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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Another One Bites the Dust?

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Another One Bites the Dust?: --> COMMUNITY BOARD NEWS N’ VIEWS By Father Richard F. Gorman Chairman Community Board #12 (The Bronx) BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14 - A...
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Another One Bites the Dust?

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COMMUNITY BOARD
NEWS N’ VIEWS

By Father Richard F. Gorman
Chairman
Community Board #12 (The Bronx)


BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14- Amidst all of the bad news as of late concerning the passing of the great, three-term, one hundred fifth Mayor of the City of New York, Edward Irving Koch; the wrath of an epic snowstorm and the dire conditions that remained in its wake; and this morning’s news from the Vatican that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to become the first Pope to resign from office in nearly six (6) centuries, it is somewhat understandable that perhaps a bit of very important good news would appear to have gone unnoticed and by the boards.  Overlooked and disregarded as it might have been, though, this information was as profound in its effect as its announcement was greeted with enthusiasm.  In a decisive action that rapped the knuckles of the Bloomberg Administration and encouraged the residents of Community Board #12 (The Bronx), the Comptroller of the City of New York, The Honorable John C. Liu, announced on Thursday morning, 7 February 2013 that his office was rejecting a contract in the amount of some ninety-one million dollars ($91,000,000.00) to operate a homeless shelter for two (200) hundred men in the now shuttered SARGEANT JOSEPH E. MULLER UNITED STATES ARMY RESERVE CENTER (M.U.S.A.R.C.) located at 555 East 238TH Street/Nereid Avenue in Bronx Community District #12.  The homeless facility was slated to be operated by THE DOE FUND, INCORPORATED, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization headquartered in Manhattan, whose Founder and President, Mr. George A. McDonald, is a candidate in the upcoming Republican Primary for Mayor.

In refusing to certify the contract between the New York City Department of Homeless Services (N.Y.C.D.H.S.) and Mr. McDonald’s outfit, Comptroller Liu cited as his rationale for so acting the failure of the City of New York to adhere to the process delineated in Federal Law governing the transfer of closing United States military bases to local jurisdictions for projects designed to assist homeless persons.  In other words, the Comptroller was upholding and agreeing with the longstanding assertion of The Honorable Ruben Diaz, Jr., Borough President of The Bronx, that no properly and legitimately convoked meeting of the Local Redevelopment Authority (L.R.A.), the body constituted and empowered by Federal legislation to determine the future use of decommissioned bases, ever took place.  Borough President Diaz, along with Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I. Gibbs and Mr. Tokumbo Shobowale, the Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel, comprised the L.R.A., whose meetings required a quorum of all three (3) aforesaid members in order to meet and to take action.  The Bloomberg Administration’s two (2) L.R.A. appointees maintained that a duly-constituted meeting did take place at which it was voted to turn the Muller Center over to THE DOE FUND.  Borough President Diaz vehemently denied this, having specifically stated that any gathering with Deputy Mayor Gibbs and Mr. Shobowale was informal in nature only and solely for the purpose of airing differences on the disposition of the M.U.S.A.R.C. Indeed, no agenda was formulated for this gathering and no minutes were either recorded or printed.  Moreover, it was months after the three (3) public officials unofficially met off the record that the Bloomberg folks curiously and abruptly came up with the claim that a bona fide meeting and decision had taken place.  Comptroller Liu’s investigation of this matter failed to produce any solid evidence to support the City’s contention.

Community Board #12 (The Bronx) and its Wakefield neighborhood specifically have been threatened in the past year with a homeless colony consisting of four (4) facilities in close proximity to each other.  If all four (4) facilities were to be opened, Wakefield would be burdened with several hundred homeless individuals, many of whom are afflicted with alcohol and chemical dependencies and/or mental health issues.  Fortunately, a few months ago, after negotiation with Community Board #12, Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond announced that he would not open a shelter on White Plains Road at East 240TH Street in an apartment complex constructed and owned by developer Mark Stagg and his STAGG GROUP.  Comptroller Liu’s action, taken at the behest and in support of the Borough President of The Bronx, holds open the prospect, even if at least temporarily, that only two (2) facilities housing the homeless will be opened in Wakefield.  The Comptroller’s refusal to certify the contract with THE DOE FUND can, and will most probably, be brought by Mayor Bloomberg and his Corporation Counsel to court, where Mr. Liu’s can either be upheld in his determination or ordered by the Judiciary to certify the contract.  Let us hope that the Judge who hears the case is as forthright as our Borough President in standing for the truth and as courageous as Comptroller Liu in standing up to the Bloomberg Administration for its perfidious and fraudulent manner of undertaking what is supposed to be the PEOPLE’S business.

Our accolades and appreciation go wholeheartedly to Messrs. Diaz and Liu for coming together as an effective and valiant tag-team for the hard-working, honest taxpayers of Community Board #12 (The Bronx).  If legal action is to be initiated at this juncture, perhaps it should be to uncover whether or not any Federal statutes were violated by the knowingly bogus and patently counterfeit claims made by officials of the Bloomberg Administration in order to secure possession of the Muller Center for the City of New York in breach of a process required by Federal law.  Such would be a much more pertinent and apropos recourse to the courts on this topic.  Perhaps prior to leaving office at the conclusion of this year, Mayor Bloomberg and friends need to learn that not telling the truth is not only disreputable and dishonest, but also unlawful and illegal.

Until next time, that is it for this time!


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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Lost dialogue

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Lost dialogue: --> Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14 -While we wait for the other shoe to drop, we remind you that the...
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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Lost dialogue

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Lost dialogue: --> Wakefield Area News By Mary V. Lauro BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14 -While we wait for the other shoe to drop, we remind you that the...
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Lost dialogue

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Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14-While we wait for the other shoe to drop, we remind you that the League will be meeting on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church's Undercroft. Redeemer is located at Barnes and Boyd Avenues. The guest speaker will be Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz. Everyone is welcome. Invite your neighbors. Our meetings are fun. There is an intermission with refreshments. Please make a note. A reminder will not be mailed.

Now which shoe are we talking about? Well, last Thursday, February 7, New York City Comptroller, John C. Liu “rejected a 21 year, $91 million contract for a homeless shelter in the Bronx amid questions concerning the legitimacy of the required approval process represented to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development ("HUD") in seeking approval for the project. Comptroller Liu's office was unable to verify whether the City properly followed Federal regulations in the disposition of the former Muller Army Reserve Center ("the Center"), located at 555 Nereid Avenue in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. The City wants to use the site, as a shelter for 200 homeless men."

Comptroller Liu's decision answered a lot of prayers since he is addressing the very points about which our Borough president threatened to take the Mayor to court. In any case, we were delighted to have our problem scrutinized by someone outside the Bloomberg cabal.
Sure enough, the very next day, a member of that cabal, Linda Gibbs, a Deputy Mayor and one of the individuals who decided the Center should be a homeless shelter was screaming like a stuck pig that Liu was politically motivated for rejecting the contract and that he had done this to "advance his political ambitions." More importantly, the Mayor's office seems to think that Liu does not have the authority to stop the contract unless there are no funds or corruption can be proven.

That's what we would like to see! Corruption proven. And the corruption we have in mind is the fakery of pretending that the citizens of Wakefield did not vehemently protest the turning of the Center into a shelter for the homeless.

This canard can best be found in a 26 page letter written by New York City Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond to Mayor Bloomberg last December. In it he repeats much of the distortions and inaccuracies present in the studies his Department had already made but he also lists the several meetings, especially the one in June 2011 that included Wakefield and Woodlawn residents. The purpose of listing them was to credit the Mayoral process with including the community in its decision. But, at no time did Mr. Diamond indicate that the community was 100 percent opposed to turning the Center into a Shelter for the Homeless.

Further, Mr. Diamond lists more than once that the community's wanted to use the Center for commercial purposes. He mentions only fleetingly that the community wanted to move the National Guard into the Center.

We think such distortion is corrupt

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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Forget About That June Primary

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Forget About That June Primary: --> 100 PERCENT By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14- Since those new City Council district lines won't be finalized until sometim...
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Forget About That June Primary

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100 PERCENT
By Robert Press

BRONX, NEW YORK, February 14- Since those new City Council district lines won't be finalized until sometime in March you can forget about a June primary this year. The Board of Elections needs months to make up the new enrollment books, and it is quite possible the books may not be ready for the September primary when petitioning begins in June. 

It appears that current Councilman Jimmy Vacca is trying to increase his sphere of influence beyond his own 13th city council district. In looking at financial disclosure statements for candidates, it appears that the friends of Jimmy Vacca are spreading around the wealth. We have also been told that Councilman Vacca has gotten into the 15th council race by encouraging and even finding a candidate to run. More on that next week along with a recap on the two other open Bronx council seats and mayors race that gets better every day.

Your local community board will be having Public Hearings on the Fiscal Year 2014 Preliminary Budget Capital and Expense budget requests. The explanation is that your local community board has come up with a list of requests for projects that the boards have ranked in order for capital expenditures and service requests that fall into the expense budget. More than often the reply from city agencies is more funding is needed, refer to elected officials. You can call your local community board office for the date of your boards hearing or the Bronx Borough Presidents community board office at 718-590-3500 to find your local community board.

A last reminder that Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will be giving his “State of the Bronx” address on Tuesday February 19th at 11:30 AM in Monroe High School located at 1300 Boyton Avenue. RSVP to soth@bronxbp.nyc.gov or call 718-590-6116.

On Saturday February 23rd the 19th Annual “Bronx Parks Speak Out” will be held at the Lehman College Faculty Dinning room from 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. On the agenda is a mayoral candidates forum: “The Future of Bronx Parks”, and it is expected that most if not all candidates for mayor will attend.

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce will be holding their Annual African American Heritage Celebration on Wednesday February 20th at the F&J Pines located at 1913 Bronxdale Avenue from 11:30 a.m.– 2 p.m. Seating is limited at this event for members and non members, and you must RSVP to Gabrielle@BronxChamber.org or call 718-828-3908. To view the program go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com and scroll down the archive section on the lower left side to BX. Chamber of Commerce Annual African American Her...

The Bronx Chamber of Commerce has also rescheduled its 10th Annual Awards and Scholarship to Thursday Feb 28th at Marina Del Rey. This event was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy, and will benefit the Empire State Sandy Relief Fund. E-mail Gabrielle@BronxChamber.org or call 718-828-3908 for more information or to RSVP. You can also find more information on the Bronx Chamber of Commerce website at www.bronxchamber.org .

Don't forget to check my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com for daily information that may come in after our deadline, more details on events listed here, and some of the photos of the events. On my blog the past week were updates on the impending blizzard from the City of New York, the full announcement by the USPS to eliminate Saturday mail delivery, Comptroller Liu rejecting the $91 million Muller Army Reserve Center contract along with comments from Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., and many other announcements and items of interest to all Bronxites You can scroll down the archive section on the lower left side to find the listing of the many different items that are on the blog.

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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