As a contemporary fellow Bronxite of Jennifer Lopez, I grew up looking at her and admiring her many accomplishments.
She made it out of the Bronx. But was her life really as hard as she claims?
J. Lo lived in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx which was and is worlds apart from the burning South Bronx of our youth. Castle Hill has been a hard working middle class community since I could remember and more suburban in nature than urban. The only burning you saw there were of the grills on a hot summer day in the backyards of the thousands of houses that make up the community.
Lopez attended private, Catholic schools for 12 years including the all girls Preston High School – a rather idyllic school directly on the waterfront on the Long Island Sound.
This is far from that horrible Bronx image that she conjures up whenever speaking of making it from the Bronx. Ms. Lopez makes it seem as if she grew up in the projects in the middle of burnt out buildings with nothing but rubble strewn lots as a playground. Although she doesn’t actually say that, for millions of fans around the world that don’t know the Bronx, that is what is assumed. And she never corrects them.
She constantly uses our beloved borough in the narrative of her life but she’s often too busy to come to us and help the borough that she claims helped shape who she is and responsible for her impetus to achieve success.
Yes, J. Lo donates millions to charities, particularly dealing with women and children’s issues but what about the Bronx? Sure it’s her money and yes she can decide what to do with it but at some point isn’t it almost a responsibility to give something back to the community who’s name you invoke all the time and essentially use?
This is a topic that has been on Bronxites minds for quite some time. If Jenny from the block is reading this, I’d love to sit down and chit chat with her, invite her back home and talk about the issues that ail her fans at her home base and what we can do to partner up.
Folks in the Bronx have a rather negative view of Lopez and I would like for her to rectify it. Perhaps donate the ill-gotten money she received for performing (as Mother Jones puts it) at the, “… birthday bash of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the 56-year-old president—and human-rights-quashing, personality-cult-driven dictator—of Turkmenistan.”
I know at least of a dozen organizations that money can go to to make a real positive impact.
As I always, I turn the conversation back to you folks. Thoughts?
Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis, Co-directors of Measure of America had an entry published in the Huffington Post today which not only discusses the great divide of inequality which plagues our borough and leads to environmental racism but uses the Bronx as a case of what happens to economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in the shadows of their more prosperous siblings.
We know the story all too well. We have a borough president willing to fight for the views of affluent Riverdale (note: I love Riverdale as do many of us with its rich, colorful history, gorgeous architecture and unique community) and then push to destroy the environment and waterfront of Mott Haven and Port Morris – a neighborhood that is in the poorest congressional district in the nation. A neighborhood that suffers some of the highest rates of asthma in the country and Ruben Diaz Jr pushes for thousands of more polluting truck trips on our streets.
The report goes on to mention that Manhattan, with less than a 5th of the city’s population, goes on to produce over half of the city’s waste yet has not one waste disposal site but the Bronx is saddled with an unimaginable 19 of these sites. One of them directly adjacent to where FreshDirect wants to overtake our waterfront and pollute our air.
There is absolutely no way to ethically and morally justify such inequalities which produces dire consequences for the population. Health, safety, education, employment are all at risk when confronted with these ills.
If you are tired of such inequalities then speak up! Act! Current political establishment (with a handful of exceptions) does not care about our borough for they are the very ones selling our borough to the highest bidder.
Tomorrow you have one such opportunity to mobilize against injustice at Community Board 1 meeting as FreshDirect representatives return to plea their case for wanting to harm our communities.
PLEASE MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT TO ATTEND THIS MEETING!!!
Where: Community Board 1 Office – 3024 3rd Avenue, Bronx
From The Huffington Post:
Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis, Co-directors of Measure of America of the Social Science Research Council. Their most recent report, Measure of America 2013-2014, is now available at www.measureofamerica.com.
$30 bucks in advance or $40 on Saturday from 11AM – 8PM will give you access to amazing deals at 20 participating Bronx watering holes as well as unlimited transportation between them during the first ever Great Bronx Bar Tour! The journey will take you across the borough along with folks from the Bronx County Historical Society for an informative journey into our borough.
From 16oz jumbo drinks to free hot dogs, these spots are sure to serve up something for ya.
The tour is organized by none other than our friends at the Bronx Beer Hall along with Jolly Tinker Bar so be sure to check out those two as well! The food at the Bronx Beer Hall is amazing!
In another victory for the community against the FreshDirect sweetheart deal move to the Bronx, CB1 will reconvene this Wednesday as FreshDirect representatives return to answer to the board – something which they were undemocratically prevented from doing almost two weeks ago.
Although the full board was not to meet until September and several senior board members preferred a closed and private executive members only meeting to discuss the issues – without FreshDirect present – this is a clear message to FreshDirect, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr and the rest of the city, that this is a done deal. At the last meeting, not one single resident of the district showed up in favor yet dozens and dozens showed up against the move.
PLEASE MAKE EVERY ATTEMPT TO ATTEND THIS MEETING!!!
URGENT – FreshDirect Returns to CB1 This Wednesday
When: Wednesday, July 10, 5:30 pm
Where: Community Board 1 Office – 3024 3rd Avenue, Bronx
We need everyone to come out to the CB1 office this Wednesday, July 10, at 5:30 pm, to show FreshDirect that the community REJECTS their request for a land use plan modification to build a 500,000+ square foot warehouse/parking lot on our waterfront that will bring 1,000 more diesel trucks every day through our asthma-saturated community. Wear your “STOP FRESHDIRECT” T-shirt, or email us if you didn’t get one last time.
The community board is being reassembled this Wednesday to address and provide comments to the City Planning Commission on the narrow issue of whether FreshDirect should be allowed to have a land use modification in light of a restrictive covenant placed on the land they propose to occupy.
City approval of FreshDirect’s proposed land use modification depends upon a finding that the proposed changes will:
(1) Not cause “overutilization of adjacent street systems”;
FreshDirect violates this requirement. Fresh Direct will cause overuse of already congested local roads and bridges: Despite their self-serving traffic analysis that treated their large diesel trucks as if they were cars, considerable concerns persist as to the impact Fresh Direct’s 2,000 daily truck and vehicle trips will have on local traffic and traffic inside the Yard (not to mention the air pollution).
(2) Not result in excess bulk and density on any portion of the Yard;
FreshDirect violates this requirement. Fresh Direct will result in excess bulk and density: Fresh Direct would occupy twice the acreage (13 acres) and building square footage (a 500,547 s/f warehouse) of the originally designated Wholesale Flower Market (5-7 acres). To make matters worse, the Yard is in a flood zone. With the certainty that additional and more extreme flooding will occur at increasing rates, such development (including its underground parking and refueling station) is ill-advised and dangerous.
(3) Not conflict with the project objectives of reducing local and regional truck traffic by importing goods into the City via rail while providing economic development benefits to the South Bronx and the City.
FreshDirect violates this requirement. Fresh Direct conflicts with the public objectives established for the Yard. Since it prevents operation of the intermodal terminal, will intensify congestion on local roads, and fails to offer living-wage jobs, Fresh Direct fundamentally conflicts with the City’s and State’s public objectives for this state-owned land.
(4) Not materially interfere with the operation of the intermodal terminal;
FreshDirect violates this requirement. Unlike the originally-planned Wholesale Flower Market, Fresh Direct plans to locate a truck parking lot entirely within the 28 acres reserved and zoned solely for the intermodal terminal. Fresh Direct’s traffic, including its need to access the Yard through Alexander Ave., would prevent the operation of the intermodal terminal.
South Bronx Unite | an alliance of South Bronx residents, organizations, and allies.
Last month I mentioned that on Community Board 1’s agenda, other than FreshDirect, was the future of PS 31 on the Grand Concourse and East 144th Street – the grand landmarked yet abandoned school affectionately known as the Castle on the Concourse.
After the heated FreshDirect session, representatives for SoBro came up and gave a compelling report as to why the edifice should be saved. The organization has received word from Goldman Sachs that they are interested in saving the distressed property which SoBro has had engineers perform various inspections. According to those engineering reports, although the building suffered damage from Superstorm Sandy, it is still salvageable.
SoBro says that they have a solid plan to develop the property into a mixed use residential apartment complex with mixed income residents as well as possible ground floor commercial and or community space.
The immediately surrounding area has been rezoned under the Lower Concourse Rezoning Plan which is bounded north by East 149th Street, south by East 135th Street and the Major Deegan Expressway, West by the Harlem River and east by Morris and Lincoln Avenues. [note: the block on the Grand Concourse containing Hostos Community College directly south of 149th Street was omitted from the rezoning].
This massive area encompasses 30 city blocks that mostly have been dormant for decades. Already a new development is rising as a direct result to the new rezoning just 4 blocks from PS 31 and if SoBro gets its wishes granted, this may be the turning point in a long abandoned neighborhood.
The area is full of architecturally rich empty warehouses just waiting to be turned into residential lofts and with the Bronx the fastest growing borough, the demands need to be met.
The plan isn’t without opposition although it comes from the city and not the community. The community appears to be in vast agreement that the building should and needs to be preserved.
After representatives from SoBro gave their testimonies, much to the applause of residents attending CB1’S meeting, came representatives from mayor Bloomberg’s office. Along with the Deputy Mayor, an engineer with the Department of Buildings, testified that the building poses a serious threat to the community and their recommendation is to tear it down. This is in direct opposition to the SoBro engineer who’s report says the contrary.
When pressed by the community board of the building will be torn down the representative only gave vague responses that they would not act without consulting with the board again.
Personally, with my 15 years experience in the real estate industry, I think it is the city’s responsibility to do whatever it takes to save this landmark building all the while preserving public safety which unfortunately trumps anything else.
A third, independent group should request an engineering report to see what is going on at the site since both parties have their own agendas but it should come at the city’s expense who is responsible for letting this architectural gem collapse into its current deplorable state.
The administration should be ashamed of themselves that yet again, they let the people of the Bronx, particularly the South Bronx, down again by abandoning something that meant to us.
Just days before Bloomberg went off on a rather racist and privileged rant that stop and frisk disproportionately stops whites, ProjectBronx had posted a video asking Bronxites about the controversial practice. Most agreed that it is an unfair practice.
Anyone who’s walked the streets of Manhattan, particularly downtown, has at one point or another walked through a cloud of marijuana from folks freely walking by and smoking it but nary a cop can be found in sight let alone a stop made.
In places like the Bronx, however, in predominantly black and latino neighborhoods, young men are stopped for simply standing in front of their building or walking about their business. The cops use the excuse that they look suspicious or match the description of someone who just committed a crime yet 90% of these stops yield nothing but embarrassment and harassment of law abiding citizens.
Can we justify the way the program is carried out based on the results over the past decade? Can we agree that there is a problem here? How do you feel about stop and frisk?
Don’t forget to watch ProjectBronx asking our residents on the issue!
Is it just me or is Goya’s name a wee bit too large on the statue’s base honoring Roberto Clemente, an important son and hero of the Puerto Rican community as well as Latinos?
I’ve been mulling this over since I first saw the pictures last week but the reaction is still the same: I am very offended by the audacity that Goya had to make their name in a much larger font than Clemente’s. Puerto Ricans and Latinos already worship at the house of Goya with their kitchen cabinets serving as makeshift altars to the company so was it really necessary to make a mockery of our hero?
Let’s face it, Goya doesn’t need marketing in our community since their products are like water to fish – we’re swimming in the stuff. I’ve seen many artistic installations made possible through the generosity of a corporate sponsor but who are we honoring here? While we’re at it, why not change it from Roberto Clemente State Park to Goya State Park?
Our community placed Goya where they are now so in essence, we built that statue since we’re so loyal to the brand. I strongly think Goya should not only apologize to the community, they should pay for a new pedestal AND perhaps fund a local community center or two to help keep kids off the streets and perhaps have a chance at becoming a hero like Clemente.
With the 41 bus line up and down Webster and Melrose Avenues the latest to get the express Select Bus Service, the Department of Transportation is already toying with the idea of extending the route from the HUB in Melrose to Laguardia Airport. Currently, Manhattanites (as usual) , are the only ones who can take a bus straight to the airport using the M125 bus.
Select Bus Service is a form of express bus service where you pay before getting on board and everyone gets on the bus without having to swipe. This allows for a much faster boarding. That, coupled with limited stops and dedicated bus only lanes gives riders a much quicker commute.
This comes as a blessing to the Webster Avenue corridor as residents have to walk long blocks to the subway or deal with an arduous commute up and down the 41 line which was declared the worst of all bus routes.
With thousands of new apartments in Melrose bringing along thousands of new residents, extending the bus into Queens to get to the airport not only makes sense and will alleviate congestion at the subway stations but will also offer a quicker way into Astoria and beyond as the boroughs, although right across from each other, suffer from poor interborough mass transit connection.
Let’s encourage the DOT to do the right thing, folks!
The Bronx art world made huge news last week when it was announced by the Bronx Museum of the Arts that it had raised $1 million to expand its art collection. In a typical year, the museum only has anywhere between $10,000 and $50,000 to purchase art, however, as prices in the art world rise, this severely limited the ability of the museum to make any purchases.
Earlier this week, a last minute meeting (at least from the community’s perspective) was announced that FreshDirect may be attending the Community Board 1 meeting on Thursday. South Bronx Unite and concerned residents immediately sounded the klaxon call to make sure everyone was aware and to make sure they attended the public meeting.
The original meeting had been scheduled to be held at CB1’s office in Melrose on 3rd Avenue and 155th Street, however, at the last minute it was relocated to Hostos Community College on the Grand Concourse and 149th St. The change was never mentioned publicly and if several community residents did not check in earlier, we would not have known of the changes.
After attendees began to arrive at Hostos it immediately began to turn into a confusing situation as the location was switched yet again two blocks away at another building at Hostos. Although the start of the meeting was scheduled for 5:30PM it did not begin until much later as scores of residents had to sign in before being seated.
The meeting began with the usual approving of the agenda and the minutes of the previous meeting. Cedric Loftin, District Manager began to call those signed up to speak and the first testimony was given by Reverend Ruben Austria, a resident of Mott Haven and member of South Bronx Unite.
Rev. Austria, rather than barrage the board with facts, chose to simply implore the board to listen to the testimonies from the residents with their hearts, to think of those they are selected to represent. He went on to stress that he wants to raise his family here without the worries that come with a fleet of a thousand trucks invading our already congested streets.
Testimonies continued for over an hour from residents of the community in opposition to the deal, providing concrete facts and highlighting the misinformation provided by FreshDirect as well as our current leaders at Borough Hall. There was even a testimony welcoming FreshDirect, just not to Mott Haven but to perhaps another, more suited area.
When Christina Giorgio, a lawyer from New York Lawyers for Public Interest who is representing South Bronx Unite, got up to speak she immediately noted that she would much rather have spoken after FreshDirect son that she could properly counter their presentation but she made do regardless. At the end of her testimony she announced that they were going to appeal a recent decision where the lawsuit against FreshDirect was dismissed to a resounding round of cheers and applause from the audience.
Ivelyse Andino, who lives just several blocks from the proposed location challenged FreshDirect’s claim that they are bringing much needed access to healthy food to the district. She did a little price comparison between FreshDirect and Western Beef, a local supermarket, and found that FreshDirect’s prices were more than DOUBLE that of local supermarkets.
How does that translate to as a benefit in the poorest congressional district in the nation?
It is important to note that not one single resident of the area came to testify in support of FreshDirect. The several that did speak did not live anywhere near the area and in fact were from far up in the North Bronx.
Stephen Ritz a South Bronx teacher and of Green Bronx Machine came up and spoke in favor of the company’s move to the Bronx. He opened up his talk with the disclaimer that he is not a paid advocate of FreshDirect but what he FAILED to disclose was that he in fact was part of a school project which was funded and hosted by FreshDirect.
Steve Ritz stands with school and team members holding $10,000 check from FreshDirect for a project his company was involved in. In complete contradiction to his testimony stating he has no financial ties to the company.
A local Reverend also provided testimony in Spanish due to his lack of English and provided a powerful testimony as to why we must welcome FreshDirect with open arms and take the jobs. His translators (the first a staunch supporter of FreshDirect and head of New York State’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the second, the board’s secretary) often left out the Reverend’s comments also holding FreshDirect and the board accountable.
For instance, in his closing statement he said to the board that a study should be done (referring to the 20 year old environmental impact statement that FreshDirect and the city is relying on) to address the issues of what the current impact will be and of it’s good for the community then it’s good but if not then no. He ended it with saying toothed board that they need to cut their strings and not be manipulated like puppets.
The board secretary did not translate any of that and proceeded to say that the Reverend was done. At this point I asked for the microphone to finish the translation and was met by objections from the FreshDirect team because I am in opposition. I acknowledged that we were on different camps however, what he said needed to be heard. Although the Reverend was in favor of FreshDirect, he cautioned the need for a new study and for the board to be free from political influence.
When it came time for FreshDirect’s representatives to present, they simply reiterated their misinformation regarding their commitment to the Bronx and the environment. They failed to mention when over 100 trucks from their fleet were damaged in Superstorm Sandy, they dragged them from Queens and dumped them on the Bronx waterfront. They also mentioned how competitive their prices were yet did not respond to Ivelyse’s findings.
After they were done, several board members had questions but were blocked by Cedric Loftin, District Manager who said that due to time constraints, they would be unable to do so. He also failed to note that this was the only time they would be able to ask questions since they had two weeks to submit comments in support or against. Once again the democratic process was derailed.
The evening became incredibly tense and after the last agenda on the item, the fate of PS 31 on the Grand Concourse which we will discuss in another post, more misinformation was presented to the board by Cedric Loftin. He began instructing the board on next steps on the PS 31 issue and ordered the board to have comments in by Tuesday but after speaking in the issue for almost 10 minutes he was asked what specifically he was talking about and then he “corrected” himself and said it was on the FreshDirect issue.
Immediately the residents, including myself created an uproar over this because Loftin had railroaded any possibility of the board to question the company’s representatives since they had already left. Then a senior member placed a motion on the floor that the executive board meet in private over the issue. That’s when Mychal Johnson and everyone erupted in shouts of “No backroom deals!” Over and over again.
George Rodriguez, chairperson of Community Board 1, along with Cedric Loftin continued to block any attempt by opposing members of the board to voice their concerns over such actions. What was worse was that they even lied and said time was up because Hostos was asking us to leave due to the time and the representative from Hostos who was in the room assisting with the AV system said he said no such thing and that it was someone on the board who signaled to begin shutting down the room.
At this point the situation became chaotic as angry residents began shouting at the board to do the right thing and demand another public meeting with FreshDirect so that they can question them. Eventually the chants became so loud that perhaps for the first time in CB1’s history, they knew that the public meant business. At least half of the board that remained agreed with us that another meeting MUST be held before comments can be submitted. Other board members had left since the meeting was unofficially closed by George Rodriguez.
Another board member reminded him that meetings cannot be ended with motions on the floor of which there were three. Rodriguez feigned ignorance of the motions and eventually kept calling the meeting closed. Since he did not follow procedures, the meeting is still going on.
The events of the leadership of Community Board 1 and District Manager Cedric Loftin shows how true it was when Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr’s office said in a nutshell that community board members were there to serve his office when they were questioned about the removal of former board member A. Mychal Johnson, a vocal opponent to the FreshDirect move.
This meeting is testament to FreshDirect’s contempt it has for the community for it took them 16 months to come to the very community they want to heavily and dangerously impact with their over 1,000 trucks and taking away of our much needed public land. Total disregard for the community was apparent when the administration announced this as a done deal back in the beginning of February 2012 when in fact it wasn’t.
We need to continue to speak up and not let our voices be silenced. Let the record show that the meeting was packed with local residents, those opposing the backroom deal who live in the affected area, and not one individual residing in the community defended FreshDirect. If the board goes along with the sweetheart deal then it will be against the community’s wishes on record.
Riverdale, one of the great neighborhoods that make up the Bronx lies perched up high overlooking the Hudson River and the rest of the Bronx. It is also one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the outer boroughs.
LG Electronics is planning to build its new headquarters, a 143 foot tower, in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Yup, you read that right NEW JERSEY. The pristine views of the Palisades that Manhattan and the Bronx enjoy are threatened so Ruben Diaz, Jr, the Bronx Borough President, has decided to step in and join his Manhattan counterpart, Scott Stringer, in sending a letter to New Jersey governor Chris Christie to stop the headquarters from being constructed.
Apparently views are far more important than the health of thousands of disenfranchised residents of the South Bronx who are threatened by FreshDirect wanting to relocate on our waterfront and adding thousands of truck trips through our residential streets in a neighborhood that is plagued by asthma. A move that our Borough President fully endorses and supports financially.
Folks, it is pretty evident here that Ruben Diaz, Jr is part of the problem in our Borough and its ills. Rather than help the disenfranchised, he goes where the money flows. It’s not to say that Riverdale should be ignored. Far from it for they are an integral part of our community as are the rest of our wonderful patchwork of neighborhoods but how does one choose to endorse an environmentally unsound plan for the South Bronx yet go to battle over a building across the river and in another state that will have ZERO environmental impact on our borough?
This is yet another entry showing how we all live in a Tale of Two Cities.
