The city’s ridiculous decision to put an animal shelter in a former library near bustling Kingsbridge Road and the borough’s state-of-the art library is depressing and heartening at the same time.
Depressing because it just shows that the Bloomberg administration is hopelessly out of touch with the dire needs of its constituents in this area. There is so little space available in our community for new schools, youth recreation and other critical social services and they turn over a centrally located prime piece of public real estate to the animals. A worthy endeavor, but obviously not one that trumps the needs of local humans.
But it is also heartening that several sectors of this community are united in their opposition to this plan and support returning the building to community use. This is a reassuring sign of resurgent civic health – a community able to define and collectively advocate for its needs.
Address School Violence
I am writing this letter to voice my concern about the violence within public schools. There are children who fear going to school due to the threat of possibly being harmed while there. There is no reason for this; school should be like a child’s second home. The children not only have to worry about the general stresses of school but also issues with other students, their teachers, and in some cases even the hired school security guards. I suggest removing as many of those threats as possible, starting specifically with the security guards who are doing more harm than
Seeking Local ‘Change’
While overjoyed at the historic victory of Barack Obama, I am concerned that the change we need has not come to the 33rd Senate District. Voters should have questioned Pedro Espada’s commitment to this district. We need an agent of change. We need someone who will truly represent this district, someone like Margaret Groarke. This past election, I voted for Margaret as a write-in candidate. I hope she will run in 2010. Like Barack Obama, she can go from community organizer to politically astute professor to state senator. Can Margaret Groarke be the change we need? Yes, she can. -Patrick Wynne North Fordham Ed.
Wrong Move on Library
It has been brought to my attention that the City of New York is once again considering converting the old Fordham Library into an animal shelter. While I count myself as an animal lover, I love the children of the community more. For over a year now, we have been trying to convince the city to convert this space into a state-of-the-art youth center. We have patiently met with elected officials and collected 10,000 signatures in a concerted effort to help the city understand the need for youth programs in our area. We conducted the largest march on any given issue
Wrong Move on Library, Part II
The old Fordham Library served our community for decades; its proposed conversion into a school would have served the community well as would a proposed community center. Changing a building constructed to serve community residents to sheltering animals is an insult to a neighborhood that has lacked social services and recreational space since the very first private homes and apartment buildings went up. From Fordham Road to 201st Street between Webster Avenue and the Grand Concourse, there is not one playground. An apt description of the city’s current response to the community’s need for the library building would be “the
Citizen Scientists Take Temperature of Bronx Forest
With global warming fast becoming a global priority, thanks to environmental crusaders like former Vice President Al Gore, the science community is enlisting amateurs to make its job easier. A new program at the New York Botanical Garden is offering volunteers a chance to study climate change while exploring its 50-acre natural forest.