Bronx Community Board 11 meeting Thursday March 28th

  In the gallery section of the Community Board 11 meeting there was information about Jump Pedal Assist bikes ending its pilot program in the South Bronx, and hoping to go borough wide. There will be a second generation bike which will be easier to maintain. One CB 11 member said that unlike Citi-Bike there are no set areas for Jump Bikes and some have become nuisances because they are left anywhere.  

A second speaker from the NY State Nurses Union said that Nurses have delayed a strike authorized vote for the first week in April, but will strike the local Bronx hospitals if no agreement is reached.  The Nurse said that hospitals are already preparing for a strike by getting nurses from out of state she referred to as Scabs. Comments from CB 11 members were from supporting the Nurses Union to one member saying that the so-called Scabs would probably do a better job than the current nursing staff in many local hospitals.

Councilman Mark Gjonaj (a non voting member of the board) spoke about the still proposed Morris Park Avenue Road Diet plan by Bronx DOT Commissioner Nivardo Lopez. Councilman Gjonaj said that the street has been removed from the DOT as one of the most accident prone streets, and because of that Councilman Gjonaj wants the road diet idea stopped. He is circulating petitions to be given to the Bronx DOT commissioner. 

The meeting moved along until in the Chair report CB 11 Chair Al D'Angelo proposed a resolution from the Executive Committee to hire a replacement for John Fratta who was advising CB 11. There was confusion by several board members who said that another staffer might not be needed, and the matter was laid over until the end of the meeting where CB 11 voted to go into Executive Session to discuss the employment matter. That is the right of the community board not to discuss personal matters in public, but any vote must be made in public. As the executive session went on, one by one board members started to leave, and the executive session ended when there was no longer a quorum to vote on anything. The public was invited back in, and the meeting was then adjourned.

The matter will be taken up at the next full board meeting. The Executive Committee may meet to try to come up with a solution to the matter of hiring another part -time associate in the interim. 

Above - Councilman Mark Gjonaj pleads his case against the proposed Morris Park Avenue Road Diet plan by the NYC DOT.

Below - Members of CB 11 including Bronx Borough President representative Tom Luciana at the far right who is answering a question about the bylaws of CB 11.