Monday, May 16, 2022

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson - The End of Bronx Week 2022!

 

Dear Neighbors,

Yesterday, we concluded a truly unforgettable Bronx Week 2022! We had the honor of celebrating so many facets of our vibrant community alongside all of you. We celebrated our older adults, small businesses, veterans, bankers, community board members, parents, teachers, school safety agents, artists, and so many others.

Since taking office in January, my staff alongside the Bronx Tourism Council and the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation has worked tirelessly to bring Bronx Week back after a two-year hiatus. I want to take this moment to acknowledge the tremendous effort and labor of love from my team. It takes a village and I could not have done this without their dedication and hard work.

I also want to thank our sponsors who continue to invest in our community and for them seeing our Borough for what it truly is: a vibrant, booming community on the verge of a renaissance.

And although we are still celebrating a huge win for the Borough today, I would also like to express my condolences to our neighbors in Buffalo. Please take a moment to join me in prayer and solidarity for the 10 victims of the Buffalo shooting that took place on Saturday, May 14th. We mourn with the families whose lives have been forever changed and marked by this horrific event. The victims and their families did not deserve this. Our federal government needs to implement the measures and regulations necessary to end racially motivated gun violence in our country. This is unacceptable and cannot continue to happen. As Americans, we deserve and demand better.

In response to the New York City Health Commissioner's statement on the rise in COVID-19 cases in our city, we urge all of you to take care of yourselves: get tested, get vaccinated, and get boosted. You can find more information on COVID-19 resources for New York City residents on the NYC Covid-19 City-wide Information Portal.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 718-590-3500 or email us at webmail@bronxbp.nyc.gov.
 
In partnership,
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson

Bronx Week Recap!
Before launching #BronxWeek, we thanked all of our incredible sponsors for their labor of love and contributions to making Bronx Week 2022 a success!

Thank you to all of our sponsors who made this year`s Bronx Week possible:

Humana
Altice
Bronx Community College
BronxCare
Con Edison
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield
HOSTOS Community College
Lincoln Hospital
Montefiore Einstein
PepsiCo
United Health Care
Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Waste Management

We partnered with the Bronx Community Foundation and Tech FIN (Technology For Families In Need) to address the digital divide in our community and distribute tablets.

We understand the importance of having access to up-to-date technology, it gives us access to the world and people around us. We want to make sure that as we move forward with our technology, we are not leaving anyone behind.

Thank you to the Bronx Community Foundation and Tech FIN (Technology For Families In Need) for collaborating with us on this endeavor.
Who better to jump-start our Bronx Week than our older adults!

We had a wonderful time at Golden Corral during our Senior Event! We sang, we danced and we praised!

We are all the product of those that came before us and it is only right that we celebrate them!

Thank you Humana and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield!

And a big thank you to Golden Corral and their staff for hosting us!

We hosted our Small Business event with NYC Small Business Services and we honored and celebrated our immigrant small business owners in Little Yemen. They are vital to our community and our city.

We honored community trailblazers:

Bronx Muslim Center
Yemeni-American Merchants Association
Alliance of Yemeni American Businesses
Morris Park BID
The New Bronx Chamber of Commerce

Thank you for all that you do and for serving our community!

We had the honor of recognizing our incredible veterans at our Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast!

So much of who we are and so much of what have in this country we owe to those who have put their lives on the line for our civil liberties.

In honor of their sacrifice and their service, we honored:

Detective Roberto Oviedo (U.S. Marine Corps)
Rene Cabrera Gonzalez (U.S. Marine Corps)
Abigail Taylor (U.S. Army)
Lauren Patterson (U.S. Army)
David Carman (U.S. Navy)

To all of of our veterans, you have our eternal gratitude for all that you have done to keep us safe.

We celebrated our business owners at our Bronx Week Business Luncheon!

Our business owners sustain our city and are the lifeblood of our economy. When things got rough in 2020, our business owners persisted and turned their pain into purpose.

Last year, our Borough saw $3.2 billion in total development, the highest amount ever invested in the Bronx.

Thank you for your investment in our community and your commitment to growth in the Bronx.

At our luncheon, we recognized ten Bronx businesses that thrived in our Borough through challenging times:
 
Agape Transportation Management
Boulevard Menswear
Bronx Restaurateur - Jimmy Rodriguez
Conti’s Pastry Shoppe
E.A.T. w/ Culinary Professionals Inc.
Infinity Fitness
Super Fresh Supermarket
The Hoodspitality Group
The Lit. Bar
York Studios
We honored our incredible labor workers and unions for their effort and dedication to our city. 

Our labor workers are the essential workers who kept our city moving during the onset of the pandemic and they continue to do so.

We are eternally grateful for all you have done for us. As a token of our appreciation, we honored:

Aly Y. Waddy, UFCW, Local 1500
Barrie Smith, Local 79
Christian Smalls, President, Amazon Union
Derrick Palmer, Vice President, Amazon Union
Henry Garrido, Executive Director, DC37
Shaun D. Francois I, President Local 372
Our Community Board members are vital to the growth and advancement of our Bronx community.

We honored the three longest-serving Community Board members in each board who, over the years, have demonstrated an immense commitment to their neighborhood and city.

We also honored three Board members who are COLLEGE BOUND this fall:

CB #2 Johnathan Martir - Williams College
 
CB #3 Sarah Torres - Syracuse University
 
CB #12 Hannah Gadpaille – Penn. State


We held our Bankers Breakfast to celebrate and recognize our incredible private sector partners. 

Public-private partnerships are essential in bringing grants, loans, financial literacy and other economic opportunities to our small business communities. 

Together, we can move the Bronx forward.

Thank you BICNY, BOEDC and all of our incredible sponsors for your incredible work and partnership.

We had a wonderful evening honoring our parents, teachers, superintendents and school safety agents during our Parent Leadership Event. 

A huge thank you to the Bronx parent leaders who dedicate and volunteer their time throughout the year to support parents and families.

Our youth are better for their efforts and we are so grateful for their dedication.

Thank you to our school safety agents who work tirelessly year-round to ensure the safety of our youth and faculty in and outside of school buildings.

And guess what? 90% of school safety agent officers are WOMEN. 

🤫Silent Disco

We had so much fun at the Woodlawn Cemetery during our Silent Disco on Friday night!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for a night of dancing.

🏆The Bronx’s Very Own!

🏆We hosted our long-awaited Induction Ceremony to the Bronx Walk of Fame! 

🏆 The Bronx Walk of Fame is a high honor, wherein we award our very own Bronx trailblazers for their work and talent.

🏆This year, the honor was bestowed upon:

Eif Rivera - Cinematographer, Artist
Luis Antonio Ramos - Actor
Remy Ma - Poet, Artist, Writer 

Our Bronx Ball was INCREDIBLE. It was wonderful to celebrate the culmination of our first Bronx Week with The Bronx Ball 2022! 


What an honor it has been to see months of planning come to life.

Bronx Week 2022 was for our community. We believe our borough deserves the very best that our city has to offer. We will continue to work to ensure that Bronxites have access to resources they need and deserve.

The Bronx is so much more than the narrative that has been written for us by others. We will tell our story the way we lived it: in community, in fellowship and with joy.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to every single person who joined us along the way. We are better together.

See you all next year! This is just the beginning.

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