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Trump Must Be Removed From Office Due to the Danger He Poses to Our Nation

News

Ed García Conde

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January 8, 2021

Trump Must Be Removed From Office Due to the Danger He Poses to Our Nation

I’m honestly afraid for this country now more than ever.

Five years going on six of Trump fomenting lies and conspiracy theories and worse as president. His disciples believe every lie he and his fake media utters.

They believe Wednesday’s insurrection and attack on our nation’s Capitol, instigated by the most dangerous and negligent president in United States history, wasn’t caused by Trump’s calls to his supporters to storm the Capitol because they believe they are all peaceful. They legit believe it was left wing protesters and ANTIFA.

WE ARE DOOMED AS A NATION.

The World Watches White Supremacy in Action in America

They are justifying it by comparing their actions to that of protestors and looters during the Black Lives Matter marches across this nation but the two are not analogous: BLM marches and fights against the indiscriminate slaughter of Black and Brown bodies by the police while the insurrectionists are fighting for lies and conspiracy theories promulgated by a criminal and white supremacist who happens to be Donald Trump and who so desperately wants to hold onto power and become a dictator that is enabled by seditious Trump loyalists in the Senate and House of Representatives.

The entire world witnessed first hand that if you’re a white insurrectionist, you will be escorted by the police into the federal building you’re storming into and they will take selfies with you and if you’re peacefully protesting against this disgusting, racist country of ours and the murder of our people, you will get a boot to the neck and have your body physically violated and or killed.

The world saw that white terrorists and insurrectionists are not even arrested by the hundreds or thousands or met with a military force. They can walk away—even if they are responsible for the deaths of five individuals including a police officer.

It seems only Blue Lives Matter as long as the police are killing Black and Brown people and harming BIPOC communities but if they interfere with white supremacists then they no longer matter.

But here’s the thing, as mentioned before, we saw where the police stood: They allowed this to happen.

Days before January 6, the Chief of Capitol police was grilled about safety and security for what would be a tense day.

According to The New York Times, he assured Congresswoman Maxine Waters that they were on top of it.

Clearly they weren’t.

The New York Times reports:

“Policing experts noted the absence of crowd-control tools such as mounted officers, police dogs or a heavily manned perimeter.

“Pentagon officials said Thursday that the Capitol Police had turned down an offer for additional National Guard troops before Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol, and two law enforcement officials said they had initially rebuffed help from the F.B.I. as the mob descended.“

This Was a Planned, Violent Coup

It wasn’t a surprise that there were plans to storm the Capitol, I mean the chatter was all over right-wing websites which was simply ignored.

Even NATO and other European officials are seeing this for what it was: An attempted coup.

Business Insider reports:

While they did not furnish evidence that federal agency officials facilitated the chaos, Insider is reporting this information because it illustrates the scale and seriousness of Wednesday’s events: America’s international military and security allies are now willing to give serious credence to the idea that Trump deliberately tried to violently overturn an election and that some federal law-enforcement agents — by omission or otherwise — facilitated the attempt.

One NATO source set the stage, using terms more commonly used to describe unrest in developing countries.

“The defeated president gives a speech to a group of supporters where he tells them he was robbed of the election, denounces his own administration’s members and party as traitors, and tells his supporters to storm the building where the voting is being held,” the NATO intelligence official said.

“The supporters, many dressed in military attire and waving revolutionary-style flags, then storm the building where the federal law-enforcement agencies controlled by the current president do not establish a security cordon, and the protesters quickly overwhelm the last line of police.

“The president then makes a public statement to the supporters attacking the Capitol that he loves them but doesn’t really tell them to stop,” the official said. “Today I am briefing my government that we believe with a reasonable level of certainty that Donald Trump attempted a coup that failed when the system did not buckle.

“I can’t believe this happened.”

Is it a surprise to the BIPOC community that what would be a mostly white gathering of dangerous right wing extremists like the Proud Boys along with members of armed militias outside our nation’s Capitol would be met with such indifference while unarmed Black and Brown protestors across the country last summer were met with militarized police forces that often utilized brutal force and tear gassed them?

No.

With the absence of the necessary safety and security precautions that one would expect at the Capitol, one can assume that this was a planned part of the failed coup.

As a person of color, it exhausts me to live in the country of my birth and the country I so love so much. I can only imagine how much worse it feels for my fellow Black friends.

I have never been so disgusted with his followers and there is no hope for relations with them there is no olive branch to extend, no working together.

They have been brainwashed into believing that the media is the enemy of the people and that we are liars and that the only media to be trusted are the ones that feed them the lies they want to so desperately believe as truth.

Stop with the kumbaya. Stop with the “when they go low we go high”. They have never reached across the aisle to work with us why should democrats along with Biden do that? Spare me the “because we are better speech.”

We are far beyond that point and will have to live with 74 million irrational, bat shit crazy people who believe in lie after lie after lie.

They have lost all grips on reality. Every. Single one. There are no good people among them as harsh as that sounds. Good people don’t lead the country they purport to care about to the brink of destruction.

Good people don’t scream communist and socialist when all the left is trying to do is make sure everyone gets the help they deserve and their basic human rights are covered versus the rich and corporations having it all without paying their fair share.

FYI it’s modern slavery with us building their wealth while we struggle to survive with crumbs.

It is OUR labor, it is OUR workers who have made that wealth yet 99% will rarely accrue and yet it is the average American that the right would rather attack and the ultimate irony is that they only hurt themselves in the process.

It will become a progressively scarier America that no wall will help because the enemy was always our fellow Americans and not some foreign threat.

This is the legacy Republicans have bestowed upon our nation. Their past destruction of our nation is nothing compared to what happened yesterday as a culmination of a wannabe dictator and his wannabee fascist army.

Let us also not forget the seditious Senate and House Republicans who further instigated this. They all have blood on their hands.

This was an attempted, yet failed coup instigated by the very president who took an oath to protect our constitution and nation against enemies both foreign AND domestic.

And as the hours and days go by in one of the darkest days of our nation’s history, we are seeing more and more that Trump, that pathetic, insecure, and poor excuse for a human being, did not act alone.

There is no hope for America, mark my words and don’t be fooled by wishful thinking and eloquent politicians telling you otherwise.

Wednesday marked an official beginning of insurrectionists not just living in our country but walking free after attacking the Capitol which has not been breached in over 200 years in 1814 during the war of 1812.

Did the Trumpism make America great again? No, we are the laughingstock of the world, friends and foes alike.

The MAGA crew handed a victory to China and all adversaries they consider a threat.

All we have left is to pick up the pieces and govern with integrity and lead by example.

Sadly, the right has become the very enemy, the very bogeyman they feared and in order to attempt to begin to heal our nation we must sever and cauturize the conduit of this hatred that festers in our country by removing Trump immediately.

Woodlawn and Wakefield in The Bronx Have the Highest Rate of New Covid-19 Infections in NYC

Ed García Conde

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January 4, 2021

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Woodlawn and Wakefield in The Bronx Have the Highest Rate of New Covid-19 Infections in NYC

Recently released data from the New York City Department of Health indicates a grim statistic: The 10470 zip code in The Bronx, covering Woodlawn and parts of Wakefield, has a positivity rate of 18.66% for COVID-19 making it the highest of any zip code in the city.

The data is as of December 25th straight through New Year’s Eve on December 31st with 86 people out of 461 testing positive for the coronavirus.

And within our borough it’s not just 10470 but across all corners of the borough the positivity rate is at alarming levels as the second wave takes a grip across the city.

10474 covering Hunts Point has a 16.5% positivity rate followed by 10465 in Country Club and Throggs Neck with a 14.74% positive rate.

Soundview’s 10472 is right behind at 14.65% and Fordham and Kingsbridge’s 10468 at 13.78%

Overall, The Bronx now has the second highest positivity rate in the city at 10.87% during the same time period and second only to Staten Island.

Meanwhile in Manhattan, the positivity rate is almost half the city’s 8.55% and is the lowest of the five boroughs at 4.61%

This is yet another clear indicator that the COVID-19 pandemic battle is unequal across the city particularly in low income areas.

And the numbers are increasing daily. New York City registered 6,106 positive COVID-19 cases on December 28th—the single highest thus far since April 7 of last year which registered a high of 6,260 positive cases and at this rate we are on track to eclipse the record of 6,578 cases on April 6 of 2020.

Hospitalizations and deaths, although nowhere near what they were in the first months of the pandemic, are also on the rise and are at levels unseen since May and June of last year.

Since mid December, on average, over 30 people a day have died due to COVID-19.

We need more aggressive testing with increased, free testing sites across The Bronx to make sure enough people are getting tested.

Knowing your status is part of the battle but we must also enforce mask wearing and social distancing protocols. Just because the vaccine is here doesn’t mean we get to relax. It’s going to be a long time before a sufficient amount of the population is vaccinated in order for herd immunity to kick in.

The rates are increasing and we need to do what we can to stop it before it gets any worse. We’ve been warned for months that this day would come again but here we are because si many people simply put their selfish needs to gather during the holidays before that of the greater good of their friends, loved ones, neighbors, and communities.

We must do better.

Bronx Billionaire Native Drops $35 Million on Fordham University—Single Largest Gift in the Institution’s History

Ed García Conde

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December 28, 2020

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Bronx Billionaire Native Drops $35 Million on Fordham University—Single Largest Gift in the Institution’s History

Fordham University has received a record-breaking donation from a Bronx native turned billionaire.

Mario J. Gabelli of Greenwich, Connecticut and graduate of Fordham University in 1965, donated $35 million to the university earlier this month exceeding his 2010 donation of $25 million its business school was named in his honor.

Regina Pitaro and Mario J. Gabelli
Photo by Chris Taggart/Courtesy Fordham News

According to Fordham University, the latest donation will go towards, among other things, funding scholarships for students seeking a masters or PhD in business administration.

Fordham News writes:

“Gabelli is a philanthropist, investor, and Chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors, Inc. A native of the Bronx, his mother was born in Italy, as was his sister. His father returned to Italy from Western Pennsylvania at the age of 2, following his own father’s death in a coal mining accident.

“In addition to his Fordham degree, he earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 1967. His wife, Regina M. Pitaro, is a 1976 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill and a trustee fellow of Fordham University. Pitaro also holds a master’s degree from Loyola University Chicago and earned her M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School in 1982.”

Hopefully many lucky Bronxites will benefit directly from this generous gift from Mr Gabelli.

A Christmas Message to Our Bronx Family

News

Ed García Conde

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December 25, 2020

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This holiday season is supposed to be filled with joyous celebrations for many, however, this is unlike any other year.

4,164 Bronxites have been confirmed dead as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and another 939 are suspected to have perished from the virus.

That’s 5,103 lives lost thus far.

That’s 5,103 empty chairs at a family gathering during the holidays in The Bronx.

To those families and their extended network experiencing their first holidays without their loved ones, we extend our greatest sympathies during what is a difficult time.

And then we have those needlessly suffering economically due to an incompetent government, from the President to Congress, that has done absolutely nothing to help its people.

Instead, during this time as Americans died and suffered and got poorer, billionaires and corporations got richer as they profited off the pandemic at the cost of small business owners.

While there is relief in sight with two coronavirus vaccines approved, it will be a long time before the country reaches 75% vaccination which is scientifically understood to be the minimum to develop herd immunity.

And it will be even longer for the economic crisis and suffering to abate.

But we’re from The Bronx, we’ve been to hell and back and we can and will survive this—together—as we always have done.

We know the journey ahead isn’t easy and will be filled with difficulties but we believe in that indomitable Bronx strong spirit that will carry us on whether through our own actions or that of our neighbors.

Brand New 2 Bedroom Apartments as Low as $557 a Month Now Available in Soundview

Ed García Conde

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December 23, 2020

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Affordable housing lottery for a brand new development in Soundview is now open and accepting applications.

Located at 1230 Metcalf Avenue, Metcalf Avenue Apartments is a 11 story development with 223 units ranging from studios to 3 bedroom units across 219,546 square feet and is just a few blocks away from the Morrison Avenue-Soundview station on the 6 line.

These units are available for a wide range of incomes offering deeply affordable units with rents as low as $354 for studios for those making 30% of the AMI ($14,640-$27,300 a year) to rents as high as $2,346 for three bedroom units for those making 110% of the Area Median Income ($85,098-$155,100 a year).

Oh and did we mention that each unit comes with its own dishwasher and air conditioning?

Unit breakdown, rents and income requirements are as follows:

30% Area Median Income

Layout	# Units	Monthly Rent	Household Size and Income Requirements
Studio	2 units	$354	1 person: $14,640 – $23,880 2 person: $14,640 – $27,300
1 Bedroom	12 units	$456	1 person: $18,480 – $23,880 2 people: $18,480 – $27,300 3 people: $18,480 – $30,720
2 Bedroom	9 units	$557	2 people: $22,835 – $27,300 3 people: $22,835 – $30,720 4 people: $22,835 – $34,110 5 people: $22,835 – $36,840
3 Bedroom	2 units	$637	3 people: $26,503 – $30,720 4 people: $26,503 – $34,110 5 people: $26,503 – $36,840 6 people: $26,503 – $39,570 7 people: $26,503 – $42,300

50% Area Median Income:

Layout	# Units	Monthly Rent	Household Size and Income Requirements
Studio	6 units	$667	1 person: $25,372 – $39,800 2 people: $25,372 – $45,500
1 Bedroom	20 units	$848	1 person: $31,920 – $39,800 2 people: $31,920 – $45,500 3 people: $31,920 – $51,200
2 Bedroom	18 units	$1,027	2 people: $38,949 – $45,500 3 people: $38,949 – $51,200 4 people: $38,949 – $56,850 5 people: $38,949 – $61,400
3 Bedroom	5 units	$1,179	3 people: $45,086 – $51,200 4 people: $45,086 – $56,850 5 people: $45,086 – $61,400 6 people: $45,086 – $65,950 7 people: $45,086 – $70,500

70% Area Median Income

Layout	# Units	Monthly Rent	Household Size and Income Requirements
Studio	6 units	$980	1 person: $36,103 – $55,720 2 people: $36,103 – $63,700
1 Bedroom	20 units	$1,239	1 person: $45,326 – $55,720 2 people: $45,326 – $63,700 3 people: $45,326 – $71,680
2 Bedroom	19 units	$1,496	2 people: $55,029 – $63,700 3 people: $55,029 – $71,680 4 people: $55,029 – $79,590 5 people: $55,029 – $85,960
3 Bedroom	5 units	$1.722	3 people: $63,703 – $71,680 4 people: $63,703 – $79,590 5 people: $63,703 – $85,960 6 people: $63,703 – $92,330 7 people: $63,703 – $98,700

90% Area Median Income

Layout	# Units	Monthly Rent	Household Size and Income Requirements
Studio	6 units	$1,184	1 person: $43,098 – $71,640 2 people: $43,098 – $81,900
1 Bedroom	27 units	$1,494	1 person: $54,069 – $71,640 2 people: $54,069 – $81,900 3 people: $54,069 – $92,160
2 Bedroom	23 units	$1,802	2 people: $65,520 – $81,900 3 people: $65,520 – $92,160 4 people: $65,520 – $102,330 5 people: $65,520 – $110,520
3 Bedroom	6 units	$2.075	3 people: $75,806 – $92,160 4 people: $75,806 – $102,330 5 people: $75,806 – $110,520 6 people: $75,806 – $118,710 7 people: $75,806 – $126,900

110% Area Median Income

Layout	# Units	Monthly Rent	Household Size and Income Requirements
Studio	5 units	$1,340	1 person: $48,446 – $87,560 2 people: $48,446 – $100,100
1 Bedroom	15 units	$1,689	1 person: $60,755 – $87,560 2 people: $60,755 – $100,100 3 people: $60,755 – $112,640
2 Bedroom	14 units	$2,036	2 people: $73,543 – $100,100 3 people: $73,543 – $112,640 4 people: $73,543 – $125,070 5 people: $73,543 – $135,080
3 Bedroom	3 units	$2,346	3 people: $85,098 – $112,640 4 people: $85,098 – $125,070 5 people: $85,098 – $135,080 6 people: $85,098 – $145,090 7 people: $85,098 – $155,100

The development also has a wide range of amenities like a playground, a party room, outdoor space, a children’s playroom, outdoor terrace, and a rooftop terrace. This development is also pet friendly which is not too common in these lotteries.

It’s also constructed under “Passive House” guidelines which is the highest environmental sustainability certification which provides for excellent indoor air quality and highly energy efficient heating and cooling.

In order to apply, go here and remember, do not contact us as we are NOT affiliated with this or any other real estate development as we are NOT a real estate company.

You have until February 8, 2021 to apply.

Good luck!

The New COVID “Relief” Package, in Perspective to a Bronx Reality, is an Insult

Ed García Conde

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December 22, 2020

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The New COVID “Relief” Package, in Perspective to a Bronx Reality, is an Insult

After months of wrangling in Congress over who should get how much in a new COVID-19 relief / stimulus package, once again the American working class got shafted but nowhere is the insult greater than places like The Bronx where a high cost of living is coupled with some of the highest income inequalities in the region.

After almost 9 months of fighting in Congress and the White House, we were told that our pain and suffering during the pandemic and resulting worst economic crisis in history is worth only a paltry $600 along with an extended weekly federal unemployment benefit of $300.

That’s it.

$600.

How is this supposed to help The Bronx where we have the some of the highest unemployment rates in the country not to mention since the Great Depression? Areas like West Farms have unemployment rates above 25%.

Volunteers with Loving The Bronx have provided and or delivered needed food to well over 30,000 Bronx households since the beginning of the pandemic—and that’s just one group of people of many working across the borough during the crisis. (image courtesy Loving The Bronx)

How is the average Bronxite supposed to survive on that where the average rent is $1,658 a month according to RENTCafé? How is that supposed to cover months and months of back rent owed? What about homeowners who have mortgages significantly higher than that on top of property taxes they still have to pay?

How is a one shot $600 stimulus going to help a family cover their utilities like the internet so their kids can continue remote education or phones to stay connected to the rest of the world? Such utilities alone cost in excess of $200 a month for a typical family in the borough.

How will that help with transportation where a monthly unlimited metro card is $127?

What about childcare for our essential workers? How is $600 going to cover that?

People are starving in an already notoriously hungry borough and lining up at food pantries in numbers unseen in modern times.

Remember, not everyone qualifies for supplemental assistance so there are families that can’t access necessary help by way of food stamps and other aid.

*No matter the weather, Bronx residents line up outdoors waiting hours for food donations at local pantries.*

And will the $325 billion in small business relief including $284 billion which will be forgivable under the Payment Protection Program (PPP) actually be enough AND get to where it’s needed in The Bronx unlike the first time earlier this year where only 40% of eligible small businesses in The Bronx got the PPP according New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office who wrote:

Meanwhile, zeroing in on the 240,355 employee-based businesses in New York City, there are some notable disparities between the boroughs and between industries. For instance, while approximately 53 percent of employee-based small businesses in Brooklyn, 52 percent in Manhattan, 50 percent in Staten Island, and 48 percent in Queens received a PPP loan, only 40 percent in the Bronx were PPP recipients (see Chart 5).
The Failures of PPP in NYC

At a MINIMUM, we deserve a monthly $1,200 ($2,000 preferably) stimulus check RETROACTIVE to the first and continued through at least 6 months PAST the end of the pandemic and economic crisis ALONG with an extension of the $600 weekly federal pandemic unemployment benefits not $300.

And this is just what’s owed to us as people.

Small businesses need to be bailed out with a huge focus on the restaurant industry in harder hit areas. The arts as well as mass transit in cities like NYC.

Now is also the time to invest in a Green New Deal too which will provide jobs for those who want them.

All of this could literally transform this country and uplift more folks out of poverty (along with FREE EDUCATION AND MEDICARE FOR ALL).

Instead of helping the country, Congress abandoned us by also dropping state aid in this bill.

But somehow Congress found $1.375 billion for building 55 miles of Trump’s border wall which a solid majority of Americans oppose.

We have the money we just don’t want to give it to the working class and instead give tax cuts and breaks to the rich and corporations and overly bloat police departments so that they can kill Black and BIPOC folks with impunity while congress still gets paid and pay their rents and mortgages.

And where does all this money come from? Who’s gonna pay for it? Us. We already paid for it and continue to pay through our taxes. No one ever asks who’s gonna pay for endless wars and over bloated defense budgets. No one ever asks who’s gonna pay for the tax cuts to the rich and powerful corporations (hint: It’s us, the working class).

Our country should be embarrassed for how we treat our people. If other countries can take care of their people, not just in times of need but always, why can’t the supposed greatest country in history?

A Former African Professional Soccer Player Now Coaches Bronx Youth

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Sports

Michael de Vulpillieres

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December 14, 2020

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A Former African Professional Soccer Player Now Coaches Bronx Youth

*Abubakar Ahmed Ali contemplates a miniature soccer game in his Yonkers apartment as his wife Patricia speaks with family via WhatsApp. /Michael de Vulpillieres*

Abubakar Ahmed Ali shares an apartment in Yonkers, N.Y. with his wife of nearly 17 years, Patricia. Their home is a patchwork of memories, a window into a life and soccer career spanning nearly seven decades, three countries and two continents. From floor to ceiling, photos of African soccer legends, family members, imams, NYC public figures, and his former youth team players wallpaper their cramped living room.

On a small table at the center of the room sits a miniature soccer pitch with figurines deliberately placed. Patricia looks at the table and explains: “That’s where he works on his strategy.”

*Patricia, Abubakar Ahmed Ali’s wife of 17 years./Michael de Vulpillieres*

Since arriving in New York from Accra nearly 20 years ago, after a long career playing professionally in Ghana and Nigeria, Ali has overseen more than a dozen youth soccer teams in the Greater NY area, all as a volunteer. When he’s not coaching, he is training kids one-on-one. He speaks with great passion and emotion about his “youth,” as he calls them, young African immigrants aspiring for success here in the US.

*Abubakar Ahmed Ali trains a teenager on the sidelines of a weekly pickup game near Yankee Stadium./Michael de Vulpillieres*

“I put everything to help the kids in the community,” reflects Ali with pride. “This is my passion.”

Every Saturday morning, the 69-year-old travels 20 miles south to Macombs Dam Park in the shadow of Yankee stadium to train African teenagers on the sidelines of a weekly soccer match where dozens of Ghanaian, Algerian, Liberian, Guinean and Nigerian players meet up for pickup games.

*Abubakar Ahmed Ali stands outside his Yonkers, NY apartment wearing a USA-Ghana scarf./Michael de Vulpillieres*

The quality of play on the field is high. Current and former professionals, college players, aspiring pros and even a former boxing world champ from Ghana come out regularly.

Ali seems to know everyone on and off the pitch, switching with ease from English to Hausa to Twi.

*A weekly pickup soccer game near Yankee Stadium. Players from Ghana, South Africa, Guinea, Liberia, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Nigeria come out regularly/Michael de Vulpillieres*

One of several links in the Bronx to his life back in West Africa is his best friend Ahmed Yakubu Mohamed, whom Ali has known since the 1960s when they played together in Accra. Mohamed drives to the Bronx from his home in New Jersey every weekend and brings his teenage grandson Mubashir, an aspiring college player, so Ali can train him. Running drills with Mubashir, Ali’s slow gait up and down the sidelines reveals the wear on his legs of a long career played at the highest level.

Ali was born in Accra, Ghana in 1950. He proudly mentions a couple distinctions within his lineage: his grandfather was a respected local imam and his father was a professional cyclist. As a man of deep faith and a gifted athlete, Ali carried on both legacies.

*Abubakar Ahmed Ali (L) and his best friend Ahmed Yakubu Mohamed (R) watch Mohamed’s teenage grandson Mubashir run training drills./Michael de Vulpillieres*

Since a young age Ali demonstrated considerable soccer skill, rising in the ranks from youth to adult at Accra Hearts of Oak, one of the most popular and successful Ghanaian clubs.

In the mid-70s, when Ali was in his 20s, he was recruited to play in Nigeria, ultimately with the newly-established and well-financed Raccah Rovers in Kano State.

“Playing in Ghana we were amateurs,” he recalls, justifying the move. “They would only pay us a few dollars a match with a bonus of $200-300 a year.”

*Abubakar Ahmed Ali holds a photo of himself as a young boy alongside his Ghanaian grandmother/Michael de Vulpillieres*

Ali’s transfer was part of a broader trend in the 60s and 70s in which Ghanaian soccer players joined the more lucrative and professional Nigerian League en masse.

Author Anzu Aneke wrote about this phenomenon in an essay about Nigeria soccer in the 1970s entitled, In Search of Nigeria’s Golden Age: “The vibrancy and liquidity of the Nigerian game attracted players from across the region. It was even known for some players to change nationality to ensure that they gained extra kudos in the Nigerian League.” This was the case with Ali who was selected to play several matches with the Nigerian national soccer team.

*17-year old Mubashir is the grandson of Ahmed Yakubu Mohamed, Abubakar Ahmed Ali’s best friend, going back more than 50 years/Michael de Vulpillieres*

After a historic win in 1978 that saw his Raccah Rovers win their first Nigerian League title, the team was selected as one of the opponents for an African exhibition tour later that year featuring Pele. Ali was matched up against the Brazilian, then 37 years old, for one half in front of a capacity crowd in Kaduna on April 28, 1978. He remembers Pele complementing him after the game.

Abubakar Ahmed Ali stops by the deli/car wash at the foot of his apartment building and speaks with fellow Ghanaian and former coworker Sam. The car wash is where Ali first started working in the US in 2000./Michael de Vulpillieres

“He [Pele] told me I reminded him of Luís Pereira,” said Ali with a smile, referring to the legendary Brazilian defender who played alongside Pele.

After retiring as a pro, Ali shifted his focus to coaching kids and spent most of the 90s managing youth teams in Ghana.

On the sidelines of a weekly pickup soccer game near Yankee Stadium where players from Ghana, South Africa, Guinea, Liberia, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Nigeria come out regularly to compete./Michael de Vulpillieres

He first arrived in the US around the time of his 50^th birthday in 2000. Ali does not speak much of the circumstances that brought him here, except that it was initially to help his friend, and former teammate, coach a youth team in Upstate NY. But he ended up staying and quickly put down roots.

Within a few weeks he found an apartment in Yonkers, where he still lives in today; he found employment at a local car wash, where he worked for nearly a decade; and he met Patricia, a 44-year old woman originally from North Carolina, who would become his wife three years later. Patricia, who Ali calls his “backbone,” has been actively involved in each of his coaching endeavors since they met, namely filming youth matches and practices.

*Abubakar Ahmed Ali was a member of the Nigerian national soccer team that won the silver medal at the 1978 All Africa Games/Michael de Vulpillieres*

Back at their home in Yonkers, a worn medal bearing the outline of the African continent sits discretely on one of the shelves. He received it after his Nigerian national soccer team made it to the final of the 1978 All-African Games, an Olympic-style, multi-sport tournament on the continent. His team lost in the final to the host Algerian team 3-2.

“I played in the semifinal, but they did not play me in the final,” he says with a mix of validation and regret. He adds: “You know, I never lost a game that I played with the Nigerian national team.”

Abubakar Ahmed Ali on the sidelines of a weekly pickup soccer game near Yankee Stadium, where players from Ghana, South Africa, Guinea, Liberia, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Nigeria come out regularly to compete/Michael de Vulpillieres

As Ali scans the awards and photos that line the walls of his living room, his gaze stops at a huge youth league trophy won for a major tournament win in 2015 sitting atop an old TV.

“I’ve achieved a lot in my career,” he reflects. “If I had money for all my trophies, I’d be a rich man,” he adds. “But it’s not about money, football is love. And that love has a lot of meaning.”

Michael de Vulpillieres is pursuing a master’s degree at the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School in Manhattan. As part of an international photojournalism class last fall at the New School, Michael documented how African immigrant communities in NYC come together through soccer.

Disclaimer: Comments, views, and opinions are that solely of the author and should never be misconstrued as that of Welcome2TheBronx or any other authors of this site. Welcome2TheBronx only edits articles submitted by readers for grammar and spelling leaving fact checking up to the author. Welcome2TheBronx encourages reader submissions for consideration for publication on our site. It is our mission to be able to provide a platform where Bronx residents can have their voices broadcast to a wider audience. To submit an article, email us at submissions@welcome2thebronx.com

Taste of The Bronx Cafe to Open Next Year

Ed García Conde

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December 3, 2020

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Taste of The Bronx Cafe to Open Next Year

Taste of The Bronx, the popular subscription box and pop-up market celebrating the best of the borough is getting a brick and mortar cafe in the South Bronx at La Central, the new massive affordable housing development in Melrose at The Hub.

The physical space, located on Westchester Avenue and Brook, will be a collaboration between Bronx brothers Anthony Ramirez II and Paul Ramirez of From The Bronx and the Bronx Beer Hall, who together have been running Bronx-based businesses for the past 15 years, and Rebecca Scott, founder of Bronx-based Sustainable Snacks which promotes public health through better snacking and makes their products available and a lower price point for The Bronx.

Future home of Taste of The Bronx at the newly constructed La Central development

According to Scott, the cafe will have a healthy menu influenced by the borough and have a healthy twist. She also added that they will be holding cooking and nutrition classes as well as part of their mission.

But it won’t just be Taste of The Bronx providing the food.

“Where actually going to have a rotating food vendor that shares the food space with us 3 months at a time”, said Rebecca Scott in an interview with Welcome2TheBronx.

The Taste of The Bronx Team, from left to right, Anthony Ramirez II, Rebecca Scott, and Paul Ramirez

She added, “In that regard we can help budding Bronx chefs launch their food brand rather openining their own brick and mortar.”

Anthony emphasized that it’s a way for budding small food businesses to test out their concepts to see if it would work without having to commit to an actual physical space which is not only costly but also difficult to get traditional funding as Paul Ramirez noted that lenders often want to see a model that is gonna prove successful.

“If It works then they have the opportunity to move onto bigger and greener pastures and if it doesn’t, they can at least have the opportunity to retool their concept.” said Anthony.

The space will also serve as a brick and mortar shop for the Bronx vendors Taste of The Bronx features in their subscription boxes and pop-up markets.

Taste of The Bronx will also be a space for events like live music, and yes, open- mic poetry too and if folks aren’t in the mood for coffee or tea they can always order some alcohol as they will be obtaining a liquor license to serve beer and wine.

The team also acknowledged the challenges of signing a lease in the middle of a pandemic and to an uncertain future due to the crisis. Although they are aiming to open by late Spring, there is no way to tell what that will look like if restrictions are still in place for businesses then.

Anthony also jokingly admitted they’re crazy for embarking on this journey at this time but they’re also confident in their brand and experience of brand-building for almost two decades.

In a statement to Welcome2TheBronx, Anthony Ramirez II said, “Taste of The Bronx Cafe is a community focused cafe that will offer an assortment of healthy food options in a safe and inclusive environment.”

It’s through that community focus that their past and current ventures have been successful in creating spaces for the community and by BEING from the community, unlike a random national chain that may decide to open a generically stale space with zero input from the neighborhoods they infiltrate.

And the space aims to truly celebrate the best of our borough as he added, “As with all things Taste of The Bronx, the goal of the cafe is to celebrate and elevate The Bronx! The Taste of The Bronx Cafe will represent the best the borough has to offer while filling a gap in The South Bronx’s food landscape.”

The cafe will be joining BronxNet, a massive 50,000 square foot YMCA, an organic food market, and a Mexican restaurant at La Central, all which are scheduled to open sometime next year along with almost 500 apartments filled with new residents and families that will be moving into the development.

It is a rare feat for a new construction development of this size to have most of its commercial spaces leased and let alone in the middle of a pandemic before construction is completed. Hudson Companies, who’s developing La Central, recently announced that almost 90% of its retail spaces in this phase are leased.

Many new construction development in The Bronx have vacant spaces for months and even years long after construction is complete and residents have moved in.

Once completed, La Central will have almost 1,000 apartments spread across 5 buildings making it one of the largest affordable housing developments in the South Bronx and is conveniently located at The Hub and 1 block away from the 2 and 5 train at the 3rd Avenue and 149th Street Station and is served by multiple bus lines.

When Taste of The Bronx is finally up and running, it will be easily accessible to many parts of the borough and not just the immediate area.

The area deserves a good, decent cafe that understands the area and The Bronx and it’s been something many residents have asked for and it looks like they’ll finally get their wish.

This Bronx Zip Code Has Third Highest Rate of New Covid-19 Infections in NYC

Ed García Conde

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November 30, 2020

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This Bronx Zip Code Has Third Highest Rate of New Covid-19 Infections in NYC

MELROSE—As infection rates for COVID-19 continue to rise across the city, state, The Bronx is once again becoming a hot spot for newly infected people.

According to data obtained from the New York City Department of Health’s website on the coronavirus pandemic, the 10455 zip code in The Bronx has the highest 7-day percent positive rate for the deadly virus at 7.61%.

Only the 11223 zip code in Brooklyn’s Gravesend/Homecrest neighborhoods with a 8.10% rate and 11697 covering Breezy Point in Queens at 7.98% are higher as per data from November 20th to the 26th.

The 10455 zip code covers parts of Melrose and Mott Haven including The Hub, the borough’s busiest shopping district and the commercial heart of the South Bronx, areas which have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic including economically where unemployment rates are at levels unseen since the Great Depression.

Long lines outside CityMD at The Hub for COVID-19 testing.

It is also one of the areas under the governor’s yellow zones of focus due to rapidly rising rates of the coronavirus that are under watch and may go to the more dire orange code which would once again shut down and limit many businesses.

A woman sells masks at The Hub where the recent percent positive rate for COVID-19 is the highest in The Bronx and third highest in New York City.

Even more glaring is the continuation of how the pandemic is disproportionately impacting lower income communities of color where the rate of percent positive in 10455 is over five times that of the nearby and mostly white, affluent Upper East Side zip code of 10128 in Manhattan which registered a 7-day percent positive rate of 1.42% during the same time period.

This is roughly the same percent positive rate difference below 96th street with the exception of the Financial District, Battery Park, and Tribeca zip codes which all registered under 1% or 7 times less than that of Melrose and Mott Haven.

The Hub, the epicenter of commerce in the South Bronx is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

And it’s not just 10455 that is problematic but 10457 covering Belmont/Claremont/Mount Hope/Tremont has a rate of 7.01% making it the 5th highest in the city followed by 10454 covering Mott Haven/Port Morris in 9th place with a rate of 6.63%.

Only Co-op City and Edenwald’s 10475 zip code has a low rate under 2% at 1.58% percent positive.

The Bronx as a whole continues to fair poorly as it still has the highest death and hospitalization rate in the city and only recently did Staten Island’s rate of infection surpass that of The Bronx but only by a miniscule margin.

Now after the Thanksgiving holiday, these numbers are only expected to rise as many families ignored social distancing mandates and guidelines.

While it’s difficult to practice social distancing in many Bronx households with multiple generations under one roof, while we’re out running our daily lives we should limit our exposure by wearing masks and wearing them properly by covering your NOSE too ESPECIALLY when you’re indoors whether at work, shopping, or at the gym.

We can only get through this if we protect each other.

See how your neighborhood rates as of November 20-26 below:

Sorted by infection rate:

[table id=7 /]

Sorted by zip code:

[table id=8 /]

Local Bronx Restaurant to Provide 300 Meals to Families in Need for Thanksgiving

Ed García Conde

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November 20, 2020

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Local Bronx Restaurant to Provide 300 Meals to Families in Need for Thanksgiving

MORRIS PARK—La Masa, one of our favorite restaurants in The Bronx, is sharing the love this Thanksgiving by providing free meals for 300 families in need.

The popular Colombian restaurant is seeking contacts to families in need in our borough so that they can deliver the meals on November 25th and now, more than ever as the pandemic has economically ravaged The Bronx, this will be a welcome relief to families that have been impacted by the crisis.

But in order to do that they need your help!

Follow La Masa on Instagram and send them a DM to nominate a family along with their contact information.

The folks at La Masa will then take it from there and contact the families to make arrangements for delivery.

This is what makes The Bronx so special, our small businesses also take care of those in need living in our borough.

So head on over to Instagram, follow @lamasa_restaurant and send them a message with info of a family you’d like to nominate!

The South Bronx Saw Biggest Gains in Votes for Donald Trump in 2020 Than Anywhere Else in New York City

Politics

Ed García Conde

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November 12, 2020

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The South Bronx Saw Biggest Gains in Votes for Donald Trump in 2020 Than Anywhere Else in New York City

We’ve been looking at several maps comparing election results from 2016 to 2020 and it is quite clear that more people voted for Donald Trump in this election than before.

Areas that were red in 2016 just got deeper red or expanded in 2020 showing higher turnout for Trump this year.

Although the city was overwhelmingly blue, all across the five boroughs there were tens of thousands of more votes for the Trump.

And the South Bronx showed the highest jump with one district covering Hunts Point, Mott Haven, and Melrose showing 2,500 more votes this year for the president than in 2016.

The South Bronx went from a deep blue in 2016 to most districts showing a higher vote for Trump in 2020.

And over in one particular district which covers the Clocktower expansion luxury apartments where rents go as high as well above $4,000 a month, Trump went from 15 votes in 2016 accounting for 3% of the total to 60 votes accounting for 11% of the total.

While we can’t say for sure that it was the gentrifiers in that particular district that voted for Trump, the only change since 2016 in that area are the gentrifiers who have moved into several new luxury developments including 190 luxury units at The Crescendo and several dozen more nearby.

You might remember that The Crescendo tried to use the attempted rebranding of the area as the Piano District but we quickly shut that down.

Furthermore, many more areas that aren’t heavily gentrified or gentrified at all showed an even greater increase for Trump so the answers aren’t all that clear as to why the shift.

The district where the Crescendo is located saw an 8% increase for Trump.

The Wall Street Journal writes:

Bronx voters offered a variety of explanations for Mr. Trump’s gains, including his support for religious communities and small-business owners. The Rev. Oswald Denis, a 48-year-old Evangelical minister in the South Bronx said he and other pastors attend weekly meetings to discuss politics and city affairs.

Many members of his congregation—and other pastors—were attracted to the president because of his support for Israel and his antiabortion stance.

They further reported:

Francisco Marte Sr., who immigrated to the South Bronx from the Dominican Republic and now runs the Bodega and Small Business Association of New York, said he knew many entrepreneurs supported Mr. Trump.

“Most of them were against the leftist policies,” he said. Mr. Trump’s support for law-and-order also resonated, he said.

And it wasn’t just in the South Bronx but across the borough that saw an increase for Trump but it still was a drop in the bucket as Biden won New York by a landslide.

A home in Country Club back in 2016/©Ed García Conde for Welcome2TheBronx

East Bronx neighborhoods like Morris Park, Country Club, and Throggs Neck solidified their support for Trump with some more adjacent districts going red.

The Bronx from 2016 to the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, back in the South and West Bronx, it’s interesting to see Latinos voting for the most racist president in modern American history but it still wasn’t enough here or across the country to give Trump a win who Biden crushed in a landslide election.

And with Biden’s popular vote nearing 80 million, he will have received more votes than any president in American history.

As for The Bronx, our borough is still overwhelmingly a blue county but it’s worth a discussion as to why such a shift this year after all we’ve seen this administration is capable of against marginalized groups.

As COVID-19 Infection Rates Rise Again, People Are Lining Up at Testing Sites in The Bronx

Ed García Conde

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November 12, 2020

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As COVID-19 Infection Rates Rise Again, People Are Lining Up at Testing Sites in The Bronx

Alarms are being sounded across New York City and State as the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 a day are reaching numbers we haven’t seen since May.

During the first few dark months of the coronavirus pandemic in America, The Bronx was the epicenter of the deadly virus not just with infection rates but mortality as well.

Positivity rate across the 5 boroughs according to NYS Department of Health

Now numbers are climbing as more and more people head indoors with the colder weather upon us and the return of gyms and indoor dining.

And lines are forming outside testing sites once again.

Lines have been going down several storefronts at CITYMD in The Hub for days now, something that hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the pandemic/©Ed García Conde for Welcome2TheBronx

As of yesterday, according to data from New York State Department of Health, The Bronx had a 2.7% positive rate from Sunday through Tuesday from all testing performed during that period.

According to NYC’s Department of Health, four Bronx zip codes are in the top 15 with the highest percent positive rate in New York City and are as follows:

10452 covering Concourse and Highbridge with a 4.23% positive rate and 66 new people positive
10459 covering Charlotte Gardens and Hunts Point with a 4.19% positive rate and 41 people positive
10460 covering Charlotte Gardens/Tremont/Van Nest/West Farms with a 3.99% positive rate and 46 new people positive
10457 covering Belmont/Claremont/Mount Hope/Tremont with a 3.96% positive rate and 59 new people positive

Through my travels throughout The Bronx I’ve seen people not wearing their masks as much as they used to and I no longer personally go to gyms in The Bronx because many are either not wearing masks or wearing them incorrectly with their noses exposed.

This isn’t just my personal observation but what has been reported back to me from several individuals across the borough.

A few months of relative calm from the anxiety-inducing months from March through May has resulted in too much apathy from residents. Trust me I get it, it’s exhausting but until we have a vaccine, we’re in this for the long haul.

Today marks 8 months that Welcome2TheBronx moved out of our offices in what we hoped would be a brief period but here we are doing what we have to do to keep fighting this pandemic.

While many don’t have the luxury working from home, we do have it within our hands to wear masks and ensure everyone is wearing one on the buses and trains and indoors when in mixed company, at the gym, shopping, etc.

Do we really want to go back to a total shutdown again? No, but that’s where we are headed if we don’t stave this off.

To date, there are 4,082 confirmed deaths due to coronavirus and another 932 probable deaths due to the virus. That’s 5,014 Bronxites gone just like that.

Please do your part. Do it for abuela. Do it for your kids, friends, family, and loved ones.