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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Former Mayor Dinkins Honored Here

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Former Mayor Dinkins Honored Here: By Michael Horowitz BRONX, NEW YORK, February 20- David Dinkins, the city's only black mayor, was center stage at the borough's Black Hi...
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Former Mayor Dinkins Honored Here


By Michael Horowitz
BRONX, NEW YORK, February 20- David Dinkins, the city's only black mayor, was center stage at the borough's Black History Month celebration, which Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., held in Co-op City's Dreiser Loop Community Center auditorium.
Dinkins, the guest of honor at the celebration that an estimated 200 Bronxites attended, stressed that the African-American trailblazers who came before him, most notably the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, set the stage for his election as the city's first and only black mayor in 1989.
The former mayor stressed that he would not have been elected as the city's mayor if it had not been for the increased voter registration of blacks that was spurred by Rev. Jackson's presidential candidacy and the ground work that former Borough President Sutton laid during his tenure in office.
Fittingly, Lori Stokes, the anchor for ABC-TV Eyewitness News, the daughter of former Rep. Louis Stokes, and the niece of former mayor Carl Stokes from Cleveland, served as mistress of ceremony for the Feb. 13 celebration of black contributions to the nation's vitality.
Stokes, in her introduction for the borough's black-history program, noted that she, like many other African Americans, has “lived black history,” witnessing the notable progress that people of color have made in the U. S. since the 1960s.
“Black history is American history,” Stokes declared. “That is the measure of the progress that African Americans have made, when we can talk openly about the contributions that black Americans have made to the fabric of our country.”
Borough President Diaz, for his part, pointed to the African heritage that he and many other Latinos share in terms of history, as well as physical appearance.
Ticking off the contributions of black to American life, Diaz pointed out that blacks invented the clock, the incandescent electric light bulb, the potato chip, and a new method for cataract-eye surgery.
“We have so much we need to celebrate during Black History Month,” Diaz stressed. “Black History Month is a teachable moment. It is a time to celebrate the progress that we, as individuals, have made, and it is a time to celebrate the progress that the Bronx has made in recent decades.”
Praising Dinkins, Diaz said that the former mayor's “Safe Streets, Safe City” initiative set the stage for the decline in crime that New York City has seen in recent decades.
Dinkins, for his part, stressed, “So much had to change for me to be elected mayor of New York City. I never expected to hold an office higher than borough president. In fact, it took me three tries before I was elected as Manhattan's borough president. I got elected as mayor of the city in 1989 because of all that went on before that election.”
Those honored in the celebration of Black History Month included, in addition to Dinkins, Francine Reva Jones, an African-American activist who serves as a member of Co-op City's board of directors, and Donald Arthur, a heart-transplant recipient in 1996 who lives in the Co-op City community.
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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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