Protesting the Yankees: 'It's About Respect,' Activists Say

-PHOTO SLIDESHOW BY ADI TALWAR

Yesterday, a group of South Bronx activists braved the oppressive afternoon heat to re-energize a campaign to hold the Yankees baseball club accountable for promises they made to community for the right to build a new $1.5 billion stadium on public parkland.

In exchange for taking its parkland, soaking up taxpayer dollars (in the form of subsidies and tax breaks) and bringing more traffic congestion and parking woes to the area, the Yankees (and the city which backed the project) promised to provide local jobs, quickly restore parkland and give back money to community groups and programs on annual basis.

But the local jobs didn't materialize. Replacement parks haven't been built, mostly because the old stadium (where the new parks are to be built) is still standing and collecting moss. And the money, which is being dispersed through a specifically-created nonprofit fund, has been slow in getting back into the community, not to mention racked by controversey and possible corruption.

"All we're asking is that they be good neighbors," said Ramon Jimenez, one of the organizers of the protest who has helped create a short-hand friendly group called 4DSBxCoalition (For the South Bronx Coalition). "They promised everything. They have given us nothing."

Jimenez is a Harvard-educated lawyer with offices in South Bronx. Last year, Times reporter David Gonzalez wrote about how Jimenez, a longtime Bronx activist, was critical of Assemblyman and then-Democratic County Chair Jose Rivera who was facing challenges to his leadership of the party. Rivera's since been ousted as party chair and Jimenez is now back taking on the powers that be.

"We want to revitalize this whole [Yankee Stadium and the lack of community benefits] issue," Jimenez said, sweating in his suit underneath the 4-Train line on 161st Street and River Avenue, along with about 30 equally sweat-soaked supporters.

Specifically, the Jimenez and the Coalition, which held a similar protest at the new stadium in early June, want: the old stadium torn down by the end of the year; one represtentative of their organization on the advisory board that distributes the $800,000 in community funds; the replacement parks to be built safe and green (no artifical turf, they say); and for the community to share in the profits of memorabilia sold from the old stadium.

(The city sold the Yankees the rights to all the memorabilia for $11 million earlier this year. Some say this was a good deal for the city, but it's unclear if that money will go back into the community in any way. )

Hector Soto, another lawyer who helped organize the protest, said, "We're trying to re-energize a campaign that was started by the community before the stadium was even built. The issues were never addressed . . . the community has not been compensated at all."

"It's about respect," Soto said later.

The Coalition created a Web site to highlight all the Yankees' broken promises.

Others in attendance included a host of other recognizable faces, including Rafael Alequin-Martez, a blogger/activist/journalist who got into a dust up with Pedro Espada's son during the state senator's campaign last year. (Alequin-Martez refused a judge's plea offer of restitution for his busted camera and is holding out for harassment and assault charges, he says.)

Also marching with the Coalition was the dapper young City Council candidate, Carlos Sierra, who is challenging Helen Foster in the 16th District, which includes both stadiums, and Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel. Joyce Hogi, a longtime critic of the new stadium and its gobbling of parkland, was also there. A Green Party member, Tom Syracuse, railed against the new Yankee Stadium, not to mention all the mainstream politicians who allowed it to be built.

Meanwhile, dozens of tourists, looking for a glimpse inside one of the world's most expensive sports complexes, continued to side-step the protest and enter the stadium.

The Yankees, Unobstructed, June 5: Stadium Gits for Dad

Dirt is the New Gold

With Father's Day just over two weeks away, the pressure's on to find the perfect gift. This is your one chance to wipe away all of those foul memories of neckties and standard golfing accessories given to Dad in years past. This year, you can give Pop a gift that will make his buddies at the Elks Lodge truly envy him for his progeny. I'm talking about Yankee Stadium Final Season memorabilia.

You see, the Yankees gave Steiner Collectibles the exclusive right to ravage the old Stadium, and boy did they. Everything, and I mean everything, from the old Stadium is for sale. Seats, signs, even sod!

But the lavish world of game-used knicks and knacks can be intimidating, so don't dive in unprepared. The Bronx News Network proudly presents the MACOMBS (Menagerie of Absurd Crap Offered for Massively Bloated Sums) Yankees Memorabilia Guide!

Dirt is the new gold: Seriously, it is. For $59.99 your father can be the proud owner of a coin-sized medallion of dirt from the old Yankee Stadium, but wait, there's more....the dirt comes on a plaque with a picture of your favorite Yankee! Take that, lame Commemorative Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration 24kt Gold Coin ($24.95).

Think your dad deserves better than dirt? How about sod? For just $80, his mantelpiece can be home to an authentic chunk of freeze-dried grass from the old Stadium. Not good enough? How about a 20' x 20' patch of the old center field, custom-installed onto your front lawn! Only $10,000.

Still not satisfied? Try the $50,000 "NY" logo, from behind home plate, delivered complete with original "NY" stencil and white paint.

Maybe you're looking for the kind of gift that says, "Dad, let's sit together and bond." Then you might be interested in one of the many furniture options available from the old Stadium:

Nothing says, "I have the expressed right and privilege to criticize every blink of Joe Girardi's increasingly twitch-prone right eye" than an authentic Yankee Stadium blue-padded press chair. This chair, for just $199, came from inside the press room. Go ahead, tell the old man that Mel Allen once sat in it. Who knows, maybe he did.

Want to sit on something a little less functional? Consider a two-seat set of authentic Yankee Stadium bleacher seats. Sure, they might look and feel like just some random $699 metal plank. But for all you know, Bald Vinny himself could have spilled beer on that plank while being forcibly removed from the old Premises.

Oh, so you're too good for the bleachers, eh? You want the real deal. For the exact same price as an iMac with a 24-inch screen, an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz processor, 4GB RAM and a 640 GB Hard Drive, you can have not one, but two authentic Yankee Stadium seats (complete with metal arm rests and plastic seat backs). $1,499.

Perhaps your Dad already has everything he wants at home, but he really wants to transform that Elks Lodge into a TGI Friday's look-alike. Nothing says "Carefully Orchestrated Miscellany!" like random signs, and Steiner's got 'em all! How about an authentic "Escalator" sign ($200)? Or maybe he'd prefer a "These ramps not suitable for wheelchairs" sign ($350). Yup, if it was a directive, and it was on display at the Stadium, you can have it!

That's just a sampling of the goods being offered from the House that Ruth Built....what, you want to know what I'm doing for Father's Day? Oh, that's simple enough. I figured I would spend a quiet afternoon with the old man. Maybe we'll head down to Macombs Dam Park and watch a little high school baseba....oh wait, nevermind, that's not possible. He's getting a necktie.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every Wednesday for Pinstripe Politics, your source for that gray area where the Yankees and society converge. Also, check in with the BNN on Fridays for The Yankees, Unobstructed, our weekly Yankee opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (www.trueslant.com/grahamkates).

Bronx News Roundup, May 14

Sorry for the late posting today. But do check out the latest Norwood News, which hits the street today. We’ll start with the heavy news and end on a lighter note.

More information on the death of Nimzay Aponte, a 23-year-old woman who was stabbed to death in a Mott Haven park on Tuesday. The Daily News reports that Aponte met Raymond Dennis, 35, online and they had chatted via instant messenger, though she refused to meet him. He tracked her down and spotted her on Tuesday in St. Mary's Park with a man, someone who was enrolled in a job-hunting seminar with her. The two were taking a break from the seminar when Dennis stabbed both Aponte and then the man. Paramedics raced the victims to Lincoln Hospital, where Aponte later died.

A Bronx man was shot and killed in Buffalo less than one day after graduating from the University of Buffalo. Javon Jackson, 23, graduated on Saturday, May 12, and was shot on Sunday at 3 a.m.

This morning a 9-year-old female yellow lab-chow mix ran onto the Major Deegan Expressway and was hit by a car close to exit 3. Soon after, another dog, apparently her son, ran to her rescue and would not let officers near her. Then, the dog ran off leading cops on a high-speed chase. The owner of the two dogs saw it all on T.V., and she went to animal care and control in East Harlem where the dogs were being held. The female dog is now at a pet hospital with a broken leg, but she’s expected to recover.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at NYU’s graduation ceremony yesterday at Yankees Stadium.

Newsday features several overlooked, but beautiful, places to visit in New York City and lists Vancortlandt Park and Poe Cottage as two of them.