Friday, December 9, 2016
BP DIAZ STATEMENT ON TODDLERS DEATH IN CLUSTER HOMELESS SHELTER
"The cluster homeless shelter program has been broken for a long time and should have been eliminated years ago," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. "There is an undeniable homelessness crisis in this city, and the city must initiate an aggressive reform in the shelter system to provide humane, clean and safe spaces for our most vulnerable residents during a difficult time.
“This is why Councilmember Rafael Salamanca will be introducing legislation, at my behest, to prevent the City of New York from leasing space in buildings that have outstanding C-level violations or stop-work orders; including hotels, motels, cluster-sites, and shelters; used for the purpose of housing homeless individuals or families.
“I will continue to work with all of my partners in government to identify the bad actors in our shelter system, in order to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
MAYOR DE BLASIO ON THE DEATH OF TWO CHILDREN IN THE BRONX
I wanted to speak for a couple of minutes about the tragedy our city experienced yesterday in the Bronx. And I visited the apartment where the two children passed away – Ibanez and Scylee – two-year-old and one-year-old – and it is very painful to see that. My heart goes out to this family – to the parents who have lost their two children. I can only imagine that pain. Two beautiful children – there were photos on the walls; drawings on the wall. It was a very – clearly a warm, and loving household, there is no question about that.
And the loss that we all feel here – I was with the precinct commander and some of the detectives from the precinct – everyone felt the sort of [inaudible] silence looking at this room and sensing the loss that this family had experienced. And it was really hard to talk about. And I have to tell you, there’s going to be a very full investigation – rigorous investigation to figure out what happened here. NYPD is doing an investigation – of course, the Department of Homeless Services and our Housing Department – HPD – are investigating as well.
But what we know so far suggests an extraordinary an unprecedented accident – something that we – no one that I have talked to so far in any agency has ever seen anything like this. Steve Banks, who has so much history – for 30 years worked with the homeless and [inaudible] leading experts on building [inaudible] for New York City – no one has ever seen anything like this. And we need to understand what happened here. We do not see any precedent in anything that has happened before. This was a freak accident, a series of painful coincidences that led to the loss of these children. HPD went through the building and the adjoining building. They apparently have an adjoined boiler system – went through, went to every apartment last night, did not find anything [inaudible]. They restored the heat as a result. There were no specific complaints that we knew of that would have indicated anything like this. There had been an inspection of this apartment last month. We are trying to put the pieces together, but so far cannot understand how something like this could happen.
I think a very natural question – should New Yorkers be concerned about their radiators? What I can tell you is, again, we have no history of something like this specific incident. We will – if there is anything we learn from the investigation we are going to make it the public immediately, obviously, that would tell people to take a precaution, but so far just appears to be an extraordinarily unusual and particular incident – but horribly, horribly tragic.
The valve that every radiator has – something happened with that valve. We do not know if it was something wrong with the manufacturer of that unit. We do not know if it was altered in some way. Something unusual was going on. That’s what we have to figure out, but somehow the valve – even though it was a low pressure system. I just talked to deputy commissioner [inaudible] who was there himself and again is an expert on repairs in apartment buildings – the low pressure system – the boiler was in another building, there was nothing that indicated the valve coming off, but apparently somehow it came off and steam came out in an extraordinary quantity. We don’t know how or why. It has nothing to do with the rest of the surface of the radiator. It’s just the valve.
Community Board 7 Christmas Tree Lighting
Hundreds of people came to hear local elected officials and several Community Board 7 members gathered on the stage, the chorus of PS 20 sing holiday songs, the lighting of the CB 7 Christmans Tree, and welcome Santa. Above Barbara Stronzer Chair of the CB 7 Parks Committee welcomes everyone.
Above - Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz tells of the wonderful time of year it is for him, and is glad to be at the CB 7 tree lighting as he has for many years now.
Below - Councilman Andrew Cohen echoes the remarks of Assemblyman Dinowitz as this now has become a yearly event for him also.
Above - Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj tells everyone why this tome of the year is special to him, as he is able to attend many tree lightings and holiday events in his district.
Below - The Chorus of PS 20 sing several holiday songs before the tree is lit.
Above - The Cb 7 Christmas looks nice, but something is missing.
Below - Santa arrives to light the Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree is lit.
Council Member Andrew Cohen Announces Selection of New “District 11 Community Activist of the Month”
At the 50th Police Precinct Council meeting last night Councilman Andrew Cohen presented his first Community Activist of the Month Award to Ms. Elisha Bird of Riverdale for her 'Traffic Safety Advocacy Efforts. Ms. Bird was injured while crossing a busy Kingsbridge intersection and has advocated for safer crossings at the intersection for all who cross at the intersection of Riverdale Avenue and West 231st Street where she was injured.
“I am thankful that DOT heeded our request to introduce traffic calming measures at this busy location,” said Council Member Cohen. This will help students, teachers, and commuters in the Kingsbridge area. He added, “Elisha Bird is one of many individuals in the district who are my eyes and ears on the ground. I am grateful to her and others who bring dangerous conditions to my attention, so I can constantly suggest improvements to DOT. I will continue to work with my colleagues and DOT to improve pedestrian safety at every dangerous intersection in my district. For her efforts in this key task, it is fitting that Elisha Bird be honored as District 11 Community Activist of the Month.”
Mounted PEP officers spotted on Mosholu Parkway
Two Parks Enforcement Officers on horseback can be seen traveling along Mosholu Parkway as they patrol Van Cortlandt Park including the stretch of parkland that runs along both sides of Mosholu Parkway. The PEP officers are mainly used as a deterrent against any criminal action in the park or along the parkway.
Above and Below - The PEP officers let their horses bring them back to VCP as the horses know the route they travel. You can click on the photos to enlarge them for more detail.
74th Accident This Year At Broadway and West 230th Street Ths Year
Traffic at the intersection of Broadway and West 230th Street came to a halt for about 20 minutes as fire and police department personal had to clear a two car accident on Wednesday afternoon. As you will see in other photos about the two cars involved, one had some body damage, while the other had major front end damage. The cause of the accident - both drivers being in the same place at the same time.
Above - Firemen survey the scene checking if any hazardous liquids from the two cars have leaked onto the roadway, such the anti-freeze/coolant in a car radiator.
Below - One fireman gets into the red Toyota to move the car to the side of the road. This car seems not to have to much damage to it.
The second car a ford however seems to have front end damage. Firemen were able to move this car to the corner also so traffic could once again flow after about a twenty minute shutdown of the intersection northbound on Broadway. There were no reported injuries at the accident site. This was the 74th reported accident to the police at this intersection dubbed the worse intersection on Broadway in the Bronx.