Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Woodlawn Cemetery Introduce English and Spanish Audio Tours of the Historic Cemetery on Seventh Anniversary of Death of Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and The Friends of The Woodlawn Cemetery introduced English and Spanish audio tours of the historic Woodlawn Cemetery, so that visitors can enjoy self guided tours of the historic 147 year old Bronx cemetery.  The audio tour was unveiled as part of a commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the passing of "La Guarachera de Cuba” the “Queen of Salsa”, Cuban Born salsa singer, Celia Cruz who recorded twenty-three gold albums.

“Woodlawn Cemetery is one of our most important cultural institutions and is a rich source of information on people who helped shape our city and country,” said Borough President Diaz.  “This audio tour will make it more inviting and manageable for tourists, as well as locals, to fully appreciate the historical treasure it represents.” 

The audio tour which will cost five dollars will also highlight the architectural works of acclaimed architects Charles McKim, William Rutherford Mead, Stanford White, John Merven Carrère, Thomas Hastings and John Russell Pope who designed some of Woodlawn’s 1700  significant monuments and mausoleums. The Woodlawn Cemetery features 400 acres of rolling hills, spectacular trees and shrubbery, mausoleums and memorials of historic and artistic significance and a natural fauna/flora sanctuary.  

 Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. showing the map and the device visitors will receive to enjoy the Woodlawn Cemetery tour.  

Hector Ramirez Fund Raiser

   Last night Hector Ramirez currently Male District Leader from the 86th Assembly District held another very successful fund raiser for his bid to win the 86th assembly seat away from incumbent Nelson Castro.

   The support for the Ramirez campaign goes from grass roots all the way to the Bronx Borough President. Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. was "in the house", and presented candidate (and friend) Hector Ramirez not only his support, but also a check for one thousand dollars saying "I am with you Hector one thousand percent".

   Other elected officials on hand were City Councilman Fernando Cabrera and Assemblywoman Vanessa Gibson. Candidate Ramirez has the endorsement of the Bronx Democratic County Organization, Congressman Jose Serrano, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, State Senators Ruben Diaz Sr. and Jose M. Serrano, Councilwoman Annabel Palma, and the Working Families Party as of now with more to come..

Bronx County Dinner Huge Success

   Bronx Democratic County Committee Chairman Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz estimates the crowd at the Bronx County Dinner to be close to one thousand people, in what is now being called the largest and strongest show of support for any Bronx County organization. 

   Every Bronx elected official (minus one or two for one reason or another) were in attendance as this was a dinner of unity. The program went well with the with the combination of honorees and short speeches by elected officials. Bronx County Democratic Leader Assemblyman Carl E. Heastie and his assorted district leaders moved the pace of the evening smoothly and quickly.

   Among those in attendance were New York State Governor David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Conference Leader John Sampson, State Comptroller Tom Di Napoli, City Comptroller John Liu, former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill deBlasio, Council Speaker Quinn, as well as current and former elected officials and county leaders from other boroughs to support the Bronx County organization.

   Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer told me that he will soon be gearing up for what could be a very crowded field of candidates in the 2013 mayors race, as did mayoral candidate (2009) Bill Thompson. Former Queens Councilwoman and Comptroller candidate in 2009 Melinda Katz said that she is working on other campaigns this year, and would not rule out a run for her old council seat or other position in 2013. We would like to see Ms. Katz run for Queens Borough President in 2013, a position that would fit her talents best.

   Even with the three state legislative leaders in the house there is still no final state budget, and I asked Governor Paterson what the consequences to local governments could be. The governor said that the state has enough money on hand for day to day operations for only about a month, that the legislature ignored his three budget proposals, and that he would have to call a special session in about a week or two to complete the budget process one way or another.

   The exact amount of money that was raised won't be known for a while, but by the crowd of support we saw this was a record breaker.

 Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and City Comptroller John Liu.

Is Governor Paterson trying to win over Senator Ruth Hassel-Thompson for his budget plan?

Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz, Jr. To Introduce English and Spanish Audio Tours of Historic Woodlawn Cemetery in Honor of Seventh Anniversary of Death of the Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz

 

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and The Friends of The Woodlawn Cemetery will introduce English and Spanish audio tours of the historic Woodlawn Cemetery located at Webster Avenue & E. 233rd Street in the Bronx, at 10am on Friday July 16^th  At the Woodlawn Cemetery located at Webster Avenue & E. 233rd Street in the Bronx.

 

The project is made possible through a grant from the NYC & Company Foundation to the Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery which was supported by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.  The project was arranged for by The Bronx Tourism Council which helped to produce it.  The Council is a program of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (BOEDC). 

Established in 1863, the cemetery’s cultural significance is represented in the famous names that grace its monuments and mausoleums: Herman Melville, FW Woolworth, JC Penny, Jay Gould, Ralph Bunche, Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Moses, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Duke Ellington, RH Macy, Miles Davis, Bat Masterson and Joseph Pulitzer.

The audio tour will also highlight the architectural works of acclaimed architects Charles McKim, William Rutherford Mead, Stanford White, Daniel Chester French and John Russell Pope who designed some of Woodlawn’s 1500 significant monuments and mausoleums. The Woodlawn Cemetery features over 400 acres of rolling hills, spectacular trees and shrubbery, monumental mausoleums and memorials and a natural fauna/flora sanctuary. 

Hunter calls it quits in 33rd Senate Race

It has been announced that Ms. Desiree Pilgram-Hunter who of late had been the target of criticism by the BoogieDowner Blog has called off her campaign for the 33rd State Senate. While there were reports of lack of dollars, sources said that Ms. Hunter had only raised $30,000.00 we think that it was not getting the endorsement of the New Roosevelt Initiative (and the $250,000.00 bounty that went along with the endorsement) that could have played a major role in Ms. Hunters decision. 

Ms Hunter was the first to announce as a candidate for the 33rd State Senate District against the incumbent Pedro Espada Jr. Three other candidates announced their candidacies after Ms. Hunter. Mr. Dan Padernacht, Mr. Gustavo Rivera, and Mr. Fernando Tirado. Mr. Gustavo Rivera had gotten the endorsement of the NRI only a few days ago, and it was reported that the NRI would be asking the other candidates in the 33rd State Senate race to drop out and support Mr. Rivera "For the good of defeating Mr. Espada". In our column 100 PERCENT in the Bronx News, Parkchester News and Coop-City News we report speaking to the other two candidates who said that neither were contacted by the NRI to either drop out or endorse Mr. Rivera.

We also reported that Mr. Rivera may need the $250,000.00 bounty from NRI to help keep himself on the ballotif and when his petitions are challenged. 

You will see our prediction on this race in a few weeks when all the challenges and court cases are over.

Fallout From Schniderman Accident

Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz to Democrat Leadership: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) issued the following statement in response to reports of Senator Eric Schneiderman’s hit and run incident earlier this evening. Senator Schneiderman’s staff member/driver was Rachel Kagan, the niece of US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

“Why has there been no arrest in this crime committed by Senator Eric Schneiderman’s driver? If I were to permit my staff person to commit a hit and run or better yet, if Senator Pedro Espada had permitted his staff person to leave the scene of a car accident, would neither of us be arrested?  

Will Eric Schneiderman come forward and answer the following questions that would be posed to any DWB who just crashed their car into a parked car: “When was the last time you had anything to drink and were you taking any drugs?” Or was this situation much simpler to understand: the Senator was just in a hurry and didn’t want his staff member to delay him by stopping?

Under the property damage section of New York State’s Vehicle and Traffic law, § 600. Leaving  scene  of  an  incident without reporting. 1. Property   damage. a. Any person operating a motor vehicle who, knowing  or  having   cause to know that damage has been caused to the real property or to the   personal property … due to an incident   involving  the  motor  vehicle  operated  by  such  person shall, before   leaving the place where the damage occurred, stop, exhibit  his  or  her   license  and  insurance  identification card for such vehicle … in case  the person sustaining the damage is not present at the place where the damage occurred then he or she shall report  the  same  as  soon  as   physically able to the nearest police station, or judicial officer.

The penalty for this offense is a fine of $250 and/or imprisonment of up to 15 days.  Will justice be served?

I call upon my colleagues in the New York State Senate to immediately form a Committee and investigate Senator Eric Schneiderman’s criminal activity of flagrantly authorizing, endorsing or encouraging his staffer to leave the scene of an accident.

I call upon Charlie King and Andrew Cuomo to start the process to remove Eric Schneiderman from the Democratic Party. It is a shame that the Democrats could rally behind someone who has such a flagrant disregard for the law.

Senator Schneiderman can no longer fool us with his self-righteous cowboy act who went after Hiram Monserrate.  He’s not Mr. Clean – he’s Mr. Slick!”

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. on Steinbrenner Passing

STATEMENT FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT RUBEN DIAZ JR.

RE: Passing of George Steinbrenner

“Today I join 1.4 million Bronxites, and Yankee fans across the world, in mourning the passing of a great man, ‘The Boss,’ George Steinbrenner. During his tenure as owner of the New York Yankees, Mr. Steinbrenner did everything in his power to create his own winning tradition in the Bronx, an effort that resulted in seven World Series championships. While other baseball fans were jealous of this success, Yankee fans, like myself, loved him for it. Both the Bronx and New York City have lost a giant today—in baseball and in charity—and my deepest condolences go out to the Steinbrenners and the entire New York Yankees family,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner Dead at age 80

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner suffered a massive heart attack, and has been pronounced dead in a Florida hospital.  Steinbrenner had just turned 80 on July 4th, was the key in the New York Yankee organization turnaround after he purchased the club.

Steinbrenner  had a career of turmoil as he had many disputes with managers, hiring and firing them at will.  Steinbrenner hired and fired Billy Martin to manage the Yankees several times. 

His son Hank Steinbrenner had taken over day to day operations recently. 

Testimonials are pouring in about the late great George Steinbrenner, and watch the All Star game tonight for a special tribute from Major Leauge Baseball.