Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Winners & Losers 2012
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Winners & Losers 2012: 100 PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, January 2- Losers in 2012. I am going to start with the real losers of 2012, and save the pol...
Winners & Losers 2012
100 PERCENT
By Robert Press
BRONX, NEW YORK, January 2- Losers in 2012. I am going to start with the real losers of 2012, and save the politicians for last. The biggest losers were the people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy, because there were so many of them. Some are still without homes that were either ruined or are uninhabitable, and have lost almost everything they had. Many other people citywide and beyond were losers when the transit system relied upon every day went down. Tunnels as well as many lower Manhattan buildings were flooded, and power was lost for more than a week in many areas. New York City lost umpteen millions of dollars in revenue, and the lasting damage of Hurricane Sandy to the tune of over $60 million in federal aid to the tri-state area is still being felt.
The biggest loser in sports is a toss up between the National Hockey League and Lance Armstrong. While the Yankees may have won their division they were losers in the playoffs. However even bigger losers were the Boston Red Sox who finished in last place in the division. The Red Sox team was partly dismantled during the past season, and one has to wonder how the 2013 Yankee team will look like let alone perform. Staying in baseball the 2012 Mets were losers, and their prospects for 2013 look worse since losing their number one “Cy Young Award” winning pitcher. The New Jersey Jets were losers, because it didn't matter who was at quarterback since all three were trounced by the opposing defense.
Turning to politics the biggest loser has to be New York State Senate Democrats. While the official election results are still unknown two months later, unofficially Democrats had either a 33-30 or 32-31 lead after election day in the state senate. So how will Republican State Senator Dean Skellows be sworn in as Senate Majority Leader? While the names may change Democrats who were incarcerated in 2012 was former Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger. Democrats who were convicted in 2012 and will be sent to jail in 2013 are former Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., and former Bronx Councilman Larry Seabrook. Others like former Queens State Senator Shirley Huntley (indicted three weeks before her primary), and former Bronx Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera (involved in several investigation for alleged wrongdoing) lost their primary elections in 2012.
Winners in 2012. We have to start at the top, and say President Barrack Obama has to be the biggest winner on his re-election as president. Staying in politics locally newly elected Assemblymen Mark Gjonaj (80 A.D.) and Luis Sepulveda (87 A.D.) were big winners. Gjonaj for beating an incumbent who was endorsed by almost every Bronx elected official and the Bronx Democratic County organization, not to mention being the daughter of the former Bronx Democratic County Leader. Sepulveda for his huge victory over the former Chief of Staff to the previous assemblyman. In the special election to replace convicted former Councilman Larry Seabrook was new Councilman Andy King who brings much promise to the area he now represents. The people of the Bronx were winners when current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announced that he will be running for re-election in 2013.
Other winners on the short list in 2012 include NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelly for the continued low levels of crime in the city. Derek Jeter for the better than average season he had in 2012, as he was the spark plug that drove the hitting engine. The Washington Nationals baseball team, who in two short years went from a last place division team to the best record in the 2012 baseball season. The final winners are all the people who helped, and are still helping in the recovery of Hurricane Sandy.
While you may think I left out a name you can e-mail it to me. Next week I will have things to look forward to in 2013 like a Democratic mayor being elected. Don't forget to check my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com for updates, late arriving news, or items that may not have made it into this column.
If you have 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.
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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Rams Rock New Years with a Win
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Rams Rock New Years with a Win: (Photo by Gary Quintal) BRONX, NEW YORK, January 2- Fordham notched their fourth win of the season with a victory over Monmouth at the Ro...
Rams Rock New Years with a Win
(Photo by Gary Quintal)
BRONX, NEW YORK, January 2- Fordham notched their fourth win of the season with a victory over Monmouth at the Rose Hill Gym on New Year’s Eve. The Rams (4-10) used a 54-point second half, to notch the 82-71 win. The point total was also their highest of the season.
The Rams return home next Wednesday to begin conference play against Duquesne.
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Dead son's mother hopes tragedy will curb guns
By Michael Horowitz
BRONX, NEW YORK, December 31- Civic activist Marlene Smith, whose son, Rohan Simpson, was gunned down in street violence in 1986, hopes that the tragedy of last Friday's murders of 20 innocent children in Connecticut will lead to enactment of laws that restrict the use of weapons of mass destruction on the nation's streets.
“We've had street violence in the nation's inner cities for years, and little has been done to stop the sale of weapons of mass destruction that have been used to kill young people in our neighborhoods,” Smith stressed.
“It is a tragedy when people, especially young people, are innocent victims of murders that cut their lives short before their time,” Smith added.
The civic activist asked, “How many more innocent people have to die before our country passes laws that limit the spread of weapons of destruction in our neighborhoods? How many more tragedies will we have to endure before we, as a country, are brought to our senses, as far as the premature deaths of our young people are concerned?”
Echoing Smith sentiments, Rev. Robert Smith Jr., the long-time pastor of the Church of the Savior, stressed, “We need to limit the Second Amendment, which is the rationale for people to own guns. We are no longer the frontier society that we were when our nation was founded.”
Rev. Smith (no relation to Marlene) added, “We're no longer a burgeoning country; we're a technological society. We need to do something to honor the memories of the children and the school professionals who lost their lives in Newtown, Connecticut.”
The minister stressed, “My heart is broken from what happened in Connecticut. We, as a nation, are shedding tears for the angels who were taken from us. Their parents had dreams for them that will never be realized.”
Rev. Smith noted, “In the midst of the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, our hearts were lifted by the heroism of the six adults who sacrificed their lives at the school to save the lives of children who were under their care.”
The minister added, “The crazy young man who committed these insane murders seemed to suffer from a pathology that mass murderers have shared in recent decades. We need to find ways to keep high-powered weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of people like Adam Lanza.”Fathead New York Knicks Carmelo Anthony Wall Decals (Google Affiliate Ad)Nba, Mlb, Nfl Gear Men New York Knicks Crewneck Sweatshirt (Google Affiliate Ad)
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An unfettered look
Wakefield Area News
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By Mary V. Lauro
BRONX, NEW YORK, December 31- This year the League will celebrate its one-hundredth year of serving the Wakefield community. In 1913 it was larger than it is today. It extended on the South all the way to Gun Hill Road. We know little of its past except that it was born in a bar. Bars in those days were like town halls, where issues of interest were discussed.
The primary goal of the founders of the League was to preserve Wakefield's integrity. That integrity included a quasi-suburban atmosphere of mainly one, two and three-family homes, interspersed only now and then by an apartment building; largely a family oriented community surrounded by flowering gardens in the summer and children sleighing or, building snowmen in the winter. Crime was practically unknown. It remained that way to mid-century.
Through the years, Wakefield's integrity has been the only goal of the League. Politics was never an issue. We worked along with whomever represented us in the official world. But we did expect our elected officials to work for us. We have never appreciated being ignored.
There is always something special about the past; even its sadness is looked upon with yearning. Most of us in Wakefield were a lot poorer then.
It is true we had little for people to steal, but it is also true that we did not lock our front doors at night. Some of them were French doors (glass paned).
What did happen? How did it happen that we not only locked our doors, we put iron bars on our windows, so that today, though still lovely, Wakefield is a mess of fancy iron works. Children who live in these houses would be astonished to learn that children, less than a half a century ago, thought burglary only happened in the movies. They were "cat" burglars, intent on stealing from the rich who lived in high-rise luxury apartments.
When did it happen that gold stars or crosses were no longer safe around one's neck? In what year did a boy's leather jacket become reason to mug him? The master criminal mentors (the Mafia) killed their own, not children or someone's great grandmother. Those were the days when banks were robbed, not bodegas.
Indeed, from being the second lowest in crime in the City during the 60s, twenty-five years later, the 47th Precinct rise to 23rd highest. Why? The question still haunts us. Indeed the question spawned a number of community organizations that grew in size and influence, but, alas, alas, eventually died.
It cannot be denied that Wakefield's complexion changed from white to shades of brown. But that did not happen everywhere in the City. Yet it is everywhere in the City that crime rose and it is everywhere that our unease is keenly felt.
We have known that human kind is flawed. Myth has it that Satan was once an angel. But that occurrence, like so many on our earth was a rarity. But it seems, yes, it seems that something has been broken in the moral compass of our people. Everywhere one turns, there is new evidence of some malfeasance. We read of dishonest politicians or those who think they are above the law. We read of business practices, which belong in hell, and of workers who could easily join them. We read and learn of a justice system that has difficulty defining right and wrong, fueling the attitude of the young and newcomers that the smart thing to do is game the system. This last is most disheartening. It is, unfortunately, a plague in Wakefield.
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Blitzed in the Bronx
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Blitzed in the Bronx: Syracuse Plows Over West Virginia in Snow Bound Bowl (Photos by Gary Quintal) By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, December 30- The last wee...
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