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The Bronx Times
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49th Precinct remembers fallen offi cer
Vol. 25 No. 9 www.bxtimes.com
March 1-7, 2019
Mercy absorbs sister school, College of New Rochelle
Justice For Junior On The Way
COLLEGE MAKES
CLASSY MOVE
Continued on Page 73
Continued on Page 73
BY ALEX MITCHELL
It wasn’t the best of news,
but it could have been a lot
worse for the College of New
Rochelle; which announced
its likely closure before the
upcoming fall semester on
Friday, February 22.
Fortunately for CNR, neighboring
Mercy College, with a
campus at 1200 Waters Place,
inked a memorandum of understanding
to essentially absorb
the college on Monday,
February 25.
Both schools acknowledged
CNR’s ‘signifi cant cash fl ow
challenges’ resulting from a
fi nical crisis at the college in
2016 as the primary reason for
the projected closure.
“Mercy is uniquely positioned
fi nancially and academically
to offer current CNR students
uninterrupted pathways
to continue the education they
sought at CNR,” wrote Mercy
College president, Tim Hall,
in a prepared statement.
The MOU is contingent on
a separate board vote by each
of the colleges, which is anticipated
to happen by the end of
this week.
CNR spokesman Geoff
Thompson said that the vote
would essentially be a formality
for the two schools.
“CNR felt it needed to inform
its bond holders of its
current fi nancial situation
immediately, and at the same
time make its community
aware of matters,” Hall’s statement
continued.
Until that formal vote is
cast, details on the merger
can’t be disclosed, according
to Thompson.
“I promise in the upcoming
weeks to provide additional
information through updates
and town halls so that you
can be part of the effort to welcome
the members of the CNR
family into the Mercy family,”
Hall’s statement saod.
Thompson confi rmed to an
anxious CNR community that
any student in good academic
standing will be allowed admittance
to Mercy College
without going through a cumbersome
transfer process.
“Every effort will be made
to ensure that, to the extent
possible, students are not displaced
physically in terms of
where they study,” CNR released
in a statement.
Both Westchester-based
colleges have Bronx campuses
such as Mercy’s Hutch Metro
Center campus and CNR’s Coop
City School of New Re
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
The men and women in
a Bronx precinct will be on
hand to posthumously remember
their brother on the police
force.
Police offi cer Manuel Vargas
Jr., who passed away on
November 1, 2018 from a rare
type of brain cancer, will be
honored with a street co-naming
in front of the 49th Precinct
at 11 a.m. on Saturday,
March 1.
That day would have been
his 50th birthday, said his sister
Cindy Vargas.
Vargas, who was on the
force for decades, was a beloved
cop in the four-nine and
also in the 24th Precinct in
Manhattan where he served
for much of his career, his sister
said.
Former 49th Precinct Community
Affairs Detective Victor
DiPierro, now retired,
helped champion the cause to
get a street co-named in honor
of Vargas.
DiPierro said Vargas
passed away from cancer
that’s linked to exposure to
toxins from working near the
original World Trade Center
after September 11, 2001.
DiPierro added that his and
Vargas’ lockers at the precinct
were near one another, and he
came to know him well.
“He was just an overall
great guy who was really passionate
about what he did,”
said DiPierro. “He cared
about the community when he
was out there and it was really
tragic what happened to him.”
DiPierro added: “I still consider
the four-nine home and
it is like losing a family member,
whether you are active or
retired.
He said he worked with
Councilman Mark Gjonaj’s offi
ce to get the street named in
Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Councilman Ritchie Torres
joined the parents of Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz on Wednesday,
February 27 to rename the corner of East 183rd and Bathgate
Avenue as ‘Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz Way.’ Councilman
Torres (l) and Borough President Diaz presented the ceremonial
street sign to Junior’s mother Leandra Feliz. See story in next
week’s edition. Photo by Aracelis Batista
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