Assemblyman John Zaccaro Jr. (A.D. 80) hosted an event at the Bronx Zoo on Feb. 20 to mark Black History Month, honoring various members of the community.

 

The event consisted of food and refreshments, some light entertainment and an awards presentation. Among the honorees this year were Jean Hill, president of the Tracey Towers Tenants Organization, Captain Julieann D. Stapleton of the NYPD, and Brenda Caldwell Paris, president of the 52nd Precinct Community Council.

Speaking to Norwood News later that evening [as we arrived after the presentation of the awards due to a conflict with other events the same day], Zaccaro Jr. said, “It’s an amazing event. Tonight was our first inaugural Black History Month event for the 80th Assembly District.”

 

The district broadly covers some or all of the Bronx neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Bronx Park East, Pelham Parkway, Allerton, Morris Park, Little Yemen, and Van Nest.

“Tonight, our theme was honoring legacy and shaping our future, and the significance of tonight was honoring those who have labored in our community for decades, and making sure that we are reinforcing the responsibility to continue those legacies in our community,” the assemblyman continued.

 

He said they honored housing advocates, and those who work at the precincts in the district. “We honor those who are working not just running our precincts on the law enforcement side, but those who are working in community and in partnership with them for so many years,” he added.

 

Zaccaro Jr. said it was a great opportunity to bring people together and remind them how far everyone has come as a community. He credited “all of those people and those unsung heroes who contribute so much to what we do in the fabric of our community.”

He spoke about the rollover of responsibility to the next generation. We asked how that was being implemented. “So, tonight, we had a young lady from Mind Builders who led us in an amazing performance, and we also had youth organizations and folks who are out in our community working with some of the kids, fighting against gun violence and so many other things in our community,” he said.

 

He continued, “Stand Up to Violence, a cure violence group, also joined the group for the event, he said, noting the significance and the importance of young people seeing the good and the bad happening in their neighborhoods. He said it helped them understand the work that people have done to date to better the community, and to know that it is now their responsibility to move forward and continue the work.

The assemblyman added, “So, that’s really what we are doing here today, really making sure that we understand that as a legacy, it’s not just something that has happened before, but it’s a responsibility that we have moving forward to continue on that.”

 

He added that often the unsung heroes in the community laboring for decades many times had done the work without any recognition. “It was important to bring people together tonight and remind people so much of our Black, strong women in our community that contribute so much.”

Norwood News then asked for the assemblyman’s opinion on the announcement by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that she has chosen former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her running mate in the upcoming general election  “There’s something so powerful and significant about that, right?” he said. “But more important than just Black History and celebrating a month, you know, Adrienne represents what it is coming from the City. She served as a council member, and then elevated into serving as speaker, and led this city in the last city council, and so, I look forward to getting to know her more in a deeper way, and seeing what the platform is for the State of New York.”

 

He added, “But also working hand in hand with her as someone who understands the City, understands representing marginalized communities and underserved communities, and I think she’s going to be able to lend to that conversation when she’s sitting in the halls of power up in the State of New York.”