STATEMENT FROM BP DIAZ--RE: Municipal ID Cards In New York City

   “I congratulate Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Members Carlos Menchaca and Daniel Dromm, as well as the entire City Council for passing legislation to create municipal identification cards in our city. I have called for municipal identification cards since I first served in the New York State Assembly, and today’s vote marks a major step forward for equity in treatment for undocumented residents of the five boroughs.

“For too long, the undocumented community has been denied important services for lack of proper paperwork. In addition, municipal identification cards will make it easier for this community to cooperate with law enforcement.

“My office handles many constituent cases each year from undocumented residents and their families, and many of them are afraid to cooperate with city government and the police for fear of reprisal. This proposal will bring this community out of the shadows, making our city safer for everyone. I congratulate Mayor de Blasio for making this proposal a priority in his ‘State of the City,’” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

Is Oliver Koppell Withdrawing Today at 2 PM

  34th State Senate candidate Oliver Koppell has scheduled a press conference for today at 2 PM outside the campaign office of State Senator Jeff Klein to argue that the IDC has harmed Bronx voters. However after what has happened in Albany between the IDC and Governor Cuomo where Senator Klein and the governor have jointly announced that the IDC will be joining senate Democrats for a co-leadership role some are questioning what Koppell will say.

  Candidate Koppell also fired his Robert Byrd Akleh, campaign manager for comments that were anti-Israel and for other comments against Governor Cuomo.  I would suspect that candidate Oliver Koppell is going to withdraw, and support Senator Klein now that the IDC will be joining with senate Democrats.   I would expect the same from IDC member challenger Tony Avella's challenger John Liu.

Check back later for what happened at the Koppell press conference.

IDC to Join With Senate Democratic Conference

  When State Senate IDC & Co-Leader Jeff Klein received the endorsement of Riverdale Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Andrew Cohen, and other prominent Riverdale Democratic party officials on Friday May 17th I asked Senator Klein if the IDC is going to rejoin with the Senate Democratic Conference.  Senator Klein was very vague in his answer saying that we would have to wait until after the election for an answer. One of Senator Klein's aides wanted to know why I asked that question, and here is the reason. 

Today a joint statement from Senator Jeff Klein and Governor Andrew Coumo reads that the IDC is indeed going to rejoin with the Senate Democratic Conference after the November election.

JOINT STATEMENTS FROM GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO AND SENATOR JEFFREY D. KLEIN 

Senator Jeffrey D. Klein said, “The Independent Democratic Conference has served as a strong, stabilizing, sensible force for governing in New York State for four years. Under a first-of-its kind bipartisan, coalition government the IDC ushered in a functioning New York State Senate and delivered unprecedented results for working families, including four consecutive on-time budgets, passing the toughest gun control laws in the nation, marriage equality, an increase to the minimum wage, universal pre-k for thousands of toddlers and the safe, regulated use of medical marijuana.

“Yet as we reflect on these past achievements, it is also clear that core Democratic policy initiatives that the IDC championed remain unfinished. As Democrats, the IDC remains committed to the fight for an equal education for all New York students - which the Dream Act would provide, protecting a woman's right to choose, increasing workers' wages, and enacting meaningful campaign finance reform. I agree with Governor Cuomo that these are progressive priorities we must pass.

“Therefore all IDC members are united and agree to work together to form a new majority coalition between the Independent Democratic Conference and the Senate Democratic Conference after the November elections in order to deliver the results that working families across this state still need and deserve,” 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said, “I applaud the IDC’s decision. There is no doubt that we have accomplished much for the state over the past four years. We have transformed the state government from dysfunctional to highly functional, a deficit to a surplus, and losing jobs to gaining jobs. There is also no doubt there are progressive goals that we have yet to achieve and that we must accomplish next January.”

Editors Note:

I expect that the challenge to Senator Jeff Klein by Oliver Koppell, and the challenge to IDC member Senator Tony Avella by former City Comptroller John Liu (who I interviewed for Thursday's edition of the Bronx News & Parkchester News) to disappear now that this agreement has been reached.

One has to also wonder if those seats won by democrats in the state senate in 2012 are in danger of being lost to strong Republican challengers. 

MOTION TO RENEW LAWSUIT AGAINST FRESHDIRECT DENIED

MOTION TO RENEW LAWSUIT AGAINST FRESHDIRECT DENIED

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and FreshDirect CEO Jason Ackerman issued the following statement today upon learning that the motion to renew a previously dismissed lawsuit designed to stop FreshDirect’s relocation to The Bronx has been denied by the courts.

The complete ruling can be found here: http://bronxboropres.nyc.gov/pdf/2014-06-25.pdf.

“This ruling clears the way for a transformative development project, and the thousands of jobs that will come with it, to make its way to The Bronx. FreshDirect, as well as the various agencies that helped to shepherd this important deal, have been vindicated at every turn by the courts, and this ruling is no exception,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

FreshDirect CEO Jason Ackerman said: “We are of course pleased with this decision, and look forward to servicing our customers from our new state of the art facility in The Bronx. We are working hard to make that a reality. With that new facility, we will bring more than a 1,000 new jobs to the Bronx, many to be filled by local residents.”

Borough President Diaz added, “This key economic development project is crucial to the future of this borough, and my office has not wavered in our support of FreshDirect and their relocation to The Bronx for that reason. The economic health and vitality of this borough is of preeminent importance to my administration, and I am satisfied that the legal efforts to derail this project have been given a fair hearing and have been dismissed.”

FreshDirect’s relocation to The Bronx will create 1,000 new jobs while also relocating 2,000 jobs to The Bronx from Queens. Already, FreshDirect has displayed their commitment to the Bronx through hiring initiatives that have led to Bronx residents getting jobs at their existing Queens facility, the impending greening of their delivery fleet, the expansion of their services to the entire borough, food donations to Bronx families during the holiday season and their efforts to expand their services to EBT users.

Bronx 100 Scavenger Hunt

BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT RUBEN DIAZ JR.
& THE BRONX TOURISM COUNCIL

LAUNCH THE ‘BRONX 100 SCAVENGER HUNT’

June 25, 2014, Bronx, NY—Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and The Bronx Tourism Council announced today that entries are on sale for the “Bronx 100 Scavenger Hunt,” which will pit teams of four from all over the region in a competition focusing on Bronx history, culture and the redevelopment of the “New Bronx.”

The event will take place all-day on Saturday, July 12, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Bronx County Courthouse. Teams will earn points by taking pictures of various Bronx landmarks and destinations, with the highest scoring team winning $2,500. The day will close with a party for scavenger hunt participants, and will feature other giveaways and prizes.

Only 40 teams will have an opportunity to participate in the event. Entries can be purchased for $40 per team at ilovethebronx.com.

“Throughout our centennial celebrations we have been focused on highlighting the ‘New Bronx.’ This contest will give teams from all over a chance to learn about our borough, see firsthand the progress we have made, and maybe even win a prize,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

“It’s a fun and adventurous way to discover The Bronx, learn about its rich history, and meet new people!” said Olga Luz Tirado, executive director of The Bronx Tourism Council.

“New York Community Bancorp is proud to be the principal sponsor of the ‘Bronx 100 Scavenger Hunt.’ Great things are happening in The Bronx, and this event will help highlight many of the new projects and new developments that are changing the way the world thinks about this wonderful borough,” said Christopher B. Beck, Vice President of New York Community Bancorp.

For more information about the Bronx Centennial celebrations and other borough events, visitilovethebronx.com.

13th Congressional Results

My prediction for the 13th congressional race was that Adriano Espiallat was going to be the victor, and I also had the number 44 with the prediction. I said that candidate Yolanda Garcia would be a non factor in this race getting only 1 percent of the vote. Candidate Michael Walrond was going to be the key to this election I said, and he certainly was. I thought that Mr. Walrond would wind up with 12 - 15 percent of the vote.

So how did I do?

The results were -

Congressman Charlie Rangel received 47 % 

Adriano Espiallat                        received 44 %

Michael Walrond                         received   8 %

Youlanda Garcia                          received   1 %   

Rangel won by 1828 votes this election over Espiallat, but with over 2,000 Absentee and affidavit ballots still to count candidate Espaillat has not conceded the election to Rangel. 

As for my prediction - I thought that candidate Warlond would do much better than he did, and it appears that his lack of getting more votes was the reason for the Rangel win. I was correct on the 44, as that appears to be the percentage that candidate Espiallat received, and had candidate Walrond gotten a higher percentage of the vote it would have been the difference in the election.

Congressman Charlie Rangel has said that he will get back at those Bronx elected officials who endorsed him in 2012, but failed to this year, and endorsed his opponent for this election.

STATEMENT FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ RE: New York City's Rent Guidelines Board vote

STATEMENT FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ

RE: New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board vote

"Although the Rent Guidelines Board vote on Monday is a first step in the right direction for our City by keeping the increase to a historic minimum it does not go far enough. It is therefore vital to offer more relief to the poor and middle-class of our City, given how many residents are struggling and have not seen their own paychecks increase over the past few years. 

“In the future, in order to address the city’s growing income inequality, we should consider a rent freeze combined with a property tax decrease so that the people of this city have more money in their pockets, while also providing relief to property and home owners. The city needs to work to do more to diversify its housing stock not just by  creating opportunities for low and middle-income housing but also developing greater chances  for homeownership. New York City should be a place everyone can afford to live in and we should utilize every opportunity to preserve affordability for all New Yorkers,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

New R.A.I.N Senior Center

 Today was the ribbon cutting for the new R.A.I.N. (Regional Aid for Interim Needs inc.) senior center located at 3377 White Plains Road in the Gun Hill section of the Bronx. On hand were almost 200 R.A.I.N. supporters and local elected officials to cut the ribbon and give short speeches. Councilman Andy King was the hit of this event sporting a red checkered jacket with matching red bow-tie. Also on hand was Assemblyman Carl Heastie, representatives of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., City Comptroller Scott Stringer, State Senator Ruth Hassel-Thompson, and soon to be 98 years old R.A.I.N. founder Ms. Beatrice Castiglia-Catullo.  

Left - Councilman Andy King shows his flare for clothes with his jacket and matching Bow-Tie. Norma Diego King's Director of Constituent Services is with him.

Right Councilman King speaks to Ms. Beatrice Castiglia-Catullo the founder of R.A.I.N. about just how R.A.I.N. is important to him and the community.

Left - Evelyn Cintron the director of this new R.A.I.N. senior center tells of the story of how she came to R.A.I.N. and became the director of this site.

Right - Just some of the standing room only crowd that was in attendance.

Finally after all the speeches the ribbon is cut to officially open the new R.A.I.N. senior center with 70 housing units located at 3377 White Plains road. 

On October 30th R.A.I.N. will be 50 years old, and its founder Ms. Beatrice Castigilia-Catullo (center with the scissors) will turn 98.