STATEMENT FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ RE: FEMA’s Removal of Generators from Puerto Rico

  “The federal government’s disgraceful treatment of Puerto Rico continues to reach new lows.

"The island needs this equipment. It should remain on the island until Puerto Rico’s electrical grid is rebuilt strong enough to no longer need to be prepared for such emergencies. Had President Trump and FEMA done right by Puerto Rico in the first place maybe this wouldn’t be an issue more than a year later,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW By Councilman, Rubén Díaz Sr.

Now that the Judge Brett Kavanaugh matter is over, can we now return to the local matter of addressing the abuses, neglects, and ignored needs of our people?
 
You should know that during Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court hearings; Governor Andrew Cuomo, NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio and our elected leaders all turning their undivided attention and complete concentration on attacking POTUS and his nominee, the judge, and the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings.    Rumor has it that their attempt was to distract attention away from the mess they have created in the City of New York.
 
We can all agree that the charges against Judge Kavanaugh are very serious, just as serious as those charges against President Bill Clinton when allegations of sexual misconduct were brought against him by several credible women, and also the case of the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy regarding the Chappaquiddick incident, when the vehicle he was driving crashed into the river and he left his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne to drown, abandoning her, not seeking help for her rescue.   We can all agree that these are all very serious and repugnant allegations.
 
That said, we can also agree that we must now turn our attention to our local leaders and the serious and repugnant abuses, neglect, and abandonment that they have inflicted upon our city’s homeless, and the residents living in Public Housing (NYCHA), the strap hangers, and the hardworking men and women of For Hire Vehicles under the TLC.
 
The lies and false reports regarding the thousands of children exposed to lead poisoning residing in NYCHA buildings,  the torture that Mass Transit riders are forced to go through every day to get to and from work, the high cost of rent, making apartments unaffordable for Senior Citizens, men, women, children and families which has led to the city’s outrageous numbers of homelessness, and the TLC abuses in high fees and regulations which have led drivers to suicide,  is an outrageous!
 
These problems are bigger, are what matters and are of great concern to our residents.  Our residents care about their housing, health, getting around the city, and their lively hoods more than whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed or not.
 
It is important for you to know that more than (60,000) sixty thousand families are homeless in New York City!  This number increases every day.   When you see the conditions of many of these NYCHA buildings and apartments, in which these families and their children are forced to live under and endure isn’t suitable or acceptable even for animals. 
 
NYCHA conditions have gotten so bad that the federal government had to step in, and file a lawsuit against the mayor and his administration, when their investigation found that records had been falsified to show that lead paint and asbestos had been removed, when in fact these families were being exposed to these hazardous materials.   So, the mayor was taken to court in order to protect the children residing in NYCHA buildings.
 
My dear reader, you should remember that Mayor Bill DeBlasio, before becoming Mayor, while campaigning invited the Rev. Al Sharpton to spend a night sleeping in a NYCHA project.   They wanted to supposedly, experience, first hand, the precarious conditions that NYCHA residents are forced to endure.   
 
Well that was back then! And this is now.
 
The day after spending the night in a NYCHA apartment, both DeBlasio, and Sharpton had a press conference to denounce the “horrific” conditions of the NYCHA residents and that if elected Mayor, his campaign promise was to make the “horrific” conditions at NYCHA his top priority.   DeBlasio said he would prioritize making much needed repairs and fixing the NYCHA problem.   That has turned out to be a laugh ha, ha, ha.   What a joke!
 
Let’s turn our attention to the nightmare of our subway system.  Neither the Governor nor the Mayor have demonstrated concern for the wellbeing of our city’s commuters.   They have been passing the hot potato from one to the other, without taking into consideration the suffering of those they were elected to serve.
 
All this time our leaders have been “under fire” not knowing what to do or how to deflect the heat away from them. 
 
But surprise! surprise!  Here comes Judge Kavanaugh!   Every single leader saw this as a great opportunity to deflect, distract the attention, and hopefully erase from the minds of the people the chaos and tribulations they have been forced to endure at the hands of elected leaders.  So they decided to become “Don Quixote de La Mancha”  against Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.  
 
Ladies and gentlemen, now that the Kavanaugh derangement syndrome, for now, is over;  it is about time to return to and address the abuses, the neglect, and discrimination that have been inflicted upon our city residents.   As far as I am concerned our problems are greater than Judge Kavanaugh and his nomination to the Supreme Court.
 
I am City Councilman Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr.  and this is what you should know.  
   

BP DIAZ CALLS FOR INCREASED COMPUTER SCIENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

In new report, Borough President Diaz urges Both City & State to increase efforts in tech education

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has issued a new report, “Programming New York City Students for Success,” which outlines an expanded view of computer science education in New York City public schools.

“New York has a long way to go when it comes to providing students with adequate and equitable computer science learning options,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “If we are to prepare our students for an ever-changing economy, we have to do more to expose them to a robust computer science curriculum.”

The report offers multiple recommendations to expand and improve computer science education in New York City schools, such as increasing the overall number of class hours required for computer science learning in city schools; creating a standard computer science curriculum and working with educators and industry leaders to keep it up-to-date; and enacting a project-based requirement for computer science education as a requirement for high school graduation. These recommendations are designed to address the gender, race, and socio-economic gaps in access to computer science education.

The full report can be read at https://on.nyc.gov/2Nq9tNC.

“Given our Borough and our City’s place as a leader in education, workforce development planning and tech hub development, we must ask the following question: ‘How do we educate our students today in computer science and technology so they can be best prepared for the jobs of tomorrow?” said Borough President Diaz. “It is my intention to answer that question in this report, and to spark a conversation on how this City and State can provide a path forward on the equitable creation and implementation of a rigorous computer science curriculum in every school.”

Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr - Shut Down the Horizon Juvenile Center Now Before Someone Gets Killed!

What You Should Know
By Councilman Rubén Díaz Sr.
District 18 Bronx County, New York
 
Shut Down the Horizon Juvenile Center Now Before Someone Gets Killed!

You should know that New York’s media is paying very close attention to reports about the dangerous inmate situation at the Horizon Juvenile Center located here in Bronx County. Their October 4, 2018 headlines say it all:

The New York Times: “Teenagers Were Moved Off Rikers for Safety. Their Brawls Came, Too.”

The Wall Street Journal: “20 Guards Injured During Brawl at Juvenile Detention Center in Bronx. Guards’ union calls the facility unsafe and dangerous”

The New York Daily News: “Juvie Beatdown. 20 jailers injured breaking up gang brawl”

The New York Post: “Guards: Shut new juvie jail. 20 officers injured in gang melee”

It is important for you to know that the Horizon Juvenile Center has only been open for just one week and already, it is a nightmare!

I strongly support the Correction Officers Benevolent Association’s demand that the Mayor of the City of New York shut down the Horizon Juvenile Center immediately and return the inmates to Rikers Island, before a life is lost.

You should already know that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to close Rikers and build prisons in four boroughs. His plan may simply be a means to eventually expand La Guardia Airport.

You should know that the Bronx once had its own prison, the Bronx House of Detention, once located at 653 River Avenue. It was closed in 2000 and then served as a homeless shelter. In 2007 it was demolished to make way for the Bronx Terminal Market Shopping Center.

Mayor de Blasio’s goal to close Rikers, whether good or bad, cannot be done by this rush to transfer 16 and 17-year old inmates into any unsafe facility. It endangers both inmates and correction officers. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to do all we can to prevent our prison guards as well as our city’s 16 and 17-year old prison population from being placed in any prison facility that is dangerous. No one deserves this. We must not accept a culture of violence. The Horizon Juvenile Center needs to be shut down, now!

I am Councilman Rev. Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know.

Bronx Chamber of Commerce - Applebee's presents Dinner and a Movie: "Kung Fu Panda 3" | Sunday | October 10, 2018 | 5:00-7:30 PM

Phil Cardone

Events, Communications & Grants Director

Bronx Chamber of Commerce

"The Network for Business Success"
1200 Waters Place, Suite 106
Bronx, NY 10461
718-828-3900

Aretha Franklin dance tribute opens BAAD!'s BlakTinX Festiva

2018 BlakTinX Performance Series

At BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance

Opens with Aretha Franklin Dance Tribute

Festival runs October 19 to November 20, 2018

Series includes a dance concert tribute to the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, plus evenings of music (all string musicians), poetry and the premiere of three new dance works by Pepatian/BAAD! Jerome Foundation/Artists in Residence  Ebony Golden, Kayla Farrish and ColemanCollective and more!

The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance kicks off its fall season with the BlakTinX Performance Series from October 19 to November 20, 2018.  This annual multidisciplinary festival inaugurated in 2002 celebrates art and performance by Black, Latinx and artists of color. The festival’s opening weekend features a dance tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. BAAD! is located in a neo gothic style building at 2474 Westchester Avenue. For tickets and information call 718-918-2110 or visit www.BAADBronx.org.

Friday & Saturday, October 19 & 20 at 8pm | $20, $15 (Students/Seniors) 

RESPECT! A DANCE TRIBUTE TO ARETHA FRANKLIN 

The Queen of Soul made us move, groove, and feel the spirit. We honor her legendary music career of more than six decades with a 2-day dance tribute featuring 16 choreographers. Each concert is presented like a gapless album with back to back music and performances.

Friday: Oluwadamilare Ayorinde, Italy Bianca, Cashel Campbell, Havanna Fisher, Gerard Minaya, Jason “Slim Ninja” Rodriguez, Mervin Acharo Smith, Janice Tomlinson and Miki Tuesday/International Affair.

Saturday: Jennifer Acosta, Megan Curet, Jessica Danser, Alfred Gallman, Jayden Higgs, Noele Philips, Kiran Rajagopalan and Vir-Amicus.

Sunday, October 21 at 7pm | Free 

BLAQ & BAAD! SHOW 

BLAQ and BAAD! is a new web show focused on queer culture of The Bronx. It's The View meets The Tonight Show with a (BAAD!) twist. A panel of LGBTQ members meet to discuss current events, culture, and creativity in our city with special performances by local QPOC in front of a live studio audience. Co-hosted by Rosaly Ruiz and Whitney Dav-Rho.

Friday, October 26 at 8pm | $20, $15 (students/seniors) 

STRINGS AND THINGS 

A music concert giving props to the strings section. Singer/songwriters, classical musicians, and rockers join the varied program covering genres of all types. Featuring The Dolly/Workman Project, Mel Greenwich, Ganessa James and Robin Tucker.

Saturday, October 27 at 7pm | Free 

BAAD! HALLOWEEN: PARTY AND OPEN STAGE 

BAAD! brings it on Halloween with costumes, dancing and artful fun. Doors open at 7pm, and everyone is invited to sing, dance, read or perform for the open stage beginning at 8:30pm, and MC’d by Appolonia Cruz. Come dance the night away.

Sunday, October 28 at 3pm | Free 

PRESENTED BY BAAD! AND REIMAGINE 

PERSISTENT VOICES/LAST GASP! 

Persistent Voices takes its name from a poetry anthology highlighting work by writers lost to AIDS. Edited by Phillip Clark and David Groff, the book memorializes legendary poets of a generation. Prominent Bronx queer leaders from literature, social justice, and performing arts select and read works from the book and share personal stories and interpretations. ​Last Gasp!, created and performed by Laura Shapiro, uses mordant humor, talking as well as movement, video projections, and colorful costumes to consider personal end–of–life preparations within a perspective of possible planetary apocalypse and/or exhaustion. A discussion on end of life planning that affirms our lives and deaths are worthy of consideration will follow. BAAD! presents Persistent Voices as part of the Reimagine End of Life Event Series.

Thursday & Friday, November 1 & 2 at 8pm | $20, $15 (Students/Seniors) 

PRESENTED BY PEPATIÁN & BAAD! 

COLEMANCOLLECTIVE | FRUIT PUNCH 

Live and recorded audio including the sounds of a school yard, recited statistics, dissonant statistics, and music by Outkast and Bambounou, incites Fruit Punch, a vibrant work depicting the ins and outs of bullying and how it translates to adulthood. The impetus for the work was a Bronx school stabbing in the fall of 2017. ColemanCollective is a multidisciplinary performing arts company, founded by Cain A. Coleman, Charisma Glasper and Matthew Perez.

Friday & Saturday, November 9 & 10 at 8pm | $20, $15 (Students/Seniors) 

PRESENTED BY PEPATIÁN & BAAD! 

KAYLA FARRISH | SPECTACLE 

Spectacle is a film and live performance production imploding in the possibilities of love, and addressing torrential questions that can come with it. We follow a wild-spirited woman re-examining her sexuality, power, and trauma within society’s placement of a female body, while challenging expectations that propel her to healing and freedom.

Friday & Saturday, November 16 & 17 at 8pm | $20, $15 (Students/Seniors) 

PRESENTED BY PEPATIÁN & BAAD! 

EBONY GOLDEN | wash’d// 

A dance-based performance ritual, wash’d// explores both the violence of misogyny and the strength of sisterhood as they relate to women of color—past, present and future. The piece centers and celebrates the activism present during the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) that organized during the Civil Rights Movement. wash’d// is an embodied meditation on women’s social and political power as a means to highlight sisterhood and its role in dismantling systems of patriarchy, heteronormativity, misogynoir as women and femmes unite and organize for social transformation.

BAAD!/AATT receive support from The Ford Foundation, The SHS Foundation, The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, Councilmember Mark Gjonaj, Jody and John Arnhold, OVATION Stand for the Arts and private donations.

Children's Dance Classes resume at BAAD - AATT Academy Fall 2018

FALL 2018 CLASSES BEGINS FOR AATT ACADEMY  

AFTERSCHOOL ATHLETIC DANCE PROGRAM AT BAAD!

Dance Education for 6-9 year old boys and girls offers comprehensive program in Ballet, Gymnastics, West African Dance and Hip-Hop  from October 15 – December 12, 2018!

SIX SLOTS LEFT FOR BOYS – FREE TUITION AVAILABLE

  

    The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance begins Fall 2018 classes on Monday, October 15 for the AATT Academy, a community-based, accessible dance education program for 6-9 year old boys and girls.  The Academy offers a fully inclusive, nurturing environment that uses multi-media to provide an immersive experience.  The Academy’s diverse and professional faculty provides progressive, non-competitive, gender neutral, quality instruction in movement based techniques from traditional dance to athletics, including a mix of dance forms that include ballet, West African, Hip Hop and gymnastics. The program in its third year, will run Monday and Wednesday afternoons from October 15 to December 12, 2018.  BAAD! is located in a neo gothic style building at 2474 Westchester Avenue. To register a child or for further information about the AATT Academy, contact Dance Education Coordinator Cynthia Paniaguaat 718-918-2110 or cynthia@baadbronx.org, or visit www.BAADBronx.org.

            “At the AATT Academy, BAAD! Boys Move!” shared Ms. Paniagua. “We work to have equal numbers of boys and girls in the program.   We are happy to say that we still have only six slots open for boys.  And for all children we offer free tuition.”

The program offers Bronx children a unique opportunity to receive high quality dance instruction from master teaching artists in the field.   This fall, Hip Hop master Kwikstep founder of Full Circle Productions and Jewel Love , the director of the Bambara Drum and Dance Ensemble (that regularly performs in BAM’s Dance Africa Festival), will be a part of the faculty. The fall program culminates on Wednesday, December 12 with the children publicly demonstrating the dance techniques they’ve learned.

Acclaimed Bronx Choreographer, Arthur Aviles , inaugurated the AATT Academy in 2006 and held classes and workshops in elementary schools and for incarcerated teenage girls.   The program was redesigned and developed as an in-house program in 2016 and was offered as a 5-week dance intensive during the summer and as an afterschool program in the fall and spring.  BAAD! has been a stakeholder in the Bronx for nearly 19 years, has become a beacon for dance and has earned national recognition for its innovative dance and arts programming. The AATT Academy received generous support from the SHS Foundation, Jody and John Arnhold and Councilmember Mark Gjonaj through the New York City Council Cultural Immigrants Initiative.

NYC EMS Plays Boston EMS at Castle Hill Baseball Field

  It was Brian Anderson of the NYC EMS singing the Star Spangeled Banner with the NYC EMS Color Guard and EMS Pipe and Drum Corp standing behind him at the Annual NYC EMS vs. Boston EMS softball game. The game started a little late as the Boston team was celebrating a game one win in Boston the night before. However the NYC EMS showed the New York Yankees how to win game 2 by getting to the Boston pitcher in the first inning. 

The teams lined up for the pregame ceremony.

Above - The pride of the Boston EMS.

Below - The pride of the NYC EMS.

Above - A special honor went to the the Arroyo family by the Boston EMS.

Below - The first pitch was thrown out by Jason Saffran of Station 24 based at Jacobi Hospital. Jason was in an accident where doctors said that his two legs probably would have to be amputated. As you see Jason can stand on his own two feet as he throws out the first pitch of the game.

Above - You see this NYC EMS player was a little late on this pitch as he swung and missed.

Below - Here is another NYC EMS player who is about to hit the ball.

  If you look to the upper left corner of the photo, you can see the ball traveling far into the outfield to give the NYC EMS a lead that would be a sample of what the New York Yankees would do to the Boston Red Sox later in the night at Fenway Park in Boston.