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Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Bronx Chamber of Commerce "Good Scout" Award Reception Wed. Dec. 2, 2015
Annual Bronx Chanukah Celebration Tuesday December 8, 2015
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Monday, November 23, 2015
LOCAL LEADERS ANNOUNCE INSTALLATION OF TRAFFIC LIGHT OUTSIDE OF PS 24
Department of Transportation Has Approved the Installation of a Traffic Signal at Independence Avenue and West 235th Street
In an effort to create a safe environment outside of Public School 24 Council Member Andrew Cohen, Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz and Congressman Eliot Engel penned repeated requests to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for a traffic light at the intersection of Independence Avenue and West 235th Street.
With two large schools in close proximity to the intersection of Independence Avenue and West 235th Street can become extremely busy and congested during arrival and dismissal times, making it difficult for students and parents to safely cross the street. Despite efforts to reduce traffic flow by parents carpooling, walking or taking public transportation, the issue continued to persist.
After conducting a traffic study, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has approved the installation of a traffic control device at this intersection and is expected to be installed by February of 2016.
“My colleagues and I have been insisting on the installation of this traffic light for quite some time. This particular area sees an overflow of pedestrians and motorists with several large residential buildings, schools and a library nearby. I would like to thank DOT for hearing the concerns of my neighbors and agreeing that this is the safest solution for everyone,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen.
“This new traffic signal will significantly improve safety for not only P.S. 24’s students and teachers, but for all residents in our neighborhood. I originally requested this traffic signal because of my concern, and the concerns of parents, that this intersection where P.S. 24, the Spuyten Duyvil Library, and Seton Park all come together was an accident waiting to happen. I am happy the City Department of Transportation listened to the concerns of the community and its elected officials,” said Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz.
“Council Member Cohen, Assemblyman Dinowitz, and I have been asking for this traffic light on West 235th Street and Independence Avenue for many years,” said Congressman Eliot Engel. “With two schools, a library, Seton Park, and several large residential buildings all within a 2 block radius of the intersection, an additional traffic light will provide better safety for motorists and pedestrians. I thank NYC DOT for listening to us and acting to improve traffic safety in our community.”
“DOT is happy to continue working with Councilmember Cohen and the local community to implement this much needed traffic signal,” said DOT Bronx Borough Commissioner Constance Moran. “The signal will help students and parents of P.S. 24, as well as all who cross this intersection, travel more confidently and safely.”
EDITORS NOTE:
This issue first came up during the 2009 City Council campaign when one candidate was trying to pander to parents, because their children had to cross Independence Avenue at this intersection to attend classes in the Whitehall Annex. The Whitehall Annex lease was not renewed by the Department of Education, and after June of this year public schoolchildren will no longer have to cross Independence Avenue at this intersection to attend any classes.
Will the buses that have to double park on West 235th Street as well as the parents who double and triple park around the school end now that this traffic light will be installed? Another question to our local elected officials is, since there is no enforcement of the current traffic regulations what makes you think people will stop at this light?
When there are many more accidents similar to those that occur at intersections where traffic lights are will that change anything? Just three traffic lights at four intersections in a row of a street that has children only half of the year. The other half of the year we will see what happens, the residents suffer.
So does this mean comes the end of June this year the new traffic light put in especially so P S 24 students could cross Independence Avenue to go to the Whitehall annex and to the main school building will be removed?
Viva our local elected officials, Mayor Bill deBlasio is getting what he wants a traffic light on almost every corner. What is next for our local elected officials to give their beloved mayor, pedestrian islands on Independence Avenue?
We Should Take Care of Our Own Before Anybody Else
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Senator Rev Rubén DÃaz
District 32 Bronx County, New York
You should know that the bold statements made by President Barack Hussein Obama, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, with respect to the compassion that Americans need to have for the Syrian refugees, do not reflect the actions of these three leaders.
It is important for you to know that here in the United States of America, we have more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. We have millions of senior citizens who live in poverty and have to decide if they should eat, pay their rent, buy their medication, or just allow themselves to die. Many of our nation’s veterans remain homeless, without enough food to eat, without disability benefits, and without tuition assistance.
Millions of Americans are homeless, going hungry every night. So many live hand to mouth, with parents working two or three jobs just to make ends meet. American families struggle just to eat and pay for their children’s higher education – while non-Americans attend our schools tuition free.
It is also important for you to know that here in New York City, we have more than 40,000 homeless families. This week, almost 60,000 people will sleep in New York City’s municipal shelters. People who don’t have anywhere to live are placed in shelters like animals. So many of their children receive poor education in overcrowded public school classrooms.
According to U.S. State Department, the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Syria (we have donated $4.5 billion dollars since the Syrian Conflict began in 2011). Nonetheless, President Obama talks about the need for us to be humanitarians, and insists upon bringing thousands of refugees to the United States, against the will of the majority of the American people and the United States Congress. Many people believe that by doing this, the President may be putting American lives in danger.
On the other hand, President Obama will go down in history of this nation as the President who has deported more people than any other President. Among those deported are Dominicans, Mexicans, Africans, Haitians, Asians, and others. These people have been deported, sometime breaking their families apart, without showing them any compassion.
As they say: All Lives Matters.
It is also important, my dear reader, for you to know that Mayor Bill de Blasio has also come out criticizing anyone who opposes bringing Syrian refugees into the United States, calling them: “an embarrassment to this country.”
Those words were spoken by New York City’s Mayor after two years into his Administration, as he refuses to even admit the chaotic conditions of New York City’s homeless.
We have to be thankful to New York City Police Department’s Commissioner William Bratton who publicly criticized his boss, stating: "The mistake the Administration made early on was not validating what everyone was seeing ... The problem was increasing."
It is important for Mayor Bill de Blasio to address the egregious conditions that exist in our public schools, where teachers cannot properly teach because of the lack of resources, and children are subjected to extreme overcrowd conditions in the classroom.
He should also take care of the 40,000 homeless families in the City of New York and all of the problems that exist in the City's homeless shelters.
Families throughout New York City are going through hell because of the skyrocketing rents. Residents in New York City’s Housing Authority buildings don’t receive essential repairs for their apartments for more than three years. Their roofs are leaking, causing all sorts of health problems for people who are exposed to mold and mildew. Their apartments are infested with rats and roaches, etc. etc. - and the Mayor talks about the need for compassion.
And we should not forget our beloved Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has come out in public to use the Statue of Liberty as a reason why we should be compassionate. If we don’t welcome refugees, Governor Cuomo says we should “take down the Statue of Liberty” because of what it symbolizes.
But surprise, surprise. As recently as last week, New Yorkers are circulating a letter and collecting signatures to put pressure on Governor Andrew Cuomo so he could assign money to be spent on the housing conditions for families, senior citizens and homeless in the State of New York, money that he continues to refuse to allocate.
In the Book of Galatians, Paul the Apostle orders us: "So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, but first with the people closest to us ...” [Gal 6:9-10]
My dear reader, we cannot bring more refugees into our nation when we continue to deport and divide immigrant families, especially when we give our own families little chance to survive.
There are almost 25,000 children sleeping in New York City’s municipal shelter system. Classrooms in our public schools are overcrowded. The fate, health and security of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants remain uncertain. As our aging population continues to grow, senior citizens continue to have their critical services cut. Our Veterans are living in the middle of what is called a “leadership crisis” within the healthcare system that serves over 9.1 million veterans.
We should do good to everyone, as Paul said, but first we should do for our own.
I am Senator Reverend Rubén DÃaz and this is what you should know.
Bronx Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party and Toy Drive
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Friends of Van Cortlandt Park - How You Help to Bring Youth, Community and Nature Together
Dear Friend:
We are thankful for YOU! 2015 was one of the organization’s most successful years for programming, trail improvements and overall advocacy for the park. With your support, we have achieved our goals for “Bringing Youth and Community Together.”
Programs. During fiscal year 2015, the Friends actively engaged the largest number of participants in our history with 6,653 children and adults participating in our programs. Milestones achieved:
- Reached over 2,500 students through our Van Cortlandt Adventures educational programs;
- Hired 12 interns for a Summer Teen Trail Crew internship who completed several trail restoration projects over seven weeks;
- Ran our Youth Run Farm Stand internship program at two sites that provided fresh local grown produce to the local communities
Trails. Friends worked with over 1,600 volunteers on garden, forest, and trail restoration projects. We have also secured funding to continue our Trails Project Manager staff position and extend his work to wetlands through grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
VCP 2034 Master Plan. FVCP’s advocacy directly resulted in millions of dollars of capital funding of three major components of the 2034 VCP Master Plan—(1) the pedestrian bridge across the Major Deegan Expressway; (2) a new children’s playground in the Northwest Corner of the Park and (3) John Kieran Trail improvements that are a part of our Trails Plan.
Your Support. Your financial support through this annual appeal will help us continue our cherished programming, trail work and advocacy for Van Cortlandt Park. Please take a moment to make a tax deductible, end-of-year contribution. With your support, the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park will be able to enter in the New Year with resources that ensure Van Cortlandt Park is even more vibrant in 2016.
Thank you and best wishes,
Christopher Rizzo, Chairman & Christina Taylor, Executive Director
Saturday, November 21, 2015
100 Percent Saturday November 21, 2015
100 PERCENT
By Robert Press
REJECTED
That was what the Bronx Borough Board said to the two City Planning Commission proposals called MIH and ZQA when the vote was over. All 12 Bronx Community Boards said no to both even after boards 6 and 9 had originally voted in favor of the two CPC proposals. It seems that both CB 6 and CB 9 were somewhat confused by the quickness of the presentation at their board level, and thought that they had to vote on the night of the presentation to them by CPC. After some clarity, and the second presentation at the borough level both boards that were in favor suddenly realized that Bronxites were united from all over the borough that the MIH and ZQA zoning Text Amendments were wrong for the Bronx and for their community board.
All city council members with the exception of council member Mark-Vivirito who abstained, and council members Cabrera and Vacca who were absent voted to reject the MIH and ZQA proposals. Then it was Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s turn to vote, and he gave a short speech about what is wrong with the CPC MIH and ZQA proposals, and how the city can not make a one size fits all plan when the 51 neighborhoods of the Bronx are of their own character. What may be good for one neighborhood may not be good for another. BP Diaz's full comments can be found in the archive section of this blog
Newly elected Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark has formed her transition team in order make the change in the office go as smooth as possible. the entire listing of her transition team can be found in the archive section .
The Bronx Chamber of Commerce held their annual Veterans Brunch along with a Job/Resource fair last week, and over 200 Veterans from the various wars were in attendance. New President and CEO of the BCC Nunzio Del Greco was introduced by BCC Chairman Joe Kelleher, and Executive Director Michelle Dolgow-Christrofaro announced that she would be leaving the BCC to take a position with State Senator Jeff Klein. Photos of the event can be found on this blog.
Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, and the North Bronx Democratic Club will be hosting their 1st Holiday Dinner (which is sure to become an annual event) on Tuesday December 1st at Maestro's Caterers located at 1703 Bronxdale Avenue from 6 - 9 PM. The Guest of Honor is New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and the Honorees include Norman Seabrook, Beatrice Castiglia Catuillo, Joseph Kelleher, and Meisha Ross Porter. For more information and to purchase tickets and/or journal ad, you can call 347-256-8719, or email northbronxdems@gmail.com. The invitation is also on this blog just check the archive section.
The trial of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is winding down as closing arguments are due next. The U.S. Attorney tried to carve out a scheme in different ways of Silver receiving 'Kickbacks' better know as client referrals on different occasions from different people. Silvers defense team claims that the U.S. Attorney did not prove its case and rested not calling a witness. We should have a verdict in this case before the first snowfall.
The trial of former State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son Adam Skelos began with what seems to me to be an open and shut case of what use to be common in the Bronx. The U.S.Attorney claims that the elder Skelos used his influence as Senate Majority Leader to get his son Adam several no show jobs on different occasions. Is it a coincidence or as many have said 'What goes on in Albany Politics' that one of the same witnesses called by the U.S. Attorney for the Silver trial also testified in the Skelos trial.
Lastly, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has announced that he is accepting applications for membership on any of the 12 Bronx Community Boards. Community Board members serve two year terms, and half the board members are up for reappointment every year. Some members leave, do not reapply, or in some rare cases are not reappointed to their respective community boards so new members are put on in their place. Applications are available at the Bronx Borough President's Community Board office, your local community board office, or online at bronxboropres.nyc.gov . You can call the BP's Community Board office at 718-590-3914 for more information. The deadline for submission of a community board application for the next round of appointments is February 5, 2916.
Look for a new newspaper that will be coming out in mid December that will featuire this column and my other column the Riverdale Report. More on this new exciting new newspaper in next column and on this blog.
If you have any political information that you want to share or have checked out, any comments about this column, or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.
Newly elected Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark has formed her transition team in order make the change in the office go as smooth as possible. the entire listing of her transition team can be found in the archive section .
The Bronx Chamber of Commerce held their annual Veterans Brunch along with a Job/Resource fair last week, and over 200 Veterans from the various wars were in attendance. New President and CEO of the BCC Nunzio Del Greco was introduced by BCC Chairman Joe Kelleher, and Executive Director Michelle Dolgow-Christrofaro announced that she would be leaving the BCC to take a position with State Senator Jeff Klein. Photos of the event can be found on this blog.
Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, and the North Bronx Democratic Club will be hosting their 1st Holiday Dinner (which is sure to become an annual event) on Tuesday December 1st at Maestro's Caterers located at 1703 Bronxdale Avenue from 6 - 9 PM. The Guest of Honor is New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and the Honorees include Norman Seabrook, Beatrice Castiglia Catuillo, Joseph Kelleher, and Meisha Ross Porter. For more information and to purchase tickets and/or journal ad, you can call 347-256-8719, or email northbronxdems@gmail.com. The invitation is also on this blog just check the archive section.
The trial of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is winding down as closing arguments are due next. The U.S. Attorney tried to carve out a scheme in different ways of Silver receiving 'Kickbacks' better know as client referrals on different occasions from different people. Silvers defense team claims that the U.S. Attorney did not prove its case and rested not calling a witness. We should have a verdict in this case before the first snowfall.
The trial of former State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son Adam Skelos began with what seems to me to be an open and shut case of what use to be common in the Bronx. The U.S.Attorney claims that the elder Skelos used his influence as Senate Majority Leader to get his son Adam several no show jobs on different occasions. Is it a coincidence or as many have said 'What goes on in Albany Politics' that one of the same witnesses called by the U.S. Attorney for the Silver trial also testified in the Skelos trial.
Lastly, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has announced that he is accepting applications for membership on any of the 12 Bronx Community Boards. Community Board members serve two year terms, and half the board members are up for reappointment every year. Some members leave, do not reapply, or in some rare cases are not reappointed to their respective community boards so new members are put on in their place. Applications are available at the Bronx Borough President's Community Board office, your local community board office, or online at bronxboropres.nyc.gov . You can call the BP's Community Board office at 718-590-3914 for more information. The deadline for submission of a community board application for the next round of appointments is February 5, 2916.
Look for a new newspaper that will be coming out in mid December that will featuire this column and my other column the Riverdale Report. More on this new exciting new newspaper in next column and on this blog.
If you have any political information that you want to share or have checked out, any comments about this column, or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on my blog you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.
REMARKS OF BP DIAZ RE: Opposition to Mayor de Blasio’s Zoning Proposals
RE: Bronx Borough Board Vote to Oppose Mayor de Blasio’s Zoning Proposals
It is clear that The Bronx stands united in one voice in opposition to these two proposals—“Zoning for Quality & Affordability” and “Mandatory Inclusionary Housing”—that Mayor de Blasio has put forward for our consideration. I add my voice to that opposition today, and I cast my vote against these items.
So many different groups, organizations, and other concerned citizens came before our boards and my office to voice their concerns about these proposals. And so many different communities have different reasons to be opposed to this “one size fits all” approach to the future development of our borough and our city.
The “neighborhood by neighborhood” approach to planning has been very successful in The Bronx. The borough has adopted no less than 14 rezonings since 2009. These proposed text amendments go against the grain of this successful approach to community-based planning, and must be rejected. One size does not fit all.
Despite the impact these combined proposals will have on density within our city, this administration has failed to discuss the social and physical infrastructure necessary to accommodate this new development. How will the additional seniors be serviced? Are there enough school seats for the children accompanying their parents as they move into new affordable units? Will existing transit options be able to handle a new influx of commuters? These questions, and many others, remain asked and unanswered.
One issue, the elimination of parking requirements, has been met with universal concern. The half-mile distance proposed from subway stations is too far to be considered a convenient walking distance. Additional criticisms are that, as the plan stands, The Bronx could be left out of opportunities for both low and moderate-income housing.
When real estate professionals and community housing advocates who seldom agree on anything have put forward serious criticisms of these text amendments, it is clear that what is being proposed is wrong for this borough and this city.
One universal critique of Mayor de Blasio’s proposal that has resonated across every community in this borough, and in fact across the city, is the speed of the process. Sixty days is not enough time to consider a massive, fundamental change to how development works in this city. In fact, the accelerated timeline this administration has imposed on us seems designed to limit community input, and to force us to accept these changes as written.
Mayor de Blasio and the Department of City Planning are moving too fast. These proposals must be reconsidered.
These are tremendously flawed proposals that, if adopted, would remove public input from the development process and attempt to paint future development of our unique communities with one broad brushstroke.
Allowing just 60 days for our community boards to weigh in on these proposals is disrespectful to the boards, their members and the neighborhoods they serve, and goes against the spirit of progressive, inclusionary and transparent government.
As chairman of this board, I speak for all of us in urging the City Council and our speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, to heed the united voices of The Bronx—and the growing chorus of opposition in every corner of this city—and to stop this proposal when it comes before the City Council.