The odious bigot that is Councilman Diaz Sr has been found to have broken New York City Council ethics rules for misuse of city resources.
The charges stem from his use of emails for his ridiculous “What You Should Know” newsletter.
Like an insolent child, Diaz Sr claims he didn’t do anything wrong because he did it for 16 years in the New York State Senate.
We’ll guess what Ruben?
Just because you’ve been doing something for years doesn’t mean it was ok and furthermore you’re now in City Council which doesn’t have the same rules as the state senate.
“I did that in the Senate for 16 years, never in the Senate I had problems, and now they are telling me you cannot use it. I will continue to use it,” he said of his official email address. “I never use it for political reasons, never use it to ask for money, never use it to ask to endorse someone.”
According to the New York Post, Diaz Sr said he was offered a deal to avoid punishment but he refused because he insists he did nothing wrong.
The City Council Ethics Committee will now reconvene to determine a resolution on the issue which may include an undetermined punishment.
Last month Lesandro “Junior” Guzman Feliz’s life ended shortly after being killed by a gang in Belmont.
The outcry from the family and residents has been so tremendous that even Governor Cuomo has funded millions to help curtail gang activity in The Bronx.
Now in Junior’s honor, a street will be renamed after him
And its not just inside your apartment that you can’t smoke within 25 feet of a NYCHA building (read: more ways for the NYPD to fine low-income residents).
But many residents are not happy.
In theory it’s a great idea because you might be helping people kick the habit or reduce risk of exposure of second hand smoke to others but we know how these things often play out.
There are residents who now feel this is just another rule that will be used to kick them out of their homes.
This rule isn’t coming from NYCHA but it’s coming from the federal government so blame Washington for creeping into your private lives.
The rule came into existence under the Obama administration in December 2016.
The following is an op-ed by Kris Sandor, Citi Bike General Manager:
Bronx residents have been asking for Citi Bike since the day the system first appeared in New York City back in 2013. Today, we can celebrate that the borough’s first blue bikes are finally on their way.
The dockless version of Citi Bike will roll out across a wide swath of the Bronx in the next few weeks—bounded by West Fordham Road, Southern Boulevard, the Cross Bronx Expressway and University Avenue, as part of a dockless pilot program taking place across New York City.
These bikes are a little different: instead of docking at a station, they can be parked anywhere that’s convenient, safe, and out of the way. These new bikes can be located, locked and unlocked using the Citi Bike app, which controls a lock on the rear wheel.
But what does this pilot program mean for you, as someone who lives or works here in the Bronx?
First, it means increased access—not just here in the Bronx, but all across the city:
Dockless Citi Bikes will complement MetroNorth, the subway and buses in Central Bronx, making it easier than ever to get around the neighborhood. And remember: a Citi Bike membership purchased here in the Bronx can also be used at any of the 750 stations across Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn to pick up any one of our 12,000 docked bikes using the same Citi Bike app. Already a Citi Bike member? You have automatic access to these new dockless bikes.
Image Courtesy of Citi Bike
If you’re downtown for work, just hop on a Citi Bike and get to your train, office, dinner date or gym in minutes. When you get back to the Bronx, our dockless bikes will be waiting for you here for a quick ride home. Looking to explore a new neighborhood? Use your membership to enjoy a spin through Brooklyn Heights, Astoria, or along the Hudson River Greenway. Have a downtown friend who already has a membership? Take them for a ride to your favorite spot on Arthur Avenue or a visit to the Bronx Zoo.
And the best part? You’re unbeholden to fixed routes or schedules — you can explore the city at your leisure.
Second, the system is available and affordable for everyone.
As Citi Bike arrives in the Bronx, our most important mission is to ensure that everyone here feels ownership of the system. This new dockless program is for all of us. That’s why we partnered with the de Blasio administration and Healthfirst to create a new program allowing SNAP recipients to get a Citi Bike membership for just $5 per month, with no annual commitment. That’s less than $0.25 a day.
While residents of NYCHA housing have long had access to this $5/month program, it no longer comes with an obligatory year-long commitment; you can try it for a month or two, see how it fits into your life and your budget, and choose whether or not to continue.
To apply for this discount, all you need to do is visit the Citi Bike website at citibikenyc.com/SNAP and enter your EBT card number or NYCHA tenant ID.
Third, thanks to your Citi Bike membership, you’ll be supporting good, skilled green jobs for New Yorkers.
We are proud to be a strong partner with the Transport Workers Union in bringing New Yorkers good, respected, union jobs. More than 480 proud New Yorkers now work for Citi Bike, building a growing “green collar” workforce focused on environmentally-sustainable industries, with jobs that include benefits, professional training, and opportunities for advancement.
If you’re interested in working for Citi Bike, visit the website here to fill out an application!
Citi Bike is as New York as the Grand Concourse, New York Botanical Garden or Arthur Avenue. We look forward to working with everyone who lives and works here to make it an integral part of your experience of the city.
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Stay tuned as we keep you posted to the official launch date of Citi Bikes in The Bronx!
Clarice White-Gathers, 75, suffers from heart failure and now finds herself homeless and sleeping on a friend’s couch thanks to the slumlords who run her building.
For years they’ve neglected to repair leaky pipes which have been wreaking havoc on her apartment’s ceilings until recently when they collapsed forcing the city to declare the apartment uninhabitable.
Meanwhile the scum (yes, we’re not mincing words because slumlords are the scum of the earth) are living large in a $3 million mansion on Long Island’s ritzy North Shore with dozens of luxury cars parked in their driveways according to an article in the New York Post.
“This is the worst, worst it has ever been,” Clarice White-Gathers said of her 159th Street apartment. “I feel like I’m abandoned, I’m homeless. Why isn’t there someone to help?”
For years, a leaky pipe has been turning the ceiling of her first-floor one-bedroom unit to mush. Then, a little over a week ago, everything came crashing down.
First it was the bathroom ceiling on July 22, leaving a gaping hole above her shower. Then the living-room ceiling gave way Wednesday, crashing down on a Post reporter’s shoulder just inches from her head.
Now a gash along the ceiling exposes floor joists that White-Gathers says have mold. And her doctor at New York–Presbyterian Hospital says the mold is worsening the obstructive pulmonary disease that’s struck her lungs.
No one should ever have to live like this and landlords should lose their properties if they can’t maintain them.
Jacobi Hospital’s drinking water supply has tested positive for legionella bacteria which causes the potentially fatal Legionnaires’ disease.
This was discovered during a routine required testing.
NYC Health & Hospitals released the following statement:
“As part of our aggressive water monitoring program, our routine, required testing of our potable water supply found very low levels of Legionella bacteria at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi. Per guidance from the New York State Department of Health, which regulates hospitals, we have taken steps to prevent any impact on our patients, staff, or visitors. Safety is always our highest priority.”
According to the department, no patients are reported to have the disease and that risk to patients, staff and visitors is minimal with zero risk to the neighborhood.
But how can we trust that considering the South Bronx outbreak several years ago which left dozens dead in New York City’s largest outbreak of Legionnaires’?
NYC Department of Health and the rest of the city’s administration insisted back then it wasn’t in the water supply but instead blamed water cooling towers.
Meanwhile it was eventually found in the water supply at several locations where residents became ill and even some died.
Experts agree that legionella is almost always transmitted via drinking supply and not water cooling towers.
Meanwhile 2017 was a record breaking year for legionnaires cases in NYC.
We will continue to monitor the situation and as always we’ll report any changes.
Like every racist who gets caught in the act, Bronx Montefiore white supremacist doctor Dov Bechhofer is “remorseful” for his remarks he made.
Cry me a river.
Make no mistake despite his apologies: The Doctor Bechhofer who wrote those hateful remarks calling for a white ethnostate and expulsion of people of color and Muslims from our country IS the real Bechhofer.
In a statement to the Associated Press, he said, “I am ashamed of the hurtful, unjustifiable words that I posted online that showed callous disregard toward certain minority groups and am deeply sorry for these transgressions,” he wrote. “The posts do not reflect how I was raised or how I actually treat others. I will continue to struggle to understand what brought me to write them.”
Really now? Pathetic.
There’s no struggling for him to understand anything. He’s a disgusting racist who has no place in our borough let alone as a medical provider where lives are at stake.
This is a man who supports violence to achieve the goals of a white ethnostate.
He should lose his medical license and not be allowed to practice ever again.
This is the ONLY reason Bechhofer is actually remorseful. Not because of the racist remarks he has made but because he was caught and now has everything to lose.
We’re assuming that now that he admitted this that he will be fired from Montefiore.
Meanwhile, Greg Johnson, a prominent white nationalist who is the editor in chief of Counter Currents said Bechhofer did nothing wrong except apologizing for his views.
Johnson writes:
Dov Bechholfer is going to lose a great deal because of this doxx. That’s why the enemy does this. Apologizing won’t change that. He needs to accept his fate. Then he needs to do the right thing, which is to fight. Because if more people fight and win, fewer people will have to face doxxing in the future. Dr. Bechhofer is going to go through hell. But if he does the right thing, he will help create a world where others do not suffer the same fate. And he will make himself into a hero in the process.
Beyond that, Dr. Bechhofer needs to recognize that not only will apologizing increase rather than decrease the negative effects of this doxx, it is also bad for his soul. Because he is lying. He didn’t change his whole worldview overnight. That is simply not possible. There are some things that we can control, and some things that we can’t. Dr. Bechhofer cannot control all the negative consequences that are in store for him, although he can mitigate them if he does the right thing. But there is one thing that he can control fully: his own moral stature. He has chosen to sully himself with a lie. He has abandoned truth in the vain attempt to regain social respectability. He needs to return to the truth and defend it. That way, no matter what happens to him, he can take solace in the fact that he preserved his moral worth.
This is America folks and if anyone doesn’t belong here it’s these vile, disgusting, poor excuse for humans.
Earlier this week an article was published on Medium, which has since been removed, by an anonymous writer exposing a Bronx doctor at Montefiore Medical Center for his alleged white supremacist views.
Now Gothamist has confirmed that Dov Bechhofer has been taken off duty pending an investigation into the allegations.
Medium took down the article for violation of its policy against “doxxing” which is the practice of revealing private information such as addresses and telephone numbers.
Bechhofer has alluded to being willing to resort to violence according to Gothamist to achieve a white ethnostate.
““[A]ll the signs point to extra-democratic solutions now being the only way for the various ethnicities of the White race to save themselves,” he wrote at one point. “The great question is how to overcome the differential of firepower between government and citizen.”
Additionally, he used his public account to call for the mass expulsion of Muslims from Europe, writing “the West has no use for them, and they’ll be just fine when they go home,” in a Facebook group called “God Emperor Trump (Official).” Such comments, the Medium doxxer notes, make clear that Bechhofer “is a danger not only to his community but particularly to his patients.”
The Forward, a newspaper focusing on American Jewish life writes:
The evidence linking Dov Bechhofer to “Dov” the Counter-Currents commenter is circumstantial but powerful. Both Dov and “Dov” are Jewish doctors who have praised white supremacist figures like Jared Taylor, grew up in Chicagoland before moving to New York, write using similar idiosyncrasies and even profess to liking the same entertainment, including the obscure Norwegian movie “The Last King.”
“Just from his Facebook account alone, you can see that he’s a white supremacist,” the investigator, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told the Forward. “He’s friends with a dozen other white supremacists…and so unless there’s some impostor that’s running that Facebook account, I think Dov is certainly a white supremacist.”
“Dov” frequently expressed disgust with racial intermarriage. “To me,” he wrote, “the greatest threat Asians in general pose to Whites is that of miscegenation. Being in the medical field, even I (a White Nationalist aware of the White race’s maladies for 6+ years) am constantly taken aback at the prevalence of White-Asian miscegenation among the highly-educated.”
He also repeatedly expressed support for white ethnostates, which he said he hoped to see “ASAP.” He even praised the idea of “soft expulsion” of African-Americans and Latinos in one comment, arguing that while there could be “unforeseen negative consequences” to such a plan, “the immediacy of the salvaging of White nations overrides abstract concerns, so I’d say the fight would be worthwhile.”
“Whites are being subjected to a concerted attack by ‘people of color’ and must band together as Whites to avoid their own destruction,” he wrote in a comment in February using his since-scrubbed YouTube account.
He even seemed to endorse armed revolution as a means of realizing his white ethnostate dream. “Continued engagement in the political structure is necessary, but all the signs point to extra-democratic solutions now being the only way for the various ethnicities of the White race to save themselves,” he wrote in May 2017. “The great question is how to overcome the differential of firepower between government and citizen.”
Among the comments attributed to Bechhofer was: “Do I despise Blacks like [Colin] Kaepernick for milking the White cow despite the fact that he, his race, and all others are already in such objective debt to Whites? Absolutely.”
Another read: “The West has no use for [Muslims], and they’ll be just fine when they go home.”
He also allegedly called for armed militias on the southern border “with orders to shoot illegals.”
In a statement issued by Montefiore they said, “The views expressed in the article are in no way reflective of Montefiore, our mission, how we conduct ourselves, or the care we deliver each day.” The hospital further added, “Montefiore was founded on our commitment to healthcare as a basic human right, and we deliver the highest level of care to everyone who comes through our doors, regardless of social or economic status, ethnicity, race or religion. Having all backgrounds, beliefs and diversity embodied in our patients, employees and neighbors is intrinsic to who we are, and allows us to thrive as an institution.”
If all this turns out to be true, and it does seem to be based on what we’re seeing, Bechhofer has NO place in The Bronx and is a threat to Bronxites. Our greatest strength is in the diversity of our people.
The Bx19 clocked in at an average speed of 4.6mph placing 9th on the overall list of city buses.
The Bx 21, which travels between Mott Haven and Westchester Square, was listed as The Bronx’s most unreliable line in our borough with 1 in 6 buses “bunched”.
Bunching occurs when riders are waiting long periods of time for their bus to arrive only to have a bunch show up at once.
With more cars and an increasing population as the fastest growing borough and county in New York State, we will probably see conditions worsen down the road.
As one of the most unique neighborhoods in New York City, City Island holds a special place in many people’s hearts both those who live there and visitors alike.
The tiny island covers 253 acres in its 1.5 mile length by half a mile width and is the home to approximately 4,500 residents of clamdiggers (those who are actually born on the island) and musselsuckers (those not born on island).
On any given holiday or summer weekend (or warm weekend for that matter) the population swells by the thousands (perhaps upwards of 10,000) as throngs of Bronxites flock to the dozens of restaurants that line City Island Avenue, much to the chagrin of the natives who often get stranded on their island or unable to reach home in a timely manner due to the traffic for the only meas of egress is the City Island Bridge (or a boat if you own one).
A house on City Island
But City Island is more than just the restaurants that’s the economic engine of the island. It’s the galleries, the boat yards and most of all it’s the people who make this place special and unique.
Its unique geography as an isolated island neighborhood cut off from the rest of America’s largest city by water and its largest park is simply an added bonus to this magical recipe.
Curbed New York has a special new series which explores New York City’s boroughs one block at a time and in their inaugural piece they chose to take a look at Hunter Avenue, a small cul-de-sac off Ditmars Street on the Western half of the island.
The beautiful essay delves into the lives of those who live on the block: lawyers, artists, sailors, and fishmongers all coexisting.
City Island, at 230 acres, population a little under 4,500 according to the most recent census, is adjacent to the woods of Pelham Bay and Orchard Beach, the borough’s only public beach, and to the rest of the Bronx to the west and Westchester to the north. Photographer Chris Mottalini and I are exploring New York City’s boroughs through its blocks, one each in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, because we’re interested in how these blocks form their own micro-universes, and how those micro-universes fit into their boroughs.
We were drawn to City Island partly for the contrasts embedded in its name—both city and island, it is part of the Bronx and apart from it. And we landed on this particular block because it seemed to represent City Island as a whole, inhabited by artists, writers, eccentrics, scientists, lawyers, curators, art handlers, fishmongers, bus drivers, teachers, and electricians, many of whom traded rising rents in Brooklyn and Manhattan for a small town that is tethered to New York City but fairly remote, with wetlands that resemble a compressed wilderness, a place with proudly worn nautical roots, and the sense of nostalgia that seems to hover over almost all beach towns.
City Island came to be at the end of the last ice age, created by glaciers and covered in deposits of rare blue clay. The first humans who fished and hunted on City Island were the Siwanoy band of the Lenape Indians, who called it Minnewit, meaning pine, for the trees that proliferated in those times. Thomas Pell seized their land in 1654; Anne Hutchinson, seeking religious freedom, later settled there. Until 1895, when it was annexed by New York City, City Island was considered part of Westchester and was home mostly to farmers and shipbuilders and sailors and harvesters of oysters. Its first enterprise involved producing salt from evaporated seawater and its most successful enterprises, for years, were harvesting oysters and building and repairing boats and yachts, including several America’s Cup winners. The island did not get dial telephone service until 1960. It has served as the location for Long Day’s Journey Into Night, BUtterfield 8, and several episodes of Law & Order. Among its better-known residents over the years are mobster Frank Scalice of the Gambino crime family, longtime AFL-CIO leader George Meany, the comedian Red Buttons, the drag queen Coco Peru, and neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks, who, the story goes, swam over to City Island from Orchard Beach one day and liked the island so much he bought a house there.
Read the rest of the beautiful essay over at Curbed.
Citi Bike is FINALLY coming to The Bronx after the sudden pull-out of dockless bike sharing company ofo who was supposed to join JUMP Bikes in a Fordham area pilot program which also covers West Farms, Belmont, East Tremont, Tremont, and parts of Morris Heights, and University Heights.
Starting mid-August, about 200 new dockless Citi Bikes will join the approximately 200 JUMP Bikes which are also dockless.
Unlike the traditional Citi Bikes which use the docking stations that takes up precious parking real estate, this dockless system doesn’t need those expensive systems.
But JUMP will have a head start as starting early next week, you’ll be able to start riding their fast pedal assist bikes which will zoom you through the Fordham area with speeds up to 20mph thanks to an electric boost you get as you pedal.
At JUMP’s invitation, we test rode their bright red bike last Friday and in no time we were zipping through the area and into Belmont ans down Arthur Avenue the heart of NYC’s real Little Italy.
Dockless Bike Share Pilot Program area in The Bronx provided by JUMP Bikes (Citi Bikes will also be available in the same area)
The most surprising thing about JUMP Bikes is the speed you get with little effort so they’re perfect for running quick errands and are especially useful for the hilly terrain of the West Bronx as the pedal assist boost gets you over the hills with barely breaking a sweat.
Many have been concerned as to where these dockless bikes will end up but the company has figured it out.
They developed a built in locking mechanism which requires you to actually lock them to a bike rack within the service area.
With JUMP’s locking technology, you must lock the bike to a bike rack. Only then when it’s locked will your trip be marked as complete. /Image Courtesy JUMP Bikes
This prevents the bikes from sitting just anywhere blocking pedestrian traffic on sidewalks or ending up in strange places like up on a tree (yes this actually happened in Washington DC).
Reserving a JUMP Bike is super easy by using the app or your Uber app (the company was purchased by the popular ride sharing company and has since integrated JUMP Bikes into the app).
Pricing is extremely affordable as well which is perfect for Bronx demographics.
A 30 minute ride will cost you just $2 bucks and each additional minute after that will run you 7 cents per minute.
JUMP also provides a brilliant plan called Boost to encourage low-income residents to take advantage of the program by offering up to 60 minutes a day for just $5 a month for qualifying residents.
Boost members will pay the standard 7 cents a minute once they go beyond their alloted daily 60 minutes.
Besides the apps you can also unlock ans use a bike with just your account number or an RFID card for residents who sont have à smartphone and even more importantly, the company takes into consideration that Bronxites are severely under served by banks with many residents lacking bank accounts.
For such users they can simply pay in cash in advance at a CVS, 711, or Dollar Tree.
As for Citi Bikes, we haven’t tried the dockless ones yet but pricing will be the same as Manhattan and Brooklyn and will also offer a low-income option for residents on public assistance or who live in NYCHA for just $5 a month for unlimited rides throughout the pilot area and NYC’s system.
Justike JUMP, Bronx Citi Bike users will also have a pay per ride option of $2 bucks per 30 minute ride.
We think this is an excellent opportunity for residents to get more active and provide alternative means of transportation which given the state of our subways and buses, we sure need them!
During Trump’s first year as president, ICE arrests have increased by 30% often by utilizing tactics like raids, home invasions warrentless entries into homes, and use of force.
A new interactive map called ICEwatch created by the Immigrant Defense Project in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Rights highlights the nearly 700 arrests that have occurred not just under Trump’s administration but the preceding 5 years under Obama as well.
Almost 100 of these arrests have occurred in The Bronx and although many have occured at the courts, most of them happened at the undocumented immigrant’s place of residence.
7 of these were classified as warrantless entries.
Screen shot of ICEwatch map of The Bronx
Some of the stories documented by IDE are disturbing such as:
Bronx, NY 10451, USA
July 11, 2017
In July 2017, five ICE agents knocked on AS’s door in the Bronx at 7am, without identifying who they were, claiming that a neighbor had called the local precinct to report an incident in the home. AS and his wife explained that there was nothing happening in the home. The ICE agents then asked AS for his name and arrested him once he told them. Five months later, in December 2017, multiple ICE agents raided AS’s home again at 6am, even though AS remained detained by ICE. Five different ICE agents, both plain-clothes and in “police” vests, entered through an unlocked door with their guns drawn. Once they entered the home, they didn’t identify themselves, only telling AS’s wife they were looking for a “fugitive” as they walked through the different rooms of the house. AS’s wife repeatedly asked the agents to see a warrant and asked them to leave. The agents came upon AS’s 9-year-old who was sleeping in bed and aggressively began questioning him about who lived in the home. Once they stopped, AS’s wife told the agents to leave their family alone and took out a cell phone to begin filming. As AS’s wife repeatedly asked the agents to see a warrant and to leave, the ICE agents ignored her request until AS’s 13-year-old daughter repeated what her mother said in English.
Meanwhile over in Parkchester:
Bronx, NY 10462, USA
April 4, 2017
8 ICE agents knocked on the door to MOA’s apartment. When MOA answered it, the agents pushed their way inside, forcibly detaining MOA in the bedroom of his apartment. His children were present in the apartment but in a separate room. MOA’s wife had left the apartment to run an errand and when she came back, she found MOA detained in his room by agents. She asked the agents who they were and what they were doing there, but agents refused to answer any questions until after MOA was handcuffed.
In a press release, IDP wrote:
“ICE relies on fear-mongering, secrecy, deceit, manipulation, and force to enact its devastating deportation mandate to deport as many people as possible,” said Genia Blaser, IDP Senior Staff Attorney.
“By making the reports of their dehumanizing tactics widely available through ICEwatch, we aim to inform the public and community members around the escalation of ‘unshackled’ ICE policing. We also continue to work with allies to challenge the demonization and criminalization that ICE relies on to enact its mass deportation agenda, and to support efforts to defund and abolish this agency.”
“ICEwatch shines a light on ICE’s program of terrorizing communities through raids, ruses, home invasions, courthouse arrests, and other forms of coercion,” said Ghita Schwarz, Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Attorney. “By demonstrating the wide reach of ICE’s destructive and unlawful tactics, we hope to educate and empower immigrants and allies.”
ICEwatch allows users to filter summaries of ICE raids by location* and type of arrest tactic. Six types of enforcement tactics have been highlighted in the map as they are increasingly prevalent under the Trump administration, and underscore egregious and inhumane ICE practices and the agency’s disregard for fundamental rights. These include: (1) warrantless entry into a home; (2) the use of ruses to enter a home; (3) use of force; (4) the use of surveillance; (5) a significant increase in courthouse raids; and (6) an increase in collateral arrests.
IDP stresses that the map isn’t a comprehensive report on tactics or raid activity and is only a reflection of raids and trends as seen by them.
It’s also important to note that the locations are NOT precise but approximate based on zip code or county.
You can view the map here and see the stories for yourself.
There are residents who now feel this is just another rule that will be used to kick them out of their homes.
