New agreement between the City and the Hunts Point Produce Market to Keep it in the Bronx for the Next Three Years.

   The New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Hunts Point Produce Market Merchants have reached a deal that will keep the market at Hunts Point, for at least the next three years. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. gave the following statement about the deal to keep the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx.

   

“After months of negotiation, I am thrilled to see that the City and the merchants of the Hunts Point Produce Market have reached a deal that will keep the co-op in the Bronx, where it belongs, for at least the next three years. During the coming months, we will continue to work with this administration and the merchants of the co-op on a long-term deal that will ensure that this tremendous hub of economic activity, one that provides jobs to thousands of Bronxites, remains in the Bronx for decades to come. I am confident that such a deal will happen and that the market will remain in Hunts Point for the foreseeable future.

“I would like to thank not only the Bloomberg administration but the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Empire State Development Corporation, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, our Congressional, City Council, State Senate and Assembly delegations; as well as the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation for their hard work on this issue. Bronxites owe them all a debt of gratitude for their efforts,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

Upcoming Events

June 11- Taste of the Latin Caribbean: Puerto Rican history in the Bronx

Join us as we highlight the agricultural contributions of the Puerto Rican community and culture in NYC on the eve of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Enjoy an organic lunch incorporating some of the native flavors of the island. Bi-lingual tour guide will be provided. 

    Tour activities include:

“Get Dirty" gardening session - Discover Taino culture through gardening, growing practices and common crops! Taste some sprouted arroz con frijoles, a healthy spin on this traditional Latin dish.

Salsa dancing lesson and live music jam session

Learn the basics of composting and raising chickens

Complimentary lunch provided to trolley riders

July 30 - Hip-Hop & Food Historical Tour: Beats and Beets!

Experience the birthplace of Hip-Hop music in a whole new way as we embark on a rhymatic, delicious healthy food journey! Dance, rhyme and eat your way to a healthier lifestyle! Meet legendary Hip-Hop pioneers as they guide you on a tour of hip-hop music, good food and healthy living. 

   Tour activities include:

Hip Hop poetry slam

Old school hip hop music jam hosted by world-famous Hip-Hop pioneers

Healthy food recipe cards

“Get Dirty” - Interactive gardening session

Learn the basics of composting and raising chickens

Complimentary lunch provided to trolley riders

September 10 - Taste of Tuscany: Italian culinary tour from seed to plate!

(Featuring a tour of Mario Batali’s Edible Garden, the Italy Garden and the Bronx’s historic Arthur’s Avenue )

Feel like you’re touring the Tuscany countryside as you embark on a delicious culinary exploration of various Italian herbs and vegetables. Embrace the beauty of the borough’s ecological treasures at some of New York City’s biggest urban farms!

   Tour activities include:

Grape Stomping! Old world wine-making practice! (Feet washing station provided)

Italian herbs tasting at The New York Botanical Garden’s Mario Batali’s Edible Garden.

Cheese-making workshop offered by Mike Greco of the famous Mike’s Deli

Tour of Bronx’s Historic Little Italy (Cheese shops, butcher shops, bread shops & more)

Lunch will not be provided – Many food options available for purchase at Arthur’s Avenue

To register, or for more information, call 718.817.8026 or bronxfoodsummit@gmail.com

 

This Came in From one of our Readers


EASEL - San Diego Art Fair
Sept 2,3,4 2011
HOST - Alexander Salazar Fine Art

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
1040 7th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101To Register Please call 619-531-8996 or 619-531-8988

EASEL - San Diego Art af(FAIR) 2011 is an amazing art fair celebrating local artists. 

This event will showcase San Diego and Guests Artists.  

Located at 1040 7th Avenue, just half a block from Sponsor Alexander Salazar Fine Art. -  

$5.00 for 3 Day Pass - 5,000 Sq Ft of Amazing Art all on Easels

Sept 2-4 - Friday, Saturday, Sunday -  Fair Hours - 11 am to 8 pm

(Set up Sept 1, Break Down Sept 5^th) Original Art all priced under $5,000

To Participate -

$100.00 Fee To Participate - Non refundable - by Cash, Check or Credit Card.

One Painting up to 60 tall by 40 wide -  Artist must provide their own easel. 

Full Marketing Provided by Alexander Salazar Fine Art in Newspapers, Radio, TV, and Social Media. All Artwork Fully Insured. In the event of a sale - Alexander Salazar Fine Art will Process All Sales and pay any credit card fees associated with the sale  Payment to artist will be payable within 7 business days.  Each Artist Must complete a I-9 Tax form to receive any funds greater than $200.00 

Artist will Receive 75% of Sale - Gallery will Receive 25% of Sale.

To Register Please call 619-531-8996 or 619-531-8988

N. Y. State Attorney General Eric Schniederman files suit against United States for the people of New York

   In a 34 page complaint listed on Liz Benjamins State of Politics blog New York State Attorney General Eric Schniderman has filed suit against the Army Corp of Engineers, the United States Department of Environmental Protection, Department of the Interior, Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Services for what appears to be a halt to any thought of drilling for gas in the Delaware water basin, home of the majority of New York City's fresh drinking water. 

 

COMPTROLLER LIU, NYC PENSION FUNDS TO DISCUSS WAL-MART’S SUPPLIERS
WITH FORMER CHILD LABORER

   New York City Comptroller John C. Liu will host a breakfast meet-and-greet with Trustees of the NYC Pension Funds and Kalpona Akter, a workers’ rights activist and former child laborer from Bangladesh on Tuesday, May 31.

Comptroller Liu, the Trustees and Ms. Akter, who is stopping in New York on her way to Wal-Mart’s annual meeting, will discuss the Funds’ shareholder proposal that Wal-Mart require its suppliers uphold human and workers rights.  The Funds’ hold $311 million in Wal-Mart shares.

On June 3, Ms. Akter, the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, will present the Funds’ proposal to Wal-Mart’s board of directors in Arkansas.  The proposal calls on the nation’s largest retailer to hold its suppliers around the globe accountable for their compliance with international standards of human and workers rights.

Kalpona faces years in prison on unsubstantiated criminal charges of fomenting garment worker unrest in Bangladesh.  Eighteen members of Congress have sent letters on her behalf to Wal-Mart and five other U.S. retailers, as well as to the U.S. Trade Representative.

Orchard Beach Celebrates its 75^th Anniversary

    On Friday, May 27, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. joined Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and other elected officials to announce the official start of the 2011 summer season and the 75^th anniversary of Orchard Beach. Known as the  Riviera of the Bronx, Orchard Beach is celebrating  its anniversary with a new and better look thanks to the completion  of the $13 million Orchard Beach Shoreline Protection Project. The US Army  Corps of Engineers and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation  placed approximately 268,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach to further protect it against tides, winds, waves and storms. During the 2011 season, the beach will be open for swimming daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm when lifeguards are on duty.

  Borough President Diaz with the 5th Grade Class of P.S. 79 on the newly refurbished Orchard 
Beach.

GUN BUY BACK SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 4TH

DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND THE OFFICE OF THE BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT RENEW PARTNERSHIP WITH CLERGY TO GET FIREARMS OUT OF CIRCULATION 

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. have formed a partnership with the pastors of three Bronx churches in sponsoring a gun buy-back program for one day only on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

In a continuing effort to get illegal handguns and other firearms off the streets and out of circulation, participants in the ‘gun buy-back’ will receive a $200 pre-paid cash card for each eligible weapon surrendered, No Questions Asked. The firearms may be turned in at three drop-off locations between the hours of 11:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

District Attorney Johnson said: “We are gratified that the Commissioner Kelly and Borough President Diaz recognize the deadly threat that guns pose in our community and once again are being proactive. Now it’s up to all of our citizens to do their part in getting these guns off the streets before they cause more deaths, serious injuries and destroy families.”

Police Commissioner Kelly said: “Programs like the gun buy-back have real, quantifiable results. Since this program started in 2008, it has been responsible for taking over 6,000 guns off the street of the five boroughs. Our hope is that next week’s gun buy-back in the Bronx builds on this success and results in even more guns off the street, and more innocent lives saved.”

Borough President Ruben Diaz said: “Once again my office is working together with District Attorney Robert Johnson and the NYPD to fight gun violence and crime in The Bronx. Every time a firearm is taken out of circulation, we are potentially saving somebody’s life. The Bronx has come a long way, and Bronxites can no longer tolerate gun violence in our neighborhoods. I urge all of our residents to join us on the fight to bring peace to our streets.”

On Saturday, June 4, 2011, people who own illegal handguns will be able to trade them for $200 bank cards.  People turning in operable rifles and shotguns will receive $20 bank cards. The transactions will be completely anonymous with “no questions asked.” A $200 bank card will be issued for each operable handgun gun that is surrendered, with no limit on how many guns may be turned in.  However, participants will only be paid a maximum sum of $600 for three or more handguns. The bank cards can be used either as a debit card to make purchases or to withdraw cash from any ATM.

Firearms belonging to either active or retired law enforcement officials are not eligible for the buy-back program.

Plainclothes NYPD police officers, Bronx DA Detective Investigators, and members of the NYPD Bronx DA Squad will be on hand at the churches to accept the firearms that are surrendered. Participants are encouraged to bring the weapons in paper bags, plastic bags, or shoe boxes. If the weapons are being transported by car, they must be placed in the trunk of the car. 

Funding for the gun “buy-back” program is being provided jointly by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD. Firearms may be surrendered at the following locations:

                         

                 

Bronx Pentecostal                   Grace Temple

1755 Watson Avenue                  2401 Marion Avenue

Bronx, New York 10473             Bronx, New York 10458

Bishop Clarence Jones                 Pastor Olusegun Apoeso

718-822-6929                                 718-367-6937

                                                                                                                                          

Our Lady of Grace

3985 Bronxwood Avenue

Bronx, New York 10466

Father Levelt Germain

718-652-4817

 

Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz's Public Awareness Campaign

New York Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz released the following statement in response to the planned "F*** Ruben Diaz Festival" advertised online to be held on June 11th at the Metropolitan bar in Brooklyn.

"I continue to be the target of a vulgar campaign by seething extremists who oppose my defense of New York's marriage laws.

The latest attempt to publicly attack my integrity is a call for written entries 1000 – 2000 words at a "F*** Ruben Diaz Festival” set to be held on June 11th.  An online group called The New Gay is advertising the event:  TNG Writing Contest Alert - "F*** Ruben Diaz: Gay Erotica Featuring NYC’s Number One Bigot".  Here are their details:

 "So all you LGBT litterateurs (and allies, of course) pick up your pens and plug in your laptops — if a fool is our theme, let satire be our song. Imagine a day in the life of the Bronx's most prominent Pentecostal minister. Is he downtown scoring poppers? Is he rehearsing his latest screed in his bathroom mirror? Is he waking up in a tangle of hard man-bodies after a raging orgy? Don’t think you have to take the closet case angle though, feel free to put Ruben in whatever ridiculous scenario you want — think Onion headline material — 'Ruben Diaz Sprains Ankle, Loses Faith in God', 'Ruben Diaz Tired of Wife's "Meatloaf Mondays'", ‘Ruben Diaz Gives Impassioned Anti-Gay Speech to his Co-Op Board', or, I don't know, 'Ruben Diaz in the MI6: Killing for Queen and Country'."

My position on marriage as defined between a man and a woman is no different than the position of many other Christians.  It is also the teaching of the Catholic Church, of Judaism and of Islam.   The United States Constitution guarantees us all the right to freedom of  – not freedom from – religion.  I am blessed to serve as a Pentecostal minister and I celebrate this!

It is sad to see the disrespect and irreverence that flourishes from those who have no respect for religious leaders here in New York and those who mock us as we serve our communities.

As a Christian and as the President of the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, I will continue to defend the teachings of the Bible and oppose homosexual marriage.   As a Member of the New York State Senate, I will continue to defend the definition of New York's marriage laws to be between a man and a woman.

I urge Governor Andrew Cuomo along with my colleagues in the legislature, the media, and all New Yorkers to take a close look at the hard core and vulgar tactics that are being used to change a law in New York State.   I urge all to compare my non-violent, peaceful and prayerful rallies to protect marriage and the attempts to humiliate me because of my one vote in the State Senate.  Add to that the intolerant onslaught of hate-filled phone calls to my office. Add to that to the death threats and threats against my family that  have been duly reported to the FBI and the police departments of New York and Albany.

As a Christian, of course I love those who hate me and I will continue to pray for their souls.

Even though for the most part these attacks remain unreported in the news, the public deserves to know about them.  As such, I will continue to document them so my constituents and my colleagues remain aware."

To see more on what Senator Reverend Diaz is talking about click here