BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 12 EBRUARY 15-21, 2019 BTR
Founded in 1981 by
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
NYS lost its
moral compass
Dear editor,
About a year ago, Governor
Cuomo released his
2019 budget, ‘Realizing the
Promise of Progressive Government.;
In it were the particulars
of the Reproductive
Health Act. There was concern
and apprehension in
some quarters, but most felt
it could never happen and
the RHA would never see the
light of day. I, however, felt it
was a fait-accompli.
The 2018 midterm elections
proved me right. Now under
the leadership of a morally corrupt
demagogue of a governor,
and an angry, uncivil horde of
Democrats, New York has devolved
into a godless, immoral
progressive wasteland.
Don’t be fooled by the title:
The New York State Reproductive
Health Act (RHA- Bill
S. 240- Krueger/A21-Glick), is
nothing more than a mandate
for unrestricted abortion. It
is radical, and unquestionably
the most horrendous and
brutal legislation ever conceived,
even many of those
who support abortion think
it much too extreme.
The new Democrat majority
in both houses of the
state legislature, together
with a governor who’s deepseated
progressive roots,
once checked by a Republican
majority in the senate, has
now been unleashed and represents
a dream come true
for the pro-choice crowd and
Planned Parenthood, and a
nightmare for the unborn.
Upon review the bill would:
• Discontinue the requirement
that a licensed physician
perform abortions.
• Abortion related crimes,
such as in cases where a pregnant
woman experiences a
miscarriage due to abuse,
will be removed from the
books.
• Establish a state-law right
to abortion after 24 weeks gestation,
when the patients ‘life
or health’ is in jeopardy. Based
on past court decisions, this
will allow for late-term abortions
for any reason.
• Abortion will become a
‘fundamental right’ under
New York State law.
• Repeal any protections
for viable babies born alive
from unsuccessful abortions.
In other words if the baby is
born and is outside the womb,
the abortionist can allow it to
die; that is infanticide.
New York, a once great
storied state, now under the
leadership of radicals has
lost all sense of propriety and
decency; its respect for the
dignity and sanctity of life
is non-existent; it has lost its
mind, but of even greater consequence,
it has lost its soul.
Bob Pascarella
.......AS STATED
As Stated offers an array
of news breaking commentary
from our elected political
leaders every week. Feel free
to share your thoughts about
their views offered in this
week’s installment..
Assemblyman Victor
M. Pichardo on the Catholic
Archdiocese closing the schools
of St. Nicholas of Tolentine and
St. Joseph.....“I am saddened to
Cemetery
boundaries
(The following letter was
sent to the director of Antropology
at the NYC Landmarks
Preservation Commission.)
Dear Amanda Sutphin,
We were referred to you by
Simeon Bankoff, executive director
of the Historic Districts
Council, as someone who
could help us. We are facing
a fast-moving situation that
the community only learned
about 1 month ago (there are
already utility markings to
guide digging at the boundary
of the area in question
that were put in overnight). St
Peter’s Church is an historic
Episcopal Church and a landmark,
but has of late fallen on
hard times. The pastor, Reverend
Joade Dauer-Cardasis, has
contracted with HPD and NYC
to lease land for the building of
either two 9-story buildings or
one 11-story building of affordable
housing on Lot 6, next to
their cemetery (Lot 18), which
we believe to be a Quaker
cemetery going back to the
mid-1600s, when Westchester
Square had two Friends Meeting
Houses, one on the site
and one across the street (see
maps from the 1800s), and a
landmark. In 1925, St Peter’s
needed more space for their
burials and bought the land
from the Friends to bury their
dead in their land on the condition
that they maintain the
property as a cemetery.
I have sent you documents
and photos including three
maps showing this area as
the Friends Cemetery; a tax
map designating the land as
a cemetery, the landmark status
decree from 1976 designating
a portion of the lot as a
landmark, and various photos
showing what we believe to be
boundary markers and a very
defi nite mausoleum in the proposed
build area.
The landmark status conferred
in 1976 has been a point
of confusion, as no one seems
to be sure where this ends.
The lawyers for the church
(Goldstein Hall, PLLC) claim
the area is not landmarked
and that they did either boring
or radar (we have heard
both) to determine if there are
bodies there and they found
nothing. Frankly, we fi nd
this very hard to believe as
the area has been the Friends
Cemetery since the mid 17th
century. True, when looking
at the area there appears to
be headstones for only those
Friends who died in the late
1800s. This is deceiving. The
custom earlier than that time
was to bury family members
and their slaves as well with
small or no markers.
Our asks are the following:
• Can you arrange a site
visit so we can clear up the
confusion about what is landmarked
and what is not, bearing
in mind that the scope of
the building(s) will utilize all
of Lot 6 for it is building on a
massive scale.
• Can we ask that a thorough
archeological survey be
done as soon as possible, as it
is better for all concerned to
know if there are human remains
in the build area before
the excavating begins,
because after (aside from
disturbing the dead) it will
cause all construction to stop
and wait until the remains
are examined by the Medical
Examiner, and they would
have to be relocated, costing
time and much money after
the fact.
• Would it be possible for
you to access the evidence
from the lawyers showing
unequivocally that the build
area is not landmarked and
contains no remains as they
have stated, and share this
with us?
There are people in the
community and in the tristate
area who have communicated
with us saying that
many of their relatives who
were Quakers are buried in
the disputed area. The community
has always respected
the area as sacred ground as
the resting place of the Quakers
from Westchester Square’s
earliest days.
We hope you will be able to
help us, as the project is moving
quickly and we want to see
the dead rest in peace. It is a
sacred historic trust.
Thank you in advance for
you help,
Sandi Lusk, director
Westchester Square-
Zerega Improvement
Organization, Inc
hear that St. Nicholas of Tolentine
and St. Joseph School,
both of which have been a part
of the fabric of the West Bronx
for generations, will be closing
(its) doors. I will continue
to work with the Archdiocese,
parents, faculty and students
to help ease through this transition,
but more importantly
I plan to make sure that the
students continue to receive
a high quality education, and
that each family continues to
receive the support services
that they need.”
Statement from Borough
President Ruben Diaz, Jr. on
the passing of Shirley Rodríguez
Remen e ski . . . . .“ S h i r l e y
Rodríguez Remeneski was a
special person, a pioneer in
politics and government service
and someone who had
an impact on the lives of so
many throughout her career.
She paved the way for future
generations as an advocate
for women’s empowerment
in 1960s and 70s and created
countless opportunities for
the Bronx and New York City
with the programs she led to
uplift the community after so
Continued on page 80
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