Jimmy Vacca Birthday Party / Richie Torres Fundraiser

   It was Jimmy Vacca's 39th birthday party last night at Villa Barrone, but it was Vacca Housing Coordinator and candidate for the 15th City Council seat Richie Torres who got the presents. Close to 200 people cane in the cold snowy weather to help Councilman Vacca celebrate his birthday (with many different answers as to just how old Jimmy is), but Vacca did say that he spent 26 years as a district manager and now seven in the city council.

   On hand to help celebrate Councilman Vacca's birthday were two good friends of his also in elected office, Assemblymen Mike Benedetto and Mark Gjonaj. Of course Jimmy's mother Elizabeth was in attendance also.. While Benedetto and Gjonaj spoke of their friendship with Councilman Vacca, both also had only words of praise for Vacca staffer Richie Torres. When it came for Councilman Vacca to speak, he thanked everyone in the room for coming out in such horrid weather. While he started talking about how he met staffer Richie Torres who was a student at Lehman High School, Vacca said that the Department of Education was not going to close down Lehman High School as was planned this year.  In 2004 Mr. Torres spent a day as an honorary District Manager, and in 2005 Torres worked on the Vacca's campaign for City Council. Jimmy then introduced Richie Torres after some more words of praise for the young man.

    Torres opened up by saying that the 15th council district was one of the poorest districts in the city, and how he attended Bronx public schools while living in public housing. He went on to say how his single college educated mother lost her good paying job of $13.00 only to find work at the minimum wage which was $5.15 then. Torres went on to talk on how he was given a chance by Councilman Vacca, and how that has paid of in not only tonight's event for him, with the endorsement of not only Councilman Vacca but also assembly members Benedetto and Gjonaj. Torres ripped into all the empty stores on Aurthur Avenue, and said good schools and good jobs are what is needed in the 15th council district being careful not to step on any toes such as the current 15th Councilman Joel Rivera.

Left- Councilman Jimmy Vacca with old friend Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj.

Right - Councilman Vacca thanks all who came to his 39th birthday party  as assembly members Mike Benedetto and Mark Gjonaj listen.

Left - Councilman Vacca along with assembly members Benedetto and Gjonaj stand with State Committeeman Joe McManus as they raise 15th council candidate Richie Torres arms in victory.

Right - another shot of the group.

Senator Jeff Klein’s Statement on Decision to Keep Lehman High School Open

   "I am thrilled to hear that Lehman High School has been removed from the Department of Education’s proposed school closure list. Given that they're in the middle of a new turnaround program, Lehman should not have been on that list in the first place. When Lehman was first placed on the closure list, I wrote multiple letters to the Chancellor and delivered testimony, urging the DOE to keep Lehman open. During this process, students, parents, educators and community leaders came together to support Principal LoBianco and her vision for Lehman High School. Under the strong leadership of Principal Rose LoBianco, Lehman has been heading in the right direction. Given the turnaround program's initial success, we believe that Lehman should be given the opportunity to prove that it can be a success. This decision gives us the chance to work together to make Lehman great again for generations to come.”

   Councilman Jimmy Vacca was also very happy to hear that the DOE decided to keep Lehman High School open, and said so at his 39th annual Birthday Party last night. 

 

BP Diaz Observes National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

  

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will observe Sunday, March 10, as National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day by adding the Bronx Borough President’s Office to the list of locations where NYC Condoms are available.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day sheds light on the disease's often overlooked impact on women and girls, and empowers them to make a difference by taking action in different ways, such as:

·         Telling women and girls how to prevent HIV/AIDS

·     Getting more women and girls to get tested in an effort to reduce the number of people who become infected with HIV/ AIDS

·         Providing services to those living with the disease

Women and girls are not the only ones who are at risk of getting infected. All age groups, nationalities, and people of varying sexual orientation are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Everyone must take responsibility to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.  In December 2012, the New York Post reported that 68 percent of neighborhoods in the Bronx “were found to have ‘high’ rates of more than one STD.”  

“If you mean to be sexually active, you must do so responsibly. My office will continue to offer NYC Condoms for distribution, and I hope that this access will help curb the spread of STD’s in our borough,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

NYC Condoms will now be available in the Borough President’s constituent services unit, 851 Grand Concourse, Room 209, Bronx, NY 10451.

The following link is a listing of NYC’s Health Department FREE Clinic in the Bronx:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/hia/html/resources/clinics.shtml

Wave Hill Events March 22–March 29

 

Just a reminder that our hours changed March 15, when we start staying open until 5:30pm, taking advantage of the increasingly long, lovely days of spring.

SAT, MARCH 23   FAMILY ART PROJECT—UP POPS SPRING!

Up Pops Spring!/Primavera en accion

Look around and see the very early signs of spring. Guest artist Moses Ros invites us to use the everyday cardboard container as a springboard for handmade stamps in fantastic, nature-inspired, pop-up collages and mobiles that celebrate the budding season. Free, and admission to the grounds is free until noon.

ECOLOGY BUILDING, 10AM‒1PM

SUN, MARCH 24     FAMILY ART PROJECT—UP POPS SPRING!

Up Pops Spring!/Primavera en accion

Look around and see the very early signs of spring. Guest artist Moses Ros invites us to use the everyday cardboard container as a springboard for handmade stamps in fantastic, nature-inspired, pop-up collages and mobiles that celebrate the budding season. Free with admission to the grounds.

ECOLOGY BUILDING, 10AM‒1PM

SUN, MARCH 24    WINTER WORKSPACE OPEN STUDIOS—SESSION 2

For the fourth winter, Glyndor Gallery is transformed into studio spaces for artists to develop new work and offer opportunities for public interaction in the context of the garden. Individual artists share their studio practice with the public on this open studios day. Artists include Firelei Baez, Onyedika Chuke, Francisco Donoso, Tessa Grundon, Lina Puerta and Naomi Reis. Registration not required for this drop-in event. Free with admission to the grounds.

GLYNDOR GALLERY, 1:30‒3PM

SUN, MARCH 24    TERRARIUM WORKSHOP

Don’t have a garden or greenhouse? Create your own tabletop landscape perfect for home or office, with Assistant Director of Public Programs Laurel Rimmer. Tiny ferns, creeping fig and other tropical plants thrive in the humid conditions of an enclosed glass jar as if in their own miniature greenhouse. Ages eight and older welcome with an adult. $35 Member/$50 Non-member per project. Registration required, online at www.wavehill.org, by calling 718.549.3200 x305 or at the Perkins Visitor Center.

ECOLOGY BUILDING, 2PM

SUN, MARCH 24    GARDEN HIGHLIGHTS WALK

Join us for an hour-long tour of seasonal garden highlights. Free with admission to the grounds.

MEET AT PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 2PM

MON, MARCH 25

Closed to the public.

TUE, MARCH 26 THROUGH FRI, MARCH 29    SPRING BREAK VACATION WEEK

Take a break from the spring school break and join us for a family walk, or for one, two or three afternoons of hands-on, down-and-dirty, delightfully fun paper-making with renowned papermaker Randy Brozen. 

TUE, MARCH 26      FAMILY WALK: EARLY SIGNS OF SPRING 

Track down hints of spring in the garden. Search for early-blooming flowers, creepy crawly critters and other garden goodies with Assistant Director of Public Programs Laurel Rimmer. Ages six and older welcome with an adult. Free, and admission to the grounds is free all day.

MEET AT THE PERKINS VISITOR CENTER, 11AM

WED, MARCH 27    SPRING BREAK:  PAPERMAKING 101

Learn how to make your own sheets of beautifully textured paper and experiment with using different kinds of pulp, with renowned papermaker Randy Brozen. Geared for children between the ages 5 to 10 and a parent or caregiver. $15/Member/$23 Non-member per session includes one child and one adult.  Additional child or adult $10. Registration required, online at www.wavehill.org, by calling 718.549.3200 x305 or at the Perkins Visitor Center. Space is limited.

ECOLOGY BUILDING, 1:30–3PM

THU, MARCH 28    SPRING BREAK:  NEW PAPER FROM OLD

Use a variety of recycled papers including tissue paper, wrapping paper and construction paper, plus assorted bits of chopped leaves and other found materials, to create new papers with different colors, textures and patterns, with renowned papermaker Randy Brozen. Geared for children between the ages 5 to 10 and a parent or caregiver. $15/Member/$23 Non-member per session includes one child and one adult.  Additional child or adult $10. Registration required, online at www.wavehill.org, by calling 718.549.3200 x305 or at the Perkins Visitor Center. Space is limited.

ECOLOGY BUILDING, 1:30–3PM

A 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River  and Palisades, Wave Hill’s mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscape, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts.

HOURS  Open all year, Tuesday through Sunday and many major holidays: 9AM—5:30PM. Closes 4:30PM, November 1—March 14.  

ADMISSION  $8 adults, $4 students and seniors 65+, $2 children 6—18. Free Saturday mornings until noon. Free all day Tuesdays in March. Free to Wave Hill Members and children under 6.

PROGRAM FEES  Program s are free with admission to the grounds unless otherwise noted.

Visitors to Wave Hill can take advantage of Metro-North’s one-day getaway offer. Purchase a discount round-trip rail far and discount admission to the gardens. More at http://mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/outbound_wavehill.htm

DIRECTIONS – Getting here is easy! Located only 3o minutes from midtown Manhattan, Wave Hill’s free shuttle van transports you to and from our front gate and Metro-North’s Riverdale station, as well as the 242^nd Street stop on the #1 subway line. Limited onsite parking is available for $8 per vehicle. Free offsite parking is available nearby with continuous, complimentary shuttle service to and from the offsite lot and our front gate. Complete directions and shuttle bus schedule at www.wavehill.org/visit/.

Information at 718.549.3200. On the web at www.wavehill.org.

 

 

LIU STATEMENT ON CITY HALL'S TAXI FLIP-FLOP

             City Comptroller John C. Liu said the following about Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky’s flip-flop on wheelchair-accessible cabs:

“City Hall spent months resisting our calls to make the entire taxi fleet wheelchair accessible and insisting that the flawed, non-wheelchair accessible Taxi of Tomorrow was the only choice for the fleet. Now, after we rejected the Taxi of Tomorrow contract, City Hall has apparently changed its mind. Hooray! If another hearing is what it takes to get the Bloomberg Administration to do the right thing for New Yorkers, let’s go.”

Background:

In December 2012, Comptroller Liu rejected the contract for the flawed, non-wheelchair accessible Taxi of Tomorrow: http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/press/2012_releases/pr12-12-134.shtm

In May 2012, Comptroller Liu requested that Mayor Bloomberg and the TLC amend the proposed Taxi of Tomorrow design to require it be wheelchair accessible before sending any agreement for registration. Comptroller Liu’s May 2, 2012 letter to the Mayor is here: http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/press/2012_releases/pr12-05-047.shtm

Visit www.comptroller.nyc.gov for the latest news, events and initiatives.
Follow Comptroller Liu on Twitter. To receive Twitter updates via text message
 text “follow johncliu” to 40404.
 View the latest Comptroller’s office videos on YouTube.

We're one step closer to a $9 minimum wage in New York State!

Greetings,

I'm proud to say that the New York State Assembly has passed the minimum wage bill, which will be effective January 2014. This life-altering bill, beginning in January 2015, will also be indexed to inflation, that essentially means that the minimum wage will increase as the price of goods and services increases from year to year. 

It is now up to my colleagues in the Senate to help make this a reality! I am confident that this will happen, and will cherish the day when Governor Cuomo signs this needed piece of legislation into law.

Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda-87th District
1973 Westchester Ave
Phone: (718) 931-2620
Bronx, NY 10462

 

 

Save Our Schools Press Release

CARLOS SIERRA HOLDS “SAVE OUR SCHOOLS” MEETING

    One week before the Panel for Educational Policy votes on the closure of P. S. 64 and other schools across New York City, Carlos Sierra and other community advocates gathered at Latino Pastoral Action Center (LPAC) Monday evening to voice their concerns towards what lies ahead for students in the affected schools. For Sierra, the fight is personal. “I attended Taft High School (in which one of the small schools, Jonathan Levin High School, also faces closure) and eventually dropped out due to the lack of resources,” Sierra said. “Although I made it to college, it took me three extra years to graduate because of all of the remedial classes I had to take [in reading, writing and math].” Sierra adds that he does not want students at P. S. 64, a school that has been graded “D” over the last two years, to suffer a similar fate.
    Carmen Rojas, an advocate who helped save P. S. 132 in Washington Heights from a similar fate, told organizers how to get attention from the decision-makers. “After emergency meetings like this one, we must set up a defense committee, who will frequently outreach the chancellor and the media,” Rojas said in Spanish. “But before all of this can happen, we must first mobilize titirimundati (the whole world) – the parents.”
    At the meeting, Sierra announced two events in which parents would be able to voice their concerns to the powers that be. The first is a mayoral forum featuring the candidates for the 2013 mayoral election. It will take place this Saturday, March 9 at 2 p.m., at La Resurrection Church, located on East 158th Street and Elton Avenue in the Bronx. The second is the Panel for Educational Policy's vote on the school closures, which will take place in a public hearing on Monday, March 11, at Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, beginning at 6 p.m.
    For the March 11 hearing, Sierra will be meeting anyone willing to join him in voicing his/her mind to the panel at Wendy's, at West 170th Street and Jerome Avenue, at 3:30 p.m.

Panel for Educational Policy Vote on School Closures

Monday March 11 at 6 p.m.

Brooklyn Technical High School

29 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Meet Carlos Sierra at Wendy's on Jerome Av and West 170th Street at 3:30 p.m.

For More Information, Please Contact the Sierra HELPLINE at (347)-913-6050

Our Children, Our Future. Join Our Efforts

Sierra 2013: Family – Community – Progress

REGISTER NOW FOR BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ'S HEALTH & WELLNESS SUMMIT

Bronx Borough President is urging concerned individuals from the Bronx and across the City to register for his upcoming Health & Wellness Summit, to be held at Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus on Saturday, April 6, 2013, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“We see this event as a major first step towards a comprehensive health and wellness agenda for not just the Bronx but the entire City, and I urge everyone with an interest in these important topics to sign up for a day of thought-provoking discussion on the health of our City,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

Individuals may register to attend the summit at Borough President Diaz’s website, http://bronxboropres.nyc.gov/health/health-summit.html. Up to 30 breakout sessions will be held as part of the summit, and can be registered for at the website, as well.  Spanish language breakouts and translators will also be available.

The summit’s keynote address will be given by Dr. Max Gomez, award-winning health correspondent for CBS.

One of TV’s most respected medical journalists, Dr. Max Gomez has produced award-winning health and science segments for network stations in New York and Philadelphia.

Dr. Max has reported for Dateline, Today Show and 48 Hours. Over almost three decades, he’s earned nine Emmy Awards, three NY State Broadcaster’s Association awards and UPI’s “Best Documentary” award.

In addition to NYC’s 'Excellence in Time of Crisis' for his September 11 coverage, Dr. Max has been singled out nationally for special award recognition by the Leukemia Society and The National Marfan Foundation.  He was also named the American Health Foundation's “Man of the Year.”

A noted moderator and speaker, Dr. Max is the regular moderator for Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Cancer Smart public education series. He was also the moderator for a three day, international conference on adult stem cells hosted by and held at the Vatican.

Dr. Max also trains physicians nationally in public speaking and presentation, speaking to groups as diverse as the National Cancer Institute and the College of American Pathologists.