1040 LOUNGE at the Bronx Museum located at 1040 Grand Concourse
In honor of its 25th Anniversary, the film Paris is Burning will be screened at the Bronx Museum, followed by a Q&A led by BronxWorks’ Sexual Health Promotion Through Youth Leadership youth as well as a Voguing Workshop led by Visual AIDS artist Kia LaBeija. The iconic film provides a dynamic and intimate portrait of the Harlem drag balls of the 1980s, where rival fashion “houses” competed for trophies and cash prizes in categories like “face,” “femme queen realness” and “voguing.” Winner of a Sundance Grand Jury Prize, Paris is Burning celebrates how African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender New Yorkers, for whom racism, poverty, and homophobia were daily struggles, created a world of sustenance and joy. Presented in collaboration with Visual AIDS (visualaids.org) and BronxWorks.
We will be joined by a number of community partners, including HealthPlus Amerigroup, Planned Parenthood, and Tantalizing Productions, Inc., who will offer hand outs and more information on sexual health and wellness.
Public and Community Engagement Programs at The Bronx Museum of the Arts are made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and The New York Community Trust. Beer has been provided by Bronx Brewery.
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Artful Health is a series of programs presented by the Bronx Museum focused on an array of health issues of extreme relevance to the Bronx community. Considering the prevalence of health conditions such as asthma, obesity, diabetes, sexually transmitted infections, and mental illness in the borough, we hope to providing safe, engaging, and dynamic public spaces for South Bronx residents to learn more about these issues, gain access to health resources, and share their experiences through diverse art forms to which they may not otherwise have access.
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Kia LaBeija (AKA Kia Michelle Benbow) is a multi-disciplinary artist working in photography, performance and installation. A member of the Iconic House of LaBeija, Kia’s work explores the intersections of fantasy, nightlife, community, politics and fine art. As an activist and founding member of the GrenAIDS Collective, her work is focused on HIV/AIDS awareness -specifically in relation to youth- by educating and creating space for new conversations. About Visual Aids
Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over. Fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness, Visual AIDS enables public dialogue and scholarship around AIDS and contemporary art with exhibitions, public events and publications. About BronxWork’s Sexual Health Promotion Through Youth Leadership Program
The South Bronx has some of the highest rates of HIV, STIs, and teen pregnancy in NYC. In an ongoing effort to lower these numbers, BronxWorks Sexual Health Youth Leaders provide sexual education to our Bronx peers and connect them with local resources.
Welcome2TheBronx teamed up with Curbed to help identify several major projects in The Bronx that are considered to be game changers in our borough.
These are crucial to keep an eye on and their impact on surrounding areas as threats of gentrification continues to creep in. Places like the Bronx Documentary Center have been pivotal in keeping the conversation going on gentrification and what residents can do to come up with solutions as not to be pushed out and they have also documented the changes in our neighborhoods.
Here’s what Curbed had to say:
“For decades, the Bronx has been ignored in the larger conversation of a changing New York City. But as big developers like Chetrit Group and Greystone turn their eyes north, and Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. announces his lofty desires for creating a Brooklyn Bridge Park-style public space along the Harlem River, it seems like momentum is starting to build around the fledgling borough. “The South Bronx has experienced an unprecedented amount of capital flowing in the past years over some major developments,” Ed García Conde of Welcome2theBronx tells Curbed, referencing progressive mega developments like La Central and Via Verde. Also in the southern part of the borough, landmarked buildings like the Kingsbridge Armory and Bronx Borough Courthouse are being appropriated for cultural events space. Here’s a look at a few of the big things that will spearhead more change in the Bronx.
—With input from Ed García Conde of Welcome2theBronx.
Just got a chance to look at the first ever The Bronx 2015 Visitors Guide by The Bronx Tourism Council and I must say they did a pretty good job. Of course not all of our neighborhood favorites made it to the list but nevertheless it’s pretty comprehensive and highlights many of our treasures big and small and off the beaten path ones too.
The guide highlights all corners of our beautiful borough from our greenways, landmarks, cultural attractions and culinary delights to the natural beauty of The Bronx.
Check out the visitors guide below by clicking below!
Gary Axelbank with Carmen Rivera Vega of CASA and Barry Smith from 100 Black Construction Workers Local 79
One of the hottest topics in Bronx real estate is the proposed Cromwell-Jerome Avenue Study area which has the potential to transform a 73 block area which overlapping two community districts and multiple neighborhoods such as Highbridge, Mount Hope, Mount Eden, Morris Heights, Fordham, and University Heights. So much so that part 2 of the series which aired on Monday has already been seen over 28,000 times as of this posting.
Critics, including many area residents and community based organizations are cautious about any rezoning plans that does not include the true stakeholders in the neighborhoods — the residents, business owners, and the many organizations that have been embedded in the community for decades.
This caution comes from decades of rezonings and upzonings that have been forced upon communities with little to know input from said groups, however, Department of City Planning’s Bronx Director, Carol Samol has insisted that this is unlike any other studies and rezonings because there has been no actual proposals as to what will happen in the massive 73 block area.
Samol has said that instead, this is a clean slate where the community can come together to help shape a neighborhood the city has identified could use a look at given that it hasn’t had any zoning in over half a century. Already meetings are being held by DCP, the first of which was held on March 14th with several more coming over the next few weeks, including a Spanish session for the area’s Spanish-speaking residents.
Dates of DCP community meetings for the Jerome Avenue Study Area
Gary Axelbank, the host of the long running BronxTalk, held a two-part series of discussions on the issues with the first having aired Monday, March 10 with Carol Samol on the show to talk more about the process and the study. On Monday, the second air showed which gave community groups such as CASA and Local 79 a chance to present their thoughts and ideas on the situation at hand.
Watch the videos on the conversation and let us know what you think.
Part I – BronxTalk, March 9, 2015 – Jerome Avenue Study Area with DCP Bronx Director Carol Samol and Daniel Hernandez of HPD.
Part II – BronxTalk Jerome Avenue Study Area with Carmen Vega Rivera of CASA and Barry Smith from 100 Black Construction Workers Local 79
The Bronx is the only borough of New York City situated on the American mainland. Formerly a wilderness of forests, meadows, and streams inhabited by various Indian tribes, The Bronx was settled by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. Marginally separated from upper Manhattan by the narrow Harlem River, The Bronx quickly became a convenient destination for migrants seeking to escape the overcrowding and high costs of Manhattan.
The Irish first came to the Bronx in the mid 19th century as gangs of laborers who constructed the New York and Harlem Railroad, the Hudson River Railroad and the High Bridge. Their back-breaking and highly dangerous work inspired the saying that American railroads had “an Irishman buried under every tie.” Later, Irish migrants filled the newly-built Bronx factories or commuted to jobs in Manhattan. They settled their families in neat wooden frame houses within the Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, and Highbridge, where they tended to pigs, cows and chickens and cultivated vegetable gardens in the backyards.
Bronx Irish Golden Age
South Bronx Neighborhood 1920s
Other waves of immigration in the early twentieth century brought Italians, Germans, and Eastern European Jews to the Bronx. At the same time, Manhattan subway lines extended north and attracted furious development. Brick walk-ups sprouted seemingly overnight, lining street after street, providing rental housing to the mostly working class residents and transforming the Bronx into its own city. By the late 1920s, the Bronx was booming with over 1.2 million people, mostly first- and second-generation immigrants who worked as carpenters, brick masons, house painters, tailors, garment makers, store clerks, small shop owners, and salesmen.
The Bronx community of the 1930s was self-sustaining for a majority of its residents, complete with new apartment houses, tree-lined streets, spacious public parks, good schools and ample shops. Social life blossomed on stoops and in apartment courtyards, weaving a tight fabric of community life. Millions of Americans came to know the Bronx through “The Rise of the Goldbergs,” a popular radio and, later, television show depicting the lives of a Jewish family from the Bronx.
Bronx Irish Depression
A Great Depression “Hooverville”
The Bronx that greeted Irish immigrants in 1930 was a hopeful place, but one that could not escape the growing despair of the age. Despite its charms, The Bronx was hit hard by the Depression. A Hooverville emerged on the Harlem River near Highbridge. New construction dropped 75% from its 1920s highs. Evictions tripled throughout the city.
Bronx Irish Catholics
Many Bronx Irish sought refuge from their dire circumstances in the predominant institution of Irish culture since the arrival of St. Patrick: The Catholic Church. Community life in Bronx Irish neighborhoods revolved around the Catholic Church. Catholic churches and schools were abundant in Bronx Irish neighborhoods and were commonly attended by the children of Irish immigrants.
Bronx Children Walking to School
Youngsters descended daily from apartment stoops around Bronx Irish neighborhoods and paraded up the avenues to the school grounds, filling the morning air with shouts and laughter. Mobs of parishioners filed through church doors for mass on Sundays and holy days, or to celebrate a wedding or bid farewell to a loved one. The highlight of spring featured First Communion processions down major thoroughfares, followed by graduating eighth-graders in the early summer. Irish American boys played pool, ping pong or boxing in school recreation rooms and joined girls at church dances on Friday nights. Catholic priests walked the neighborhoods, mingling with parishioners and keeping the children out of trouble. Nuns sold carnations outside churches every May to celebrate motherhood.
Bronx Irish Community Life
Bronx Children Eating Sno-Cones
Beyond church grounds boys played in the streets — games like stick ball, hand ball, kick the can, pitching pennies, Johnny on the pony, and marbles. Girls played jacks, hopscotch and jump rope. Kids raised pigeons or flew kites on rooftops and raced gleefully through alleys and courtyards. Adults congregated and watched over neighborhoods from stoops and fire escapes. In summer, kids opened fire hydrants or flocked to sprinklers and wading ponds of nearby parks for relief from the sweltering heat. They rented bikes for 25 cents, jumped on a mobile merry-go-round for a few pennies, and sat on blanketed fire escapes after sundown to unwind in the cool night air. Villagers traversed Bronx Irish neighborhoods on trolleys for a nickel and children hitched on the back for a free ride. The downtrodden sang in courtyards and alleys for coins and bottle caps.
Saturdays were scored by sounds of the Metropolitan Opera streaming from radios and reverberating through windows and alleyways of Bronx Irish neighborhoods. Holidays lured block parties and parades to crowd Bronx thoroughfares. The carnival set up once or twice a year by Jackson Avenue station, casting a nightly glow over the South Bronx. Small shops lined sidewalks and thrived on abundant foot traffic. The South Bronx portion of Westchester Avenue from Wales to 152nd featured Dolan’s Irish Food Store, Olympia Florist, Cushman’s Bakery, an ice cream parlor, a drugstore, a Jewish baker, a candy store and two newsstands.
Bronx Irish Charity
Bronx Shop 1930s
Many shop owners offered store credit to poor Irish families in need of bread, milk or meat for their children. Other neighbors and friends offered support when they could, providing small loans or passing along used clothing to needy families.
For a few weeks every summer, thousands of New York’s poor children, including many Bronx Irish, were given a respite from the strains of poverty and city life through the New York Herald-Tribune Fresh Air Fund. Wealthy families welcomed poor children into their summer homes in Upstate New York and Connecticut, providing these young Irish Americans a rare experience to roam the rolling mountains and lush fields outside the Great City, just as their ancestors had roamed the Irish countryside in bygone years.
Now the group is having a fundraiser and has put out a call for artists and artwork for a fundraiser to be held at Gun Hill Brewing Co on April 17th-18th, 2015 with 40% of any sale going to the artist and 60% to benefit the BxArts Factory, a non-profit arts-based organization. It’s important to note that you can submit 2 dimensional art INCLUDING photographs as long as you follow the guidelines.
CALL FOR ART:
BxArts Factory invites you to participate in our first international small format art fundraising exhibition at the Gun Hill Brewery. Help us build an incredible exhibition of artworks by artists, designers, college students, youths, and YOU.
Each artwork must be 12×12 square inches (30 cm) or mounted to a 12”x12” board. All accepted entries will be exhibited at our fundraising event and available for sale to the public for $200 a piece (the unsold pieces will be available online after the show, at the same price). The distribution of earnings will be as follows: 40% of each artwork will be for the artist and the other 60% to benefit BxArts Factory. Each participant may enter up to 4 artworks in any medium (2D only).
Description:
12”x12” will include artworks made by international artists and artists in the United States. We want everyone, all ages and skill level to participate. The goal is to gather many pieces of original 12″x12″ works of art. Each person may enter up to 4 pieces. BxArts Factory reserves the right to reject any artwork. Our fundraising goal is to sell 350 to 450 artworks. All artworks will be displayed at our fundraising event on Saturday, April 18th and unsold pieces will be put up for sale at our online gallery after the event. The copyright belongs to the artist and remains as such, regardless of the buyer. It is important to include your contact information with your pieces (full name, phone number, email and website)
Guidelines:
All artworks have to be 12×12 square inches (30 cm) no more, no less and ready for installation. Pieces on canvas must be correctly stretched and pre-wired. Framed works have to be 12”x12”, including the frame and have to be wired. Unframed artworks have to be hard cardboard. The external dimensions of the piece should be exactly 12 square inches, including border and mat. Smaller pieces may be mounted to 12″x12″ board. Installation is based on a grid; artworks larger or smaller than 12″x12″ affect the efficiency of this method. Artists can submit a series of artworks. We cannot guarantee that the complete series will be installed together, or, in order, but we will try to install them in a horizontal row. We can NOT accommodate vertical sequencing. Each person may submit up to 4 artworks. If you want them in a certain order, please number the works left to right.
In order to show your work at our fundraising event, we must have your pieces no later than April 9th. All artworks will be installed on April 17th and taken down on April 19th. After the show, unsold artworks will remain in the possession of BxArts Factory and featured at our online gallery until sold.
Please mail your ready to hang art work and submission form to Alexis Mendoza at 1398 Grand Concourse, Apt 5E, Bronx NY 10456.
New York City FC’s David Villa, second from left, scores past New England Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth in the 19th minute. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York City’s FC held their first Major League Soccer match at Yankee Stadium yesterday — and won against Boston’s New England Revolution team. According to estimates, over 40,000 fans came out to this first historic day — something they will hopefully be doing for the next 3 years as soccer and baseball will share a home at Yankee Stadium.
Two years ago, Bronx residents, particularly those in the surrounding neighborhoods around Yankee Stadium, were caught off guard when a deal was announced that would have built a $400 million soccer stadium just south of Yankee Stadium at the defunct parking garages.
Community residents were up in arms at yet another sweetheart deal, a deal which would have given the NYCFC team over 30 years of rent free land (with the city losing over $150 million in rent) and tons of tax subsidies to pay for a stadium that could easily be built by the massive fortune of the teams two very wealthy owners: The New York Yankees who owns 20% stake in the team and the Abu Dhabi United Group which controls the remaining 80% (ADUG has an estimated worth of $500 BILLION yet tax payers were being told to foot the bill for a new stadium).
After a year of community organizing against another sweetheart deal, the franchise dumped The Bronx and began searching for another area in NYC to build a stadium, but why do that when you can house it all under one roof?
Now we know that the logistics of soccer and baseball are quite different where both require different types of fields but considering that MLS teams ONLY play 17 home games a year, I’m sure these very wealthy franchises and ADUG can come up with solutions to make this a viable option for years to come — all under one roof.
“Soccer is a very different sport from baseball. While outfield grass in a baseball park can support three outfielders running over it over the course of a 9-inning game, it would be much more difficult to maintain grass that has 22 players running over it in thick studs for a 90-minute soccer match. Under the reported plan, that outfield grass could be subjected to that treatment for 17 or more home soccer games each summer.
On top of this, for every soccer game, the infield dirt must be covered with grass. If the field reaches the mound, the mound must be flattened for every game. For a good soccer pitch, the grass would be consistent from the outfield onto the turf that was placed over the infield. None of this is easy to do.”
New York Yankees executive director of nonbaseball events, Mark Holtzmann spoke to this matter in a New York Times interview where he said:
“Technology has gotten to the point where I think we can turn it around pretty quickly,” Holtzman said.
“Baseball is clearly the No. 1 priority,” he added. “We wouldn’t do anything to put anyone at any risk; there’s a major investment here in the players. At the end of the day, we look at these opportunities very carefully, and we wouldn’t get into these opportunities unless we were confident in the end result.”
What’s the verdict, folks? What do you think? Should baseball and soccer play under one stadium if the tech is there to make it happen and not interfere with each other’s games? It sure would make great use of tax payer dollars that went into building the new Yankee Stadium into a TRUE multi-purpose venue without the negative impacts of building a separate soccer stadium in the community for only 17 home games.
No Longer Empty, the organization which transformed the Andrew Freedman Home 3 years ago into a major exhibition, is in search for volunteers for their latest project, this time at the Old Bronx Courthouse.
The exhibition, ‘When You Cut Into The Present, The Future Leaks Out’, will run from April 23rd through the end of July and feature many Bronx artists as well as artists from beyond our borders bringing what will be an amazing art-filled cultural adventure through what has been one of the most beautiful, yet enigmatic vacant structures in The Bronx.
The grand lobby of the landmark Old Bronx Courthouse
The Old Bronx Courthouse has captured the imagination of perhaps millions throughout the past 38 years that it has been vacant and dormant but now you have a chance, not only to attend the exhibition but to work directly with No Longer Empty and the artists as a volunteer and help this magnificent landmark come back to life.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to be a part of history inside this building? I’ve had fun walking inside many times before and I’m sure you will too.
Please read the following from No Longer Empty and share widely with your friends, family, and networks for this wonderful opportunity. It is important to note that this is an UNPAID opportunity, but NLE can offer school credit if your institution accepts it:
NO LONGER EMPTY SEEKS EXHIBITION AND EVENT INTERNS AND VOLUNTEERS
No Longer Empty is looking for enthusiastic interns and volunteers to help with our upcoming exhibition at the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse, particularly individuals who are interested in helping with all facets of the event’s installation, programming, and gallery management.
The project is exciting—about 20 artists on three floors of an iconic neoclassical Bronx historical site. It’s a great opportunity to hone valuable skills while collaborating with respected artists, curators, and community figures.
Weekly work hours will vary and can be catered to your schedule, but intensify during installation (4/9-4/22) and de-installation (7/23-7/30).
We are looking for individuals who are interested in helping with any or all of the following:
general installation
technical installation (sound, media, lighting)
youth educational programing
event management
cultural events
visitor services
gallery sitting
press/marketing
NLE merchandise
We also welcome your suggestions for other services you wish to offer
Prior experience is not necessary; however, please include a description of any previous experience in your cover letter. At a minimum, all we ask is that you be amicable, punctual, and enthusiastic! Interested persons should send a CV and short cover letter of introduction specifying their interest to rita@nolongerempty.org.
Additional information about No Longer Empty can be found at www.nolongerempty.org. Please note that this is an unpaid opportunity; however, we can offer school credit if your institution will accept.
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Please note: In the interest of full disclosure, Welcome2TheBronx has officially partnered up with No Longer Empty in a media capacity and we couldn’t be more excited about this wonderful opportunity. More information regarding our partnership will be available as it develops!
Bronx Bartenders, do you have what it takes to mix a mean Bloody Mary and become the borough’s representative in April to win $1,000 Cash Prize? Contact info@nychotsauceexpo.com to enter or lisa@highriversauces.com for more information! Come out this Sunday to Charlie’s at 1PM!
On Sunday, March 15th at 1PM, Charlie’s Bar & Kitchen will be hosting the NYC Bloody Mary Mix-Down Contest qualifiers for Bronx (and Westchester) bartenders. The top finalist will head on to big championship and compete against all other NYC top finalists on April 26th for $1,000 cash prize, their recipe in the Stoli 2016 Recipe Book and a Bartender Kit!
If you’re a bartender, you still have time to sign up for this Sunday’s throw down at Charlie’s so feel free to contact Lisa Seabury for more details at lisa@highriversauces.com for more information!
Oh and yeah, yours truly will be judging on Sunday so hope to see you there!
Charlie’s is located at 112 Lincoln Avenue at the corner of Bruckner Boulevard in the Clocktower Building.
This past September, Bronx residents were among the front line of the People’s Climate March leading thousands on a miles long march route through midtown Manhattan.
Emails between FreshDirect lobbyist Harry Giannoulis of the Parkside Group and New York City Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, Alicia Glen raises a number of questions including whether or not Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration were pushed into ceasing any attempt to derail FreshDirect’s proposed move to The Bronx — a campaign promise de Blasio was quite vocal about.
FreshDirect Fears
Mayor de Blasio was so vocal, in fact, that on March 10th, 2014, Harry Giannoulis sounded the claxon calls of panic on behalf of FreshDirect when he wrote Glen:
“…The President and Founder [of FreshDirect] Jason Ackerman wants to sit with you to discuss where the city is at terms of his company and this project. He is actively out there lining up financing etc and feels quite nervous having major problems with City Hall trying to block its expansion. I think its a half our meeting where we could over the top line facts and hear from you and where you and the Mayor think this is all going to go.”
Giannoulis goes on to say that they, “regularly hear rumors that City Hall is reviewing documents to try and find a way to kill the deal. We have been told by elected officials that the Mayor has told them he wants to kill the deal as recently as two months ago. We believe that the administration really needs to hear from us, and hear our side and some facts, which has never happened.”
On November 18, 2014, News12 The Bronx conducted a poll which had almost 600 respondents (historical engagements of polls by News12 as researched by Welcome2TheBronx average roughy 150 participants) which to this day remains one of the most engaged polls ever. 64% of respondents overwhelmingly said NO they do not support FreshDirect’s move to The Bronx (372 votes) with 36% approving of the move (208 votes). It is important to note that News12 The Bronx reaches over 300,000 households in our borough.
Results of News12 Poll on November 18, 2014 — one of the highest engaged polls in the channel’s history as an online search of the news channel’s website.
The next day on March 11, 2014, Alicia Glen replies:
“Harry —understand this is a fraught issue Kyle [ Kimball, president of NYCEDC] is engaging with Jason[Ackerman] and I will get an update this week to see what next steps make sense.”
The de Blasio Administration Blows It & Sells Out
Now this is where it gets interesting:
Harry Giannoulis replies by saying, “Thanks and yes I appreciate the situation. There may be an opportunity to give the Mayor a victory regarding living wage, from which they are exempt. Let’s stay in touch” to which Glen replies and says, “If you can get that done, all will be good.” 6 months later, FreshDirect announces that their unionized employees would get a pay raise along with cheaper benefits. It is here where we can clearly see that back-channel negotiations are going on — whether de Blasio knows about it or not is up for debate but this does not let him off the hook for he’s ultimately responsible for his staff’s actions.
It is quite clear based on the emails and chain of events that the de Blasio administration chose to listen more closely to a lobbyist and corporations versus the citizens of The Bronx and in particular the South Bronx who overwhelmingly and consistently have been against this corporate welfare and dirty deal for 3 years now.
South Bronx residents along with South Bronx Unite told their story of their plight to thousands of attendees at the People’s Climate March.
A deal that is clearly an environmental disaster (including climate change concerns due to the site’s location in a flood zone) for the residents of the community and that The Guardian has dubbed a case of environmental racism allowing for the continuance of the ‘Tale of Two Cities’ which Mayor Bill de Blasio has campaigned and made a corner stone of his administration to change. A deal that the majority of the area’s elected officials are in strong opposition to (including Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, State Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, Councilwoman Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, Congressman Jose E. Serrano, and State Senator Jose M. Serrano).
The community has demanded a new environmental impact statement (EIS) since FreshDirect is basing their move on a 22 year old EIS. The old EIS never took into consideration the fact that the neighborhood may become residential in nature and that it would be rezoned not once, not twice, but three times allowing for thousands of more residents to move in. Yet it seems clear that our progressive-end-the-tale-of-two-cities administration preferred to sell out the South Bronx at the first overture by FreshDirect’s lobbyist than to call for a new Environmental Impact Statement.
Instead, de Blasio has been a big let down and remained silent on the issue. Assuming their were no legal avenues to kill the deal on behalf of the residents who’s health and lives hinge upon if it continues to fruition, the very least he could have done was to provide the aforementioned testimonies.
FreshDirect is building on a Native American Burial Ground — one of the many questionable and unethical actions of the company.
It doesn’t end with the emails.
Once again FreshDirect finds itself in the middle of a lawsuit by its employees (we’re seriously losing count on the amount of lawsuits FreshDirect has found itself embroiled in from its employees).
“FreshDirect will be sued for punishing workers who stayed home during snowstorm.
The union representing more than 900 FreshDirect workers is planning to take legal action Monday to fight the company for firing and disciplining employees who were no-shows during a snowstorm.
The conflict traces back to a storm that pounded the city on Jan. 4, 2014.
At the time, Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency and said only essential service workers should be on the roads. At FreshDirect, workers were expected to show up despite the weather.
But many employees could not make it in. According to UFCW Local 2013, which represents the workers, 75 employees received written warnings, two were suspended and one was discharged because of their absences.”
How can de Blasio support this proposed move to the South Bronx and this company, one that continuously violates its workers rights? How can our Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr and our other Bronx elected officials sit back and say, “Hey, they’re providing us with much needed jobs” when this is the type of company that they are?
Mayor de Blasio has a lot of explaining to do to the thousands of residents of the South Bronx in the neighborhoods of Port Morris and Mott Haven who will be directly impacted by his neglect on the issue and the continuance of two cities in New York City: One where corporations continue to have all the power and the other where residents continue to strive for basic rights including an end to environmental racism and corporate welfare.
There’s still time for Mayor de Blasio to act lest he pushes away the very people who helped vote him into office based on his promises to end a tale of two cities and kill deals like FreshDirect. Did de Blasio know that these communications were occurring between Glen, Giannoulis, and Kyle?
The Mayor can end this deal and come out a true winner and a man of his word as well as keeping true to his administration’s mission to end this saga of a divided city.
There was even an engagement on Saturday for Orchid Evenings!
This past Saturday was the launch of what’s become a yearly tradition with The Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden — Orchid Evenings.
It was my mother’s birthday so what better way to celebrate it than surrounded by the elegance of The Orchid Show: Chandeliers in the enchanting and historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory during the magic of the night?
My parents and I started the evening with an early dinner in nearby Little Italy (the REAL Little Italy on Arthur Avenue) with a scrumptious feast at Zerro Otto Nove.
As usual, the service was on point and the food was just perfect. It was my parents’ first time there and they were instantly hooked and will definitely be coming back for more.
Once we were done, we drove a mere 5 minutes to NYBG much to my mother’s surprise who had no idea the place was open in the evenings for such an event.
If you’ve ever been to the Botanical Garden, you already know that its beauty and splendor resonates throughout the year as the four seasons grace the grounds of this world renowned gem.
But we weren’t prepared for how stunning the place is at night. Stepping into the conservatory truly felt like walking into a crystal palace.
During Orchid Evenings, you get to mingle throughout a significant portion of the conservatory while enjoying music, a complimentary glass of wine or beer, and of course the visual and olfactory delights of the orchids on display.
We had only planned on staying for an hour or so but we were having such a good time that we ended up staying until closing time around 9pm.
While there, we ran into a few people we knew and had pleasant conversations with the staff who were extremely helpful and knowledgeable on pretty much any questions we had about everything we were taking in.
There was even a marriage proposal while we were there — and she said yes!
Oftentimes we think we have to leave the comfort of our borough to experience such an evening, forgetting about the beauty which exists right inside our own backyard and this is one of the many we have. Orchid Evenings is the perfect adult getaway right within the borders of The Bronx.
Saturdays, March 7, 14, 21, 28, and April 4, 11, 18;
Thursday, March 19 (LGBT Night); and Friday, April 17
6:30–9 p.m. (Conservatory entry times at 6:30, 7, & 7:30 p.m.)
Non-Member $35/Member $25 (Adults 21 and over) GET YOUR TICKETS Advance tickets recommended; includes one complimentary beer, wine, or cocktail of your choice.
When purchasing tickets you will need to select an entrance time for The Orchid Show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The Pine Tree Café and Shop in the Garden will be open to ticket purchasers between 6:30 and 9 p.m. with refreshments and live entertainment.
