BRONX EMERGENCY BLOOD DRIVE-- THIS FRIDAY!!!

PLEASE DONATE & HELP SPREAD THE WORD!

   ATTENTION BRONXITES:   

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!

The New York Blood Center (NYBC) has lost approximately 4500 units of blood due to cancellations Mon – Wed.  They anticipate that they will continue to be forced to cancel blood drives throughout the weekend and perhaps even into next week. 

 

Monday, 10/29, NYBC operated just 5 of 45 Sites (45 Operations - A  combination of Donor Centers and Community blood drives).

 Tuesday, 10/30, NYBC operated just 4 of 45 Sites (45 Operations - A   combination of Donor Centers and Community blood drives).

Wednesday 10/31, NYBC are operating just 10 of 45 Sites.

 

NYBC hopes to be at 50% of capacity Thursday and perhaps 75% by Friday and the weekend.

  

In all, NYBC will likely have lost 6000 or more donations, and types O-, B- and platelets are in extremely short supply.

Anything you can do to help would be really appreciated.

BRONX EMERGENCY BLOOD DRIVE

This FRIDAY, November 2^nd, 2012

9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Bronx County Building

851 Grand Concourse-Veterans Memorial Hall -1^st Floor Rotunda.

 

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Veterans Recognition Luncheon!! Nov 5th!! MUST RSVP!!

    

  

  

NYC Business Assistance Programs for Businesses Affected by Hurricane Sandy

   

  

Attention Businesses Affected by Hurricane Sandy! 

New York City, including the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), is coordinating a set of services to assist small businesses in recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Below is an outline of available programs and relevant contact information.  

New York City Business Assistance Programs

For small- to mid-sized businesses that have experienced business interruption

A low-interest working capital bridge loan program will be available, patterned after similar programs deployed in past emergencies. Loans will be capped at $10,000. The application and intake process is still being determined. Please contact NYC Business Solutions staff as outlined below.

For mid- to large-sized businesses that need to undertake rebuilding

An emergency sales tax letter from New York City Industrial Development Authority (IDA) will be available allowing businesses to avoid payment of New York City and New York State sales taxes on materials purchased for rebuilding. IDA will also waive all fees and, while following State law, look to streamline its normal procedure. This program is expected to offer economic benefits to reconstruction projects costing $500,000 or more. Please contact Shin Mitsugi at smitsugi@nycedc.com for further information on this program.

For any business that is temporarily displaced from its space

Short-term "swing" office space at Brooklyn Army Terminal available free of charge for the next 30 days. NYCEDC has approximately 40,000 square feet of warehouse space at the Terminal that can be used for this purpose. Please contact NYC Business Solutions staff as outlined below. 

For any business in need of assistance

SBS will be the primary point of contact for all businesses seeking assistance - all of whom should call if they need help.

The SBS Business Outreach Team and Emergency Response Unit's Large Scale Response Team will be deployed after the storm to help all impacted small businesses. This team is currently on-call for any storm-related business inquiries and is closely coordinating with the NYC Office of Emergency Management. 

NYC Business Solutions Centers will coordinate with local community-based-organizations in severely affected areas to help businesses with the application process for the emergency loan program.

NYC Business Solutions contact information

For further information on the above programs, please contact NYC Business Solutions by filling out our Contact an Account Manager form or calling 311 and asking for "NYC Business Solutions."

Federal Aid Programs for State of New York Disaster Recovery

Loans are available up to $2 million for business property losses not fully compensated by insurance. Loans of up to $2 million are also available for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes that have suffered disaster-related cash flow problems and need funds for working capital to recover from the disaster's adverse economic impact. This loan in combination with a property loss loan cannot exceed a total of $2 million.

Those in the county designated for assistance to affected residents and business owners can begin the disaster application process by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Disaster assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers are available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) Monday through Sunday until further notice.  Applicants registering for aid should be prepared to provide basic information about themselves (name, permanent address, phone number), insurance coverage and any other information to help substantiate losses.

Post Hurricane Sandy The Photos

     Some of the photos of the day after Hurricane Sandy in the Northwest Bronx. You can click on any photo to enlarge it.

Left - one of the many many trees that were uprooted by Hurricane Sandy. 

Right - One of the many scenes you may have encountered on a secondary street. 

Left- Water is almost touching the Amtrak Bridge 

Right - This track reported to be under water during Hurricane Sandy, looked fine to us.

Left - Northbound Diesel powered train goes through station to see conditions.

Right - You can see the rear of the train and debris on the track to the right of the train.

Left - Tree covers car on street. 

Right - Another car has (live ?) wires on it.

 

Left - Henry Hudson Bridge is closed by MTA Police. It opened after 1 PM.

Right - Department of Sanitation crew taking away a tree that fell across this road.

 

Left - Tree on Sedwick Avenue fell on power lines and two cars. Yes those are live wires next to the cars, I was told.
Right - Utility pole was taken down by the tree and lies in the middle of Sedwick Avenue guarded by a police officer from the 50th Precinct. I was told that the wires on the downed pole were still live, hence the need for the police officer.

Post Hurricane UPDATE 5 PM

Its 5 PM and the #1,#2, #7, #10 and other buses are back on the road.

It is expected that subway service will not be restored for four days or until next week.

The water level in Lower Manhattan is slowly receding, but several areas are still flooded.

Power is still out to lower Manhattan below 40th Street, and may be out for several more days.

The Metropolitan area has been declared a disaster area.

Most bridges have reopened. The Battery Tunnel remains closed due to flooding.

4.5 million people are still without power in NYC, Long Island New Jersey and Connecticut.

18 people have been found dead in NYC with 3 more missing.

In the Far Rockaway several people have been arrested for looting.

Many trees are down and several bus routes will have to be detoured around them.

More later with photos.

Hurricane SANDY UPDATE

Tuesday AM--

THIS IS NOT A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE

Lower Manhattan was under water.
The East Side was flooded to 1st Avenue.
The West side Highway was under Water.
Electricity below 40th Street in Manhattan was out Monday night continuing into today.
All roads on Long Island were closed.
All Subway and commuter railroads are still not running.
There are subway stations that are still flooded, and tunnels under the East River that are still under water.
A boat landed across Metro North Tracks on the Hudson line in Westchester County.
NYC schools will be closed on Wednesday.
Millions of people are still without power.
Fires ranged out of control in low lying areas that were flooded.
Downed power lines were everywhere.

More as details come in.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
32nd Senatorial District, Bronx County, New York

A Word or Three about Yellow Journalism
You should know that the Saturday, October 27th New York Post column “State Dems shaking off scandals in polls” used the photos of three minority Senate Democrats: Pedro Espada, Jr., Hiram Monserrate, and Shirley Huntley to highlight corruption in the State Senate.

The New York Post, apparently disappointed with recent polls showing that New Yorkers want the Democrats to take back control of the State Senate, pointed out how Black and Hispanic Democrats have been indicted, belong in jail, or are accused of corruption.  This New York Post article includes Senators Malcolm Smith, John Sampson and Eric Adams in their story, despite the fact that none of these Senators has ever been indicted of nor found guilty of anything – except being Black.

New York Post readers need to be wary because the Post somehow continues to overlook the corruption that is, has been, and continues to exist in the Republican Party by those Senate colleagues.

Lawmakers facing corruption charges are not exclusive to Democrats, nor are they exclusive to Black and Hispanic Senators, but the New York Post seems to make believe or ignore these facts.  It may be the case that they are using their paper to slant their story or lie to their readers.

There are many ways of lying.  You can lie by purposely ignoring the truth or speaking in half-truths.  You can lie by only releasing the part of the story that you want to release.  You can lie by making people believe that “this” is the whole truth while you knowingly hide the rest. You can lie by slanting the truth.

In this case, the New York Post exposes and accuses only Democratic Senators - highlighting Black and Hispanic Senators – while hiding the truth that there are at least as many among the ranks of the Republicans in the New York State Senate who have been accused of corruption and have been or may belong in jail.

Let’s start at the top.
Republican Senate Leader Joseph Bruno’s corruption was so egregious that it resulted in the Public Corruption Prevention and Enforcement Act.  (I have no recollection of any stronger piece of legislation that resulted from the scandalous acts of any Black or Hispanic Senate Democrat.)  Judge Gary L. Sharpe chastised Republican Senator Joseph Bruno during sentencing by telling the Republican Senate Leader:  “You trampled on the integrity of the State Legislature.”

Disgraced Republican Senator Guy Velella ended his political career in the New York State Senate after he was convicted of bribery and went to prison.

Republican Senator Vincent Leibell is a convicted felon, guilty of taking kickbacks from a charity he founded which was funded with millions of taxpayer dollars.  He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion.

Republican Senator Nick Spano pleaded guilty to tax evasion.  During his sentencing, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “When Nicholas Spano took the oath of office, he swore to uphold the law, and yet he did exactly the opposite. There is absolutely no place in government for lawbreakers, and we will continue to do everything within our power to prosecute and punish them.”

There are calls to investigate Republican Senate Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous about a downstate law firm hiring his son, which, according to a witness in a recent federal corruption trial, was in exchange for the promise of more business.

Let's not forget the story about Republican Senator Jim Alesi, who doesn't exactly make the Republican Party shine.  Senator Alesi trespassed on a homeowner's property, fell and broke his leg.  Although the owners declined to press charges against him, Senator Alesi proceeded to sue the building contractor, DiRisio Builders. The New York Daily News editorial “State Sen. James Alesi is suing constituents when he should be apologizing for acting like an idiot” began with the following: “Remember the old joke about the kid who murdered his parents, then pleaded for mercy on grounds of being an orphan?”

While there is so much more to share about the Republican Senate, I will stop here, for now.

I ask my readers to always keep in mind that just because something appears in a newspaper, in a tabloid, or on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true. I also ask my friends in the media to keep in mind that just because the majority of New Yorkers want to see Democrats control the New York State Senate doesn’t mean that the New York Post or anyone else should engage in the use ugly racial tactics to try to undercut these hopes.

This is State Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know. 

Ben Franklin Club Celebrates Obama Pre-Victory

   In a gathering of almost 100 people the Ben Franklin Club had an early celebration of President Obama's win on election day at the home of City Council Candidate Andrew Cohen. In what has become one of the worst kept secrets, Mr. Cohen has said that he will make a decision after election day about running for term limited City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell's seat. Cohen was elected as a Vice-Chair of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, and has filed with the city's campaign Finance Board as a candidate.

   In attendance were Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, (Mayoral/Comptroller candidate), Congressman Eliot Engel, State Senators Jeff Klein and Gustavo Rivera, 81^st A.D. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia James (candidate for Public Advocate in 2013).

   Councilman Koppell expressed his view that President Obama has a chance of loosing the popular vote, but winning the all important “Electoral College” that elects the president. Congressman Engel took a swipe at his Republican opponent on election day, by asking Assemblyman Dinowitz if it was the same person Dinowitz soundly defeated two years ago. Yes it is replied Dinowitz. Senator Gustavo Rivera standing near Councilman Koppell thanked him for his over 40 years of public service as an elected official. Senator Jeff Klein said that the election is important as it is between what is right and wrong. Klein added “we have to make sure programs continue, and are not cut or discontinued”. It was said that Councilman Koppell has been a member of the Ben Franklin Democratic Club since 1966. Back then the club was known as “The Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club”. 

 

   Questions I asked – Manhattan BP Stringer – Is it true that you are going to run for Comptroller instead of mayor? Reply by Stringer, I have not made up my mind yet.

State Senator Jeff Klein – In 2016 if Gov. Cuomo runs for president and current Attorney General Eric Schniderman runs for governor, would you run for A.G. Reply by Klein – I don't know, it could be a possibility if what I said all happens, but that is to far away to think about now.

Councilwoman James – Are you afraid of facing Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barrons who has said he wants to run for Public Advocate also. Reply by James – Don't believe what Barrons is saying, he and his wife are going to try to swap positions in the council and assembly. An interesting note was that we both agreed that Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. would not be running for citywide office next year. James said that Diaz Jr. is doing a fine job as Bronx BP, but still has to raise the image of the Bronx and himself more before considering citywide office. 

Left - Manhattan Borough President Stringer is flanked on his right by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and left by City Council candidate Andrew Cohen.

Right - State Senators Jeff Klein and Gustave Rivera with Assemblyman Dinowitz.