Bronx News Roundup, Nov. 30

The Daily News' Patrice O'Shaughnessy says troubling questions still remain in the death of Billy Murphy, a homeless man who died in Norwood back in August. Police insist his death was an accident, but those who knew him aren't convinced. For more on Murphy's life and death, check out this Norwood News story and BxNN post.

A burglary at Our Lady of Refuge School in Bedford Park on Sunday may be connected to a string of recent break-ins at Bronx churches.

A construction firm working on the delayed and over-budget Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park lied about hiring minority subcontractors.  To atone for the fraud, Schiavone Construction has agreed to pay a $20 million fine. According to the Daily News, the firm was ratted out by a Gambino mobster.

In his weekly column, the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter gives some ink to a campaign aimed at encouraging readers and advertisers to boycott the Riverdale Review, a weekly paper published by Andy Wolf. Tony Cassino, a lawyer and politico who has often come under attack in the Review, insists he's only a bit-player in the effort, and that parents angry at Wolf's coverage of Riverdale schools are the ones driving it. For some background on the campaign, here's a Riverdale Press article. It seems a pretty balanced take on the situation considering the two papers rarely see eye to eye. For more, here's Cassino writing about the campaign on his blog, and here's Wolf hitting back at his "anti-first amendment" critics. 

A Bronx man has been charged with stealing $5 million from Columbia University.

State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. was a no-show at yesterday's special session in Albany.  Espada, who leaves office at end of the year, was the only absent Democrat.  According to The Times, he cited a family emergency. Yesterday, Espada's staffers were mum on his whereabouts.  Gustavo Rivera, the man who will take ownership of his seat in January, was in Albany yesterday, where he voted on the Senate Democratic leadership. 

A 15-year-old Bronx boy drowned on Sunday after drifting into the deep end of a hotel swimming pool in Pennsylvania.

The women's basketball coach at Hostos Community College is hoping that four-year colleges begin to take notice of the team's talented players.

Cathleen Black, the city's new schools chancellor, visited PS 109 in Morris Heights this morning. Black was officially hired yesterday.

A pizza delivery man was struck and killed by a car in Riverdale last night as he crossed the street. The driver remained on the scene and wasn't charged.

The family of a Bronx teen shot in the face by a police officer last year is suing the NYPD. The cop lied about what really happened, and had no reason to shoot, the family contends.

Some Bronx organizations which received tax breaks and bonds from the city's Industrial Development Agency in order to boost the local economy, have actually shed jobs, not created them. 

The Rockefeller Center's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony will be held tonight.  This year, the tree came from the garden of a Bronx fireman who lives upstate.

Cassino on Term Limits: Fix the Incumbent Loophole

Last Tuesday, New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly to limit city politicians to two consecutive terms in office. 

The vote overturns a controversial law pushed through in 2008 by Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council, which OK'ed three four-year terms for the mayor, council members, borough presidents, and others. (Back then, Annabel Palma was the only Bronx council member who voted against the extension.)

Supporters of the two term-limit, then, are celebrating.  But there's a catch: the new law won't impact incumbents. When the city's Charter Revision Commission approved the term limits ballot question in the summer, members also voted 9-6 in favor of allowing sitting office holders to run for a third term, should they choose to do so.

For commission member Tony Perez Cassino, this, too, needs to be reversed.

According to an article published yesterday on City Hall's  website, Cassino, a lawyer and Riverdale resident, is already laying the groundwork for a ballot question in 2011 that would give voters the option of tying incumbents to two terms. "Stay tuned because we really need to fix this loophole and finish the job we started," Cassino wrote on his blog last week. (Last month, he also opined on this issue in the Daily News and Gotham Gazette.)

Cassino, you may recall, ran - and lost - against Council member Oliver Koppell in last year's Democratic primary.  Koppell had been term-limited, but was allowed to run again following the City Council vote.

Two Bronxites Named to City Charter Revision Commission

Mayor Bloomberg appointed two Bronxites to the new 15-member Charter Revision Commission, which will take a look at the entire City Charter and propose any possible changes.

Tony Cassino, the former chairman of Community Board 8 and a former City Council candidate in District 11, and Father Joseph McShane, the president of Fordham University, were both named to the commission, which Bloomberg says will be charged with "reaching out to every community, analyzing every idea on the merits, and proposing changes that will improve the lives of New Yorkers."

In a statement, Bloomberg said the commission would hold hearings in every borough as part of this outreach effort.

Dick Dadey, the executive director of the nonprofit Citizens Union, liked appointment of CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein as chair of the commission, calling it an "inspired choice."

For months, rumors have circulated saying Bloomberg may be looking to change the responsibilities of the local community boards as well as those of the borough presidents.

Immediately after Bloomberg's announcement Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. acknowledged some of those rumors in a statement:

"I am happy that, after weeks of rumors and reports, Mayor Bloomberg has finally announced the appointment of a charter revision commission. I look forward to working with the commission and its members to ensure that the issues of all Bronxites are addressed through this body. To that end, this commission must hold hearings in the Bronx, in fact in all five boroughs, to guarantee that the voices of my constituents are heard."

Koppell Wins Decisively in 11th District

Councilman Oliver Koppell declaring victory before a packed house at the
Ben Franklin Club. (Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz in foreground). Photo by Jordan Moss

Oliver Koppell scored a decisive victory in the 11th District against Anthony Cassino, the former chair of Community Board 8. The vote was 5348 (63.9%) to 2301 (36.1%)

Koppell staff and supporters started filing into the cramped storefront Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club on E. 231st St. in Kingsbridge just after 9 p.m. Almost immediately volunteers starting filing in with precinct vote tally sheets which signaled Koppell's victory long before TV stations reported it.

Koppell gave a spirited acceptance speech standing on a chair, including a boisterous defense of his leadership in extending term limits. Essentially, Koppell saw it as a vindication for his position.

Over at the Ibiza night club near Manhattan College, the scene was more subdued as Cassino chatted with and thanked supporters.

We'll have more on this race and the other Bronx Council races tomorrow.

Primary Postcard: Norwood Polls Quiet After Apparent Morning Brawl

Koppell campaign workers stand outside of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center polling site. Sandler (right) claims a Cassino supporter tried to strangle him this morning.

Around 3 p.m. this afternoon, the primary polling site at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center was ominously devoid of Tony Cassino campaigners. Instead, Oliver Koppell campaign workers strolled around the area surrounding the community center passing out flyers and attempting to sway primary voters in their favor.

Despite Cassino's Norwood campaign office's location directly across the street from the community center, the only Cassino campaign literature in sight was plastered on the windows of his office.

However, earlier in the day, a Koppell campaign worker claimed that Cassino campaigners were not so quiet.

Andrew Sandler, a Koppell volunteer who has been campaigning outside of the community center all day, said, "A Cassino supporter pushed me and strangled me this morning when I was handing out flyers outside of Cassino's office." Although Sandler said that when he complained about the incident to Cassino, the City Council candidate apologized for his supporter's violent behavior, but Cassino also "said that I provoked him." The Cassino campaign could not be reached for a comment.

Besides the alleged brawl, Sandler said the poll station at the community center has been "quiet."

Poll workers agreed with Sandler, saying that turnout has been fairly low and they hope to get more voters after 5 p.m.

At another poll site in Norwood, the St. Brendan School on 207th Street, poll workers also said the turnout for today's primary election has been low. One worker pointed out that not one person has voted in the 94th District today.

Outside of the St. Brendan School, Jamin Sewell, who is counsel for Councilman Koppell, said he was "not surprised" about the number of voters. "I expected a low turnout," he said. "In some cases, people are unaware of the election."

Still, Sewell said, "I'm confident he (Koppell) is going to win, it just is a matter of by how much."

There were no Cassino campaigners outside of the St. Brendan School this afternoon.

Final Primary Thoughts (Most importantly, remember to vote tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 15)

Well, we've arrived. The moment of truth. Tomorrow, primary voters in the Bronx will decide who they want to represent them in City Council. (We'd say there's still the matter of the general election, but let's be honest here.)

There are three, maybe four Council races in the borough that are worth watching because they could be close (or at least relatively so): the 14th, 11th, 12th and maybe the 16th. In each of those races, the incumbent is not guaranteed victory in tomorrow's primary. And if any of them go down, it will be an exception to the rule.

Last week, the NY Times, in a story about 14th District incumbent Maria Baez's perilous re-election battle -- she's facing two well-financed opponents, Fernando Cabrera and Yudelka Tapia -- reported that incumbents have won re-election in 97% of all Council races over the past 20 years. That means, if any of those incumbents gets knocked off we could be staring at history when the final results are tallied.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm excited to see some political competition.

Candidates ask us who we're endorsing in the various races. Our answer is always the same: we don't endorse. What we do endorse is informed voting and political engagement. And through our coverage and our debates we've hoped to foster that.

On that note, kudos to Oliver Koppell, the 11th District councilman, for being the only incumbent to engage his (or her) challenger(s) in a debate. Baez? A no show. Larry Seabrook (12th) and Helen Foster (16th)? Nope.

As a voter, you have to ask yourself: Why aren't these people willing to debate their opponents? It's not because they were too busy.

In any case, we're hoping some of the competition and campaigns have invigorated a Bronx voting bloc that is shockingly apathetic.

Last fall, Pedro Espada was voted in by less than 5,000 voters in a senate district with more than 100,000 registered voters. Four years ago, only 17% of those eligible actually voted in the 11th district.

So? Vote. That's all we're saying.

Here's a few last-minute snippets from the races.

• 11th District Challenger Tony Cassino read the Norwood News late last week and immediately sent out a flyer with Koppell's quote about why he's not a big fan of public referendums like the two that installed term limits. Basically, Koppell said the public isn't "sophisticated enough" to handle big decisions.
• Tapia was endorsed today by the Daily News.
• Cabrera was endorsed recently by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
• The Tapia campaign continues to attack Cabrera's campaign, while Cabrera focusses his sights on Baez. At the same time, Tapia's campaign continues to leave former strategists in its wake.
• In the last few days, Tapia's campaign has tried to say Cabrera had a poor attendance record during his tenure at Community Board 7. It's unclear exactly what his attendance was, Board 7 district manager Fernando Tirado, says records were not well kept during those years. While Cabrera's attendance record wasn't perfect, it wasn't atrocious either, Tirado says.
• Caberera's campaign is upset that Tapia is handing out literature linking her and Ruben Diaz Jr. who has endorsed Cabrera. Diaz released a statement saying, "While other candidates are trying to mislead the public by distributing material with my picture, I urge all democrats to vote for Dr. Fernando Cabrera in the primary."
• Tapia, having last month fired her campaign manager Onix Sosa after he took a job with Espada (Sosa was then fired for his long record of mismanaging apartment buildings), is now dealing with another disgruntled former advisor in Victor Solis.
• Solis, a veteran political operator who used to work for Bloomberg, says Tapia owes a friend of his, Carlos Garcia, $6,000. Garcia, in a phone interview, said he leant the money to Tapia in early June because he believed in the Tapia campaign, based moslty on the advice of his good friend, Solis. Elias Alcantera, a spokesman for the campaign, says Tapia and Solis had "personal" issues that had nothing to do with the campaign. Solis showed the Norwood News a check from Tapia to Carlos Garcia, a school teacher, for $6,000. Garcia and Solis are both listed as contributors to the campaign.
• According to city records, Tapia's campaign has received $20,900 in loans and only paid back $8,500. Three people were listed as giving her those loans. Garcia was not one of them. The campaign finance board only recently released public funds to Tapia's campaign. Not disclosing a loan, a spokesman for the board said, would result in a significant penalty for any campaign.
• We have no idea what Baez is doing. She didn't call us back today.

Vote!

UPDATE: Someone from Baez's office called us late in the afternoon to say that the councilwoman is planning to vote at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning at PS 33 (on Jerome Avenue near Fordham Road). In the evening, she's hosting an event at the Monte Carlo Room, at 2700 Jerome Ave., to celebrate what she hopes will be a hard-fought victory.

New from the Norwood News

The latest edition of the Norwood News is on streets and online now. Here's a quick preview of the stories you'll find.

Lots of politics as we approach the Sept. 15 primary.

In-depth profiles of the two candidates for City Council in the 11th District: Incumbent Oliver Koppell and form Community Board 8 Chairman Tony Cassino. [Come to the debate between the two candidates tonight at the Mosholu Library, 7 p.m., 285 E. 205th St. (between Bainbridge and Perry Avenues.) We're on our way there now! ]

Here's our 2009 voter guide for the upcoming primaries.

Pedro Espada talks about anything and everything in his new office on Fordham Road.

B.P. Ruben Diaz opposes the Armory plan with no benefits agreement in place.

And much more...

Bronx News Roundup, Aug. 27

The funeral of Jose Pena-Seguira, the livery-cab driver who was shot dead in Mott Haven on Sunday, is being held today. Before the ceremony, Pena-Seguira's friends and colleagues will march from his place to work to where he was killed, to bring attention to the dangers cab drivers face. Since May, three Bronx cab drivers have been murdered on the job.

Councilman Oliver Koppell has been raising questions about his primary opponent Tony Cassino's relationship with Grassroots Initiative, a non-profit consulting firm.

Gabe Pressman looks back at New's York "love affair" with the Kennedy's, and touches on the family's connection with the Bronx.

Who knew? Jacobi Medical Center specializes in treating snake bite victims.

The so-called Five Borough Pizza Tour comes to the Bronx this Sunday. See here and here. Talking of pizza, some guy has decided to visit every non-chain pizza joint in the city, order a plain slice, consume it, and review it on his blog, Slice Harvester.

A free screening of Bronx Princess will held in Mullaly Park this Sunday. According to a press release, the film is a "tumultuous coming-of-age story" involving a Bronx-raised teenager girl of Ghanaian origin. The screening starts at 9 p.m. Before that, there will be story-telling and musical performances by some of the artists featured in the film. Here's the trailer: