New Signs for Bronx Parkways

    Those big old huge hanging arm signs that told you of the upcoming exits on Bronx parkways are coming down as you see in the photo above. In the lower right hand corner you can see the new much smaller street level posted sign for this exit, Mosholu Parkway.

   The New York State Department of Transportation is taking down those old illuminated signs that hung over the parkways to put up new smaller street level reflective signs, which are non illuminated at a savings of millions of dollars in electricity costs. Below are a few more photos of this sign as it is taken down, 

  Here you can see that the sign portion is off with the arm pole awaiting to be taken down.

 
  Another photo as workers start to dismantle the sign. The arm pole would be next.

NYC's Pilot Compost Program in Trouble, with Shutdown of Delaware Processor

   In a story from WNYC New York City's fledgling composting program has hit a major snag. It appears that the processing plant that took food scraps from New York City in the pilot program of 'Food Composting' has shut down. This is forcing the city to mix the composting in with its regular landfill garbage at least until another composting plant can be found that can handle the NYC composting.

   the problem was the highly-contaminated nature of New York City's organic waste, known in the composting industry as "feedstock."  Most composting companies are small operations that take feedstock that's relatively easy to break down, like rotting fruits and vegetables, leaves, and grass clippings. 

  Peninsula Composting Group's facility in Wilmington, Del.,  took composting that included contaminants such as discarded eggs, dead chicks from hatcheries, manure-filled animal bedding, and decaying meat and bones. The facility also took material that was highly contaminated with plain old garbage, using magnets to pull out metals and employees to pick out plastics and other non-organic stuff. 

   In October, Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control refused to renew Peninsula's permit. After a public hearing that drew 200 people.where most of the audience testified against the composting plant, they describing odors that were so awful they induced nausea and prevented children from playing outdoors. Equipment was found not to be working among other violations at the plant. 

  With the closure of the Delaware composting plant NYC must now send the composting material to normal landfills. It is now up in the air as to when the city can or will increase its composting pilot program. An section of Community Board 8 was to be one of the next increased composting areas, but this is now put on hold until the city can find a new composting plant that can handle the cities composting materials.

Assemblyman Dinowitz warns Bronx residents of scams including ones involving Green Dot MoneyPak cards

  Numerous Bronx residents received calls in recent days from scammers who claimed to represent Con Edison and the IRS

   Assemblyman Dinowitz, Chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, has been contacted by numerous constituents about several scams this holiday season, including ones that involve Green Dot MoneyPak cards. Scammers claiming to represent Con Edison and the IRS have called residents in the Northwest Bronx, including Assemblyman Dinowitz himself, threatening drastic action unless alleged debts are paid immediately. The scammers often demand payment using Green Dot MoneyPak cards, which are readily available in local pharmacies and other stores. At least one business in Riverdale has already been scammed this past week.

Assemblyman Dinowitz said, “Recently, many of my constituents received calls from scammers who threatened to shut off their electricity if they didn’t receive payments for alleged debts. Others, including myself, received calls from people claiming to represent the IRS about fictional tax liabilities. These fraudulent calls seem to be well-coordinated and widespread attempts to take advantage of individuals during the holiday season. I urge everyone to take extra precautions to protect themselves and loved ones from scams such as these.”

The 50^th Police Precinct has previously issued a crime prevention alert regarding Green Dot MoneyPak cards. Their crime prevention tips include:

• Be suspicious of callers who demand immediate payment for any reason.
• Never give out personal or financial information to anyone who emails or calls you unsolicited.
• Never wire money, provide debit or credit card numbers or Green Dot MoneyPak card numbers to someone you do not know.
• Utility companies and government agencies will not contact you demanding immediate payment by MoneyPak.

The full alert can be seen here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_prevention/greendot.pdf

Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj Celebrates 102 Years of Albanian Independence

  Hundreds of Albanians and even many non Albanians (such as myself) helped Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj celebrate the 102nd Anniversary of the independence of Albania at Maestros in the 80th Assembly District. Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj is the first person of Albanian decent to be elected to the state legislature. 

  Elected officials on hand included Assemblyman Gjonaj's good friend and counterpart in the State Senate State Senator Jeff Klein. Gjonaj represents the assembly district that Klein held man years ago before being elected to the state senate in 2005. 

  

  There were performances from The Albanian School of the Bronx and Alba Life School in Brooklyn. Assemblyman Gjonaj gave out 3 citations for those who have helped the Albanian community the most. The first citation went to the Service Workers Union 32 BJ for having 20,000 of its 145,000 members being of Albanian heritage. The second citation went to the Bronx Jewish Community Council for its food pantry that services over 400 local people in the 80th A.D. area. Assemblyman Gjonaj was shocked to learn that of the 400 people serviced by the BJCC about 100 are Albanians. The third citation went to Mr. Zeqir Kukaj who helped set up the Albanian community in the Bronx. Gjonaj said to him 'Zequir 'Without you this could not have been possible'. Gjonaj said that there will soon be a new community center in the Pelham Parkway area. He said it will be for senior citizens, children, and the community as a whole. 

  Political buzz at the event- I spoke to a high ranking 32 BJ union official (who asked to remain anonymous) about Mayor de Blasio. The 32 BJ person said that they believes that de Blasio will be a one term mayor only, and we agreed on many of the reasons. We spoke of just who might challenge him in 2017, and Controller Scott Stringers name came up. Public Advocate Tish James was mentioned, but we agreed that she and de Blasio both in the race would hurt each other. We then went to who would run for City Controller should Stringer run for mayor. The names of 2 current borough presidents came up. Eric Adams of Brooklyn, and Ruben Diaz Jr. of the Bronx. I asked which of the 2 would 32 BJ endorse, and I was told since both BP's are very close friends of the union that 32 BJ might not endorse either of the 2 BP's.

  Senator Jeff Klein seemed confident that he and the IDC would have a seat at the table in January when the new state senate convenes. When I asked him if he was worried what may happen in 2 years, he looked at me and said 'look at what happened this year'. He added 'this was the year that Democrats were going to win the State Senate'. 'Democrats did not gain any seats, Democrats lost seats' he said harshly. 

 I am sorry that there are no photos of the event.

Bronx Democratic County Committee Holiday Party Dec 17th

Senator Jeff Klein Turns Up the Heat on the Coldest Bronx Buildings

   State Senator Jeff Klein today released a report, “Turning Up the Heat: An Investigative Report into The Bronx’s Coldest Buildings,” which includes a list of the top 15 heat code offenders in the borough.

As chilly temperatures set in, tenants, who reside in buildings on the list, have already called in complaints of “no heat” or “no heat/hot water” to the city’s Housing and Preservation Department.

The top offender, University Avenue L.P.’s 30 Buchanan Place, racked up 96 complaints from tenants as of October 1 and accumulated over 320 complaints since October 2013, according to HPD records.

“It’s deplorable that some residents are being left in the cold. My investigation reveals that landlords who landed on my office’s worst heat code offender list persistently left tenants without heat and this could lead to something chilling: death,” said Senator Klein.

“Buildings must remain in compliance with wintry temperatures upon us. HPD should create a task force to keep an eye on buildings in each borough with a high number of complaints, should help tenants understand their rights and require top offenders to post performance bonds to ensure that repairs are made on the landlords dime instead of the taxpayers,” Klein continued.

Top 15 Heat Offenders

Building Owner/ Location	2013 (From 10/2013)	2014(From 1/2014)	Starting 10/1/14	Total	Zip Code
UNIVERSITY AVENUE, L.P. (30 BUCHANAN PLACE)	37	289	96	326	10453
FORDHAM FULTON LLC (530 EAST 169 STREET)	74	185	25	259	10456
FORDHAM FULTON LLC (480 EAST 188 STREET)	5	195	35	200	10458
RIVERVIEW REDEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. (1600 SEDGWICK AVENUE)	75	43	13	118	10453
B&L CONCOURSE HSNG AS (1290 GRAND CONCOURSE/1326 GRAND CONCOURSE)	45	63	11	108	10456
MARION ECHO TWIN ETC (2474 MARION AVENUE; 264 ECHO PLACE)	0	89	15	89	10458
1691 FULTON AVENUE ASSOCIATES, L.P. (1691 FULTON AVENUE)	50	30	0	80	10457
BRONX 360 REALTY LLC (930 FOX STREET; 940 FOX STREET; 940 SIMPSON STREET; 941 SIMPSON STREET)	34	44	2	78	10459
BOYNTON ACQUISITION C (875 BOYNTON AVENUE)	41	16	10	57	10473
1068 GERARD PARTNERSHIP, L.P.(1068 GERARD AVENUE)	24	32	0	56	10452
UNIMAC DEVELOPER, L.P. (1605 UNIVERSITY AVENUE; 1611 UNIVERSITY AVENUE; 1615 UNIVERSITY AVENUE; 1645 MACOMBS ROAD; 1669 UNIVERSITY AVENUE)	21	34	10	56	10453
UNDERCLIFF HOLDING LLC (1590 UNDERCLIFF AVENUE)	20	35	6	55	10453
NDI BOSTON RD DEVELET (1212 BOSTON ROAD; 1214 BOSTON ROAD; 1216 BOSTON ROAD)	19	31	2	50	10456
KINGSBRIDGE REALTY ASSOCIATES LLC (3424 KINGSBRIDGE AVENUE)	16	31	5	47	10463
STELLAR MORRISON LLC (1222 MORRISON AVENUE)	14	25	0	39	10472

In The Bronx, a correlation existed between heat violations and the percentage of residents living below the poverty level. Over half of the buildings that made the top 15 list were in zip codes 10453, 10456 and 10458, where approximately 40 % of residents live below the poverty line.

To combat persistent offenders, Senator Klein recommended that HPD monitor each buildings by borough by and create similar watch lists containing buildings with 20 or more complaints. He recommended that a HPD create a Heat Violator Task Force to conduct surprise compliance inspections of buildings on those lists.

Buildings owners are required to provide heat between October 1 and May 31.

Senator Klein also suggested that HPD require repeat violators to post a performance bond, which could be used if the city is forced to make heating repairs. Currently the city pays for repairs with non-compliant landlords and bills the owner, leaving no recourse for the taxpayer.

Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj Celebrates 102 Years of Albanian Independence

New York State Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj is holding a celebration on Sunday, Nov. 30 at Maestro's Caterers in the Bronx in honor of the 102nd Anniversary of Albanian Independence. 

This year, Assemblyman Gjonaj, the first Albanian-American individual elected into government office, will celebrate and honor the contributions made to and from the Albanian community. Guests will enjoy food and refreshments, and performances from The Albanian School of the Bronx and Alba Life School in Brooklyn.

Honorable mentions will be presented to organizations and individuals whom have made tremendous impacts and contributions to the Albanian community in and outside of the Bronx. Honorees include 32BJ SEIU, BJCC: The Bronx Jewish Community Council and Zeqir Kukaj. 

The event be from 2 - 6 PM, with the flag raising ceremony and honors at 4 PM. For more information, please contact Nathalia Fernandez. 646 - 996 - 3537.

         

BP DIAZ ISSUES 'LINKNYC' WI-FI REPORT

  In a new report Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is calling on the City to pursue an environmentally-friendly component to the new, free wireless network, LinkNYC, announced by Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) last week.

The new system, which will replace existing public pay telephones with devices to create the world’s fastest municipal Wi-Fi network, should include the installation of solar panels as part of the new installations, said Borough President Diaz.

“DoITT needs to ensure that the implementation of the ‘LinkNYC’ plan is equitable, resilient and meets the needs of the people of this city regardless of their neighborhood or income level. Serious questions have been raised about ‘LinkNYC,’ and DoITT must address those concerns before this contract is approved,” said Borough President Diaz.

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy has taught us that all major infrastructure investments need to be implemented in a manner that incorporates sustainability and resiliency for major emergencies. 

The design selected has several desirbale feautures.  However, the 24-hour battery back up is insufficient.  After Hurricane Sandy, lower Manhattan was out of power for five days.  “LinkNYC” should be required to implement a design that incorporates solar power and reduces the network’s dependence on ConEdison.

Borough President Diaz’s report outlines various recommendations for the implementation of “LinkNYC,” including the potential inclusion of fire call boxes as part of the system. The report also discusses the various fiscal issues similar networks have faced in other cities, such as Philadelphia, Seattle and Akron. Greater transparency is needed in regards to the projected advertising revenue generated by this new system, in order to ensure greater equity in service delivery.

The report can be found at http://on.nyc.gov/11PZgCl.