Bella Abzug (née Savitsky) was born on July 24, 1920, in The Bronx to Russian Jewish immigrants who went on to become the first Jewish woman elected to Congress as well as the first woman elected to the House of Representatives on a platform of gender equality and women’s rights.
Politics
Bronxite Edwin J Torres, a Puerto Rican photojournalist born and raised here in The Bronx, has launched ‘Portraits of Resilience: Puerto Rican millennials face economic meltdown with a spirit of pa’lante’, a beautiful photo-essay showing the plight of Puerto Rican millennials as the United States territory faces one of the largest economic meltdowns in history.
Puerto Rico is facing a massive brain drain along with a massive migration of these US citizens (by birth even on the island) in numbers unseen since the 1950s.
Tomorrow, Thursday, February 18th at the Andrew Freedman Home located at 1125 Grand Concourse, join small businesses for a discussion on paid family leave insurance program, its impact, policies, and details of this new program.
An important message from the Historic Districts Council regarding the changes to zoning which the the overwhelming majority of community boards has said no to. Despite widespread opposition, New York City Planning Commission has voted yes to the changes against the will of the people. MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD BY SUBMITTING YOUR TESTIMONY HERE!
Since Maria del Carmen Arroyo decided to step down from her role as City Councilwoman representing the 17th district, the area has been without a representative since the start of the new year.
On February 23rd, a special election will take place to fill this void in one of the most visible districts that’s facing many issues including gentrification. (DISCLAIMER: In The interest of full disclosure, Welcome2TheBronx and myself are supporting Julio Pabon, a progressive candidate, who’s running under The Bronx is Not For Sale Platform.)
New York City Councilman James Vacca, aka Jimmy to his constituents and those who know him, has come out of the closet and declared himself a gay man.
Vacca said in a tweet, “After talking w/ my friends & family I’ve decided to come out publicly as a gay man. Now back to the Golden Girls! #outandproud #comingout” in his courageous announcement now makes a total of 7 New York City Council members that are publicly out identifying as gay.
In a letter to the editors of Crain’s, Michael J Gill, one of the founders of the South Bronx Overall Economic Corporation and former chairman of the little loved SoBro, is proposing that the Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner, along with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr, consider moving the legendary Madison Square Garden to The Bronx.
Last year Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr gleefully had actress and Fox News Commentator, Stacey Dash, inducted into The Bronx Walk of Fame despite her controversial stances on major issues.
The actress, who ironically is best known for her role in the hit movie, ‘Clueless’, is now calling for the abolishing of Black History Month.
Next month on February 23rd, thanks to former City Council member Maria Del Carmen Arroyo prematurely vacating her seat, there will be an opportunity for Bronx residents of the 17th New York City Council District in The Bronx to SAY NO MORE CORRUPTION!
For far too long the Bronx political machine has had a stranglehold on who WE as residents of The Bronx get to vote for rather than the other way around.
This Sunday from 2PM to 5PM, the 3rd Annual Bronx Gentrification Conference will be held, this time, at New Settlement Community Center at 1501 Jerome Avenue.
Since The Bronx Documentary began this series in December of 2012, speculation and gentrification have crept into our borough at a rapid rate despite our Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr denying that gentrification is happening.
2015 became the year that The Bronx was put up for sale and is being sold to the highest bidders not to mention the Piano District party and fiasco which has angered a borough.
Money talks.
After announcing her resignation from City Council late November, Maria del Carmen Arroyo cited her decision was due to her wanting to dedicate time to “pressing family needs.”
Well the scandal plagued former Councilwoman seems to have been eyeing a deal in the private sector that has almost doubled to a $220,000 per year salary as Acacia Network’s new vice president of administration according to Capital New York.
In response to the wave of real estate speculation threatening the South Bronx and that will open the doors to hyper-gentrification, we present below a Statement of Principles on Private Development. These principles have been in the making for upwards of a year by members of the Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Trust (in consultation with experts in each area) in response to the decades of “development” without community engagement that has caused a health epidemic and now threatens mass displacement. As some of our elected officials choose to deny the existence of gentrification, many developers have already bought land, filed plans and erected buildings “as of right”, and many are not requesting any zoning changes, variances or government subsidies that would trigger wider accountability. Over the coming weeks, members of the community will be assessing adherence to these principles of each developer – from Carnegie, Cheskel Schwimmer and Chetrit to Hornig, JCAL, Savanna and Somerset, among many others – and sharing the information publicly so that we can best direct the breadth of efforts to protect and uplift our community.
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