REMINDER - TONIGHT VAN NEST NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE–MONTHLY MEETING–MONDAY JUNE 3, 2019–7:00PM–MONSIGNIOR FIORENTINO APTS–1830 AMETHYST STREET, COMMUNITY ROOM

Monday June 3, 2019 is our last meeting before summer recess!
We resume in September. That doesn't mean we stop being
the eyes and ears of Van Nest! We are on-call 24/7!

Monday, June 3, 2019

7:00 PM

Monsignor Fiorentino Apts Community Room

1830 Amethyst Street

Bronx, NY 10462

Relay For Life Against Cancer at Bay Plaza

  The parking lot across from Applebee's in Bay Plaza was closed off for the Relay For Life for survivors of Cancer or those who lost a loved one to Cancer to March For Life. Hundreds of people joined in on one of the many walks around the parking lot to raise awareness for Cancer in its all types of forms. There was various types of entertainment and different tables set up for information, or to get a service. The hottest table was the table were a Braidathon was going on by braiding different colors into a persons hair.

Above - The Braidathon Table.

Below - One of the event organizers Ms. Tanya Carrion has her hair being braided.

Above - The finished product of Ms. Carrions hair.

Below - It was event organizer Jose Rivera's turn.

Above and Below - Marchers during the six hour event. 

Above and Below - Various entertainment was provided during the Relay For Life.

Above - There were the Shirley Vargas marchers in her memory.

Below - The set up committee, Jose Luis Rivera Nitisha Moore, and DJ Erick Enlamezcla top row. Jamie Sanders, Angel Guadalupe, Tanya Carrion, Daniel Silva, Yesenia Vazquez, Rose Rullan, and Rich Vargas.

Queens Store owner Indicted for Setting Fire to Rival Supermarket in Brooklyn

Defendant Complained That a Competitor’s Low Prices Were Hurting His Business

  A federal grand jury in Brooklyn returned an indictment charging Mamunar Khan with the February 3, 2019 arson of the Premium Supermarket in East New York.  Khan was previously arrested on a complaint on May 6, 2019, and will be arraigned at a later date.  If convicted, Khan faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and John B. DeVito, Special Agent-in-Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, James P. O’Neill, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), and Daniel A. Nigro, Commissioner, New York City Fire Department (FDNY), announced the charge.

“As alleged in the indictment, Khan set fire to a supermarket while it was open for business, demonstrating total disregard for the safety of employees, customers and the firefighters who responded to the blaze,” stated U.S. Attorney Donoghue.  “Attempting to burn down your competition is an extremely serious and violent crime and we and our law enforcement partners will ensure that such crimes are punished.”

“The alleged violent acts of the defendant against a fellow business owner could have resulted in substantial loss of property and cost the lives of innocent people to include first responders,” stated ATF Special Agent-in-Charge DeVito.  “The ATF/NYPD/FDNY Strategic Explosive and Arson Response Task Force will continually work to prevent violent acts like this from occurring and to swiftly bring the perpetrators of such acts when they do occur, to justice. I would like to thank the United States Attorney’s Office for their work in prosecuting the case.”

“Mamunar Khan put personal profit before public safety and put people’s lives at risk,” said NYPD Commissioner O’Neill. “The NYPD and its law enforcement partners will never tolerate the kind of recklessness and brazen criminality that was committed in this case.”

 “The use of fire as a weapon to injure and intimidate is a callous crime, one that senselessly puts the lives of New Yorkers and FDNY members in danger,” stated FDNY Commissioner Nigro.  “Thanks to our Fire Marshals, NYPD Detectives, ATF agents, and the US Custom and Border Patrol agents who brought to justice an alleged arsonist who sought to avoid responsibility for this crime.”

Khan is the co-owner of Deshi Bazaar, located in Ozone Park, Queens.  On February 3, 2019, video footage recovered from the Premium Supermarket, located at 1196 Liberty Avenue in Brooklyn, showed Khan pushing a cart filled with unknown flammable material down an aisle in the store.  Khan, wearing blue latex gloves, used a lighter to ignite the material, and then exited the store.  As the fire spread through the store, a second video camera recorded Khan driving away in a Mercedes-Benz SUV.  The fire caused substantial damage to Premium Supermarket and the structure of the building. 

A witness told law enforcement agents that Khan had previously complained that the low prices at Premium Supermarket hurt business at his own nearby market.   Khan was then interviewed by law enforcement agents.  The following day, he left the country and traveled to Bangladesh.  Khan was arrested three months later upon returning to the United States.

The charge in the indictment is an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Registered Sex Offender Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Enticing Minors via Social Media Platforms

Used SnapChat, Instagram and Tumblr to Convince Teens to Send Him Sexually Explicit Images

    A registered sex offender with two prior child pornography related convictions was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to fourteen years in prison and twenty years of supervised release for enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.  PETER JAMES HUFFERD, 47, was on federal supervision living in sex-offender housing in Seattle when law enforcement discovered he was secretly using a cell phone to communicate with minor females via social media.  HUFFERD convinced two of the minor females to send him sexually explicit images.  At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said HUFFERD showed a pattern of criminal conduct that poses “a danger to society.”

  According to records filed in the case, HUFFERD had just completed a ten-year prison term in April 2017 when he began federal supervision.  HUFFERD was allowed one monitored cellular phone.  Beginning no later than October 2017, HUFFERD used an unmonitored cell phone to communicate with minors on SnapChat, Instagram and Tumblr.  HUFFERD began relationships with multiple minor females, convincing at least two of them to send him sexually explicit images.

 HUFFERD was convicted in 2003 in Clallam County Superior Court of three counts of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 85 days in custody.  At the time law enforcement determined HUFFERD was posing online as a 15-year-old girl to try to get minors to send him sexually explicit images.  In 2008, HUFFERD was sentenced to ten years in prison after a father discovered his 12-year-old daughter was chatting online with HUFFERD. HUFFERD was using the same identity of a 15-year-old girl and engaging in sexually explicit talk with the 12-year-old.  HUFFERD was encouraging the child to cut herself.  A search of HUFFERD’s computer revealed more than 300 sexually explicit images of children.

  In the current case, in March 2018, U.S. Probation discovered the unmonitored cell phone in a search of HUFFERD’s sex offender residence.  A court-authorized search warrant revealed HUFFERD’s illegal communications via social media.

Housing Justice Town Hall Meeting

(Reprinted from the Bronx Chronicle)

  On a rainy Thursday night which cancelled a New York Yankee game The Housing Town Hall meeting by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, State Senators Alessandra Biaggi and Jamaal Bailey, and Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez went on to standing room only. This was organized under the Neighborhood organization Bronx Park East Community Association, but included organizations such as the Northwest Bronx Church and Clergy Coalition and CASA (a South Bronx community organization specializing in housing problems).

New York Rent Laws protecting millions of New York renters are set to expire on June 15th, and Housing Justice For All has come up with a nine point plan to renew and reform the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 to protect renters across the state. This will also close certain loopholes that can cause rents to go up at any time, harassment and displacement of renters.

The nine points are 

* Reforming the Preferential Rent leases for the duration of the tenancy.

* Eliminating the Vacancy Bonus when a renter moves out.

* Eliminate Rent Hikes caused by Major Capital Improvements.

* Stop Harassment and Deregulation caused by improvements to individual apartments.

* Reform the Four Year Rule on challenges to rent increases.

* Rent Control Relief to bring Rent Control increases in line with Rent Stabilization increases.

*Expanding the Emergency Tenant Protection Act to all New York State.

* Good Cause Eviction giving every tenant in New York State the right to renew a lease with fair terms from the landlord, and not be evicted for ‘good cause’.

Each of the four elected officials were asked if they support all nine points, and all said yes. The problem it was said is with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie who has only said that he is in favor of only the first eight points right now, and not with the Good Cause Eviction point.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortes spoke about finding a luxury apartment in Washington, and when she went to a new non-profit senior housing development in queens it looked very similar to what she had moved into. She wondered why this could not be the norm, and then went into public housing and the disparities. lack of heat, hot water elevator service to name a few. She said that good housing is not a privilege but a right.

Assemblywoman Fernandez said that the Town Hall is right in the middle of her district. She added that she supports all nine points, and hopes that when enough assembly members get together that they will convince Speaker Heastie to back all nine points. She would like to know who has not signed on to all nine points so she can speak to them to sign on.

Senator Biaggi opened by saying there are only sixteen days left until the rent laws expire. She is in favor of all nine points, but the state senate has to come out with its position on all nine points. She said that the in talking to people around the state New York City issues are not the same as in Buffalo or Rochester or other areas of the state, because ‘they have more cows in their neighborhoods’. Biaggi said that she has not heard that there is not enough support in the senate and reiterated that there were only sixteen days left,

Senator Bailey said that he is in favor of all noine points. He added that he has lived in affordable housing and thanked his landlord for being one of the good guys. He said that the current system allows for bad landlords to bump up rents, and it must be changed. Senator Bailey was asked about Governor Cuomo holding out or vetoing the nine points. Bailey said that he does not like what the governor is doing. He added that he is not in the Executive Branch, but believes this will be done on time.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortes spoke about closing the financial loopholes in the campaign finance laws which allow real estate money to be funneled through LLCs. AOC added that she was outspent 10 to 1 in the2018 primary contest, but through her hard work she won.

A few questions were taken from the audience with the first question not coming from a person living in the district or even the Bronx, but Washington Heights in Manhattan. While it was a good question, it appeared to many to be a staged question (as a few others seemed to be as well).

There will be another Housing Justice For All Town Hall meeting on Thursday, June 6 at the Eastchester Gardens Community Center located at 3016 Yates Avenue starting at 5:30 PM in Assembly Speaker Heastie’s district. Sen. Biaggi is hosting a housing resource fair on Friday, June 7 at PS 83 (950 Rhinelander Avenue) from 4:00 – 7:30 PM.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. - Bronx Pride Flag Raising

RSVP for the Pride Flag Raising

1 BRONX FESTIVAL PRIDE SUNDAY JUNE 23, 2019

ABOUT 

I N C L U S I V I T Y . C O M M U N I T Y . A W A R E N E S S . E M P O W E R M E N T 

The 1 Bronx Pride Festival promotes inclusion, community, and dialogue and works toward a future without discrimination where all people have equal rights under the law. We do this by producing Pride events that inspire, educate, and celebrate our diverse Bronx community.

The 1 BRONX PRIDE FESTIVAL is produced by the Third Avenue Business Improvement District in partnership with Destination Tomorrow, Boogie Down Pride, OUT Bronx, the LGBTQ Caucus of the Bronx Borough President, Dancing in the Streets, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Clearview Festivals. The Third Avenue Business Improvement District (aka Third Avenue BID), established in 1988, promotes the growth, vitality and visibility of the Bronx’s most trafficked commercial corridor. The organization is the Bronx’s oldest BID and serves over 200,000 individuals daily. Organizational programs include economic development, real estate advisory and retail services, sanitation and security departments that augment the city’s own services, small business development services, streetscape and open space improvements, horticulture installations, robust public programming, event planning, and visitor services. The catchment area includes over 200 businesses, expected to grow to 900 businesses by 2019, Roberto Clemente Plaza, Triangle Equity Plaza, the HUB Transportation Center, Lincoln Hospital, Metropolitan College of New York, and several arts and cultural institutions. The Third Avenue Business Improvement District also administers merchant organizations in Port Morris along Bruckner Boulevard to 138th Street. MISSION Our mission is to keep one of New York City’s most trafficked commercial districts clean, safe, attractive and well programmed for businesses, employees, community residents, and visitors while leading a mission-driven campaign to demand equity for the South Bronx.

The 1 Bronx Pride Festival culminates on June 23, 2019 at 149th Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx with a multi-block street festival that celebrates the diversity of the borough. The festival feeds on the energy of workshops, trainings, gallery openings, street performance, and film screenings which lead to performances on two stages and at Roberto Clemente Plaza.

EVENTS 

The 1 Bronx Pride Festival is more then just a one-day event. The festival's purpose is to celebrate and empower area residents and neighbors through a series of community-based productions which then culminate in a spectacular multi-block street festival on Sunday, June 23, 2019. The festival and events leading up to it promote inclusivity, community, awareness, and empowerment.

JUNE 

3rd   Pride Flag Raising + 

Pride Lighting of Bronx Buildings 851 Grand Concourse Bronx, New York

4th   LGBT Film Screening 

2825 Third Avenue, 3rd Floor Bronx, New York 10455

5th   Bronx Borough President and Allies LGBT Pride Celebration, 

6:00pm Billy's Sports Bar River Avenue at 161st Street

13th   Para Roberto: Cultura, 6:00pm 

Salsa Night on Roberto Clemente Plaza 

21st   Strike a Pose - Cocktails and Culture Bronx Museum of the Arts 

1040 Grand Concourse Bronx, NY 10456

22nd   My Big GAY Bronx Brunch Suyo 

1401 Plaza Drive Bronx, New York 10452

23rd 1 Bronx Pride Rally, March and Festival 

Rally: Bronx Borough Hall

March: 161st Street to Third Avenue Festival: 

149th Street and Third Avenue

1 Bronx Pride Festival

    149th + third Avenue
SUNDAY JUNE 23,2119

A production of the Third Avenue Business Improvement District.

Third Avenue Expands Hate Has No Business Here Campaign The Third Avenue Business Improvement District in partnership with 21 business improvement districts throughout New York City and the New York City Commission on Human Rights is humbled to expand the Hate Has No Business Here Campaign. The campaign has a simple message: to inspire a conversation to combat narratives that purport racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny, especially as they impact our City’s small business community. The campaign includes small business trainings center on cultural competency and inclusivity. #NOHATEHERE

June Happenings at The Bronx Jewish Center

  Please join us for our next community Shabbat dinner at the Bronx Jewish Center,1969 Haight Avenue,Bx NY 10461 to be held on Friday, June 7th starting at 7:00 PM. The special theme for that evening will be Shabbat in Thailand... Yes, That"s right Thailand.   All of your favorite Thai  style  dishes will take center stage!  We look forward to seeing you! Enjoy a delicious 4 course dinner with your fellow neighbors.Turn your Friday night Shabbat into an evening of spiritual awakening, inspiration, Jewish songs and culinary delight.  Please RSVP@718-812-1701 to let us know you are coming . Community Shabbat dinners are held the first Friday of every month.

Then on Sunday June 9th at  11:00 am there will be a reading of the Ten Commandments followed by a dairy Brunch  celebrating the holiday  of Shavout at  the B J C. The word Shavout means"weeks". Shavout celebrates the completion of the seven week counting period between Passover and Shavout. The Torah was given by G-d to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai on Shavout  more than 3300 years ago. Every year on the holiday  of Shavout we renew our acceptance of G-d's gift  and G-d's re-gives the Torah.The giving of the Torah was a far -reaching spiritual event ,one that  touched the essence of the Jewish soul for all time.

Please joins us for these TWO beautiful events .Please RSVP@718-812-1701 to let us know you are coming . Community Shabbat dinners are held the first Friday of every month.

Address: 1969 Haight Avenue Bx NY 10461

Cost: Free of charge and all are welcome to join!

Website:www.BronxJewishCenter. org

Contact: office@bronxjewishcenter.org 

Telephone:  #718-812-1701