Gustavo Rivera, Ari Hoffnung Make '40 Under 40' List

Photo illustration courtesy of City Hall

Last week, City Hall published its annual list of rising political stars - the so-called "40 under 40."

A few Bronxites made the grade, including Gustavo Rivera (who trounced State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. in last month's Democratic primary) and Ari Hoffnung, a Riverdalian who has twice run against Councilman Oliver Koppell (most recently last year when he dropped out before the primary). Hoffnung currently works for the New York City Comptroller Office where he's the Assistant Comptroller for Budget/Chief Policy Officer.

Angel Audiffred, a former aide to Councilman Joel Rivera who's now Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez's chief-of-staff, is also on the list.  And so is Rachel Mann, who works for the Advance Group, a political consulting form, and is described as a "Bronx native." (There may be others with Bronx links, but it's unclear where everyone lives or grew up.)

Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. doesn't get a mention because he appeared on a previous list. Ditto several other young(ish) Bronx pols such as Assemblymember Vanessa Gibson and Councilman Joel Rivera.

Click here for City Hall's 2009 list, and here for its 2008 one. 

The Capitol, a sister publication of City Hall, published its own "40 under 40" list back in June.

Bronx News Roundup, June 14

It's Monday! Time to get back to business and some BX news you may have missed. Enjoy!

In-Tech Academy, in the South Bronx, is currently under investigation by city education officials on charges claiming that students were disciplined by being assigned janitorial duties, such as cleaning toilets.

Jury selection on the case against the four men who allegedly plotted to bomb Riverdale synagogues is set to begin today.

A 4-year-old boy died after tumbling over the railing of his terrace, and falling down 23 stories, in Co-op City. For a story on the father's reaction click here.

The Hutchinson Metro Center, in the Bronx, has agreed to shine the colors of Mother Teresa's order on August 26, in honor of her 100th birthday, after Empire State Building officials said no.

State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. has stuck to his guns, and refuses to vote on any more budget cuts, even with the threat of a state government shutdown. The Daily News has more.

Some senate leaders are confident that a government shutdown will not be happening. Read more here.

The 32-year-old man who received a rare heart and liver transplant at Montefiore Medical Center, was able to return home to his family on Friday.

Nearly 600 high school students rallied outside of City Hall on Friday in support of free student MetroCards, which the MTA has threatened to take away.

John H. Reynolds, the Green Party candidate for NY State Senate, in the 33rd senate district, spoke out on a number of issues, including worker's rights and the need to empower communities of color, at the South Bronx Community Congress meeting held at Hostos Commuity College, earlier this month.

The New York Public Library's Summer Reading 2010 Program, kicked off at the Bronx Library Center in Fordham, on Friday. Read more here.

The New York Yankees Museum reveals its 'Subway Series' exhibit.

Sean Bell Protestors To March to City Hall Today

With a little more than one month having passed since the acquittal of Marc Cooper, Gescard F. Isnora, and Michael Oliver--the three officers charged in Sean Bell's death--no action beyond the filing of internal NYPD (non-criminal) charges has been taken against the officers.

This afternoon in lower Manhattan, demonstrators will gather in an effort to ensure that the momentum of protest in the immediate wake of the verdict is carried forward.

Demonstrators will gather at Union Square at 4pm, and leave shortly thereafter for a march to City Hall, where a rally will be held at 6pm.

Protest organizers put out a call to wear black in solidarity with Bell.

UNHP Responds to DEP’s 18% mid-Year Water Rate Proposal

DEP’s threat to go to the Water Board for an 18% mid-year rate increase has placed the cost of water in New York City back in the spotlight. City Hall and DEP are apparently hoping to get the City Council to enact legislation to allow the sale of stand alone water liens to bolster revenues from water bills. (Currently, water liens can only be sold if there is an accompanying tax lien.)

Everyone interested in maintaining a safe water supply that is affordable to all New Yorkers should take advantage of the opportunity offered by this political gamesmanship to publicly raise the real issue: the cost of water is out of control and threatens the economic futures of many New Yorkers.

Water bills currently pay for (1) the operation of the system, (2) the debt service on bonds for capital projects related to water and (3) a rental payment to the City of New York. Better collections will help DEP’s financial picture, but other steps must be taken. For instance, the Water Board’s rental agreement with City could be re-negotiated. Few people know that the Water Board’s rental payment this year is $154 million; reducing or eliminating that payment would be a big help this year for the Water Board budget.

Additionally, DEP’s capital budget needs to be examined to determine the necessity of certain projects, the timing of projects and the real costs of projects in construction. For example, the filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park started out as a $1.2 billion job and now the costs are estimated to be $2.8 billion.

The importance of preserving the infrastructure to maintain an ample source of clean water is obvious. But the existing housing stock is an equally important part of the city’s economic infrastructure. Neither can be replaced and both require long-term capital investment. The housing infrastructure’s capital needs will be starved by the cumulative effect of water rate increases that are now being forecast.

We urge the Mayor and City Council to work with the community to develop a comprehensive answer to the water issue.

Jim Buckley, Executive Direcor
Gregory Lobo Jost, Deputy Director

Coalition pushing for school S.E.A.T.S

Wednesday morning, organizers and youth from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (aka the Coalition), lamenting chronic overcrowding and its effects on education, stormed City Hall to demand more school seats in the Bronx and citywide.

In the process, the Coalition announced its S.E.A.T.S (Schools Exploding at the Seams) initiative, which is designed to pressure the education department, using the City Council as a lobbying arm, into adding more school seats for the current Five-Year Capital Plan, set to be revised in November. The City Council has an opportunity to weigh in on any capital plan revisions when it approves the city's budget in April.

The overcrowding issue has festered in the borough since last fall when the DOE announced it would be eliminating 1,700 Bronx seats from the capital plan, which many activists, parents, students and local politicians considered a slap in the face. For more background check out this story from the Norwood News.

The Coalition spent the morning pitching council members and then gathered on the steps of City Hall for a press conference where Coalition leaders, with a backdrop of 30 slogan-chanting students, laid out the case for more seats.

The goal, Coalition vice president Ronn Jordan said, is to make overcrowding a citywide issue. Jordan added that they were already getting a very positive response from council members, many of whom have already pledged their support for S.E.A.T.S.

Upper Manhattan's Robert Jackson (head of the education committee) and Brooklyn's David Yasky (looking like a math teacher in khakis and a pink button down) joined the Bronx's Oliver Koppell and Joel Rivera in speaking during the press conference.

Here's some video from the event.

Stay tuned, this will be an issue the Norwood News will be all over in the coming year.