Treecycle at MulchFest and 20th Annual Bronx Parks Speak-Up:

 

Treecycle at MulchFest on January 11 and 12, 2014! 

On Saturday, January 11^th and Sunday, January 12^th, NYC Parks will host the annual MulchFest from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each day at locations citywide. Bring your holiday tree to one of over 80 designated parks to be recycled into mulch that will nourish plantings across the city or your own garden! Treecycle and help NYC grow!

Recycle your tree at many locations throughout the Bronx.

Pick up free mulch at Brook Park, Co-Op Blvd & Bellamy Loop, Metropolitan Avenue & Unionport Road, Van Cortlandt Park, Poe Park and Soundview Park!

Find a location near you: http://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/festivals/mulchfest

Planning a Mulchfest related event on January 11 or 12? Contact your district Outreach Coordinator for information on Partnerships for Parks can help. 

 

Bronx Parks: A 20/20 Vision

Saturday February 22nd, 2014    11am-5pm

Lehman College, Faculty Dining Room of the Music Building

For more information, visit www.bronxspeakup.org/ or like on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/BCPGS

 If your group is interested in tabling at the Speak Up, contact: speakuptabling@hotmail.com

 

 

STATE SENATOR RUBEN DIAZ TO CELEBRATE “THREE KINGS DAY ” FOR THE CHILDREN OF OUR COMMUNITY

  On Saturday, January 4^th, State Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz along with Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda, The New York Hispanic Clergy Organization and other elected officials, will come together to provide the children of our community a Three Kings Day Celebration.  The first 600 children between the ages of  1- 9 years old, will receive  a toy and a book bag. “There will also be live music and entertainment for the children,” stated Senator Díaz.
 
This activity will take place : (Children must be present in order to receive a free toy.  At 12:00 pm Saturday,  January 4, 2013 in Public School #5 located at 564 Jackson Avenue (corner of 149^th St.)

 

 

Gonzalez: Bill de Blasio's choosing Carmen Fariña as schools chancellor will revolutionize city's schools

This comes from The Daily News by way of a member of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Transition Team.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gonzalez-de-blasio-schools-chancellor-revolutionize-city-schools-article-1.1562040

“Teachers and administrators have been maligned,” she said. She vowed to reinstitute professional development and training of teachers, but to do so from within the school system itself.

She repeatedly stressed the need to treat parents as partners.

“She actually sees parents as allies in making the schools better, not as a nuisance to be kept out,” said Javier Valdes, executive director of Make the Road New York, a Brooklyn community group that hailed her appointment.

But the emotional high point of Fariña’s remarks came when she talked of entering city public schools speaking only Spanish, and of facing discrimination from a teacher who refused to learn to pronounce her name.

With Latinos now making up more than 40% of our school population, thousands of pupils from Latin America and other parts of the world continue to face the same kind of problem today, Fariña said. Too often, teachers pressure those children to 

Anglicize their names.

“Your children will be spoken to by the name you gave them,” the new chancellor promised.

Only a lifetime educator could grasp the importance of properly pronouncing every child’s name in the classroom.

Editors Note 

As a member of the Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council when Ms. Farina was promoted to Deputy Chancellor, I beg to differ with the above comments and article. Citywide parent leaders found Deputy Chancellor Farina to be just like Chancellor Joel Klein when it came to parent concerns. The only reason I can find for her appointment as chancellor is her history with Community School Board 15 member and now Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Carmen Farina will be Named New York City’s Schools Chancellor

 

  As I wrote on December 10th on this blog it appears that Incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio will after all name 71 year old ex-Deputy Chancellor Carmine Farina his new Schools Chancellor. Farina had been on the de Blasio transition team and advised candidate de Blasio on education, and their relationship goes back to when Farina was the principal of the middle school in Brooklyn where the de Blasio children attended. There are rumors however that Farina as Deputy Chancellor retired as an investigation by the Special Investigator for the Board of Education was looking into whether Farina used her position as Deputy Chancellor to allow a Brooklyn Principal and his teacher wife who lived in New Jersey have their child attend Farina's old middle school. The Principal and his wife were forced to pay the city for their child's education and he was fired from his job as principal. The investigation ended with the retirement of Farina as Deputy Chancellor.

  It is widely being speculated that since Farina was on the selection committee for the new chancellor that no one could meet her standards for the job. It was also thought that the previous process was done so Farina would wind up as the only person that would fit the qualifications. Farina is another so called safe decision by incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio with lots of experience in her field. I don't see Farina lasting longer that the rest of the school year, and that is from experience with her at the DOE headquarters at Tweed while she was there. 

Is Governor Cuomo Backing Dan Garodnick for City Council Speaker

 According to Fred Dicker of the New York Post New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is secretly working with Bronx Democratic County Leader Assemblyman Carl Heastie and Queens Democratic County Leader Congressman Joseph Crowley to line up support for Councilman Dan Garodnick to be the next speaker of the city council. Dicker writes that it is not in the interest of the governor to have Melissa Mark-Viverito as the speaker to Mayor Bill de Blasio because both are of the left leaning thought.

  Another reason for not wanted Mark-Viverito as speaker would be that it would be a serious defeat for incoming Mayor de Blasio and would weaken his perceived power base. De Blasio wants Cuomo to raise taxes to pay for pre-k and after school programs, while Cuomo wants to lower taxes in an election year not raise them.   You can read the entire New York Post Fred Dicker article here.

 

The Four Amigos, the IDC, and Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito: How things change … or are They Just Double Standards?

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
District 32 Bronx County, New York

The Four Amigos, the IDC, & Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito: How things change … or are they just double standards?

You should know that back in 2009, when it came time to elect a new President in the State Senate, there were many candidates for the Democrats to choose from.  This was when the Four Amigos – Senators Carl Kruger, Pedro Espada, Hiram Monserratte, and I – got together and talked about how we could unite to get leadership in the Senate and make a difference.

You should know that at the time, in order for someone to become the Democratic Senate Leader, it required 32 votes, and it was a tight race.

In our planning, the Four Amigos decided what to do about each issue that each Amigo wanted to take care of.  Senator Pedro Espada wanted to be the first minority New York State Senate President Pro Tem.  Senator Hiram Monserratte wanted to Chair the Senate Consumer Protection Committee.  Senator Karl Krueger wanted to Chair the Senate Finance Committee.  And I wanted a promise that the gay marriage bill would not come to the Senate Floor for a vote.

Because of our success, the reaction to the Four Amigos was labeled a “coup” and a “scandal.”  We were vilified as the “Four Banditos.”  We were branded as being traitors, corrupt,
blackmailers, thieves, slimy, crooks, extortionists, deadbeats, selfish, greedy, shameful, stooges, clowns, opportunists - and accused us by saying the whole thing was some kind of "quid pro quo."  We were called all kinds of disparaging names.  Former New York State Governor David Paterson publicly professed that we were “disingenuous” and that we were engaged in “very nefarious practices.”

As of today, we have not recuperated from those attacks, in part because of the unfortunate personal affairs of my three colleagues – none of which were related to the demands we made in 2009.

Since that time, when another chance arose to elect a new Senate President, a different group of four Senators got together and (copied us) forming what is known as the Senate Independent Democratic Conference – the IDC.  The IDC is led by Senator Jeff Klein, and is comprised of three Senators: Diane Savino, David Carlucci, and David Valesky.  Their power-grab was formed, they claim, because they were fed up with the “selfish antics” of their leaders.

It is well known that the IDC clearly and openly made political demands, which were met by Republican Senator Dean Skelos, who agreed to share the leadership of the State Senate with Senator Jeff Klein.  The IDC Members were given Senate Committee leadership – AND a separate budget containing millions of dollars!

Those four IDC State Senators have been routinely praised for their coup/breakaway. The IDC members have been labeled as progressive leaders, virtuous, smart, bold, power-sharing and thoughtful.  They have been commended by unions, by the Governor, by editorial boards and reporters … almost everybody praises them because of what they did.

Now I am reading a column written by Michael Gartland in the December 29, 2013 edition of New York Post titled, “BLAS A ‘MARK’ MAN - Council-boss IOUs” casually listing the demands, deals, payouts and “plum paychecks” that are being made in the New York City Council in order for certain concessions to be made so that Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito will get the 31 votes she needs to be in control as the New York Council as Speaker.

According to Mr Gartland, there are many Council Members who have been promised Committee Chairmanships and other fabulous prizes if they vote for Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito to be the Speaker.

For example - and if that happens - Mr. Gartland mentioned how Council Member Julissa Ferreras will get to be the Majority Leader and receive an extra $23,000; Council Member David Greenfield will get to be the Chair of the Land Use Committee and receive an extra $18,000; Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer will get to be the Chair of the Finance Committee and receive an extra $18,000; and either Council Member Danny Dromm or Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez will get to be the Chair of the Education Committee and get an extra $10,000.  If Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito gets to be the the Speaker, she will get an extra $28,500.

My dear reader, please keep in mind that “Committee chairmanships carry generous taxpayer-funded stipends over and above the $112,500 base salary council members get annually.”

I don’t see anybody calling Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito or anyone involved in these dealings crooked or deadbeats - or requesting any investigation about possible ethical wrongdoings, or being accused of engaging in any type of "quid pro quo."  On the contrary, outgoing Council Member Lew Fidler is calling this a "standard."  He said: “No speaker has taken that job since I was there without discussing committee assignments with possible supporters.  This is standard.”

Now it is a standard thing for all City Council Members to partake in the practice of "quid pro quo" so Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito can be the Speaker of the New York City Council and in return, give back to the Council Members whatever they want or demand.

My dear reader, how things have changed!

Are we sure this is now a standard, and not a double standard?  How come it was not a standard for Senator Espada, Senator Monserrate, or Senator Kruger to ask for leadership posts?  How come it was not a standard for me to ask for the gay marriage not to come to the Senate Floor?

For us, it was considered corruption - but when I read about how Mr. Frank Seddio, the Chair of the Brooklyn Democratic organization is going around and asking and demanding (according to Mr. Gartland’s article) that “de Blasio promise his allies several city marshal’s jobs” – I have a few questions.

What would have happen if it weren't Kings Democratic Chair Frank Seddio demanding these appointments and political favors, but instead, if Bronx County Democratic Chair Carl Heastie was the one making these demands?  I can assure you that everyone under the sun would be calling for an investigation.  I can assure you that my very best friends, Gerson Borrero and Bob Kappstatter, along with the editorial boards of El Diario la Prensa and other publications would be accusing Carl Heastie of serious wrongdoing.  Where are you guys now? Why are you being so quiet? Where are all of my friends in the media who seeks purity and truth? Where is the outrage about all of the backroom dealings and threats that are going on right now?

I also have to ask myself, what ever happened to Curtis Sliwa who likes to talk about the leadership of Bronx County, and now he is keeping his mouth shut about Mr. Frank Seddio and the Brooklyn Democratic organization?  What about Governor Andrew Cuomo's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), and what about the Honorable Eric Schneiderman who is New York State's Attorney General?  Ladies and gentlemen, where are the subpoenas and the investigations - and the press conferences?

I have to say that, at least to me, that this is much, much worse than what we were accused of doing.  And I ask myself: Is this how things have changed … or is it just a gross case of double standards?

I am State Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz, and this is what you should know.

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez Swearing in With Future Speaker in Attendance

  Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez was officially sworn into office for his second term as the New York City Council Member for Council District 10 (Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill). Council Member Rodriguez was joined by expected City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Assembly Member Gabriela Rosa, as well as community leaders in the area. City Clerk Michael McSweeny administered the oath of office and Councilman Rodriguez paid the $9.00 Fee for the swearing in. 

  

  I asked Councilwoman Mark-Viverito about her future plans since she will only have one term of four years left, while the Mayor, City Comptroller, and Public Advocate will be incumbents running for their second terms when she is term limited out of office. Future Speaker Mark-Vivirito said "That not why I am in this game". We also spoke about the Bronx Democratic County Leader Assemblyman Carl Heastie supporting her opponent Councilman Dan Garodnick. The answer to that was Councilman Ritchie Torres is her favorite Bronx Council Delegation member, and Councilwoman Mark-Viverito just smiled when I repeated the Bronx Democratic County Leaders name.

Left - Council members Rodriguez and Mark-Viverito go over a few things before Councilman Rodriguez is sworn in for a second term. 

Right - Councilman Rodriguez has only high praise for his choice to be the next Speaker of the City Council Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito.

 

Left- State Senator Adriano Espaillat gets to say a few words before the swearing in.

Right - Councilman Rodriguez is being sworn in to his second term in office.

 

Left - City Clerk Michael McSweeny signs that he has administered the oath of office to Councilman Ydinas Rodriguez.

Right - Councilman Rodriguez also signs as the city clerk counts the $9.00 fee paid.

 

Left - Future Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tells the crowd that she is proud to have Councilman Rodriguez on her side.

Right - Councilwoman Mark-Viverito and the city clerk go over their schedules to see what day both have open so he can swear her in.