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Police Report: Stabbing Near Hospital

By Alex Kratz

Right across from a stretch of Montefiore Medical Center buildings on Kossuth Avenue, an Indian woman was stabbed in the back by an assailant police described as a male Hispanic wearing a white T-shirt and white shorts.

The attack happened on Sept. 3 at around 8:20 p.m., police said.

The victim will survive, police said, but they need help in identifying the attacker. It’s unclear why the woman was stabbed.

Police Report: Knox Gates Shooting

By Alex Kratz

Last Friday night, a man holding a large amount of illegal drugs was shot in the back in the Knox Gates neighborhood in front of 3435 Gates Pl.

Police said the victim, Michael Santiago (no age or address was available at press time), will survive, but faces drug charges once he recovers. Santiago has been arrested four times in the past, according to police.

Though police found no gun, they said Santiago was carrying 12 rounds of .38-caliber bullets. There are no suspects at this time, but police say the investigation is ongoing.

Police Report: Grand Avenue Burglary Pattern

By Alex Kratz

Police said they have identified a burglary pattern on Grand Avenue (near Fordham Road) that residents should be aware of.

On Aug. 30, there were two burglaries reported on that stretch of road. And on Sept. 4, there was another burglary in the same area. All three burglaries happened during the early afternoon and in each case, the perpetrator gained access through a window.

The burglars came away with mostly jewelry, police said.

Police Report: 50 Cent Visits X Bar

By Alex Kratz

50 Cent Visits the X Bar

To promote his new album, Queens rapper 50 Cent visited the X Bar in University Heights last Friday night.

Best known for his gangster aesthetic and being shot nine times in front of his grandmother’s house in Queens (he raps with a raspy slur after taking a bullet to his cheek), 50 is embroiled in a heated contest with Kanye West (who also released an album last week) to see who can sell the most records.

Preparing for the worst, the NYPD sent 40 cops to keep the peace at the X Bar, which has a reputation for raucous behavior. According to officials at the 52nd Precinct, 50 Cent’s cameo appearance from 8 to 8:30 p.m. went off without incident.

Out & About

By Judy Noy

Onstage

n The Bronx Library Center presents An Afternoon of Folkloric Afro-Puerto Rican History, Music and Dance, featuring BombaBoricua, Sept. 22, and Mariachi Real de Mexico, a troupe in original costume, Sept. 29, both at 2:30 p.m. The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

n Enjoy An Afternoon of Guitar Music with virtuoso guitarist and composer Don Witter, Jr. on Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m., free, at the Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

n The Bronx River Art Center presents Papo Vazquez & the Mighty Pirate Orquesta, performing Afro-Caribbean jazz, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m., free. The Center is located at 1087 E. Tremont Ave. For more information, call (718) 589-5819.

n The Lehman Chamber Players will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor, Sept. 27 at 12:30 p.m., free, in Lehman College’s Recital Hall on the 3rd floor of the Music Building. Lehman is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard. W. For more information and to confirm, call (718) 960-8715.

n Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez brings traditional music and dance to Lehman College’s Center for the Performing Arts Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are from $20 to $35 and $10 for ages 12 and under. Lehman is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. For more information and for discounts, call (718) 960-8833.

n People for Progress presents the 17th Annual 52 Latin Jazz Concert Series ’07, free, on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. through Sept. 26. The last show is at 52 Parks Miranda Theatre on Kelly Street between Avenue Saint John and Leggett Avenue. For more information, call (718) 548-0315 or (718) 893-9135.

n Bronx Hispanic Festival presents The Phone Call by Teatro Pregones as part of the Domestic Violence Prevention Month from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Cesar Galarce Auditorium of Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, 234 E. 149th St. For more information and to confirm, call (917) 699-7598.

Events

n Bring your pet to Blessing of the Animals Oct. 7 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Canine Court at Van Cortlandt Park (enter at Broadway). Clergy of all faiths give blessings to pets and their owners. For more information, call (718) 796-4541.

n The Bronx River Alliance hosts the Golden Ball Festival, a celebration of the Bronx River including a canoe procession, nature walks, river improvement projects, and an afternoon of live entertainment, activities for children, food and prizes, all on Sept. 29. For more information and to register, call (718) 430-4636 or visit ww.bronxriver.org.

n The Farmers Market continues at the New York Botanical Garden’s Tulip Tree Allée Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Oct. 31. Admission only to Garden grounds is free all day Wednesdays. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

Exhibits

n Lehman College’s Art Gallery hosts Beatrice Coron: The Secret Life of Cities, through Dec. 15 in the Edith Altschul Lehman Wing, with a reception on Oct. 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W. For more information, call (718) 960-8731.

n In the last installment of Wave Hill’s series of exhibitions exploring art and nature, artists install works based on the writings of two authors that lived briefly in the Bronx – Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain. Artists Simon Leung, Allison Smith and Amy Yoes, create special projects, including sculpture, video and architecture, each in a separate room of Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery, through Dec. 2. Also, there are three solo exhibitions by New York-area emerging artists in the sunrooms: Jeff Feddersen and Margie Neuhaus, through Oct. 14 (meet the artists on Oct. 14), and Joianne Bittle Knight from Oct. 19 through Dec. 2 (meet the artist on Oct. 21). Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit www.wavehill.org.

n The Bronx Museum of the Arts hosts Quisqueya Henríquez: Outside Traditional Art in the artist’s first major appearance in the United States through Jan. 27, 2008. The exhibition is a selection of sculptures, installations, drawings, photographs, videos, and light and sound works examining the sensory qualities of urban life, including a daily visual dispatch from Santo Domingo, where the artist currently lives. The museum, located at 1040 Grand Concourse at West 165th Street, is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., except for Friday, when it is open until 8 p.m. Suggested admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors and free on Fridays, for members and for children under 12. For more information, call (718) 681-6000 or visit www.bronxmuseum.org.

n The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum will host Botanicals: Bloom and Blossom, a culmination of graphite drawings and watercolors from the Pelham Art Center’s Botanical Illustration students, through Sept. 28. The museum is located at 895 Shore Rd. in Pelham Bay Park. For more information, call (718) 885-1461.

Learning
 
n Wave Hill offers family art projects: Water Lily Wonders on Sept. 22 and 23, to sketch and paint the Aquatic Garden. Also, at Branching, Budding and Spreading on Sept. 29 and 30, sculpt and collage plant forms from the inside out. Both are in Wave Hill’s Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m. Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

n The Bronx Library Center has events for all ages: For children ages 3 to 12, there’s a film on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 at 4 p.m.; Preschool Story Time, featuring picture book stories and songs for ages 2 to 5 on Sept. 20, 27 and Oct. 4 at 11 a.m.; and Autumn Wreath, a crafts workshop for ages 7 to 12, on Sept. 27 at 4 p.m.  Young adults can design their own mosaic candleholder at Make a Candleholder, Sept. 26 at 4 p.m., and meet Helen Benedict at Meet the Author, a books and poetry program, on Sept. 27 at 4 p.m.  Adults can bring their own materials and enjoy Crochet for Adults, a crafts program, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m.; view Politics Con Sabor, a two-part documentary film on Puerto Rico, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m.; and hear Urban Farming: Medicinal Benefits, a lecture by Mr. Abu on the history of the Taqwa Community Farm, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.   The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

n The Mosholu Library hosts Toddler Time for children ages 18 to 36 months with a parent or caregiver, featuring picture book stories and songs on Oct. 4 at 10:30 a.m. Also, for young adults, there will be Magic!, a workshop led by Bob Friedhoffer to learn feats of magic and the science behind them, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. The library is located at 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

Public Service Announcement

The New York Public Library announces an expansion of service effective Sept. 4: Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Mosholu and Jerome Park libraries. The Bronx Library Center’s schedule is Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more details, visit www.nypl.org.

NOTE: Items for consideration should be received in our office by Sept. 24 for the next publication date of Oct. 4.

Neighborhood Notes

By None

Banking Conference at Hostos
New York City Comptroller William Thompson will host a Consumer Banking Conference on Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. The free event will feature workshops about savings and credit, financial maintenance protection for homeowners, and predatory lending. It’s being held at Hostos Community College, in the East Academic Complex (C-Building), at 450 Grand Concourse. Dinner will be served. Please RSVP by calling (212) 669-8479 or email rsvp@comptroller.nyc.gov.

Crafts Fair
The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and Van Cortlandt House Museum are holding a fall crafts festival on Saturday, Oct. 20 and Sunday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the grounds of Van Cortlandt House Museum in Van Cortlandt Park. The free event will feature crafts, a raffle, and food. A kids craft project will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2 to 3:30 p.m. For vendor applications and event information, please call (718) 601-1460 or visit www.vancortlandt.org. Enter park at Broadway and West 24th Street. Off-Street parking is available at the Van Cortlandt Golf House.

Affordable Housing Discussion
The Bronx Forum, a partnership between Hostos Community College and Jewish Community Relations Council of NY/CAUSE-NY, will hold a discussion on affordable housing for community leaders and professionals, on Thursday, Oct. 11, at Hostos Community College, Savoy Bldg., 2nd Floor, Multi-Purpose room, 120 Walton Ave. at 149th Street. Registration with breakfast is at 9 a.m. The workshop, for which there’s a $10 materials fee, runs from 9:15 a.m. to noon. Please register on-line at www.communityuplink.net/affordablehousing by Sept. 21. For more information, contact Hoi Chan at (212) 983-4800 ext. 121 ChanH@jcrcny.org.

Irish Folk Music
Bronx residents and acclaimed Irish folk musicians, Mary Courtney and John Redmond, will give a free performance on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 12:30 p.m. at Lehman College, in the Carman Hall, Room B04. The free show, which also features a discussion with the audience, is part of the college’s City and the Humanities program. To confirm the time and location, please call (718) 960-8715.

Speech Center Applications
The Mount Saint Ursula Speech Center is accepting applications for their fall program. The Center, at 2885 Marion Ave., has morning and afternoon openings for children ages 2 to 5 who are in need of speech and language services. Children can work in groups or individually. Some types of insurance are accepted. For more information please call, (718) 584-7679.

Lehman College TOEFL Program
The Lehman College Office of Continuing Education is offering a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) preparation class on Monday and Wednesday evenings beginning Sept. 26. (TOEFL evaluates the ability of an individual to understand American English at college level.) To register for the course, call (718) 960-8512 or visit www.lehman.cuny/ce.

Senior Activities in VC Park
Northwest Bronx residents 60 and older are eligible for the City Parks Foundation’s free program offering tennis lessons, yoga instruction and fitness walking in Van Cortlandt Park. The programs run from Sept. 17 through Oct. 26. For more information or the schedule, call (718) 760-6999 or visit www.cityparksfoundation.org.

Writers’ Center Applications
The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) has applications available for the Bronx Writers’ Center 2007-08 Chapter One Competition and Writing Series, open to residents of New York City. Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1, at BCA’s main office at 1738 Hone Ave. in Morris Park. No entry fee. For more information, visit www.bronxarts.org or contact Lydia Clark at (718) 931-9500 ext. 35 or Lydia@bronxarts.org.

Arts-in-Education Grants
The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) announces the availability of Arts-in-Education (AIE) grants for Bronx schools. Applicants must be a school, an arts/cultural organization and/or an independent teaching artist. Applicants can apply online at www.bronxarts.org for projects during the 2007-2008 academic year. Deadline for applications is Oct. 11. BCA is also offering AIE "How to Apply" workshops on Sept. 25 and Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. An AIE Professional Development workshop will be held on Sept. 20, at 4:30 p.m. All workshops will be held at BCA’s main office, 1738 Hone Ave. For more information, call (718) 931-9500.

Piano Recital
Fordham United Methodist Church will present a piano recital by David Wolff on Sunday, Sept. 23, at 4 p.m. The free event is part of the church’s Annual Homecoming, Family and Friends Day which starts at 11 a.m. For more information, please call (718) 367-9347.

Senior Outreach Fund-raiser
St. Brendan’s Leisure Club is holding a fund-raiser for "Senior Outreach" on Sunday, Sept. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Brendan’s School Cafeteria on East 207th Street (between Bainbridge and Perry avenues). There will be an auction, restaurant raffle, sweepstakes, 50/50 and more.

Learn Sign Language
Sign up to learn American Sign Language at Lehman College. Learn grammatical principles, vocabulary building, finger spelling and get practice in receptive and expressive skills. Class schedule: Saturdays from Sept. 29 to Dec. 8, 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. For more information or to register, call (718) 960-8512.

How City Can Help Residents Out of Sub-Prime Mortgage Mess

By Eric Fergen

These days, the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market and the subsequent rising rates of foreclosure are popular topics of discussion in New York. Thousands of poorly and abusively underwritten loans that were ultimately unaffordable and unsuitable for the borrowers who received them are going bust, and while Wall Street firms that invested in the sub-prime loan market are bemoaning the loss of profit as a result of these abusive actions, it is the homeowners facing foreclosure that are largely reaping what unscrupulous sub-prime lenders and brokers have sown for them. In fact, as New Yorkers, we are all paying a high price for this debacle in the form of neighborhood disruption and damage to the economy.

The question that many are now asking is, “What can we do about it?”

In answering this question, there are two approaches to consider: One, homeowners who have fallen prey to the frenzied lending (that is still taking place) deserve a chance to save their homes and receive assistance from qualified nonprofit organizations that provide homeowner counseling, legal assistance and other foreclosure prevention services. Two, the City of New York needs to take the necessary steps to ensure that future borrowers do not fall into the same traps.

As the profile of this issue has steadily risen, so too has the anti-foreclosure workload, shouldered mostly by the few groups who have proven themselves to be effective in this fight. Because of this increase in sheer number of foreclosures, some organizations have estimated that they turn away nearly 80 percent of the homeowners who come to them because they do not have the resources needed to handle such caseloads.

While elected officials and government agencies have recently begun to offer foreclosure prevention hotlines, competing initiatives of this kind ultimately just refer homeowners in distress to the same citywide network of organizations that has evolved over the years. What is needed now is not another telephone number to call, but rather for local politicians to acknowledge and support the work that is already taking place, rather than go it alone for a brief surge of publicity. The city needs to provide resources to these organizations to build their capacity so they can serve more people.

As it would be a smart move to invest in these groups as a way to fight foreclosures, so too would it be smart for the city to establish a Code of Conduct and a policy for disinvestment from businesses and Wall Street investors that actively engage in the discriminatory, abusive, and lax lending that has fueled the current foreclosure crisis. In order to truly stem the tide of foreclosures, we need to address its root causes. By continuing to invest in and ultimately support the companies that have brought on the foreclosure crisis, the city is implicitly endorsing the predatory nature of the sub-prime mortgage industry. City officials have the responsibility to cut off our city’s flow of capital to institutions that hurt homeowners.

One other proactive measure that can be taken to prevent future foreclosures is the creation of a referral network that would connect would-be tenants with homeowners who are looking to rent out vacant units. For many homeowners who are currently in default, the income lost through vacant units in their homes, as well as delinquent and destructive tenants, has been the impetus to push them into foreclosure. The need to find decent tenants in a timely fashion is real, and the ability to do so would make a lasting impact on homeownership preservation in the city.

It is the hope of advocates who are currently engaged in these issues that city politicians and officials will use their positions of power and visibility to effectively address what can be done. There is a range of solutions that can be reached and city leaders should do what is within their power to protect both current and future city homeowners from predatory lending.

Eric Fergen, a Bronx resident, is the outreach coordinator at University Neighborhood Housing Program and a member of the New York City Anti-Predatory Lending Task Force.

Grass, Not Plastic, For Oval

By None

Re: your editorial in the Sept. 6-19 edition ("Fence It In"): We agree with your assessment that Williamsbridge Oval Park is a "most active and much loved green space" [emphasis added]. It is with much disappointment and dismay that we learn that the track and ball fields will be replaced by the most "ungreen" of materials in artificial turf and a rubberized running surface. There are no compelling reasons why these materials should ever be used in public green spaces. Artificial turf – plastic grass – is beset with a number of serious problems: poor water runoff; increased heat retention; increased risk of serious injuries from falling or sliding on the surface; not to mention studies that are currently under way identifying potential health risks from the chemical composition of the materials. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz even said to me at the Oval Park Festival last month that he "can’t stand the stuff." He requested more information about it. Green Party members from around the city are petitioning for a moratorium on the use of plastic grass. Bronx Greens will be actively involved in this effort also and we hope to organize a community meeting soon to educate the community on these problems.

It is certainly of benefit to everyone to have well maintained parks, but in this time of increasing awareness and understanding of what it means to be green, the use of artificial materials in what is sometimes the only connection to nature we have in our urban environment is a step backwards.

Carl Lundgren
The writer is chair of the Bronx Green Party.

Final Farewell to Park Advocate

By None

On Sept. 14, Frances Lewis, a dear friend, long time park volunteer and community activist came back to the Bronx for the last time. Frances volunteered for many years for the Parks Department and for the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and numerous other organizations in the community.

Frances would be up in arms at the conditions that now exist at Whalen Park and Williamsbridge Oval.

Frances moved to Norfolk, Virginia seven years ago to live with her daughter. She passed away on Sept. 8.

It saddens me that the Parks Department did not send a representative to pay their respects in honor of her many years of volunteer work. Her wake was held at McKeon & Sons on Perry Avenue – not in Virginia. The Parks Department was notified that she would be there but no one came. I was happy to see that a few Parks employees who had the privilege of working with Frances in the Williamsbridge Oval and Whalen Park came to pay their respects to Frances and her family.

Ramona Maysonet
Norwood

Eliminate Garages

By None

I agree with the Norwood News’ opposition to the parking garages planned for the new Yankee Stadium (editorial, Aug. 23 – Sept. 5). At a minimum, proposed Parking Garage B and the present Municipal Parking Garage, both of which are in the middle of a residential community, must be eliminated!

Because of lingering questions, the Industrial Development Agency postponed a vote on financing the garages on Sept. 11. The issue, however, goes beyond financing.  Congestion pricing is planned for much of Manhattan to improve air quality for its residents. Thus, how can anyone justify imposing parking garages, which exacerbate air pollution, on a congested community overwhelmed by health problems and in dire need of a Community Health Resource Center? The people of the Bronx and in this case, the residents of Highbridge, are not second class citizens, and deserve the same consideration as their wealthier Manhattan brethren!

John Rozankowski
Bedford Park

No Bronx Voice on Panel

By Norwood News

More than two months ago, we urged Mayor Bloomberg and the state legislature to slow down in its consideration of the mayor’s congestion pricing proposal.

In its frenetic push to get the plan through the state legislature, improvements to Bronx mass transit were nowhere in the equation. And inexplicably, Bronx elected officials, led by the borough president, even jumped on board the mayor’s PlaNYC, before the details of one of its most critical components were hammered out.

Luckily, the state legislature put the brakes on and didn’t succumb to pressure to pass the plan by the middle of July in order to claim half a billion dollars in federal funding. (Turns out, the deadline wasn’t really a deadline after all.)

By holding out, the legislature was able to force the creation of a 17-member congestion pricing panel to review the plan.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that not a single member of that panel lives or works in the Bronx. That makes it much less likely that Bronx needs and issues will be addressed.

In our June editorial, we pointed out that a Bronx Arterial Needs Major Investment Study (MIS) completed in 2004 by the state Department of Transportation includes several terrific proposals including improving traffic and quality of life along the Cross Bronx Expressway. It also calls for high quality bus rapid transit on connector roads, a multi-use path along those roads for pedestrians and bicyclists, and a landscaped buffer between the road and the path. And in our area, there’s an excellent plan for fixing the perennially bottled up interchange at West Fordham Road and the Major Deegan.

Improvements to Bronx mass transit like the bus lanes on the Cross Bronx must be at least in the pipeline before congestion pricing is implemented; otherwise commuters won’t have sufficient incentives to leave their cars at home, or a way to get places if they do, given our at-capacity mass transit system.

Another problem with congestion pricing – one of many raised by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz – is  that it rewards more affluent New Jersey commuters by subtracting their bridge tolls from the overall fee, while Bronxites, who mostly don’t used toll bridges to get to Manhattan, get no discount.

It’s good that the panel at least presents an opportunity to discuss these concerns. But the chances that they will be heeded or raised by a panel without Bronx representation are slim at best.

Our elected officials should have demanded a seat at the table before getting behind PlaNYC.

What the River Means

By Norwood News

There was wine, wonderful food, dressed up people, a silent auction and speeches by important officials and activists. A truly great time was had by all. But what was really special at the Bronx River Soiree, a fund raiser put on by the Bronx River Alliance in the stunning new Hunts Point Riverside Park on Monday night, was something not on the agenda.

As a Latin jazz trio played on a hill overlooking the river and adults with wine glasses chatted on a nearby dock, a boy, about 12 years old, was skipping stones into the river. He quietly hunted for flat rocks, and when he found one, he’d sidearm it into the water (see photo).

The accomplishments of the Bronx River Alliance and all the community organizations who have invested years of sweat equity in reviving the vast riverfront, are not measured in money raised and parties organized, though those can obviously be a means to the end; they are measured in boys and girls skipping rocks, jumping rope, and sucking in fresh air.

Congratulations to everyone who has put in time and energy restoring the Bronx River. May their important work yield many more children doing childlike things up and down the riverbanks.

CB7 Leaders Refocus Resources

By Alex Kratz

During the Community Board 7 meeting last week at the Bedford Park Senior Center, Chairman Greg Faulkner took a moment, during a break in the action, to admonish the handful or so missing Board members who had neglected to call and excuse their absences.

“Only one board member called to say they weren’t coming,” Faulkner said, adding that three unexcused absences by a member would result in a penalty where the offender would be brought in to explain themselves to the rest of the Board.

As Faulkner said when his slate of officer candidates won a resounding victory in Board elections earlier this summer, “This is a new day at Community Board 7.”

Indeed. And in addition to enforcing an attendance policy, Faulkner introduced changes to the bylaws that would reconfigure the committees and impose term limits for committee chairs. The changes will be voted on by the Board in October. Faulkner said the proposed changes are all part of a plan to make the Board more productive, active and vocal. “We’re trying to refocus the resources of the Board and enhance its role in the community,” he said.

For example, Faulkner said, overwhelmingly, the greatest number of calls the Board receives are quality of life concerns like excessive noise or graffiti. In response to that, Faulkner is proposing the Board combine “Quality of Life” with “Public Safety” into one committee and make “Traffic and Transportation” its own committee. (See sidebar for complete list of proposed committees.)

A representative from the Bronx borough president’s office said it’s not unusual for a chairman of a Board, especially a new one, to rearrange the committees or change the bylaws to better fit the needs of the district.

To go along with the revamped committees, Faulkner and first vice chairman Paul Foster want committee heads to be more active and held more accountable, which is why they want to impose one-year term limits. Last year, some committees never even met, Faulkner said.

“All of us need to respond to the community and if we’re not producing then we need to be held to a high standard,” Faulkner said.

Foster added another reason for enforcing higher standards. “We are not going to be here forever,” Foster said. “So it’s important for us to develop new leadership.”

Pausing to Remember

By None

On Sept. 11, six years after the terrorist attacks, a group of local residents, including David Berger (above) braved wind and rain to gather outside St. Ann’s Church, on Gun Hill Road and Bainbridge Avenue, to remember those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center.

Norwood Cafe Link In Bridging Digital Divide

By Laura Sayer

VIP’s Café, a popular lunch spot near Montefiore Medical Center on Gun Hill Road, has had free wireless Internet now for more than a month. Laptop users and web surfers are still slowly trickling in, but in the eyes of café owner Steve Larous and Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement Director Roberto Garcia, the wireless connection is more important for what it represents: more economic activity, connectivity and technology flowing into the northwest Bronx.

The BID partnered with New York Wireless, which, in turn, coordinated the wireless installation of the connection by students from Monroe College as a training experience.

This is just the first of many such projects, Garcia says.

“The concept overall is to connect people, to close the gap on the digital divide and give folks access to free wireless,” Garcia says.

By any indicator, this was a pretty good deal for the café, with any costs for equipment or the monthly DSL bill being picked up by the BID and its manager, the Mosholu Preservation Corporation (which publishes the Norwood News).

Larous signed on to the wireless deal because it was free and it might be convenient for customers, not because technology is important to him personally.

“I don’t have a laptop, I’m an old-fashioned guy,” he says. “Anything new that comes along to help out the neighborhood, I’m going along with it.”

Garcia says the larger community will benefit from free wireless connectivity because it will enhance the quality of life for residents, local workers and business owners.

“Disproportionately, in so many other places, like Manhattan, you can walk down the street and find free internet anywhere,” Garcia says, “but the Bronx doesn’t have that.”

He and Larous both use the same example to show the immediate impact of free wireless. If a drug company representative makes a deal at Montefiore, they can now take a seat across the street at VIP’s and file or communicate the order electronically.

“People deal with the hospital, they leave and go to someplace in Westchester where there’s parking and wireless,” Larous says. “Since they’re here, we want to keep them here.”

He says he doesn’t even care if they’re staying at his restaurant, as long as it’s “all in the neighborhood.”

“From a purely economic aspect, it keeps people coming back and spending more money,” Garcia says. But on a grander scale, the Internet connectivity will also “improve commerce, the ability of the public to shop, and information dissemination, not only in the business district but in the community.”

Though the costs were covered this time, the BID is ultimately looking at companies like Verizon to adopt and expand the project to provide wireless to other businesses, as well as parks (Garcia mentioned Williamsbridge Oval Park) in the area.

The Internet emanating from the wireless router at VIP’s Café is just the first step.

Ed. note: VIP’s Café is located at 131 E. Gun Hill Rd., between Rochambeau and Bainbridge avenues. The phone number is (718) 655-8500.

Public Meetings

By None

• Croton Facility Monitoring Committee will meet on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center. The new developer and union representatives will be there to discuss jobs. For more information, call the DEP outreach office at (718) 231-8470.

• Community Education Council 10 will meet on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 6:15 p.m. at PS 9, 230 E. 183rd St. The topic will be Charter schools. For more information, call (718) 741-5836.

• 52nd Precinct Community Council will meet Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Muster Room at the 52nd Precinct, 3016 Webster Ave. For more information, call (718) 220-5824.

• Bedford Mosholu Community Association will meet Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. at 400 E. Mosholu Parkway S. Apt. B1 (Lobby Floor). All are welcome.

Council Speaker, Bronx Pols, Gather at Armory

By Alex Kratz

Two weeks ago, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn ventured into the Bronx (for the third time that week), to take a tour of the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory, a giant castle in the middle of Community Board 7.

In October, the city will decide on one of two developers – the prolific Peter Fine’s Atlantic Development Group or Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff’s friends, the Related Companies – to turn the Armory into a mixed-use development.

Representatives from the Retail Workers Union, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) joined up with an armada of Bronx politicians, including Council members Joel Rivera, Oliver Koppell and Maria Baez, and also Bronx Democratic Chairman and State Assemblyman Jose Rivera (catching all the action with his trademark hand-held video camera). Borough President Adolfo Carrion showed up for a brief cameo.

For Quinn, the tour was an educational exercise. She didn’t want media attending the tour and claims to have no position, yet, on what the Armory should contain or bring to the community.

“I’m looking at my schedule today and I’m thinking, ‘Who’s Kara?’” she said, drawing a laugh from the crowd of about 35 aides, organizers and city agency employees.

But for the stakeholders, including the union, KARA, NWBCCC and the Council members, this was an opportunity to lay out their redevelopment vision – living wage jobs, environmental sustainability, added school seats, ample community space, etc. – to the head of the City Council. The Council will have a chance to approve or reject plans for the Armory during the land use review process, likely to happen sometime next summer or fall.

The biggest priorities for the activists appear to be to add school seats (the DOE dropped plans to build two schools at the site), assure good jobs for people in the community (the developers balked at including living wage job requirements in their original proposals), and the signing of a community benefits agreement.

Recently, the developers revised their original plans to accommodate recommendations from the Armory Task Force (an advisory group set up by the city), KARA and CB7, but the community has yet to see what those revised plans look like.

Someone from the Economic Development Corporation, the city agency managing the Armory project, said the city would choose a developer sometime in October.

Serrano Talks Health Care

By Alex Kratz

Last Saturday, Congressman José Serrano came home from Washington, D.C. to deliver the keynote address at the Latinos for National Health Insurance Forum in the south Bronx. "Health care should not be viewed as a luxury but a basic human right," Serrano told his audience at Lincoln Hospital. "In New York City, more than one million of our neighbors are without medical coverage – 18 percent of whom live right in the Bronx."

He went on with more sobering data. According to Census data, one third of all Latinos in the United States and 20 percent of black and Asians don’t have medical coverage. It’s also estimated that 80 percent of undocumented immigrants don’t have health insurance, the congressman said.

The solution to this problem, Serrano said "is a health insurance system – publicly financed, privately delivered – available to everyone in this country."

Serrano said he’s found that system in the "U.S. National Health Insurance Act" (HR 676), which the Bronx politician is co-sponsoring. The Act, he said, "would cover every person in the U.S. for all necessary medical care."

The roadblock preventing this type of plan, Serrano said, is that "policymakers on the other side of the issue refuse to explore ways to expand coverage." He cited the Bush administration’s decision to reject New York’s application to allow more middle income families to participate in a statewide Children’s Health Insurance Program.

"We are on the right side of this issue, on the majority side, and so we must remain vigilant in our push for a better way to care for this nation," Serrano said.

Engel Fed Up with War

By Nina Sen

Once a supporter of the war in Iraq, Congressman Eliot Engel declared at a congressional hearing that it is “someone else’s civil war.” At a joint Congressional committee hearing on Iraq, Engel disagreed with the rosy assessment given by General Petraeus, stating that, “The American people are fed up and I’m fed up.”

While questioning the general and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, he complained that the U.S. is stuck with an open commitment to Iraq and that the Iraqi people “will not step up until we step out.” Engel cited a 2004 op-ed piece in the Washington Post where Petraeus spoke of progress in Iraq, but with no tangible end in sight, he doubted the accuracy of the statement.

On his Web site, Engel expresses support for bringing U.S. troops home and calls the war, “our blunder in Iraq.” He has repeatedly stated that the situation in Iraq is one of civil war that cannot be solved by U.S. military presence.

Bill Passed to Stop School Bus Idling

By Nina Sen

As the school year starts, over three million children in the Bronx are on their way back. Growing concern over the nation-topping asthma rates in the schools has led to a new bill signed into law by Governor Eliot Spitzer.

The legislation, backed by Bronx Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera and Senators Andrew Lanza and Marty Golden, will prevent idling of school vehicles on school grounds and requires school nurses to maintain specialized asthma medical equipment for chronic sufferers. The presence of a nebulizer to treat chronically ill children will result in less expensive hospital visits and cut down on absences from the same children. The Commissioner of Education, Richard Mills, said, “This new law improves the air quality in our schools and protects the health of children, allowing them to keep their focus where it belongs, on learning.” According to the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation over 50,000 New York City school-age children are asthmatic. The average asthmatic misses over 30 days of school due to health problems and the lack of a nebulizer on school grounds.

Frances Lewis, Norwood’s ‘Parks Lady,’ Dies at 91

By James Fergusson

Frances Alberta Lewis, a tireless community activist and a Norwood resident for more than half a century, passed away peacefully, Sept. 8, in Norfolk, Virginia. She was 91.

New PS 94 Building Comes with Unanswered Questions

By Alex Kratz

With construction beginning in just nine months, many details concerning a new state-of-the-art building, slated for the PS 94 campus in Norwood, have yet to be determined by the city’s Department of Education (DOE).

The new building will replace two transitional structures on PS 94 grounds that currently house 13 classrooms and 325 of the school’s 1,050 students. The transitional structures will be torn down next summer when construction begins, leaving those 325 students without classrooms for the two years it will take to complete the new building.

PS 94 Principal Diane Daprocida said it’s imperative that the DOE create a plan to relocate the displaced students by this winter. That will give the principal, her staff and the DOE time to notify parents, organize supervision, work out transportation and, finally, pack up all the supplies and materials.

Daprocida, however, is not hitting the panic button. She said the DOE and the School Construction Authority (SCA) have kept her in the loop virtually every step of the way – “from soup to nuts,” she said – and she’s confident that they will come up with a viable solution.

While not exactly setting a timetable, DOE spokesperson Margie Feinberg said in an email that SCA officials are “working on a plan but a plan has not been finalized.”

SCA planners are scheduled to meet with Daprocida on Sept. 21, to take a tour of the PS 94 campus and discuss relocation possibilities.

Miriam Seminario, PS 94′s parent coordinator, doesn’t have all the details about the new building, but said she believes the DOE and SCA have the students’ best interest in mind and will come up with a good plan. “They always do,” she said.

From a parent’s perspective, however, Seminario said, “they want to know where their kids are going to go.” She added later, “As parents, they have a right to be concerned and be reassured that the situation will be even better. I really don’t know what’s going to happen or where they’re going.”

On the other hand, the design of the building appears set. The three-story structure is being called an Early Childhood Center, meaning it is specifically designed to accommodate pre-kindergarten through third grade. It will contain 24 classrooms – two for Pre-K; four kindergarten, first, second and third grade classrooms; three special education rooms and three additional classrooms – for a total of 515 students.

The building, which will have an entrance on East 211th Street (as opposed to the main building’s entrance on King’s College Place), will have two elevators, two playground areas, a cafeteria, multi-purpose room and a library. Plus, there will be central air conditioning. Daprocida is pushing to have her main building outfitted with central air conditioning as well to avoid any “beauty and the beast situations.”

Feinberg wrote in an email that the SCA scoured the district to find places to build on existing DOE property and, as a result, chose PS 94, PS 95 and PS 79 to receive permanent annex buildings. It’s all part of the DOE’s plan, she wrote, to alleviate overcrowding by adding 2,500 K-8 seats to District 10 in the city’s revised Five-year Capital Plan. The new Early Childhood Center at PS 94 will “provide 420 additional seats” in District 10, according to DOE calculations.

But after a closer look at the numbers, those calculations appear optimistic at best. The new building, which the DOE says will be part of PS 94 when it opens (but even that is subject to change once it’s built), will contain 515 seats. Currently, PS 94 houses 1,050 students; 600 in the main building, 325 in the portables on campus and an additional 125 at a satellite building on Gun Hill Road four blocks away. As it stands, the DOE says all 450 students housed outside of the main building will move into the new Early Childhood Center. That leaves 65 additional seats, not counting the new Pre-K students who will arrive as part of the DOE’s citywide push for more Pre-K classes.

The school’s population, or the area’s need for new seats, does not appear to be declining. Demographics may change a little, but Daprocida said that her school stays constant at a packed, but manageable, 1,050, with about 20 or 30 coming or going during the winter, making it unclear exactly how the new building will provide 420 additional seats or alleviate overcrowding.

Out & About

By Judy Noy

Editor’s Pick

The Bronx Museum of the Arts is to host Cuban avant-garde artist Quisqueya Henríquez for her first major appearance in the United States in an exhibit called The World Outside from Sunday, Sept. 16 through Jan. 27, 2008, with an open house Sept. 16 from 2 to 6 p.m. The exhibition consists of a selection of sculptures, installations, drawings, photographs, videos, and light and sound works spanning the last two decades of the artist’s career, in which she examines the sensory qualities of urban life, including a daily visual dispatch from Santo Domingo, where she currently lives.

The museum, located at 1040 Grand Concourse at West 165th Street, is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., except for Friday, when it is open until 8 p.m. Suggested admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors and free on Fridays, for members and for children under 12. For more information, call (718) 681-6000 or visit www.bronxmuseum.org.

Onstage

• Enjoy An Afternoon of Guitar Music with virtuoso guitarist and composer Don Witter, Jr., on Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m., free, at the Mosholu Library, 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

• People for Progress presents the 17th Annual 52 Latin Jazz Concert Series ’07, free, on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. through Sept. 26. The show is at 52 Parks Miranda Theatre on Kelly Street between Avenue Saint John and Leggett Avenue. For more information, call (718) 548-0315 or (718) 893-9135.

Events

• The Bronx River Alliance hosts Paddling: Tidal Paddle, to explore the tidal flats of the Bronx River, Sept. 8; Second Sunday Cycling, a 5-mile bike tour along the Bronx River Greenway, Sept. 9; and Paddling: Upper River Run, a canoe trip through the Bronx River Forest, the NY Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo, Sept. 15. For more information and to register, call (718) 430-4636 or visit ww.bronxriver.org.

• Caribbean programming continues at the New York Botanical Garden on Sept. 8 with Caribbean Crafts, where visitors can learn the art of Carnival costume and masquerade design, in the Conservatory Courtyards at 12:30 p.m. Also there’s Taste of the Caribbean, with a cooking demonstration Sept. 8 in the Shop Courtyard at 2:30 p.m. and another tasting event featuring chocolate dishes in the Conservatory Courtyards on Sept. 9 at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Admission only to Garden grounds is free from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and all day Wednesdays. All other times, grounds admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID and $1 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

• The Farmers Market continues at the New York Botanical Garden’s Tulip Tree Allée Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Oct. 31. Admission only to Garden grounds is free all day Wednesdays. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

• Kick off Hispanic Heritage Month Sept. 15 and 16 at the New York Botanical Garden with Fiesta de Flores, a celebration of the people and plants of Latin America and the Caribbean, featuring live music, dancing, food, storytelling and more. Admission only to Garden grounds is free from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and all day Wednesdays. All other times, grounds admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students with ID and $1 for children ages 2 to 12. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

• It’s Honey Weekend at Wave Hill featuring beekeeping demonstrations on Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. in the Wave Hill House, with Honey Extraction, including sampling honey fresh from urban hives, followed by Cooking with Honey, including a tasting, at 2 p.m. on the grounds. Also, Sept. 16 from 2 to 4 p.m. on the grounds, there will be a Hives and Honey Information Station, to learn about bees, try on gear, and sample a variety of honey. Round out the weekend with a Candle Making Workshop on Sept. 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Wave Hill House to create candles from beeswax ($35 or $30 member; registration is required at ext. 305). Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

Exhibits

• Caribbean Gardens: Journey to Paradise, celebrating Caribbean flowers and culture, continues through Sept. 16 at the New York Botanical Garden’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. For more information, call (718) 817-8700.

• In the last installment of Wave Hill’s series of exhibitions exploring art and nature, artists install works based on the writings of two authors that lived briefly in the Bronx – Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain. Artists Simon Leung, Allison Smith and Amy Yoes, create special projects, including sculpture, video and architecture each in a separate rooms of Wave Hill’s Glyndor Gallery, Sept. 8 through Dec. 2. Also, there are three solo exhibitions by New York-area emerging artists in the sunrooms: Jeff Feddersen and Margie Neuhaus, Sept. 8 through Oct. 14 and Joianne Bittle Knight from Oct. 19 through Dec. 2. There’s an opening reception Sept. 9 from 1 to 4 p.m. Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit www.wavehill.org.

Learning

• Wave Hill offers family art projects. At the Fish Out of the Pond on Sept. 8 and 9, children turn colorful paper bags into 3-D fish. Also, at Be a Bee on Sept. 15 and 16, enjoy wings and antennae, a kazoo to buzz with and a pollen cup to sip from. Both are in Wave Hill’s Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m. Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue in Riverdale. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit wavehill.org.

• The Bronx Library Center has events for all ages:

For children ages 3 to 12, there’s a film on Sept. 12 and 19 at 4 p.m.; Preschool Story Time, featuring picture book stories and songs for ages 2 to 5 on Sept. 6, 13 and 20 at 11 a.m.; and Autumn Canvas Making, a crafts workshop for ages 7 to 12, on Sept. 13 at 4 p.m.

For young adults, there is Game On (for which games are supplied), for ages 12 to18, Sept. 11 and 18 at 4 p.m. Adults can bring their own materials and enjoy Crochet for Adults, a crafts program, on Sept. 14 at 3 p.m., and attend several lectures, including MOMA at the Library, featuring Picasso, Matisse and Africa, Sept. 8 at 2:30 p.m., Simple Steps to Better Health by family practitioner Dr. Darwin Deen, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. and The Bronx Park System by Bronx County archivist Dr. Peter Derrick, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.

The Center is located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. For a detailed schedule, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

• The Mosholu Library will host Toddler Time for children ages 18 to 36 months with a parent or caregiver, featuring picture book stories and songs on Sept. 6 at 10:30 a.m. The library is located at 285 E. 205th St. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

Death on D-train Track

By Alex Kratz

Subway riders looking to get home on the D train were turned away last Friday evening from Norwood down to at least Yankee Stadium following a death at the Fordham Road station.

Police said a 21-year-old man was struck by a southbound train and pronounced dead at the scene by medics.

Although no criminality is suspected, police said the investigation is ongoing.

Father Murdered in University Heights

By Alex Kratz

When police arrived on the scene, Nino Ganan was still breathing and struggling for his life after being shot twice in his back and once in the leg. But by the time medics arrived moments later, the husband and father of two had succumbed to his wounds and died.

Ganan’s wife, Damaris Jimenez, 27, said that on Monday evening, Aug. 27, her husband had just gone out for a slice of pizza from their home on West 188th Street when she heard gunshots.

She called his cell phone, but he didn’t pick up.

When Jimenez went out to the street to see what had happened, she found her husband a couple of blocks away from their apartment, near Aqueduct Walk and West Fordham Road, lying there surrounded by emergency medics. He was already dead.

Police said Ganan, 30, was apparently the victim of a robbery, though they couldn’t tell if anything had been stolen from him. Witnesses also said he was involved in an argument shortly before he was killed, according to police, who have yet to arrest anyone for the murder.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

“He was a good man. A loving father, a real family man. I’m still in denial,” Jimenez told the Daily News. Jiminez and Ganan had two children, Nino, 9 and Alia, 6.

Other residents and his employer said Ganan, who worked at the upscale Lever House restaurant in Manhattan, was a good guy and a hard worker.

A good friend, Rob Ocasio, 30, told the Daily News, that “Nino would give you the shirt off his back.”

Robbery Unveils Illegal SROs, Possible Drug House

By Alex Kratz

Just after midnight last Wednesday night, neighbors on Reservoir Place, a block away from Williamsbridge Oval Park in Norwood (and around the corner from the offices of the Norwood News), were disturbed to find a small army of cops and a group of Asians standing in front of a row house on the block.

Earlier that evening, police said a group of armed robbers had called to order Chinese food at 284 Reservoir Place, a two-story wood house containing at least 10 single room occupancies (SROs).

When one of the occupants opened the door after a Chinese delivery man knocked, the armed robbers rushed into the house and rounded up all the residents into a room upstairs.

“Where’s the money? Where’s the drugs?” the robbers said, according to police.

It’s unclear exactly what was stolen from the house, but after a thorough search, police uncovered hundreds of small plastic packages that police said were probably used for packaging heroin.

Neighbors said it was common to see people going in and out of the house at all hours of the night.

Police spent the next day standing watch in front of the house and talking to residents passing by. They referred the illegal amount of SROs to the Buildings Department.

Neighborhood Notes

By None

Quality of Life Survey at Library

The Citizens Committee for New York City is sponsoring the fifth annual Quality of Life Survey Saturday, Sept. 8 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Bronx Library Center at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road. Residents will be polled about their top concerns to guide government officials as they work to improve quality of life in the area. For more information, call (646) 262-0484.

Youth Programs Open House

Lehman College Office of Continuing Education is holding an open house for children and teen programs Saturday, Sept. 15 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. Courses begin in September and October for ages 4 through 17 in subjects from English and math improvement to arts, sports, computers and test preparation for the specialized high schools and the SATs. For more information, call (718) 960-8512 or visit www.lehman.edu/ce.

Career Training Open House

The Office of Continuing Education is holding open houses for non-credit career training certificate programs for fall 2007. Topics covered include business and finance programs, alcoholism and substance abuse counseling, and computer information technology programs. An open house will be held Saturday, Sept. 8, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the Lehman College campus. Open houses for small business development and childcare will take place Monday, Sept. 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at CUNY on the Concourse. For more information, course catalogs, and meeting room locations, call (718) 960-8512 or visit www.lehman.edu/ce.  

City Parks Senior Fitness

Northwest Bronx residents 60 years of age and older are eligible for the City Parks Foundation’s free program offering tennis lessons, yoga instruction and fitness walking in Van Cortlandt Park.

The programs run from Sept. 17 through Oct. 26. For more information or the schedule, call (718) 760-6999 or visit www.cityparksfoundation.org.

Bronx River Bike Ride

The Bronx River Alliance continues the Second Sunday Cycling campaign with two final rides on Sunday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Oct. 14. The five-mile bike tours along the Bronx River Greenway are from 1 to 3 p.m. and meet at the park overlook at 204th Street, east of Webster Avenue. For more information, call (718) 430-4677 or visit www.bronxriver.org.

Elevator & Escalator Outage Updates

Subway riders who rely on MTA’s network of elevators and escalators will now be able to view equipment outage information online at www.mta.info. The Elevator & Escalator page will be updated three times daily.

Adult Computer Class

Beginner computer classes in English will be offered for adults at PS 94, 3530 Kings College Pl., on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. To sign up for classes running from September 2007 to June 2008, contact Ms. Seminario at (347) 563-4772 or (718) 405-6345 ext. 1050.

Adult ESL Classes at PS 94

From September through June, PS 94, at 3530 Kings College Pl., is offering beginning and intermediate ESL classes. Classes will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. For more information, go to room 105 or call the parent coordinator Ms. Seminario at (347) 563-4772, (718) 405-6345 ext. 1050 or (718) 863-4057.

Free ESL and GED Classes

The Urban Family Empowerment Center is sponsoring a GED class this fall at Fordham Manor Reformed Church, 2705 Reservoir Ave., Monday and Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and an ESL class Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration is Sept. 6. For more information, call (718) 796-4980 ext. 16 or visit www.empowerthefamily.org.

Writers’ Center Applications

The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) has applications available for the Bronx Writers’ Center 2007-08 Chapter One Competition and Writing Series, open to residents of New York City. Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1, at BCA’s main office at 1738 Hone Ave. in Morris Park. No entry fee. For more information, visit www.bronxarts.org or contact Lydia Clark at (718) 931-9500 ext. 35 or Lydia@bronxarts.org.

Arts-in-Education Grants

The Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA) announces the availability of Arts-in-Education grants for Bronx schools. Applicants must be a school, an arts/cultural organization and/or an independent teaching artist. Applicants can apply online at www.bronxarts.org for projects during the 2007-2008 academic year. Applicants must attend workshops on Sept. 10 and 13. Deadline for applications is Oct. 11. For more information, call (718) 931-9500.

Mosholu Parkway 4 Station Closed for Rehabilitation

The 4 train’s Manhattan-bound Mosholu Pkwy station will be closed for rehabilitation until Nov. 12. To travel downtown from this station, take a Bronx-bound 4 to Woodlawn and transfer to a Manhattan-bound. For more information, visit www.mta.info.

Career Info Sessions at BCC

Bronx Community College (BCC) is offering workshops on career options on Thursday, Sept. 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 15, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Continuing and Professional Studies (Philosophy Hall-Room 14) at BCC, West 181st Street. and University Avenue. Students receive a 10 percent discount. For more information, call (718) 289-5170.

Trojans Football League Seeks Players

The Trojans Football Association is looking for players ages 8 to 19 for the fall 2007 season. If you are interested and want information about practice times and location, call Coach Don at (347) 964-5050 or Coach Steve at (347) 934-2176.

MMCC Presents Fall Lineup

The Mosholu Montefiore Community Center has released its fall program brochure. The list includes full-day childcare, activities and classes for pre-teens and for teens, increased adult ESL classes and activities for seniors. For a brochure, call (718) 882-4000 ext. 0 or stop by the Center, 3450 DeKalb Ave., weekdays, 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Will DEP Be Held Accountable for Filtration Boondoggle?

By Jeffrey Dinowitz

It becomes more and more clear with each passing day that outright lying, half-truths, inefficient engineering, poor planning, and politically-influenced decision-making by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have turned the construction site of the Croton Water Treatment Plant in Van Cortlandt Park into an unmitigated environmental disaster that is costing taxpayers billions of dollars and needlessly wasting precious natural resources.

Former DEP Commissioner Christopher Ward openly advocated for building this monstrosity in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, citing relatively low construction costs compared to the viable alternative site in Westchester, and used wanton expenditures of public funds ($200 million) as incentives for Bronx elected officials to approve the project. Ward and his advisors cleverly manipulated public officials to circumvent the “home rule” tradition in the state legislature, whereby the elected official in whose district a project was being built would determine the outcome in cases where “park alienation” legislation was necessary. They also overturned generations of public policy that protected parkland from industrial construction. As one might have expected, this highly irregular and inappropriate deal was struck in the back room of a political party headquarters, rather than in an official office.

This is further proof that although he ought to have been an impartial decision-maker, the former commissioner was driven to choose the Bronx for this plant. In a televised interview in March 2004, he promised to address high unemployment in the borough by linking Bronx jobs to the project, knowing full well that because of existing regulations this was not possible. He knew that the jobs he dangled in front of Bronx elected officials would never materialize.

Ward’s DEP embarked on a taxpayer-financed campaign to convince others that a Bronx location for the project would be markedly cheaper than the Westchester alternative. In fact, DEP documents were falsified, artificially inflating the cost of building in Westchester. DEP officials have confirmed these “mistakes.” Despite a massive public outcry, by disguising real impacts they were able to convince the City Planning Commission, the City Council, the State Senate and a bare majority of the Assembly.

Experts estimate that the $992 million predicted cost of construction documented in DEP filings has now ballooned to nearly $3 billion – and it is climbing. There seems to be no budget oversight or constraints. But however high the price goes, taxpayers will have to foot the entire bill for the largest construction project in the city’s history through higher water rates.

Knowing what we know now about the astronomical costs and the fact that Mr. Ward was to eventually take a job as the head of the New York State General Contractors Association, the lead group that openly advocated for building the plant in the park, it is revealing to review his contention about building the project in Westchester: “It would be more expensive than the alternatives in the Bronx,” he said, “considerably more expensive; maybe upwards of $300 to $500 million depending on the other additional work that needs to be done up there.”

This was another distortion. There was significant additional work to be done not at a Westchester plant, which would have been built above grade on a city-owned industrial site, but at the Bronx location in order to submerge a huge industrial project nine stories below ground. Along with hundreds of trucks rumbling through the Bronx each day to cart out tons of rock, community advocates have discovered that the DEP is dumping millions of gallons of precious water each and every day into the city’s sewer system at a dual cost borne by taxpayers who are paying to dig up the water and then process it in the wastewater disposal system.

In fact, according to a report issued in the spring, the DEP is dumping well over 1.2 million gallons, (and, I believe, over 2 million gallons), of groundwater down the drain each and every day, and this will continue forever, even after the project is completed. Ironically, the DEP’s own Web site asks New Yorkers to “save hundreds of gallons a week by following these water saving tips” while they themselves are wasting millions!

Had the DEP followed through with a carefully managed, tightly budgeted, environmentally sound plan and project, I suppose I and other advocates who have opposed this from the start would be silent. But with an unfathomable and thus far unexplained through-the-roof rise in cost and unconscionable waste of natural resources by the very agency charged with conservation, there is no choice but to insist on a full and complete investigation of every aspect of this enormous boondoggle.

Jeffrey Dinowitz represents the 81st Assembly District in the New York State Assembly.

How to Spend Congestion Pricing Funds

By None

With a federal grant of $354 million for congestion pricing secured, plans are already under way how to spend the money to be raised by the toll, if approved. Among them, the MTA is considering diverting New Haven Metro North service through the underused northeastern Bronx Amtrak line and to build three stations: Co-op City, Parkchester and possibly Hunts Point.

The Amtrak right-of-way, which currently has two tracks, has space for two more and is the best and most inexpensive route for a Bronx extension of the Second Avenue subway. Co-op City and the municipal hospital complex would have direct subway service which provides a one-seat ride to far more places than does Metro North. Moreover, the subway is more affordable and would serve far more people than Metro North which caters to a wealthier class. All that is necessary is to build a dedicated rail bridge from Manhattan and to lay the tracks.

Most people agree that the MTA is detached from needs of the riding public and it’s the people of the Bronx who should decide how potential revenues from congestion pricing should be spent. As I noted in an earlier letter, Bronx elected officials must call a Bronx mass transit task force to study and debate all transit options so that any windfall will be spent on a project(s) that will serve the needs of the greatest number of people.

John Rozankowski

All Fall Down

By None

The decrepit fencing around Oval Park has become a safety hazard. This time it fell down on the grass. Next time it could be on a car or a person. See editorial.

School Reform – Again

By Editorial

How many parents of public school students could pass a pop quiz on the latest reforms of the system?

Would any of them know where to seek help for their child if they can’t get it at their school? (Answer: the new local Office of Parent engagement).Would they know that the regions, heralded just a few years ago as a major reform, have been disbanded and that the system now has district superintendents once again (Goodbye Region 1, hello again District 10) and that those superintendents serve more as resources to principals rather than as supervisors?

Our guess is that many parents haven’t yet been clued in to any of this. We hope the Department of Education makes a priority of filling parents in, but we’re not holding our breath. That’s why we compiled a basic guide to the changes in our special Back-to-School special section in this issue. And we will continue to provide school news and information you can use. If there are school issues you think we should be covering, let us know!

Fence It In

By Editorial

As we report in this issue, the Parks Department is about to embark on a desperately needed rehab of Williamsbridge Oval Park, Norwood’s most active and much loved green space. The $13.5 million allocated for the project – from that controversial deal that swapped the giant filtration plant being built in nearby Van Cortlandt Park for improvements to Bronx parks – sounds like a lot of money, but it is, unfortunately, not sufficient to address all the park’s needs.

For example, the original political agreement ratified by the City Council, known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), called for a skate park and a revived multi-use area on the eastern side of the park. That was abandoned in favor of replacing the section of the promenade behind the park house and adding a senior sitting area, two other projects also included in the MOU (the MOU overstated the number of parks projects that could be completed with the filtration money and all had to be scaled back about 7 percent). These are obviously tough choices to make and park advocates and local residents can decide if they’re the right ones.

But we feel that the park’s perimeter fence which is in a dangerous state of disrepair (see photo) is in a whole other category. Its deteriorating condition was well evident even back in 2004 when it, too, was included in the MOU.

Two large sections of the fence have fallen down into the park and are still lying there as we write this. They could have just as easily fallen onto a car or a person. So, this is a safety issue and should not be a matter of hoping that Council Member Oliver Koppell is successful securing the money in next year’s budget negotiations. What if he’s not? Or what if there is another competing priority elsewhere in his district?

This public safety matter should not be left to the political process. The Parks Department needs to identify money within its budget, or secure funding at the next possible opportunity, to replace the perimeter fence.

We are also worried that the pool of filtration money for Bronx parks is going to increasingly become an excuse for not addressing pressing needs in local parks. “Well, we’re already spending $13.5 million in the Oval and now you want us to fix the fence?” That kind of thing.

Politicians and city officials who pushed the filtration plant deal vowed that the resulting parks money would be an addition to the normal budgeting for capital improvements and maintenance, not a replacement. When and how soon the fence around the Oval is fixed will give us a sense of whether or not we should have any faith in that commitment.

Minority Contractors Say Filtration Deck Stacked Against Them

By Annie Shreffler

Despite laws requiring large firms to award a percentage of subcontracting jobs to certified minority contractors on large public projects like the Croton Water Treatment Plant in Van Cortlandt Park, small contractors are finding that the certification process, high insurance costs and a lack of political connections make it tough to win bids.

"They’re not really giving small contractors in the Bronx a chance to do projects," said Roberto Velazquez, president of the Bronx Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and owner of Fordham Plumbing and Heating, Inc.

In addition to a demanding and time-consuming certification process, Velazquez said there are financial barriers to small firms winning jobs. Insurance rates are high for small firms that apply on their own, and networking opportunities often require entrance fees.

Bernard Daly, the project manager for the DEP’s massive water filtration plant project, admitted it’s not easy for a contractor with little experience or insurance to get subcontracting work. But, while the DEP is sympathetic to small business owners, Daly said the Croton job is huge and cannot afford anymore setbacks due to faulty contractors and subcontractors; it’s already six months behind.

"We want it all," Daly said. "To hire locally, hire M/WBEs [Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises], but we also want the job done.”

Both New York State’s Executive Law 15A and New York City’s Local Law 129 set goals for businesses owned by minorities or women (M/WBEs) to receive a fair share of contracts offered by city and state agencies. But those businesses must first be certified – a free, paper-heavy process that registers businesses with the city and state.

Scott J. Munson, a certificate analyst for the Empire State Development Corporation, said the paperwork can be daunting to a company owner with little time or a difficulty with the language, and in some cases it can take a year to finish.

But Munson said certification reduces chances of a fraudulent company winning bids and brings together small businesses with city agencies through a directory, the first place primary contractors look for an M/WBE.

Even with certification, Velazquez said he can’t get a piece of the Croton project, mostly due to the high insurance, or bonding, requirements. He has tried to overcome insurance obstacles by asking a larger firm for a joint venture, but still hasn’t received a response.

Matthew Klimczak, a spokesman for the Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), a lobbyist group, said bonding is crucial. Small contractors who avoid getting bonded go out on a dangerous limb.

"If no bond is required, subcontractors are left with no means to collect for their services and supplies if the contractor is unable or unwilling to pay them," Klimczak said.

The cost of bonding is generally 1 to 2 percent of the total job and is recovered by the time they receive their first payment from the primary contractor, according to SFAA.

Peter Fontanes, founder and chairman of Hispanics in Real Estate and Construction (HREC), said waiting for that first payment can make or break a small contractor. Months of red tape, small fines or a foreign firm that skips town before paying its subcontractors can bankrupt a small business with little cash reserve.

Fontanes also echoed Velazquez in saying city politicians must get serious about helping small contractors get better opportunities.

"There is dismay at the money going to jobs in the outer boroughs and not to minority contractors," Fontanes said. "The programs are not having an impact. Politicians need to ask for hard numbers and demand more."

Velazquez said if he could pay for more costly campaign breakfasts or dinners, he might find other venture opportunities.

In July, officials from Skanska, the new primary contractor on the almost $3 billion Croton plant, met with M/WBEs at Fordham University to announce subcontracting opportunities. Meeting organizers said 196 firms (68 from the Bronx) attended.

Skanska’s M/WBE compliance director Roi Smith said, per the law, "a total of 17 percent of our contracts will go to minority and women-owned businesses," adding later, "that’s $250 million in subcontracting goals."

HREC didn’t know about the Fordham meeting with Skanska, and Fontanes said he wishes the Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión (whom he met with on this issue earlier this year) and other Bronx politicians were doing more to get the word out.

Carrión’s office said they have made it clear that "if you want to do business in the Bronx you must do business with the Bronx," but that they were not responsible for who was invited to the Fordham event.

Greg Butler, a union member and author of "Disunited Brotherhoods: Race, Racketeering and The Fall of the New York Construction Unions," said even if an M/WBE contractor gets certified, insured and bonded, a larger firm can still win the bid with more experience and better equipment. In other cases, Butler said, firms win M/WBE contracts with what’s called a "shell company," a minority front man or a wife acting as president of a subsidiary firm.

According to the city, eligible M/WBEs must be at least 51 percent owned and operated by a minority and/or woman, but says nothing about the makeup of the rest of the company.

"If [the city] really wanted to work with [M/WBEs], they’d require bigger contractors to add them to the bid," Velazquez said. "They should be standing up for us and make sure everybody has a piece of the pie."

Crisp Notebooks, Sharp Pencils and a New School Year

By None

Proud parents and their backpack-toting kids descended upon the campus of PS 15, just north of Bronx Community College in University Heights, for the first day of public school on Tuesday. It’s a bittersweet occasion that unofficially marks the beginning of fall and the end of summer.

New Neri Principal Off to Running Start

By Heather Appel

Teresita E. Fajardo, the new principal of St. Philip Neri School in Bedford Park, officially started on Sept. 1, but in the first week of August, she was already booked solid with appointments with veteran teachers, new hires and other members of the community.

That type of preparation is what the school community can expect from their new principal, said Mervin Bent, who previously worked with Fajardo for 11 years at St. Simon Stock School and is now the assistant principal at the Bedford Park institution.

“Everything must be in order” Bent said. “She’s a very sound planner – she plans way, way ahead, and she keeps the entire community notified of what’s happening in the building.”

Fajardo, 58, comes to St. Philip Neri from previous positions with the Archdiocese, as a teacher, a principal in upstate New York and, most recently, as the principal of Mt. Carmel St. Anthony School in Yonkers, which was shut down. In her new post, she’s focused on instilling good values in her students and creating rules and organization in the school.

“Faith, community and service are the three things that distinguish Catholic schools,” Fajardo said. The values she wants children to come away with are the four R’s: responsibility, respect, reverence and the right choices.

Fajardo’s history mirrors that of many families in the area, whose grandparents or parents emigrated from another country and settled in New York. She was born in the Philippines, where she was educated in English, Spanish and Tagalog. Her three children were born here and all attended Catholic schools.

Her parents encouraged her to become a teacher, and she’s worked in the field for the past 38 years.

“My parents were very involved in my education,” she said. “My mother taught me to read when I was 3 years old. We learned how to write and read very early, so when I went to school, they kept promoting me. I went straight from pre-K to grade 1. [My mother] did the same thing with my brother and my sister.”

Fajardo said all the subjects are equally important. Strong arts, music and athletic programs in the school are as vital as traditional academic subjects such as English, language arts, math and science, the latter of which is her area of expertise.

Another priority for the new principal is bringing structure and order to the school. Right away, she prepared extensive handbooks for teachers and parents, introduced herself to the community and emphasized her goals for the students.

Bent, the assistant principal, was pleased to be reunited with Fajardo, who he worked with for 11 years at St. Simon Stock School.

“She was an assistant principal and I was an 8th grade teacher, and we worked together very well on several projects,” he said. “We have a lot in common and share the same philosophy, and I think we’ll make a great team together.”

Bent said Fajardo’s strongest points are discipline and academics and called her “very, very detail-oriented,” which includes how she communicates.

“Parents don’t need to worry,” Bent said. “They’ll be kept informed about what we do here, and that’s the way she’s always been.”

Company in Deutsche Bank Spotlight Traced to Webster Ave.

By Alex Kratz

The trail leading to the heart of the biggest story in New York City over the past two weeks – the death of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero and the mysterious company hired to do the demolition work there – can be traced all the way up to the northwest Bronx.

That’s where you’ll find the offices of Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Company, which also doubles as the address of the John Galt Corporation.

Both companies were hired by the general contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, to demolish the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St., a $150 million endeavor. John Galt was fired from the job a week after the fires for defaulting on its contract following a flotilla of safety violations. Regional Scaffolding continues to do work at the Deutsche Bank building.

While Regional Scaffolding appears to be a legitimate operation, John Galt, a conglomeration of companies that shares officers with Regional Scaffolding along with an address, appears to be the complete opposite. In the press, John Galt has been dubbed a “fictional” or “ghost” company.

In addition to sharing officers with Regional Scaffolding, the John Galt Corporation also includes two executives from Safeway Environmental Corporation, an outfit with a blighted past, including a former owner with ties to the Gambino crime family, according to an article in the New York Times. John Galt has apparently not done any work of any kind prior to the Deutsche Bank project since being incorporated in 1983, according to the Times.

In 2006, however, John Galt won the demolition contract for the Bronx House of Detention, according to the Times, but they were dropped from the job during a review process that revealed the company was being investigated by the city’s Department of Investigation.

Often, large construction or demolition contracts are awarded to a conglomeration of companies put together under the banner of a little known entity set up for such a job. But after a series of safety violations leading up to the deadly downtown fire, which was possibly caused by a negligent demolition worker smoking on site, everyone is wondering: Who is John Galt?

From a literary standpoint, “Who is John Galt?” is actually the first line in philosopher Ayn Rand’s novel, “Atlas Shrugged.” Galt is one of the main characters in the novel and is also known as the Mystery Worker.

According to news reports and city records, Greg Blinn is the president of the John Galt Corporation. Glenn Blinn and Kevin Blinn are listed as president and vice president, respectively, of a company called Webster Development Corporation, which shares an address and telephone number with Regional Scaffolding, according to Buildings Department records. Greg Blinn is also listed as both an officer and the president of Webster Development in city records.

It’s unclear how all of these Blinns and companies are related, but they all trace back to 3900 Webster Ave., a thin strip of land between Woodlawn Cemetery and the Metro North track, which borders the Bronx River.

No other commercial enterprise exists for more than a mile on either side of 3900 Webster Ave.

Halfway between Gun Hill Road and East 233rd Street is a long, unmarked, fenced-in building overgrown with weeds and vines. Wide vehicle entrances on either side of the building, about four blocks apart, lead to long driveways filled with what appears to be scaffolding equipment and supplies. Large trucks with “Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting” written on them line the curbs of Webster Avenue. The address listed below the name on the trucks say Upper Nyack, New York.

The inside of the building is an air conditioned, well-lit, spacious collection of rooms with glass and wood-paneled walls. A large sign that reads “Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Company” greets visitors.

Last week, in the afternoon, a handful of well-dressed people were milling about the office area. A couple of construction workers, wearing orange safety vests walked into the building. They worked for Regional Scaffolding, they said.

A receptionist said there was no one there who could speak about the scaffolding company or the other companies with the same address. And because she had only been hired recently, she said, she couldn’t confirm that either John Galt or Webster Development also shared space there or who headed those companies.

Calls to Regional Scaffolding/Webster Development requesting comment and clarification were not returned.

Since the fire, Greg Blinn, in other newspapers, has repeatedly said he can’t comment on the Deutsche Bank project because of his contract with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which owns and controls the building at 130 Liberty St.

Dinowitz Clarifies: No Primary

By Alex Kratz

While there may have been some confusion about the upcoming primary, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz has released a statement explaining that there will be no primary in the Bronx on Sept. 18.

He said further that one had been scheduled for that date, but since there is no competition to warrant one, polling places will not be open on Sept. 18.

Election Day, with voting for Bronx district attorney and a State Supreme Court judgeship, will be Tuesday, Nov. 6 and the presidential primary will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

For further information on the elections or absentee ballots, contact Dinowitz’s office at (718) 796-5345.

Dinowitz Names New Chief of Staff

By Alex Kratz

Yet another potential candidate, Randi Martos, who has expressed interest in Council Member Oliver Koppell’s seat, is now Jeff Dinowitz’s new chief of staff, the assemblyman announced last week. For the past few years, Martos, a Riverdale native and Bronx Science alum, has served as Dinowitz’s district office manager, directing daily operations of the office.

“Randi has been an incredible asset to my office and to the entire neighborhood,” Dinowitz said in a statement.

Martos was elected Democratic Female District Leader for the 81st Assembly District in 2006 and is a member of the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club’s executive board.

Candidates Form Fund-raising Committees

By Alex Kratz

Speaking of open City Council seats: with Maria Baez leaving her job in 2009 thanks to term limits, her Council spot is already drawing interest.

Last issue, the Norwood News wrote about the potential candidacy of Haile Rivera, an activist from University Heights. Rivera (no relation to the other political Riveras in the Bronx) has since started a campaign committee, Friends of Haile Rivera, and is speaking out on a variety of issues, including the presidential race and the Iraq war.

Two weeks ago, he sent out a press release outlining his concerns about the mayor’s congestion pricing plan (increased traffic and congestion in the Bronx, for one), which the Council’s Bronx delegation is supporting.

Despite the delegation’s support, “we need to be very careful on how we proceed on this,” he said.

Rivera, however, is already looking at competition for Baez’s seat. Dr. Fernando Cabrera, the pastor at New Life Outreach International Church in University Heights, has also formed a fund-raising committee himself after expressing displeasure at Baez’s performance.

Cabrera could enjoy the backing of the Assemblyman Ruben Diaz and his son, Ruben, Jr., both of whom are very popular in the Bronx’s religious community.

How to Run for Public Office

By Alex Kratz

With several Bronx political offices possibly up for grabs come next year’s election season, The League of Women Voters is offering to educate potential candidates with a 12-hour seminar course that starts on Sept. 6 at Bronx Community College.

Already, the course, called “How to Run for Public Office in New York City” has been held at community colleges in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn. Later in the year, it will be conducted in Staten Island.

The goal of the course “is to encourage more New Yorkers to become involved in the political life of the city,” said Alison Alpert, the League’s executive director, in a statement.

She added that two recent developments – the creation of the Campaign Finance Board, which allows candidates to receive matching public funds, as well as the institution of term limits – “has opened opportunities for those interested in running for a City Council seat.”

Topics discussed during the six sessions will include how to get your name on the ballot and securing funds, debate techniques, picking up endorsements, and election day strategies.

Teachers will include former elected officials and League members.

Scholarships are available, the group says, for those who can’t afford the tuition. For more information, call (212) 725-3541 or visit www.lwvnyc.org.

Spitzer Signs Dinowitz Gun Safety Bill

By Alex Kratz

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz recently announced that Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed his bill, co-sponsored by State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Queens) that will help keep guns away from convicted felons.

Before passage of the bill, felons convicted of violent crimes could possess rifles or shotguns through various loopholes. This bill, Dinowitz said, eliminates those loopholes and makes obtaining a firearm or a firearm license extremely difficult.

“We can’t ignore gun violence, and we can’t afford to let criminals possess these dangerous weapons,” Dinowitz said. “We need to pay special attention to those who have access to deadly weapons and how to reduce gun violence that currently kills approximately 1,200 New Yorkers a year.”

Don’t Let the Door Hit You…

By Alex Kratz

Following the resignation of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Bronx congressmen Eliot Engel and Jose Serrano took the opportunity to throw out a few parting shots.

During the past several months, Gonzales has been under fire for authorizing the apparently politically-motivated firing of nine U.S attorneys. The country’s first Hispanic Attorney General has also been in the middle of a secret spying program involving eavesdropping on the phone conversations of American citizens.

“His resignation today is welcome news for those who believe in the Constitution and who don’t believe in having a government spying on its own citizens,” Engel said.

“I am relieved that Alberto Gonzales has finally decided to leave the Department of Justice, which he has harmed greatly in his time there,” Serrano added. “Like the Administration he served, he will be remembered for his reckless commitment to politics above fairness.”

Oval Track Replacement Set to Begin this Month

By Jordan Moss

The Parks Department will begin replacing the track and field in Williamsbridge Oval Park this month.  

The work kicks off a $13.5 million dollar renovation plan fueled by monies generated by the political deal that allowed the city to build a controversial water filtration plant in nearby Van Cortlandt Park.

The $3 million track will take a year to complete and will feature a rubberized track, and a synthetic turf multi-purpose sports field.

The second phase – which will include replacement of the southern playground and basketball courts, renovation of the southern half of the upper promenade, and the introduction of a new senior seating area in the northern section of the park, will go to bid this fall and start construction next spring, according to the Parks Department. The work, which will cost about $6 million, is slated for completion in summer 2009.

A third phase costing $4.5 million will tackle renovation of a portion of the Recreation Building (known as the Park House). Park officials say this project, too, is scheduled to go to bid this fall with the goal of construction beginning next spring and ending in summer 2009.

The original document that delineated the Bronx park projects to be completed in return for building the filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park indicated that the Oval’s decrepit perimeter fence would also be replaced and that there would also be a skate park and multi-use recreations. But all the park projects were eventually cut across the board by 7 percent because the total went over the $200 million allocated for the improvements.

Board Takes Close Look at Developer’s Plans for U. Heights Plot

By Alex Kratz

Developer Jack Guttman says he wants to build a beautiful mixed-use apartment building on the western slope of University Heights that will become a catalyst for improvement in a neighborhood crying out for just that.

"The city is changing," Guttman said. "Harlem’s seen a resurgence and the Bronx will not be far behind. I want to be there at the beginning."

But before the building goes up, Guttman, whose credits include the nearly-completed Chelsea Arts Tower downtown and several developments in San Diego, needs Community Board 7 to approve his application to rezone his Landing Road property for residential use.

Board members who attended a public hearing on the rezoning application last week unanimously agreed that housing would be perfect for Guttman’s plot of land. It’s currently a trash-strewn parking lot across the street from the X Bar on Landing Road and zoned for commercial use only.

"Once he addresses the issues, I love the design," said Sandra Erickson, the head of the Board’s Land Use Committee. "That corner is terrible."

The most important issue, the Board said, is trust.

"It’s not whether or not it’s going to happen, it’s how it going to happen," said Board member John Harris, who’s lived on Cedar Avenue near the site for the past 10 years. "We just have to make sure that he’s serious and committed to the Bronx."

In an interview after the public hearing, CB7 Chairman Greg Faulkner said this rezoning question is a chance for the Board to send a message to developers looking into building in the northwest Bronx.

 "[Potential developers] are paying close attention to what’s happening here in the Bronx," Faulkner said. "I don’t know that we want to say, ‘Hey this place is open for business. Come here and do whatever you want here.’"

Guttman points to his two other Bronx properties – one on River Avenue near Yankee Stadium, the other on Southern Boulevard, both of which are being used as Self Storage warehouses – as evidence that he’s committed to being in the borough for the long haul.

Plus, he said, building housing on this site has been the plan since he bought the property four years ago. "We’ve owned this property for years," Guttman said, "so the goal to build affordable housing there is nothing new."

In 2004, Guttman came to the Board with a similar building proposal, but the project got bogged down in red tape and government bureaucracy, he said. Back then, the property was zoned for residential use, but it shifted to commercial use two years ago, which is now the main roadblock holding Guttman back.

Once the property is rezoned, Guttman can legally build whatever he wants to build on the site, which makes Board members worried that the proposed building, which Guttman calls "luxurious," will price out community members.

That will not be the case, Guttman said. At the public hearing, Guttman said the financing of the building will be tied to a government affordable housing program that will provide tax breaks if he provides space for a mix of incomes. If he indeed intends to use it, which he said he does, the 50/30/20 model would slot 50 percent of units for market rate renters, 30 percent for moderate income, and 20 percent for low income.

The community will get first crack at all of those apartments as well as any jobs that come with the building. "We would give the community first choice for career opportunities and at the apartments," Guttman said. "Why wouldn’t we want to do that?"

According to Guttman’s presentation, presented to the Board last Tuesday at the St. James Park Recreation Center, the brick building would be eight stories, include an underground parking garage, 3,000 square feet of community space and about 150 units, ranging from small one-bedrooms to three bedrooms. There would be a doorman, full-time garage attendants and a large two-story community lounge area. Every unit would have a view of either the Harlem River and Manhattan or Fordham Landing Playground, a city park surrounded by thick woods immediately north of the property.

Providing improved access to Fordham Landing Playground is a condition Faulkner and the rest of the Board are adamant about. Guttman says he will be working closely with the Department of Transportation and the Parks Department to make that happen.

Parking and traffic are also a concern, especially at night and on weekends when the X Bar brings in excess cars. The underground parking garage will help alleviate some of that congestion, Guttman said.

Faulkner remains skeptical. A week before the hearing, Guttman came to the Board’s Land Use meeting with very few details, leading Faulkner to think that the developer is taking a haphazard approach to the design.

But Guttman said he’s not pulling a bait and switch on the community. "This is the ideal project for that space," he said. "We want to build affordable housing and we want it to be a beautiful building."

Again, it comes down to trust, Faulkner said. "It’s not a question of us not wanting housing, but it’s a question of how he’s doing business with us."

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