Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 14

A Bronx reverend was arrested for cashing the pension checks of a teacher who died a decade ago.

Jury selection is set to begin on Nov. 7 in the trial of Councilman Larry Seabrook and his legal team is talking strategy.

The city may come to the rescue of the parking garage company that's near bankruptcy thanks to fans that have avoided the expensive parking option like a batter dodging a beanball. Affordable housing may be in the mix and the borough president is still pushing for a hotel.

The Tour de Bronx, a cycling event that takes riders on a glorious ride around the entire borough, is on Oct. 23 and registration is underway.

Assemblyman Dinowitz is proud of his near-bottom ranking from the state's Conservative Party.

Nos Quedamos (We Stay), the nonprofit that was a key proponent of rebuilding of the arson-leveled neighborhood of Melrose, is under investigation by the state attorney general's office, according to the Bob Kappstatter of the Daily News. Board members  have fired Yolanda Gonzalez, the executive director and daughter of the group's late founder, Yolanda Garcia. They say she put relatives on the payroll and drained the group's bank account.

The Bronx Ink profiles the south Bronx activist hip-hop group Rebel Diaz.

Frustration Bubbles Over at Reservoir Access Meeting

(Editor's Note: this article was first published in the latest edition of the Norwood News, on the streets and online now.)

By JORDAN MOSS

After a long-delayed report that essentially denies the community greater access to the Jerome Park Reservoir was issued last week, activists and officials are feeling powerless, particularly because a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) official assigned to report to the community on its findings refused to answer any questions.

The Facility Monitoring Committee (FMC), an advisory body that meets monthly at the DEP’s community office on Jerome Avenue to keep tabs on the Croton water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park and related projects, includes the chairs of the three surrounding community boards, Councilman Oliver Koppell, and representatives of the Parks Department and the borough president’s office.

But despite all that civic firepower, Fr. Richard Gorman, the committee chair, says it has “no juice” in getting the answers it needs. He argued for a higher-level hearing, organized by the borough president’s office.

The last straws appear to be the continued lack of progress in hiring Bronxites to work on the project and the report which, citing security concerns, essentially closes the door on community hopes to have greater access to the path inside the two chain-link fences that ring the reservoir.

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."

Bronx Tenants Rally for Rent Laws, But Cuomo Goes His Own Way

Members of the tenant rights group CASA at last week's Bronx rent reform rally. (Photo by J. Evelly)

Bronx residents, tenant organizers and elected officials held a rally last Thursday at the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Road, calling for stronger rent laws under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, which expires this June and sets guidelines for hundreds of thousands of rent regulated apartments in the Bronx, and about a million across the city.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tentative budget deal with lawmakers, announced yesterday, conspicuously leaves out any provisions relating to the state's rent laws--to the disappointment of local legislators and advocates who have been pushing the governor on the issue.

Diaz, Jr. and Dinowitz Endorse Gustavo Rivera

This morning, at a press conference at Bronx Borough Hall, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinotwitz endorsed Gustavo Rivera, who's running against State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr.

In a statement released afterwards, Diaz said:

Not only is Mr. Rivera a smart candidate with real ideas for improving the lives of his future constituents in areas such as housing, healthcare and quality of life issues, he is a true Democrat who--unlike the unfortunate incumbent Pedro Espada--will not abandon the shared principles of both his party and the voters who sent him to Albany.

Added Dinowitz:

Sadly, Pedro Espada is the poster child for what's wrong with Albany. Whether it's his role in the Republican coup, his consistent flouting of campaign finance laws, or his use of his position to block passage of desperately-needed pro-tenant legislation, it's clear that we must make a change. I would go so far as to say that it's a moral imperative that Senator Espada be defeated. Fortunately, the voters have an excellent alternative: Gustavo Rivera.

Espada also picked up an endorsement or two today. More on that shortly.

Diaz and Dinowitz to Endorse Gustavo Rivera

It's been another good day for Senate candidate Gustavo Rivera, with both City Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio endorsing him in his race against embattled State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr.

Perhaps more importantly, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Assembly Jeffrey Dinowitz have also announced they're supporting him.  They plan to make it official at a press conference on Monday morning.  More here and here.  Rivera, you may recall, has been wooing Diaz for some time.

Koch’s Enemies List

Ed Koch has an enemies list and almost every incumbent Bronx legislator is on it. The former mayor has founded NY Uprising, a group of former elected and appointed officials that is demanding incumbent and wannabe state legislators sign a pledge promising to support non-partisan independent redistricting, ethics reform and budgetary reform.

Those that sign on are deemed “heroes.” In the Bronx, only State Senators Pedro Espada and Jeff Klein are on that list, as are Espada challengers Gustavo Rivera and Fernando Tirado. (Daniel Padernacht, like most Bronx Dems, is on the group's enemies list).

We texted Bronx Democratic Party head Carl Heastie (he's well known for his texting preference) and asked why his team of Bronx Dems haven't signed on to the NY Uprising agenda. "Just didn't feel the necessity," he texted back. Asked to elaborate, Heastie said, "Koch has a right to lobby for his issues, but I don't feel compelled to respond to him."

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz was less reserved. He said he agrees with almost all of the group’s agenda. But, he said, part of the pledge is agreeing to what the position of the Citizen’s Union, a good government group, is on redistricting (though this does not seem to be on the Web site). Making a pledge dependent on the position of an outside group, which could change in the future, doesn’t make sense, Dinowitz said.

Dinowitz also didn’t appreciate being lectured on ethics by Koch, who had close ties to scandal-plagued outer-borough political leaders during his tenure.

“Koch named Espada as a hero of reform,” Dinowitz said. “I think that speaks for itself.” 

To see who made which list, go to www.nyuprising.com.

City Comes to Budget Deal; Albany Fight Still On

While lawmakers in Albany have yet to come to an agreement on a state budget for the next fiscal year—despite being nearly three months past deadline—the New York City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed on a $63 billion city budget on June 24, and the Council voted to approve the budget today.

In a statement, Bloomberg and the Council announced that the budget was balanced, ahead of its July 1st deadline and doesn’t raise taxes. Still, belt-tightening measures will be taken at every city agency to close a recession-fueled budget gap, the Mayor said in a radio address this weekend.

A Bright MMCC Baseball league Parade

April 10th, unlike last year, a bright, sunny, crispy cold Saturday morning played host to the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center Baseball season opening parade. MMCC's megaphone welding high energy Bob Altman, led the participants who started at 3450 Dekalb Ave. The parade went north on Jerome Ave then made a left into wooded Van Cortlandt park, finally ending at a lush green baseball field. State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, City Council member Oliver Koppell walked with the little leaguers and pitched the ceremonial opening balls. As always, it was a pleasure making photographs of my neighbors, I hope you enjoy the slide show.

Please click on the photos to view them larger with captions. Not all photos have names, if you leave me information in the comments, I'll add it to the photo captions.

Bronx News Roundup, March 19

Here's the Times' coverage of Megan Charlop's life and death. The much-loved director of community health for Montefiore Medical Center's School Health Program was killed on Wednesday while riding her bike. Her funeral was this morning.

More on the opening of Kips Bay Boys & Girl Club's new community center on University Avenue. Adolfo Carrion, the former Bronx borough president who now works in DC, was in attendance and hinted at a possible return to New York in the coming years to pursue citywide office.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz believes Gov. Paterson's soda tax doesn't go far enough. Instead, he would like to see a tax on all products that contain sugar, to raise revenue and combat obesity.

A Bronx man is suing the city after cops accused him of attempting to solicit sex from a prostitute. While the charges were later dropped, he spent 24 hours in custody and was forced to miss his father's funeral.

The Bronx DA is expanding its "bait car" program, in an effort to catch more car thieves.

Last Saturday in Morris Heights, a man threatened a taxi driver with a handgun and attempted rob him. In the struggle that followed, the robber bit the driver on the neck, arm, and back before fleeing.

Wet Festival at Williamsbridge Oval

The Williamsbridge Oval Festival took place last Saturday, Aug 22nd. The event was sponsered by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.

With a mind of its own the weather tried to throw a wet blanket on the festivities. Spirited Norwood residents still went ahead and had a good time. The Shameless Manipulators played groovy music till the rain came to crash the party. While the band and the audience ran for cover, children and some adults ran out into the rain. Next Ibrahim Gonzalez and his Latin jazz band performed on the dry steps of the Park House. Between the rain and dry spells Loony Toony the clown kept the children busy and entertained. I made these photographs trying to keep my camera dry. I hope you enjoy them.

Bronx pols endorse Thompson for mayor

At yesterday's Puerto Rican parade on the Grand Concourse, a handful of Bronx politicans endorsed fellow Democrat, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, for mayor, according to a press release from Thompson's office.

Assemblyman Carl Heastie, the Bronx party chairman, said:

The Bronx wants a mayor who understands that there are families, hard working people, businesses, schools and strong, proud communities outside of Manhattan. Bill Thompson will be a mayor for the Bronx because he knows this borough and he understands the challenges that hardworking Bronx residents are facing. Bill will fight for The Bronx and for all New Yorkers.

Added Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz:

Bill is going to represent working New Yorkers, middle class New Yorkers in all 5 boroughs and that’s what we need. He will improve schools and we will see real results in our education and not just the same half baked statistics that we are used too. I am proud to endorse Bill Thompson for Mayor of New York.

Councilmembers Oliver Koppell, Annabel Palma, and Maria Baez also gave Thompson their backing.

UPDATE: Koppell says he yet to make any endorsements. More here.

Good Day for Dinowitz

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is being honored tonight at Manhattan College for his work in passing legislation to combat human trafficking. The Norwood News wrote an editorial about Dinowitz's role in 2007.

Also, according to the Daily News, Dinowitz will soon be introducing legislation that would put Community Education Councils under the jurisdiction of borough presidents rather than the Department of Education and the Bloomberg administration (the story is not on-line yet but we'll post it when it is). The idea is to give the Councils more independence from the DOE so they can better hold the school system accountable.

On Your Mark … Special Election Campaign for BP Would Be Lightning Fast

No one knows if Adolfo Carrion is indeed going to Washington to work for the Obama Administration.

But the borough president seems fairly confident.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz ran into the borough president on Tuesday night in D.C. after the inauguration. “He seemed absolutely certain,” that he would be headed to D.C, Dinowitz said, adding, “I know as much as you do.”

So, let’s say Adolfo does get the call – and it would look pretty bad for him at this point if he didn’t - what happens then? When would the special election be?

Dinowitz, a key tactician in the recent County Committee leadership coup, laid out the details for me:

When/if Carrion resigns, within 3 days the mayor must announce the date of the special election. But he can’t just pick any day, since this is all governed by the City Charter. He has to call the election for the first Tuesday after 45 days have elapsed. It can be a week earlier or later if warranted, depending on whether the Tuesday falls on a problematic date like a religious holiday or even St. Patrick’s Day (which is on a Tuesday this year).

Then there’s a petitioning process that’s extremely compressed. To get on the ballot, candidates need to get 4,000 signatures from registered voters of any party (since there is no primary, this is essentially a nonpartisan election) in only 12 days. But with the inevitable ballot challenges, you need a cushion of many more signatures. 8,000 signatures would be a good number, Dinowitz said.

“It would be difficult for a candidate to do that without organized support,” Dinowitz said.

Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera and Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. have said they’re running in a special election if Carrion heads south. If both do, then it will be a key test of the new Democratic machine, which took on Joel’s father, Jose Rivera, and deposed him as party chair. The new Democratic leader in the borough, Assemblyman Carl Heastie, told me it’s not a given that the party will endorse Diaz. Heastie says he’s consulting with other elected officials and district leaders, even though Diaz is a good friend and supporter of his. Still it seems unlikely that he’d tap someone who opposed his chairmanship than someone who brought him to the dance, so to speak.

I wrote an editorial about this in the most recent issue of the Norwood News, but we’re having technical difficulties uploading to our Web site. As soon as that’s resolved, I’ll post a link. Otherwise I'll just post it here.

More on Kennedy

Just a couple of things to add to Liz Benjamin's post yesterday about replacement Senator-front runner Caroline Kennedy's visit to the Bronx offices of Congressman Eliot Engel (she also met with Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz). We heard today that Kennedy tentatively agreed to speak at the Benjamin Franklin Democratic Club's annual fundraiser this year. Also, with the state budget gap expected to be around $15 billion, Dem leaders are banking on Hil's replacement bringing home at least half of that. They believe Kennedy has the name, connections and star power to make it happen. One thing's for certain, Engel and Dinowitz are Kennedy supporters.

Bronx News Roundup Dec. 18

Most "Bronx" stories on the Web and in this morning's papers focus on Ashlee Simpson, baby "Bronx Mowgli," and husband Peter Wentz, who's likely in the doghouse this morning following an interview with Howard Stern in which he probably said a little too much.

Here's the other stuff:

Chanting "Phase out Klein, not 399!" parents, teachers, and UFT representatives held a rally outside MS 399 in South Fordham yesterday, to protest the DOE's decision to close the school. Several other schools are also being shut down for poor performance in this latest round of cuts. All received a D or an F grade in the DOE's Progress Reports released in September. Rather than being closed immediately, the schools will be phased out gradually over a number of years. Earlier this year, it was announced that another local school, PS 79, would also be closing.

Newly recovered e-mails suggest (prove?) that Mayor Bloomberg aides bullied tax assessors into exaggerating the cost of the new Yankee Stadium (specifically the cost of the land), so that the Yankees could get their hands on $1 million in tax free bonds. More here.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz thinks Ruben Diaz Jr. would be a good choice for borough president, if current B.P. Adolfo Carrion lands a much rumored position with the Obama Administration. In truth, Dinowitz was never likely to support another probable candidate, Joel Rivera, the City Council majority leader. Dinowitz and others fought bitterly this fall with Rivera's father, Jose Rivera, over the leadership of the Bronx Democratic Party.

The funeral of Cardinal Avery Dulles, the respected theologian and Fordham University professor, is being held today, following his death last Friday. The BoogieDowners have more.

A 30-year-old woman was stabbed to death in Crotona Park East on Wednesday afternoon.

There have been several big drug busts in Bronx housing projects over the past two weeks.

Could Results be Read in Palm Cards?

There's kind of a water-cooler theory of the Senate primary results going around (maybe it's just around our water cooler, but I think I've heard others say this, too) -- that you can't be under indictment and postpone your trial for more than a year and still win an election. That may be true, at least in part, and there's probably no scientific way of proving it.

But another plausible explanation of the results may be found in the palm card distribution by the party, or lack thereof.

Liz Benjamin at the Daily News posted this Democratic Party regular palm card distributed in the bulk of Efrain Gonzalez's district, but excludes his name.


Palm cards encouraging voters to vote for a slate of candidates are distributed by campaign volunteers just outside the polls. They can be effecitve particulary in races with extremely low turnout and elections with fairly low profile races (not a lot of people know who the candidates for state legislature are, much less district leader and the like).

Earlier today I spoke to Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, one of the architects of the Rainbow Rebellion, a large faction of Bronx Assembly members and senators who now oppose Party leader Jose Rivera.

Gonzalez was the only candidate both groups of Bronx Democrats supported. Dinowitz's Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club even backed Gonzalez, who is under indictment, because their overarching goal is taking Senate control away from the Republicans. Gonzalez's opponent, Pedro Espada, has flirted with the Republican Party despite his Democratic affiliation, and he could very well keep the balance of power tilted toward the GOP.

Dinowitz says that the only Assembly District (a few A.D.s overlap with Gonzalez's larger Senate District) that Gonzalez got more votes than Espada in was Dinowitz's own -- the 81st A.D. And it was in this A.D. that Gonzalez's name did appear on palm cards -- Ben Franklin Club cards that had Gonzalez's name and the successful civil court candidate the club and the Rainbow rebel faction vigorously backed, Elizabeth Taylor.

Just a theory, but maybe Gonzalez would have won if all the palm cards distributed that day looked more like this one, which was handed to me outside my daughter's school on Gun Hill Road.

Dinowitz Unhappy with Ward Nomination to Port Authority

In an op-ed in yesterday's Daily News Bronx section, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz explains his displeasure with Gov. Paterson's nomination of former DEP commissioner Christopher Ward to head the Port Authority. Especially noted are Ward's notorious cost-overruns at DEP with the filtration plant and with the projects like the JFK Air Train when he was previously at the Port Authority.

Speaking of the outdated technology and gushing groundwater leakage at the filtration plant, Dinowitz writes:

Either Ward's DEP committed the unforgivable sin of not knowing this environmental disaster was going to happen, or he kept the information off the list of project negatives to keep the approval process moving forward. Is this someone we want in charge of the Port Authority's ecological restoration?

He then cites Ward's pandering to special interests and his move from DEP to the General Contractors Association of New York as reasons to think his running the Port Authority would not be in our best interests.

Dinowitz: Bronx 'Just As Good' as Iowa, NH

I spoke with Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz yesterday about he presidential nominating process and his support for Hillary Clinton. Here's the short piece I wrote about it for the Norwood News (on the Web later today).

Leading up to Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, two prominent Bronx pols campaigned for Hillary Clinton in Manchester. Assemblymen Jeffrey Dinowitz and Jose Rivera were in the Granite State last weekend.

And despite polls on Tuesday that predicted an Obama win in New Hampshire and additional bad news for Clinton in South Carolina and nationally, Dinowitz said he was standing by his candidate.

“I’m with Hillary. I believe in her,” he said.

“I’d rather support someone who’s actually talking about issues,” Dinowitz added, comparing Clinton’s policy prowess with what he described as Obama’s soaring, yet vague, rhetoric of hope and unity.

Dinowitz didn’t want to criticize Obama harshly (he admitted he’d be a supporter if the Illinois senator prevails), but he did offer a gentle gibe. “Where’s the beef?” he said, echoing Walter Mondale’s famous quip criticizing Gary Hart in the 1984 race for the Democratic nomination.

Dinowitz also offered a critique of the nominating process, particularly Iowa’s and New Hampshire’s outsized role in the selection of nominees. “To have a couple of states have such huge influence on the process is just crazy,” he said. “A voter in New Hampshire has 100 times the weight, than a voter in New York. People in the Bronx almost never see the presidential candidate. We’re just as good and just as important as people who live in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

Dinowitz also pointed out that in Iowa, just as many independents voted for Obama as Democrats. The same might prove true in New Hampshire. “The people who should pick the party nominee should be members of the party,” he said.

Bronx Officials Stump for Hillary

Just got these two photos e-mailed to us from Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz' office. He was in Manchester, New Hampshire at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with other members of the Riverdale-based Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club. Pictured in top photo, from left to right, are Ben Franklin club member Michael Heller (who is also a spokesman for the North Bronx Healthcare Network), Dinowitz, Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton).

In the second photo, Dinowitz is pictured with Clinton and Bronx Democratic leader Assemblyman Jose Rivera.

By the way, Mount Hope Monitor editor James Fergusson will be up in New Hampsire later today and tomorrow with a delegation of editors from NYC ethnic and community newspapers. We expect he'll be blogging a little here on his experiences up there. So, check back!