, people just want to engage more.”

All these changes were made in the first year of a three-year grant. Mclean says in the next two years, WHEDco aims to encourage Bronx residents to shop locally and to advocate for a cleaner neighborhood even after the funding ends.