Senator Alessandra Biaggi offers mobile offi ce hours
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PRIL 12-18, 2019 67
Senator Alessandra Biaggo announces services
for her constituents.
Photo courtesy of Senator Alessandra Biaggi’s Offi ce
Senator Alessandra Biaggi will provide
mobile offi ce hours.
Constituent services are available at
the following dates and locations every
month. Walk-ins welcome from 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. or call (718) 822-2049 for an appointment:
First Tuesday of the month: Riverdale
Senior Services, 2600 Netherland Avenue.
Second Tuesday of the Month: Community
Board 7, 229-A E. 204th Street.
Third Tuesday of the Month: Community
Board 10, 3166 East Tremont Avenue.
Last Thursday of the Month: Community
Board 9, 1967 Turnbill Avenue, #7,
Bronx.
Daily, at Senator Biaggi’s offi ce, 1250
Waters Place, Suite 1202.
* * *
The Living Stations of the Cross will
take place at St. Helena Church, 1315 Olmstead
Avenue, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Good
Friday, April 19. The Stations will begin in
front of the church and will process around
the block and will end with the fi nal stations
in the school gymnasium. Members
of the parish will portray all of the major
characters.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call (718) 892-
3232.
* * *
The Annual Passover Seder Supper
at St. Helena will take place on Tuesday,
April 16 at 7 p.m. in the school gymnasium.
This meal is celebrated as it woud
have been celebrated at the time of Jesus.
All are welcome.
* * *
Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop
of New York, announced that deputy
superintendent, Michael J. Deegan
will assume the position of interim superintendent
until the search is completed and
a new superintendent has been installed.
In the coming months, Cardinal Dolan will
name a new superintendent following the
retirement of Dr. Timothy J. McNiff after
his more than 10 years of service.
A dedicated and experienced educator,
Deegan has served the Church in Catholic
education for almost forty years. A Catholic
school principal for more than 20 years,
he has taught at Iona Grammar School in
New Rochelle, Power Memorial Academy
in Manhattan, and Sacred Heart School in
Manhattan. He has also served as principal
at both St. Francis Xavier School and
St. Jude School (both in Manhattan) and
headmaster of Iona Grammar School.
In 2004, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop
of New York, appointed Deegan director
of Inner City Schools to help oversee
the 122 elementary and secondary
inner-city schools then serving more than
60,000 children. His responsibilities were
in the areas of fi nance, institutional advancement,
curriculum development and
strategic planning. In 2013, he was appointed
deputy superintendent of Schools,
and continues to serve in that role.
Deegan is a graduate of St. Philip
Neri School, Bronx and Rice High School
in Harlem. He holds a bachelor’s degree
from Iona College, a master of science in
education from the College of New Rochelle
and completed his post graduate
studies at Manhattan College and Fordham
University. He is the recipient of numerous
awards including the St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton Compassionate Educator
Award, the John J. Bruno Catholic Service
Award and is the Brother Edmund Rice-
Christian Brothers of North America Centenary
Partner Honoree.
Deegan is happily married to his wife
of 27 years, Angela, who is principal of St.
Francis Xavier School.
* * *
With the beginning of spring and April
at hand, the New York Botanical Garden’s
Spring-Summer 2019 Adult Education
catalog is a great way to plan for the
return of warm weather and green landscapes.
Offering an array of enlightening
classes, fascinating talks, and hands-on
learning experiences, the catalog is now
available online, and registration is open
for all classes and events.
From hands-on instruction in such
subjects as fl oral design and gardening to
an exciting lineup of speakers and exhibition
related offerings, NYBG’s Adult Education
program—the largest plant-related
continuing education program in the country—
abounds in ways to expand horizons,
jump-start careers, learn more about horticultural
hobbies, and master do-it-yourself
crafts.
Looking ahead, classes in NYBG’s
Summer Intensive Programs in July and
August provide a way to jump-start a career
change or pursue a new passion with
in-depth programs in Floral Design, Landscape
Design, or Gardening. In just a few
weeks, students will be well on their way
to earning a prestigious NYBG Certifi cate.
Courses in Botanical Art & Illustration or
Horticultural Therapy are also offered in
an accelerated summer format.
Other highlights for spring and summer
are:
Classes about growing and caring for
orchids during NYBG’s annual The Orchid
Show, on view until April 28, and featuring
a tribute to Singapore, one of the world’s
greatest orchid cultures
An Friday, April 19 lecture marking the
250th anniversary of the birth of Alexander
von Humboldt, the extraordinary naturalist,
explorer, and writer, by Andrea Wulf,
author of the 2015 bestseller The Invention
of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s
New World and the newly published The
Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, a
graphic novel developed in collaboration
with artist Lillian Melcher
Sprout Lands: A Conversation with
William Bryant Logan on Wednesday, May
22, part of NYBG’s The Tree Dialogues
series of conversations about critical environmental
issues, featuring the author
of Sprout Lands: Tending the Endless Gift
of Trees, in conversation with Robin Wall
Kimmerer, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished
Teaching Professor and author of Braiding
Sweetgrass
A Friday, June 7 symposium marking
the opening of NYBG’s major 2019 exhibition
The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx,
on view from Saturday, June 8 through
Sunday, September 29, exploring the
breadth and genre-spanning creativity of
the Brazilian modernist master as an innovative
artist, landscape architect, and
conservationist
On Tuesday, June 11, acclaimed British
garden designer and writer Noel Kingsbury
leads The Rabbit’s Eye View, a fullday
workshop in which participants will
learn to closely observe garden and landscape
plants, focusing on their growth,
prospects for longevity, and suitability for
a variety of garden locations
NYBG’s Urban Naturalist certifi cate
program, which equips people with the observation,
identifi cation, and documentation
skills to become citizen scientists and
effective environmental stewards
NYBG’s Spring-Summer 2019 Adult
Education catalog is available as a PDF
here. To register, go to nybg.org/adulted
or call (718) 817-8747.
* * *
Stop by the PSS City Island Center,
located at 116 City Island Avenue, Monday
through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Experience
their exercise classes from gentle
yoga stretch, balance class, arthritis
workshop and tai chi as well as the fi t for
life and cardio fi t. They also offer acrylic
painting, calligraphy, canasta, health presentations,
singing group, and parties.
Lunch is served from noon to 1 p.m., suggested
donation $2. The center participants
go on shopping trips every day; i.e.
Shop Rite, Dollar Tree, Target, Kmart ,as
well as theatre excursions, boat trips, special
luncheons and more. It’s free to become
a member but you must be 60 years
or above. For more information contact
Patty at (718) 885-0727 or email pattis@
pssusa.org for their monthly calendar.
Upcoming Special Events: Friday, April
19 at 1:15 p.m.: Medication & Preventive
Health; Mixed Media Art every Monday at
10 a.m. and Thursday at 1 p.m.; and Swing
Dance, Mondays at 1 p.m.
* * *
Do you need help getting to and from
your medical appointments? Transportation
services are available to seniors Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in
community districts 9, 10, 11 and 12. The
program provides door-to-door service for
all medical appointments. Their drivers
are courteous and professional; and their
vehicles are clean and handicap accessible,
including wheelchair lifts.
For further information, contact Mildred
Cardona, program director of the R.A.I.N.
Transportation Program, at (718) 882-
8513.
* * *
Michael J. Deegan, Interim Superintendent
of Schools of the Archdiocese
of New York, announced that Catholic
schools in the Archdiocese of New York
have been awarded School System Accreditation
from the AdvancED Accreditation
Commission, the national organization
that confers the North Central
Association Commission on Accreditation
and School Improvement (NCA CASI)
seal. All regional and parish elementary
schools are now accredited, recognizing
the quality of the school system throughout
the nation.
The accreditation process involves
three ongoing components: 1) meeting
high quality standards; 2) implementing a
continuous process of improvement; and
3) engaging in quality assurance through
internal and external review. The system’s
accreditation is for a fi ve-year term with
regular monitoring of progress and reporting
throughout the term.
Parents and interested community
members can learn more about the System
Accreditation Process at www.advanc
ed.org.
* * *
Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States,
will deliver the commencement address
and receive an honorary degree at Manhattan
College’s Undergraduate Commencement
on Friday, May 17.
Justice Sotomayor was born in the
Bronx to Puerto Rican-born parents, and
later attended Cardinal Spellman High
School. A fi rst-generation college student,
she received her bachelor’s degree
and graduated summa cum laude in 1976
from Princeton. In 1979, she graduated
from Yale Law School, where she served
as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Justice Sotomayor served as assistant
district attorney in the New York County
District Attorney’s Offi ce from 1979–1984.
She then litigated international commercial
matters in New York City at Pavia &
Harcourt, where she served as an associate
and then partner from 1984–1992.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush
nominated her to the U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York, and she
served in that role from 1992–1998. She
served as a judge on the United States
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
from 1998–2009. President Barack
Obama nominated her as an associate
justice of the Supreme Court on May 26,
2009, and she assumed this role August
8, 2009.
The Manhattan College website has
complete information on the 2019 Undergraduate
Commencement, including a full
schedule of events.
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