BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 60 ECEMBER 14-20, 2018 BTR
NEW LIFE BRONX CHURCH VOLUNTEERS SERVE HOLIDAY MEALS
Approximately 25 residents and families at University Center enjoyed a warm Thanksgiving dinner on a
bitterly cold night as New Life Bronx Church volunteers served them their holidays meals.
(Above) New Life Bronx Church volunteers with University Center recreation director Tonkya De
Havia (back, 2nd from r). Photo courtesy of Centers Health Care/University Center
BY ANNIE BOLLER
The holidays are fast approaching.
Our last meeting
for this year will be Tuesday,
December 18, which will be a
joint meeting with the Waterbury/
Lasalle Association.
The meeting will be held
at the First Lutheran Church
located at 3075 Baisley Avenue.
The guest speaker is
Patrick Caruso from Community
Board 10 offi ce.
There will be gift giveaways
for the holidays and a
little holiday party.
Meetings are suspended
during January and February
and will resume in March
2019. Articles will be posted
in the Bronx Times Reporter
as community news and updates
become available.
The Taxpayers along with
our councilmen Mark Gjonaj
met with NYC Department
of Community Planning last
week to discuss our overdevelopment
concerns and the
effects it is having on our
community. The meeting
was a start to continued communication
with the community,
councilman and the
agency. They are going to look
at some of the data within the
area and have agreed to have
an open dialogue. We hope
to meet with them again in
the near future to discuss
their fi ndings. We shared
with them the PBTA traffi c
plan for Pelham Bay Station/
Amendola Plaza area created
by our former president Joseph
Oddo.
As NYPD community partners
myself and Annie Boller
continue to bring attention
to some of the issues and concerns
within our community
to our NCO’s (neighborhood
coordination offi cers), these
offi cers are very helpful and
will respond to the concerns
of the community as best they
can and within their abilities
as police offi cers. We recently
reached out to them about
the concerns of the homeless
people hanging out and harassing
some of the patrons
in the new Burger King located
by Pelham Bay Station.
They spoke with the manager
of this establishment and she
said she and her staff will
work with the community to
address the situation at this
location. Please be mindful
some of these individuals are
not well and need medical attention.
Although it is not a
nice situation, there are limits
to what can be done by the
police and the store owners
without violating these individuals’
rights.
Our sector police recently
assisted a mentally challenged
person who was at Pelham
Bay Station and seemed
in need of medical attention.
They got them to the hospital;
hopefully they will get the
help they need. Thank you
to our Police for their continued
assistance and support of
the community. Please, if you
need assistance with quality
of life concerns reach out to
our NCOs. They are here to
help: PO Singh, (917) 370-0570
and PO Trinidad (917) 593-
3120.
Once our newly elected
offi cials, State Senator-elect
Alexandia Biaggi and Congresswoman
elect Alexandra
Ocasio-Cortez have been
sworn in, they will be invited
to partake in a future meeting.
Membership dues are
due. Please send to 1720 Mayfl
ower Avenue, #9H, Bronx,
NY 10461.
Wishing everyone a Merry
Christmas and Happy New
Year. May it be fi lled with good
health and peace for all.
BY AL D’ANGELO
When does the insanity
stop? The latest in a string of
absurdities: Removing the
Swastika from the play Sound
of Music because it is a symbol
of hate, belies the whole premise
of the play. We can’t hide
from hate, we should examine
the causes and make sure
it doesn’t happen again. There
is a group which wants to ban
candy canes because they
are shaped in the form of a J,
which in their minds, stands
for Jesus; more ridiculous is
that the media is giving publicity
to the absurd.
The truth in the symbol of
the candy cane is that over 400
years ago a German changed
the shape to resemble a shepherd’s
staff. How about doing
away with Rudolph the Red
Nosed Reindeer because he is
being discriminated against?
There are many more pressing
problems we should be
concerned with such as: ANTIFA
terrorizing citizens because
they disagree with their
beliefs and the police are told
to stand down. We have rioters
looting and destroying businesses
and the police are told
to stand down. We have institutions
of higher learning deciding
who can speak and who
should be banned from speaking
on the campus.
I believe higher learning
would be better served
with the peaceful exchange
of ideas. The job of educators
is to disseminate information,
so students can make an
informed decision, that’s not
what’s happening in many colleges
today. Professors are deciding
what books to read and
their lectures are to indoctrinating
rather than educate.
The news media is obsessed
with sensationalism, I’m not
interested in seeing or hearing
about Stormy Daniels every
time I read a paper or turn
on the news. I do want to hear
about the poor people in NYCHA
housing without water
and heat. Tell us what is being
done or not being done to help
our vets and the homeless. Investigate
why our inner-city
children are having trouble
making specialized schools
and stay on the story until
something is done.
These are humanitarian
issues we are all concerned
about and something the media
should shed light on and
keep on it until change is realized.
We have a media which
is more interested in shaping
thought rather than reporting
news and letting us make up
our own minds.
Hasn’t history taught us
anything? How was it possible
for a man like Hitler to rise to
power - he controlled the media,
controlled what people
were taught, eliminated opposing
ideas and convinced
the people who was to blame
for their problems. Do you see
any similarities?
Elected offi cials are the servants
of the people they are
hired by the people to do their
bidding. Why then do they feel
they have the right to dictate
what is best for us? The Morris
Park Community Association,
Community Board 11, businesses
and the clear majority
of the people living in the affected
area are against the city
plan to make Morris Park Avenue
one lane in each direction.
We cited ambulance and police
traffi c, businesses deliveries,
school buses (there are eight
schools in the area). The added
burden this would place on
the side streets and the safety
of the children not to mention
slowing traffi c to a crawl.
The city did a study and
claimed road dieting, as it is
called, reduces accidents by
slowing traffi c. Any one with
an 8th grade education knows
if you know the outcome your
looking for you can devise
a study to prove it. I’m sure
if you slow traffi c to a crawl
you will have less serious accidents.
I am also sure if you
banned cars on Morris Park
Avenue you would have no accidents
at all.
Maybe next we can lower
the speed limit on the thruway
to 10 miles an hour. I’m
sure that would reduce fatalities.
There is a 25 mile an hour
speed limit on Morris Park
Avenue which is not enforced.
Why not enforce the law before
you change it.
All this said, the most aggravating
thing is that the
people have spoken and Assemblywoman
Natalia Fernandez
Assemblyman Mike
Benedetto, Councilman Richie
Torres and Councilman Mark
Gjonaj have sided with their
constituents, yet the city is going
ahead with it anyway.
The Declaration of Independence
says, “governments
are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from
the consent of the governed”,
this means that government
gets all its power from the people,
the people run the government
the government does not
run the people. Sorry for the
history lesson but some of our
government offi cials seem to
have forgotten what their job
description is. Weather you’re
for or against road dieting
you should be incensed by the
abuse of power. We the people
are the bosses we should start
acting like it and stop allowing
our hired help to disrespect
our wishes. Let them know
your displeasure. Last time I
looked the American fl ag was
still fl ying not the Hammer
and Sickle .