BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ & SENATOR RIVERA TO LAUNCH NEW HEALTH INITIATIVE

On Saturday, June 11, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and State Senator Gustavo Rivera will come together to announce the launch of the Bronx CAN (Change Attitudes Now) Health Initiative.

The Bronx CAN Health Initiative will bring together individuals, doctors and other health providers, places of worship, community gardens and community centers, schools, and civic-minded groups of all kinds to promote the types of behaviors that lead to healthy lifestyles. The goal of the Bronx CAN Health Initiative is to have all the members of our community – young and old alike – build healthier lives, free of ailments like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease.

As part of the initiative, community members will be encouraged to set their own health goals, whether it is losing weight, exercising a certain amount of times a week, or vowing to eat healthier. 

  Saturday, June 11 @ Noon

  Mary Mitchell Center, 2007 Mapes Avenue, Bronx

    

TWO KOPPELL-SPONSORED BILLS RELATED TO ILLEGAL RESIDENTIAL CONVERSIONS SUBJECT OF COUNCIL HEARING  

 Two bills, sponsored by Council Member Oliver Koppell, were the subject of a special hearing conducted by the Council Committees on Housing and Fire & Criminal Justice on Tuesday, June 7, 2011.

 

The hearing was convened after a number of recent fatal fires in illegally converted multiple dwellings.  Two measures were considered.

 

The first bill, of which Council Member Oliver Koppell is the prime sponsor, would require the Department of Buildings (DOB) to obtain a court order to enter a residential building when there has been a complaint of illegal conversion, and where two attempts have failed to provide the DOB inspectors with entry.

 

The genesis of the bill was Koppell’s frustration at finding out, after following up on complaints from constituents in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx about an illegal conversion, that it was the practice of the DOB to abandon attempts to inspect allegedly illegal premises after two unsuccessful attempts by its inspectors to gain entry. 

 

“I felt this was outrageous,” Koppell said. “There had to be a mechanism by which DOB inspectors could gain access to a building after a complaint about illegal conversion.   My bill requiring the DOB to obtain a court order directing access would provide this mechanism.” 

 

The second bill, of which Koppell is a co-sponsor, would allow DOB or any other law enforcement agency the authority to issue a summons or notice of violation for illegal residential conversions based on readily observable circumstantial evidence, which may include multiple mailboxes, a large number of operational utility meters, or multiple doorbells. 

 

The problems highlighted by the Koppell legislation, as well as the recent fires, induced Mayor Bloomberg to create a multi-agency task force, chaired by Chief Policy Advisor Feinblatt, to tackle this problem. 

 

“I believe the bills introduced in the Council would enhance our ability to reduce the number of dangerous illegal residential conversions in the city and would facilitate the Mayor’s efforts to solve this problem,”   Koppell said. 

Free JASA Art Event

The Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA) will hold a special exhibition and reception in honor of the artist Angelo Romano, who recently donated more than 60 pieces of his original artworks to the agency. The exhibition will be held on June 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at JASA’s Cooper Square Senior Residence, 200 E. 5^th Street. “We’re very appreciative of Mr. Romano’s generous donation,” said Alexandra Collier, JASA’s Director of Volunteer Services and Special Projects. “More than 50 of his paintings and sculptures will be displayed at JASA senior centers across New York City, and we will be selling 10 pieces to benefit JASA programming for older New Yorkers,” she added. JASA hopes to continue displaying and promoting the work of older adult artists.

Mr. Romano is an internationally recognized Spanish-born painter, with works on permanent display at such New York institutions as El Museo del Barrio and Hostos Community College, and at other museums, cultural centers, and schools in Spain, Brazil, and across the United States. Throughout his lifetime, he has had more than 300 exhibitions of his work.

A prolific artist, Mr. Romano appropriates whatever materials he has available for his paintings. His colorful works are done on canvas, as well as on old bottles, light bulbs, and cookie tins, assembled together into new, fantastical shapes. Juan Ramirez de Lucas, a member of the International Association of Art Critics, has written of Mr. Romano’s work: “It is painting that is minutely detailed, vital, full of optimism, luminous, and comforting in its simpleness and happiness. What more could one ask?!”

Mr. Romano came to JASA through a friend who resides in a JASA housing facility, and JASA eagerly accepted his offer of a donation. After the initial reception on June 23^rd, the works will be distributed to JASA’s Senior Centers and other facilities for permanent display.

For more information about JASA’s Exhibition and Reception for Angelo Romano, please call (212) 273-5222 or email lbelcic@jasa.org.

JASA is one of the largest community-based, voluntary social service agencies serving the aged in the United States. Its mission is to sustain and enrich the lives of the aging in the New York metropolitan area so that they can remain in the community with dignity and autonomy. Since 1968, JASA and its affiliates have provided social, recreational, health, cultural and educational programs for older persons, regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity, to help sustain them in their homes and communities and to offer opportunities for a better quality of life.

 

JETER METER UPDATE

   The 161st Street BID has placed a Derek Jeter meter on a lamp post opposite Jeter's banner hanging outside Yankee Stadium, This Jeter Meter is keeping count as the Yankee shortstop heads for the 3,000 hit plateau. As of today the Jeter Meter is at 2989 after Jeter got a hit in last nights game, and needs only 11 more hits to reach 3,000, an almost sure fire automatic entry into the baseball hall of fame. 

    The 161st Street BID came up with the JETERBUG (a take off of the famous jitterbug, sung by Ella Fitzgerald) which the children from the Highbridge Advisory Council Head Start program danced to at the press conference kicking off the Jeter Meter clock. 

  

    When Derek Jeter does get his 3,000th hit there will be celebrations at the Yankee Tavern, Yankee Bar & Grill, Stan's, and Billy's to celebrate the feat with free cake to the first 100 fans after the hit. The Yankees still have 9 games left on the current homestand, and it is hoped that Derek Jeter will get his 3000th hit during the current homestand. We don't know if Jeter is going to show up at one of the celebrations, as he will be doing a lot of celebrating with his fellow Yankee players.

    

Weinergate fallout - 
Could Alec Baldwin run for mayor in 2013?

    Actor and star of the hit NBC show 30 Rock Alec Baldwin has announced that he will be leaving that show after the 2012 season, and could the down fall of Congressman Anthony Weiner the leading candidate for mayor in 2013 mean that Alec Baldwin might run for mayor in 2013.

    He said that he would not rule it out, and that it is something that he is very interested in doing now that it looks like front running mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner hopes have exploded in his face. 

    Celeste Katz of the Daily News has more on the story here.

Klein Bill To Make Graffiti Vandals Clean Up Their Blight Passes Chamber

 The bill, (S.585), came as a result of Senator Klein's work to clean up graffiti and other blights in the communities that he represents. Senator Klein sponsors a graffiti removal program that cleans up 80 to 90 sites a month in the Bronx and Westchester areas.

Legislation by Senator Jeffery D. Klein, (D-Bronx/ Westchester), that would mandate convicted graffiti vandals to participate in clean-up programs as part of their sentence recently passed the State Senate.

“Graffiti is more than a quality of life issue. It creates blight, damages property and creates financial hardship for taxpayers and business owners,” Senator Klein said. “My legislation will help alleviate some of these burdens, while giving these vandals an up-close look at the damages that they caused.”

The legislation will require courts to assign anyone convicted of making graffiti, or being in possession of a graffiti instrument, to participate in a local graffiti removal program. There are exceptions in the event that no such local program exists, or that such a clean-up would be unnecessarily dangerous. Permission from the owner would also be needed to clean up private property.

Senator Klein's graffiti removal program can be reached at 718.822.2049.  

STATE COMMITTEE RELEASES NEW ROBO-CALL IN SUPPORT OF EXTENDING AND STRENGTHENING NEW YORK'S RENT LAWS

Today, the New York State Democratic Committee released a new robo-call from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo where he asks New Yorkers to call their legislators and urge them to extend and strengthen New York’s rent laws. Calls will go out starting this week in regions across the state. The script of the robo-call is included below:

Hello

Before I was Governor Cuomo, I was Secretary Cuomo.

I worked as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration and was the head of housing for our nation.

There's no doubt that affordable housing is the foundation of strong communities.

But for too many New Yorkers, affordable housing is just out of reach.

More than 1 million people in our state are protected by New York’s rent regulation program.

However, this program is set to expire next week on June 15th.

That would be a crisis for our state.

But we need to do more than extend our rent laws we need to strengthen them.

Under current standards another 130,000 apartments could be removed from rent regulation in the next few years.

Having affordable housing works for all New Yorkers – a strong middle class is the heart of our state.

As New Yorkers we need to work together to protect the quality of life for all our people.

Please contact your state legislators and urge them to extend and strengthen our state’s rent laws.

Thank you.