Traffi c proposal for Southern Blvd. is unpopular
Bronx Columbus Parade grand marshals selected
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR AY 24-30, 2019 3
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Two outstanding individuals were
selected for honors during the 2019
Bronx Columbus Day Parade.
Parade organizers and the Morris
Park Community Association, which
runs the annual community event, selected
Frank Vignali, a FDNY Captain
as grand marshal and Carol Ann Gilligan,
P.S./M.S. 498 principal as honorary
grand marshal, said Chris Alessandro,
the parade’s coordinator.
Alessandro said that parade this
year will take place on Sunday, October
13 on Morris Park Avenue starting
at noon.
Vignali, who is third in seniority
in the FDNY, has been fi ghting fi res
in the borough since 1978, when he
started at Engine Company 41 at East
150th Street and Morris Avenue, and
later worked for decades at Ladder 51
at Eastchester and Boston roads, he
said.
He currently works in the FDNY’s
7th Division, which covers the eastern
and northern parts of the borough and
part of Manhattan, the grand marshal
said.
In addition to his work with the
FDNY, Vignali is a dedicated east
Bronx activist, who advocated for a
traffi c light at Pelham Parkway near
Narragansett Avenue and against a
road narrowing of Pelham Parkway
South, in order to enhance public
safety, he said.
He is also in his 32nd year as a volunteer
with Van Nest Little League
and has also volunteered with Astor
Little League, said Vignali.
Alessandro said that this year the
MPCA was looking for an individual
who had supported community endeavors.
“We came up with one name right
away, and that was Frank Vignali,”
said Alessandro. “He has lived in Morris
Park for years and always supported
the parade – rain or shine.”
Alessandro added: “He is just an
all-around great guy; he is always
there for us.”
Vignali distinguished himself on
the pile after the terrorist attacks on
September 11, 2001, and is the father of
a FDNY fi refi ghter and a NYPD police
offi cer.
He said he was delighted to raise
his sons in the borough and appreciates
the tight-knit community of Morris
Park.
The decorated fi refi ghter said that
he spent 15 years in the St. Francis
Xavier Home School Association and
was president for three years and treasurer
for ten years.
The parade continued its tradition
of honoring an educator as its honorary
grand marshal by selecting Gilligan.
Gilligan is he founding principal of
her school, the Van Nest Academy, and
Alessandro said that she does great
work with children.
“Since I opened the school in 2010
we have been marching and participating
in the parade, and it is an exciting
event for our students and their families,”
said Gilligan, adding “It will be
Continued on page 79
Carol Ann Gilligan is the parade’s honorary
grand marshal.
Photo courtesy of Carol Ann Gilligan
Frank Vignaili, a son of Italian-American immigrants,
will be honored at the Bronx Columbus
Parade in October.
Photo courtesy of Frank Vignaili
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The NYC Department of Transportation’s
push to install bicycle
lanes throughout the Bronx hasn’t
been well received by residents in
various neighborhoods.
The most recent example of this is
the DOT proposed new traffi c pattern
for Southern Boulevard from East
182nd Street to East 191st Street.
Bronx Borough DOT Commissioner
Nivardo Lopez explained the
city’s proposed plan that would add
bicycle lanes to the Southern Boulevard
corridor in front of a less-thanenthused
crowd of Belmont residents
at Mount Carmel Senior Center on
Monday, May 6.
For the DOT to proceed with its
plan, the agency would have to tempoarily
remove parking on that section
of Southern Boulevard from 7
a.m. to 7 p.m. during the road’s reworking;
something that is more
cause for concern to residents than
the addition of bike lanes.
Community Board 6 district manager
John Sanchez estimates that
Southern Boulevard plan would cost
the community about 83 parking
spaces if the DOT follows through
with the proposed change.
“Up to this point we’ve supported
what the DOT has wanted to do in
the area, but this is something that
the community board unanimously
voted against,” Sanchez said, mentioning
he was skeptical about the
proposal when Lopez and his staff
wouldn’t specify the number of accidents
that occurred in the corridor
that apparently prompted the
change, during the town hall meeting.
“Not to mention no cyclists spoke
up in support of the plan at the meeting,”
the district manager added,
drawing a comparison to the DOT’s
ongoing battle with residents and
elected offi cials over a similar plan
for Morris Park Avenue.
“I’m quite familiar with that,” he
joked.
As a matter of fact, even Clarita
Bailon, who serves as the CB6 Transportation
Committee chair, spoke
out against the DOT’s plan.
Her position carries major signifi -
cance since it was coming from someone
who is bound to a wheelchair after
being struck by a car herself.
Bailon’s main objection comes
from her own personal experiences
with cyclists not adhering to traffi
c rules in, on top of the reasons already
given by the community.
Another point that Sanchez and
the board raised was that adding bicycle
lanes wouldn’t solve the issue of
congestion on Southern Boulevard.
The main traffi c problem is generated
by the many buses going to
and from the Bronx Zoo, according
to Sanchez.
“If the DOT were proposing something
that was more bus lane-oriented
then the board would have been
more receptive,” he said, mentioning
that adding a bike lane would only
make congestion worse on Southern
Boulevard.
Other concerns coming from the
community are over the effect of losing
so many parking spaces. Some
feel the parking loss would impact on
the Arthur Avenue Market shoppers
Continued on page 79
NYC Department of Transportation Bronx Commissioner Nivardo Lopez (l) and Nick Harris
fi eld questions about the proposed traffi c changes to Southern Boulevard.
Silvio Pacifi co