Bronx News Roundup, Wednesday, July 20

Quickie roundup today. 

Weather: Prepare yourselves. Today's high in the low-90s is nothing compared to what's coming. The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Watch warning starting tomorrow afternoon as "a large dome of high pressure" moves from the middle of the country to our neck of the woods.

Story of the Day: Pugilists Collide in Bronx Produce Market
Bunch of press today about the upcoming Saturday night boxing match/cancer fundraiser at Hunts Point market, including this story about Livingstone Joseph, a Bronx boxer from the Virgin Islands who has lost an aunt and uncle to cancer. More on the event here and here.

Quick Hits:
James Schlau, a registered sex offender, was sentenced to 60 years for violently sexually assaulting three Bronx prostitutes last year.

Italian-American academic Dr. Joseph Scelsa of Morris Park was named the grand marshal from this year's Bronx Columbus Day Parade, which is scheduled for Oct. 9.

Bronx Assemblyman Stevenson Rallies for Strauss-Kahn Accuser

Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson is joining a chorus of local leaders coming to the defense of the woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French politician and former head of the International Monetary Fund.

Stevenson, just coming off his first term in office, held an event last Friday at the Futa Islamic Center in Morrisania, a popular meeting place for the neighborhood's Guinean community--the West African country from which the woman involved in the incident hails.

“Rumors about her past that have nothing to do with the case even if they were true should not prevent the case from being heard," Stevenson said in a statement. "A dismissal would discourage victims from coming forward for fear that they themselves would be put on trial.”

No Room For Pork in Cuomo's Budget

It's a political practice as well-established as candidates kissing babies: a local legislator shows up at a senior center or an elementary school, giant check in hand, to announce that he'll be funding a daily meals program or buying new uniforms for the spring soccer team.

There's a photo-op and everyone leaves feeling good--the politician gets to be the hero, and the local organization gets some much-needed money.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's bare-bones budget for this fiscal year, approved March 31, contains no funding for new member items--the public money given to state senators and assembly members that allows them to hand out all those big checks in their respective districts. These discretionary funds, or "pork," have often been criticized as wasteful spending, and for a few politicians, have been a source of scandal.

But local legislators say the loss of member item money will, ultimately, only hurt their communities; that the ones taking the hit are the local organizations and services that rely on support from elected officials to stay afloat.

"Local legislators know the needs of their districts better than faceless bureaucrats in Albany," said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, in an e-mail. "The groups I fund -- youth programs, senior centers, arts and music groups and others -- all play a valuable role in our community and its quality of life."

New Assemblyman Vows to Fight Budget Cuts

Editor's Note: This story first appeared in this month's issue of the Tremont Tribune, on the streets and online now.

FILE PHOTO BY JAMES FERGUSSON

Eric Stevenson is barely into his first term as an assemblyman, but he’s already pledged to take Albany on, swinging.

His first battle? Tackling Gov. Cuomo’s proposed budget cuts, which take an axe to funding for state agencies and programs across the board in an attempt to reduce the state’s huge deficit.

“There’s going to be some uprising from the South Bronx, and the 79th District,” the new legislator said during a phone interview from Albany.

“He’s talking about $1.5 billion in cuts to education, and then $2.8 billion to Medicaid," Stevenson said. "What is that going to do to a district like mine? If I don’t stand up, what do my constituents say?”

Michael Benjamin's New Role: Blogger

Photo courtesy of Michael Benjamin's office.

Assemblyman Michael Benjamin is leaving Albany this January--he opted not to run for re-election this fall in his 79th District--but he'll be keeping himself busy post-term.

Benjamin launched a blog a few weeks ago, and so far he's posted entries blasting the city's proposed food stamp soda ban, musing the future of the state legislature and hypothesizing ways to increase enrollment in catholic schools.

"It’s a continuation, actually, of what I’ve been doing in the Assembly--writing letters and Op-Eds," Benjamin said in a phone interview yesterday. "The blog allows me to do that."

Benjamin is laying the groundwork for a Congressional run in the next election season with the blog's name--MichaelBenjamin2012--and an image of the Capital Building as the site's header.

"I think it's important for people to see my thought process and what I have to say on public policy issues," he said. "So that when I run for Congress, there's a body of work that lets people know what I think."

When he first announced plans to leave the Assembly, Benjamin said it was to challenge longtime  Congressman Jose E. Serrano, who he says hasn't done enough in his 20-plus years in office to alleviate poverty in the South Bronx. Benjamin dropped his Congressional bid shortly after but said he'll make another go of it in 2012.

You can check out his blog at www.michaelbenjamin2012.wordpress.com.

District Leader and legislative researcher Eric Stevenson will fill Benjamin's Assembly seat, which covers Belmont, East Tremont and Crotona. Stevenson won with 96 percent of votes on Tuesday.

Story of the Day: District Leader Runs for Benjamin's Assembly Seat

District Leader Eric Stevenson is running for Assembly in the 79th A.D. 

The Tremont Tribune has the story of who is stepping in, with the backing of Bronx County Democrats, to run for the seat being vacated by Michael Benjamin. (Photo: James Fergusson)

New Issue of the Tremont Tribune

June's edition of the Tremont Tribune is on the streets and online now. Here are some of the stories featured in this month's issue:

• A longtime dispute between St. Barnabas hospital and its resident doctors may be coming to an end, as the National Labor Relations Board approved a vote for residents to form a union.

• County Democrats are backing district leader Eric Stevenson to fill the seat now occupied by Michael Benjamin, who announced last month that he wouldn't seek re-election (he also recently ditched plans to make a run for Congress).

• A group of home care workers--whose company runs eight locations in the Bronx--are attempting to unionize, despite resistance from their employer. 

• Belmont resident Marie Riolo was honored by Bronx politicians this month for her decades of volunteer work and community service. 

• We interviewed Julio Velez, Captain of the 48th Precinct's Auxiliary Police, a volunteer patrol unit of the NYPD. 

For more, pick up a copy of the Tribune or visit www.tremonttribune.org. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more updates!