op ed BTR letters & comments
Dear editor,
On Monday, May 13, at the
Betances Center at 547 E.146th
Street, a meeting was held
about closing down Rikers Island
which by from the newspaper
photo was well attended.
Somebody who happened to be
on the panel there, joked that
they should sink the barge
that is next to Rikers Island,
also.
People who want Rikers Island
and even the barge next
to it closed down should ask
themselves one basic question:
do they really want to
possibly return to the bad old
days of the sixties and early
seventies when you had certain
buildings in the south
Bronx, burned to a crisp and
even some business owners
lost their businesses.Before
they close down Rikers Island,
everybody should be on the
same page, here.
Let’s vote on this issue. It’s
Mayor DeBlasio and his
around Iowa and South
Carolina in his bid for the
President of these United
States of America.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BTR AY 24-30, 2019 13
Think before
closing jail
that important.
wife are, at the moment, running
Joseph P. Wall
Accept road
diet outcome
Dear editor,
Councilman Mark Gjonaj
and I have been voicing our
concerns over the Morris
Park Avenue re-design for
over a year, now. We have
participated in debates, have
been quoted numerous times
in print and I have voiced my
safety concerns over this issue
with the Morris Park Civic
Association and Community
Board 11.
His offi ce is now the lead
sponsor, along with some businesses,
in the court-issued injunction
to stop NYC Department
of Transportation from
implementing proven safety
measures on Morris Park Avenue,
due to business hardships
and emergency vehicle
access.
A judge will hear more, and
decide on the benefi ts of the
road diet and the community’s
concerns on Tuesday, May
28. To the councilman I say:
be prepared for the outcome.
And by that, I mean that if the
verdict favors no implementation
of any kind of new safety
features on any of the injury
prone intersections, I will pursue
new agenda, like enforcement
and education.
And if the verdict favors the
DOT Vision Zero road design,
he should not fi ght against
Bronx DOT Commissioner Nivardo
Lopez or the mayor any
longer. It would then be time
to embrace the decision on it’s
safety merit. It would be time
to educate the community on
the benefi ts.
• perhaps gather some momentum
in gaining some very
needed traffi c enforcement?
• perhaps sponsor a bicycle/
pedestrian safety day in
Loretto Park?
• perhaps hand out driver
awareness fl iers to drivers
stopped at the lights?
• perhaps hold a car seat
check and bike helmet giv-away?
• perhaps speak about any
one of the items you feel are
good about the plan?
The elephant in the room
as to why many people think
the bike lanes don’t belong is
its impact on double parking.
Has the councilman invested
any time researching if
a paid parking lot is an option?
Or municipal paid parking?
Kevin Daloia
A city full
of pot holes
Dear editor,
I‘d like to call this the onemile
challenge, meaning:
can you travel one mile on a
road anywhere in NYC without
dealing with potholes.
It’s like we are traveling on
third-world country roads
especially here in the Bronx
starting with Pelham Parkway.
Why is no one overseeing
this disaster of a reconstruction
job? It is ridiculous that
you can’t travel in any lane
that isn’t full of holes.
Now let’s move to the
side streets, St. Paul Avenue
has been full of pot holes for
years and the city fi lls them
only to break apart come the
next rainy day.
I can continue to list
streets but this letter would
be very long, but if you drive
around this city you share
my frustrations with how
bad these roads are in.
Why doesn’t anyone look
at what the NYC Department
of Transportation is doing?
Something isn’t right.
Being the biggest city
you would expect better rsesources.
De Blasio’s NY folks
he is slowly bringing this city
back the 70s.
Victor DiPierro
Practice what
you preach
Dear editor,
Senator Charles Schumer
should practice what he
preaches when introducing
his proposed legislation to
combat robo-calls. It is called
‘Telephone Robocall Abuse
Criminal Enforcement and
Deterrenc’e or ‘TRACED’ Act.
This would allow federal agencies
to trace calls and prosecute
criminals, increase fi nes
and lengthens the statute of
limitations. Schumer also
wants placing responsibility
on phone companies by requiring
carriers to a have system
to block robocalls.
This legislation including
annoying automated phone
messages from spammers and
scammers is just the start.
Can we add all the annoying
robo-calls from Schumer endorsing
his favorite primary
and general election candidates,
along with his own reelection
calls?
Larry Penner
Albany needs to focus
on policies that matter
In politics, it’s a lot easier
to blame others than shoulder
any responsibility on your
own. Case in point – the recent
rent regulation debate in Albany.
With the laws governing affordable
rent stabilized units
set to expire on June 15th,
state lawmakers have an opportunity
to seriously tackle
the housing affordability crisis
that has befallen our City.
Unfortunately – but not surprisingly
– we are not seeing
the leadership required for
such an intricate issue.
That’s why our organization,
the Community Housing
Improvement Program
(CHIP), which represents 4,000
property owners across all fi ve
boroughs who own or manage
one-third of the City’s rent stabilized
housing stock, is putting
forth proposals that focus
on giving working class and
poor New Yorkers the housing
security they deserve.
Our members are mostly
small business owners who
understand the diffi cult balance
of maintaining safe and
high-quality affordable apartments,
with still earning a living
in such an expensive city.
Many members have worked
here for generations and have
seen the City climb out of the
depths of urban decay into a
community that attracts new
residents and visitors every
year.
Part of this success stems
from state policies such as the
Major Capital Improvement
and Individual Apartment Improvement
programs. These
key mechanisms incentivize
property owners to maintain
their buildings by permitting
them to recoup the costs
of upgrades through small
rent increases, but only upon
the submission of evidence to
regulators that the projects
met stringent guidelines. The
programs have delivered –
since the 1970s, there has been
a 90% drop in blocks that are
blighted with boarded or broken
windows. But other policies,
including preferential
rents and vacancy allowances,
also contribute to the overall
upward trend in the quality of
rental housing.
And yet, Albany politicians
are more interested in currying
favor with a small subset
of activists by upbraiding
property owners than helping
New Yorkers afford their
homes. We see this lack of
leadership with the complete
mismanagement of NYCHA.
The government is the largest
landlord in the City, but
cannot get its own properties
to meet even the lowest standards
of livability.
That’s why we have recently
announced an affordability
plan that is intended to
refocus the housing debate.
Specifi cally, New York
should pass the Home Stability
Support Program. The
legislation would expand supplemental
housing aid for individuals
and families on public
assistance.
The city and state must
also support appropriate funding
levels for the NYC Rent
Freeze Program, which help
seniors and disabled individuals
afford their rent stabilized
units. Veterans should be included
in an expanded program.
Additionally, the lowestrent
apartments should be reserved
for low-income New
Yorkers by making rent stabilized
units means-tested.
(CHIP members have been
part of this City for decades,
and we will always remain
committed to our home and
yours. With only a few weeks
left of debate before a major
vote on housing reform, we’ll do
our best to make sure Albany
lawmakers actually assist the
most vulnerable New Yorkers,
not just indulge the most vocal
activists.)
statements
As Stated presents recent
comments from our elected offi
cials on a number of matters:
NYCHA’s new rules for to immigrant
children; a clarifi cation
of a sexual harassment
training disagreement; and a
celebration of Brown vs. Board
of Education Decision.
Councilman Fernando Cabrera
condemned Housing and
Urban Development’s proposed
new rule to expand a program
that is projected to displace over
50,000 children now living in
NYCHA properties.....“The City
Council cannot stand by without
expressing total objection
to this cruel and misguided
proposal. This is not a solution
to New York City’s shortage of
affordable housing.”
Councilman Rubén Díaz
Sr.’s statement about his remarks
during the Council’s
mandatory bullying and sexual
harassment training session.....
“I did express that I will not
report any person who gives a
compliment to a lady or a man,
in the same way that I will not
report any of my colleagues
who compliment me about how
good I look in my hat.
Assemblyman Michael
Blake’s statement on
the 65th Anniversary of The
Brown v. Board of Education
Decision.....“The landmark decision
by the Supreme Court
opened up the doors of opportunity
in education for people
of color by ruling that segregation
in public schools was unconstitutional.