49th
Precinct
remembers
fallen
offi cer
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
The men and women in a Bronx
precinct will be on hand to posthumously
remember their brother on
the police force.
Police offi cer Manuel Vargas Jr.,
who passed away on November 1,
2018 from a rare type of brain cancer,
will be honored with a street conaming
in front of the 49th Precinct
at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 1.
That day would have been his
50th birthday, said his sister Cindy
Vargas.
Vargas, who was on the force
for decades, was a beloved cop in
the four-nine and also in the 24th
Precinct in Manhattan where he
served for much of his career, his
sister said.
Former 49th Precinct Community
Affairs Detective Victor DiPierro,
now retired, helped champion
the cause to get a street co-named
in honor of Vargas.
DiPierro said Vargas passed
away from cancer that’s linked to
exposure to toxins from working
near the original World Trade Center
after September 11, 2001.
DiPierro added that his and Vargas’
lockers at the precinct were
near one another, and he came to
know him well.
“He was just an overall great guy
who was really passionate about
what he did,” said DiPierro. “He
cared about the community when
he was out there and it was really
tragic what happened to him.”
DiPierro added: “I still consider
the four-nine home and it is like losing
a family member, whether you
are active or retired.
COLLEGE MAKES
CLASSY MOVE
Mercy absorbs sister school,
College of New Rochelle
BY ALEX MITCHELL
It wasn’t the best of news, but it
could have been a lot worse for the
College of New Rochelle; which announced
its likely closure before
the upcoming fall semester on Friday,
February 22.
Fortunately for CNR, neighboring
Mercy College, with a campus
at 1200 Waters Place, inked a
memorandum of understanding to
essentially absorb the college on
Monday, February 25.
Both schools acknowledged
CNR’s ‘signifi cant cash fl ow challenges’
resulting from a fi nical
crisis at the college in 2016 as the
primary reason for the projected
closure.
“Mercy is uniquely positioned
fi nancially and academically to offer
current CNR students uninterrupted
pathways to continue the
education they sought at CNR,”
wrote Mercy College president,
Tim Hall, in a prepared statement.
The MOU is contingent on a
separate board vote by each of the
colleges, which is anticipated to
happen by the end of this week.
CNR spokesman Geoff Thompson
said that the vote would essen-
Williams defeats Blake, Mark-
Viverito for Public Advocate
By Alex Mitchell
There might have been
some cheering in Brooklyn after
Councilman Jumaane Williams
was confirmed as the
winner of the city’s special public
advocate election; but that
celebration didn’t fully make
it up to the Bronx as Assemblyman
Michael Blake found a
consolation victory in winning
his own borough on Tuesday,
February 26.
Actually, in a race comprised
of 17 candidates, without
Continued on Page 4
the identification of any
political parties we are used to
seeing, only two had Bronx credentials;
Blake and ex-Council
Speaker Mellissa Mark-Viverito,
whose previous district
covered both the south Bronx
and some of east Harlem.
Williams’ commanding
133,809 estimated citywide
vote total drew 9,659 of those
from the Bronx, second to only
Blake, whom recorded an estimated
10,467 Bronx ballots.
Your Neighborhood — Your News® March 3, 2019
LOCAL
CL ASSIFIEDS
PAG E 22
Justice For Junior On The Way
Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Councilman Ritchie Torres joined
the parents of Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz on Wednesday, February 27
to rename the corner of East 183rd and Bathgate Avenue as ‘Lesandro Junior
Guzman-Feliz Way.’ Councilman Torres (l) and Borough President Diaz
presented the ceremonial street sign to Junior’s mother Leandra Feliz.
Photo by Aracelis Batista
Continued on Page 4 Continued on Page 23
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